BMJ Publishing Group sells its books department
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
The BMJ Publishing Group has sold its book publishing arm, BMJ Books, to Blackwell Publishing.
BMJ Books, which has existed for 20 years, will move 328 new titles to Blackwell, including the ABC series of reference books for researchers and clinicians. Blackwell Publishing, the world抯 second largest publisher of biomedical and medical journals, publishes about 100 medical books a year.
Richard Smith, editor of the BMJ and chief executive of the BMJ Publishing Group, said: "The books will retain the BMJ Books imprint alongside that of Blackwell and, given Blackwell抯 international sales operation, we are confident that more books bearing our imprint will be sold."
He added: "This decision has not been easy to make, but it is no longer feasible for us to continue an extensive book publishing business. We have published great books of which we are proud, but our cost structure has meant that we could not produce the return on the business that we hoped for."
He said that the sale follows a decision by the company to focus on core activities of journal publishing and developing educational materials for doctors, such as Clinical Evidence and BMJ Learning.
Alex Williamson, managing director of the BMJ Publishing Group, said that the Books division represented only a "very, very small proportion" of the BMJ Publishing Group, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association. She said that the BMJ Books division has made losses recently, but the BMJ Publishing Group as a whole has made a profit.(London Owen Dyer)
BMJ Books, which has existed for 20 years, will move 328 new titles to Blackwell, including the ABC series of reference books for researchers and clinicians. Blackwell Publishing, the world抯 second largest publisher of biomedical and medical journals, publishes about 100 medical books a year.
Richard Smith, editor of the BMJ and chief executive of the BMJ Publishing Group, said: "The books will retain the BMJ Books imprint alongside that of Blackwell and, given Blackwell抯 international sales operation, we are confident that more books bearing our imprint will be sold."
He added: "This decision has not been easy to make, but it is no longer feasible for us to continue an extensive book publishing business. We have published great books of which we are proud, but our cost structure has meant that we could not produce the return on the business that we hoped for."
He said that the sale follows a decision by the company to focus on core activities of journal publishing and developing educational materials for doctors, such as Clinical Evidence and BMJ Learning.
Alex Williamson, managing director of the BMJ Publishing Group, said that the Books division represented only a "very, very small proportion" of the BMJ Publishing Group, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association. She said that the BMJ Books division has made losses recently, but the BMJ Publishing Group as a whole has made a profit.(London Owen Dyer)