While some book publishers are hurting with the down economy, the romance-novel business has never been better. Harlequin reports “a revenue increase of 3.5%, to C$618.1 million ($414 million), combined with better operating efficiencies to produce record operating profits of C$119.2 million ($80 million). The company’s 4th quarter was particularly strong, “when revenue increased by 8.6%, to C$164 million, and operating profit jumped 31.7%, to C$30.8 million.”
Tag: 03.17.03
Out Of The Garage – Dominating This Year’s SXSW Fest
This year’s SXSW conference in Austin Texas found “many of the acts that generated the most buzz during the five-day lineup of 1,000-plus bands came from outside the country.” This year’s dominant music: “Garage bands were definitely the rage this year, a trend that felt like overkill by the end of the week. Many of the groups came up through the same Detroit scene that spawned the Stripes, which led to a quip by the singer of the black-clad Motor City band the Electric Six: ‘If this were the Olympics, [Detroit] would be like Russia’.”
War Fears As Maastrict Fair Opens
The European Fine Art Fair opens in Maastricht with 200 of the world’s most prestigious galleries in attendance. “The art and antiques for sale are breathtaking, and are estimated to be worth a total of about £600 million this year. Some 60 per cent of the world’s currently available supply of good-quality Dutch and Flemish Old Master paintings are on show.” But dealers are worried what impact an Iraq war will have. “Maastricht airport once famously ran out of parking space for private jets during the fair, but this year there are fears that there may be plenty of spare tarmac alongside the runway.”