S&S reports record revenues, breaking the billion-dollar threshold for the first time

Simon and Schuster (S&S) has reported an “extraordinary, stratospheric” year, achieving an all-time high of $1.1bn (£915m) in revenue in 2022, despite continued uncertainty over its ownership. 

In a letter to staff, president and c.e.o. Jonathan Karp revealed it was the first time the company had cleared the billion-dollar threshold. “Our operating income for the year was also a record: $248m [£206m], a gain of 16% over 2021,” he said.  

“This growth occurred across every segment of our business—international, audio, children’s, and adult publishing. We were lifted by the performance of backlist titles by Colleen Hoover, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Jenny Han, and Sandra Boynton, as well as frontlist sales of children’s books by Aaron Reynolds and Chloe Gong, and adult books by Jennette McCurdy and Stephen King, whose Fairy Tale is his bestselling novel in years. Audio was our fastest-growing division in 2022, and the audio original publication of Bob Woodward’s The Trump Tapes was an instant bestseller and made national news.” 

S&S UK achieved its second consecutive record year of sales. Karp said: “It is now officially the fastest-growing publisher in the UK, with sales up 21% year over year. Highlights include the bestselling debut novel of the year, Bob Mortimer’s The Satsuma Complex, and the children’s division’s continued success with Supertato, one of the most popular picture book brands, as well as the launch of A F Steadman’s Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, which was a Waterstones Book of the Year and an international sensation.” 

Ian Chapman, c.e.o. and publisher, UK and International, told The Bookseller: “S&S UK continues to go from strength to strength, with huge financial upside in both Q4 and the year as a whole. It was a stunning quarter for us in the UK, rounding off a second record-breaking year in a row, and I am tremendously grateful to our staff and authors for their continued hard work and dedication.”

Around the rest of the world Simon & Schuster Canada is celebrating its 10th anniversary of publishing. The publisher said it has established a notable track record of putting over 50% of its titles on national bestseller lists. In Australia, its division has been the fastest-growing publisher for three out of four years, bolstered by such titles as The Boy from Boomerang Crescent by Eddie Betts and Sarah Di Lorenzo’s popular 10:10 line of wellness books. 

“In all these territories, we have hired more editors to acquire literary fiction and popular non-fiction and have expanded the Gallery and Scribner imprints to publish in those categories" Karp explained. 

“We opened our new warehouse in Jackson, Tennessee, and it will be a key part of our strategy to continue growing our distribution client business."

He added: “We also outperformed our major competitors in the United States in 2022. Among the market leaders in the publishing industry, Simon & Schuster was the only company that grew its print sales, which we increased by 11%.

"Congratulations to all on the greatest year in the history of Simon & Schuster. As we near our 100th anniversary in 2024, I am sure we will have even more to celebrate.” 

This week Reuters reported Paramount Global is again seeking to sell Simon & Schuster, months after the $2.2bn deal to sell it to Penguin Random House collapsed following a legal judgment. 

Paramount is believed to be working with a financial adviser to explore a sale that could, according to sources who spoke to the news agency, value it between $2bn and $2.5bn, though the sources cautioned that the process was at an early stage and a deal was not certain.