The Javits Center hosted the 114th International Toy Fair over Presidents’ Day weekend, with 1100 exhibitors and an estimated 30,000 attendees. In 2016 U.S. toy sales grew 5% and are estimated to be $26 billion for the year, so the mood was upbeat. Numerous mainstream publishers were on hand, including HarperCollins, Macmillan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,…Continue Reading
Digital Book World 2017 was revamped this year into four different tracks: Editorial Acquisitions and Development, Production and Distribution, Marketing and Sales, and Data Analysis and Reporting. While I spent most of my day in sessions on the Editorial Track, many of DBW’s day one sessions overall seemed geared toward finding out what people at…Continue Reading
Nielsen’s annual Children’s Book Summit took place on Oct 27th in Manhattan’s Financial District. With an overflow crowd in attendance, the daylong conference delivered information that went well beyond Nielsen’s own data and analytics. The day was filled with stats and information from a range of speakers on what kids are reading, what devices they’re using, and—to the surprise…Continue Reading
The annual Book Industry Study Group (BISG) meeting took place on September 30th – coincidentally on the eve of its new Executive Director Brian O’Leary’s first day in his new job, October 3rd. Almost one hundred members and industry participants came for the program and to celebrate BISG’s 40th anniversary. Awards were also given out, the…Continue Reading
If it seems like there is a new conference every month, there’s a fairly simple explanation: Conferences provide revenue streams at a time when many legacy businesses are struggling for growth. Nielsen is looking for ways to promote and monetize its data collection; Publishers Weekly is reaching new audiences in its partnership with NYU; and…Continue Reading
The Annual Meeting of the Association of American Publishers got off to a strong start with timely and persuasive talks from Daniel Marni, US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for the US government and Carolyn J. Ross, Professor of Law at The George Washington University and author of Lessons in Censorship: How Schools and Courts Subvert Students’…Continue Reading
For the last four years Toy Fair and Digital Kids have been held in tandem, the Fair taking up the entire exhibition space at Javits, and Digital Kids being held downstairs in one of the large conference rooms. With about 150 attendees, Digital Kids doesn’t compete with Toy Fair, with its estimated 33,000 visitors. This…Continue Reading
The United States boasts the largest book market in the world, and a significant part of that market is children’s books. But what are kids around the world reading? Do other children like to read the same things that Americans do? Attendees of yesterday’s Global Kids Connect Conference held at The Grand Lodge of the…Continue Reading
