Mixed news about publishing

McGraw-Hill downsizing

As part of a restructure, the large American publisher McGraw Hill has announced that it will be shedding 925 jobs, which is five per cent of their workforce. Over half of the jobs being lost will come from their educational division.

MightyWords to close

The MightyWords site is to close, with the loss of 23 jobs. BN.com, having acquired over half of MightyWords, appears to be reevaluating its usefulness in terms of BN.com's own customers.

But better news from bookshops

The latest sales figures from the UK book trade seem to indicate that Christmas has arrived at last and a bumper season is expected. Consumers seem to have decided that the anticipated recession has not yet arrived yet and they might as well cheer themselves up by going on a Christmas spending spree.