To Bee or Not to Bee

By PT Editors
November 14, 2007
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This year the fourth annual Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Spelling Bee kicked off to an earlier start, further downtown and in a more corporate locale (the Riverhouse Sales & Discovery center – purveyor of eco condos – rather than Exit Art – purveyor of contemporary art), but the beloved hosts, remained the same: Bob Morris, of the NYT Style Section emceed, Jesse Sheidlower, US Ed. Dir. of the OED presided as judge, and Ira Silverberg, Roving Agent, hawked a Kate Spade python purse.

Round One: Favored newcomer Michael Cunningham (introduced as the “tallest most beautiful man here”) falls to the floor in despair when he misses his first word “millennium” (he forgets to double the doubles). Page Six Editor Paula Froelich bumbles the same word (two L’s one N) after confirming that her paper of note only accepts gossip tips that are spelled correctly. Alex Kuczynski neglects a “c” in “cappuccino,” and blames her error on the fact that she doesn’t drink coffee. PW’s Sara Nelson nails “pachyderm.”

Round Two: Jonathan Burnham opens with a fierce correct spelling of “glockenspiel.” Thisbe Nissen is thwarted by “ecstasy;” Abigail Pogrebin is unseated by “privilege.”

Round Three: GalleyCat’s Ron Hogan continues to blaze through with his correct spelling of “halcyon.” Emily Nussbaum gets trumped by “conscientious” (“the Culture Editor of New York Magazine!”). Last year’s champ Robert Sistema remembers the “h” in “dinghy.”

Round Three: In an upset, Sistema, Tad Smith, Lynne Tillman, Meg Wolitzer, Burnham, & Hogan are all stymied by “lignin.” Gretchen Rubin gives it a shot. She fails! All wronged by lignin return.

Round Four: Wolitzer starts off strong with “colonelcy.” Burnham nails “triptych.” Hogan, Rubin, Sistema, and Smith all butcher “florilegium.” Florilegium is looking like the new lignin. Tillman is up. She spells it right! Michael Cunningham kisses her. Ira Silverberg asks for more donations.

Round Five: Burnham, Tillman, and Wolitzer all kill the word “tar” (the long-necked ute from central Asia, natch) by adding extra h’s, and r’s in varying order. All step back up. Burnham gets “klaxon.” Tillman fumbles on “cachesexe.” Wolitzer delivers.

Final Round: Burnham and Wolitzer volley – “gleet,” “dudgeon,” “fustigate.” Burnham is thrown “chukker.” He confuses polo with ankle boots and drops the “er” for an “a.” Wolitzer attempts….and wins! Everyone drinks Pravda vodka. End.

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We Won! Publishers Learn That Everyone Loves (to Talk About) a Free Book

By PT Editors
November 14, 2007
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Just as a hunter sends a spray of buckshot into the forest, the book publicist can never be sure an ARC hits the right reviewer at the right time. As professional book reviews dwindle and higher-ups put pressure on publicists to “do something online,” a serendipitous moment has arrived when publisher, web, consumer, and reviewer come together in the crosshairs: Several notable social bookshelf sites along with the biggest online bookstores have launched ARC giveaway programs to consumer-reviewers in the past few months, lining up voracious readers with pre-pub titles gratis in the hope of scoring some worthwhile online buzz and sales.

Targeting citizen reviewers might be a wise move considering 68% of consumers trust “people like me” first for product advice, according to Edelman Trust Barometer in 2006. An oft-cited statistic from Marketing Sherpa this summer says 89.9% of consumers surveyed would trust a friend’s recommendation over a review by a critic, and 83.8% would trust user reviews over a critic’s. And in the conflated world of social networking, trusting a “friend” takes on even more importance.

The Book Report Network (BRN) began combining ARC giveaways with newsletter and website ads in promotion packages sold to publishers way back in 2003. For between $2500 to $4500, depending on the length and ad specs of a campaign, the BRN will send out 10 to 20 ARC’s to a random sample of its readers who express interest in the ARC’s category. Though the Book Report Network encompasses a wide range of services and sites, Carol Fitzgerald, Founder and President, reported that revenue for the ARC giveaway and ad promotion packages rose 30% this year, signaling that publishers really are paying closer attention to the consumer reviewer.

Following in BRN’s footsteps, Bookbrowse, LibraryThing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble all initiated ARC giveaways last summer and this fall. First Impressions launched at Bookbrowse.com in July in response to a survey in which most members said they were “very interested” in reviewing advance copies. Davina Morgan-Witts, who founded the recommendation site ten years ago, reports the average member reads three to four “middle to upper intellect” books a week and most of them actively participate in the forums, reviews, and recommendation sections of the site which has a $34.95 access fee per year. To take part in First Impressions, publishers pay $500 and agree to cover the shipping cost of all ARCs to members on a list supplied by Morgan-Witts.

Not surprisingly, members claimed all 20 copies of four titles within an hour of their online posting. Response each month since has not lagged, but in order to keep the titles of high quality and the program intimate, no more than four titles will be offered to Bookbrowse’s 200,000 unique monthly visitors. “Opening up the ARC requests is like Christmas,” said Morgan-Witts.

Like an Informal Focus Group

Though posting a review is not required to participate in First Impressions, it’s strongly encouraged and, as with all the new ARC programs, not giving feedback will hurt your chance of receiving another ARC in the next round. Over 90% of members who receive ARCs at Bookbrowse write a review and most of the reviews (approximately 2/3) come within the first three weeks of receiving the book. The reviewers often can’t help themselves from giving advice directly to the publisher: For one title last summer, the majority of reviewers urged the publisher add an index and map to guide the reader.

Tim Spalding, Founder & Developer of LibraryThing, uses an elegant algorithm to determine who gets which ARC in its Early Reviewers Group (ERG) which launched with a few Random House titles in May and opened to all publishers in October. To get the right book in the right hands, LibraryThing asks the ARC’s publisher for a list of similar titles. When the requests from Early Reviewers come in, LibraryThing runs an algorithm against the “libraries” of each requester, searching for the titles similar to the ARC. If a reader requests Your Orgasmic Pregnancy, for instance, but none of the similar titles shows up in his/her library and 85% of it is filled with military fiction, chances are the reader won’t “win” the title. On the other hand, a reader whose library tips toward parenting books will have a much better shot. “We had people requesting Amy Bloom books that had 3,000 books in LibraryThing and not a single work of literary fiction,” explained Spalding. “We don’t want to give it to those people.” Sending books according to the algorithm means readers are more likely to write a review and publishers get better feedback from a “consumer expert.”

Ultimately, It’s All About Sales

For a publisher with limited marketing resources and a literary list like Unbridled Books, an ARC giveaway program, especially when it’s as tightly focused on a target demographic as the ERG is, is a relatively safe risk. “We can’t offer as many ARC’s as big publishers can, but 35 is not prohibitive. [ARC’s to consumers] wouldn’t work as well if we offered them on our website because we wouldn’t know who was actually getting them,” said Caitlin Hamilton Summie, Marketing Director, adding that consumer reviews are almost like an informal focus group. Still, she’s not ready to give up on the professionals. “Consumers listen to each other, but we’re not focusing any less on the major media,” she said. “If the print media hasn’t already picked up on the title, hopefully the online buzz will get them to pay attention.”

At HarperCollins, Christine Casaccio, Online Marketing Manager, has set up recent titles at several of the consumer ARC giveaway programs. “Many more people are going online for their news and information now, so a customer online review is just as valid as a professional book review,” she commented. “I also believe that the customers who write reviews on sites such as Amazon, take it very seriously and have a true passion for whatever it is they are reviewing.”

Other publishers are participating with a bit more skepticism as it’s still too early to evaluate what the true impact on sales these programs will have. Paul Kozlowski, Director of Field Sales at Random House commented that publishers are experimenting with ARC’s because they’re scared of losing sales if the programs do end up working. Anecdotally at least, he thinks consumer reviews are very important online since “the consumer responds most to the closest point of purchase.”

Traditionally, an ARC’s impact is notoriously hard to measure. Brian O’Leary, a consultant with Magellan Media, recently conducted research for a publisher on how to quantify marketing efforts which included analyzing the cost effectiveness of ARC’s. On top of the average $2.75 to $4 it costs to produce each ARC, publishers have to factor in the cost of mailing envelopes, letters, and releases, and shipping involved in pushing it (and often the final book once it’s published) out into the standard “universe of influentials,” the 400-500 professional reviewers and hundreds of other industry “big mouths” around the country.

Without an accurate measurement mechanism to track how many reviews result from sending ARC’s, O’Leary noted, there’s only anecdotal evidence that the system even works. Rosetta Solutions recently launched net Galley, a digital ARC delivery program that, if reviewers of all varieties respond to it, offers publishers the elusive data they’re looking for to keep tabs on pre-pub buzz.

With an ARC giveaway program at a site that includes consumer reviews, however, results can be better tracked since most, but not all, readers post their reviews of a title in the same place that gave it to them as doing so increases their chance of getting a free book the next time. Citizen reviewers revealed not only their eagerness to receive free books, but their willingness uphold their end of the bargain at Amazon’s new Project Vine. The program features six titles of different categories from six publishers. Reviews coming from Vine are clearly marked with “Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program” on the product page. Two weeks after publication of The Year of Living Biblically (S&S), over 115 reviews showed up on Amazon and all but a few came from Voices. Run by Ann Patchett (HC) received similar numbers. HC Sales reports that Vine added momentum to the title’s launch. Amazon spokesperson Tammy Hovey declined to cite how many copies were requested and sent, saying instead that the program “has been well received since its launch and continues to grow.”

Barnes & Noble shipped 1,000 copies of Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff as its first title in the First Look Book Club in September. In addition to receiving ARC’s, readers can also chat with the author who makes online appearances at BN’s Book Clubs. When the title comes out in February, Groff will return to the Book Clubs to talk about the novel with a wider audience. BN editors choose the featured title and publishers don’t pay a fee to participate. “[It’s] a way of building word of mouth—and ultimately sales—for books that warrant the attention of the marketplace,” said Kevin Ryan, VP of Content Development at BN.com.

Shelfari remains coy about plans to start an ARC giveaway program, perhaps waiting to see how its minority investor, Amazon, does with Project Vine. “Lots of people have approached us about setting one up,” says Dave Hanley, VP Marketing at Shelfari. “Right now, we’re encouraging publishers and authors to interact directly with users, to access groups about specific genres or topics.” The other popular bookshelf social network, GoodReads, is taking a similar approach as of now, encouraging authors and publishers to mingle with the site’s members à la MySpace bands. Both sites are ramping up formal initiatives to get readers and authors talking.

Readers Love to Win, & Publishers Hope They Buy Too

In its October batch, LibraryThing sent out 31 eclectic titles from 12 publishers that included novels from established authors such as RH’s Amy Bloom and Lisa See, DK’s illustrated Lincoln: The Presidential Archives, practical health books from DiaMedica and Hunter House, and self-published titles from Nimble Books. When the ERG closed for requests on October 12th, LibraryThing’s blog reported there had been 8,369 requests for 578 available copies. The most popular titles were Do Not Open (DK, 11/07) with 611 requests and Every Last Cuckoo (Algonquin, 2/08) with 573.

As soon as the requesting window closed and email notifications were sent to the winners, joy, speculation, and jealousy spread not only in the comments section at LibraryThing’s blog, but on personal blogs and other reading-centric sites across the web. Multiple commenters wondered why they weren’t chosen to get an ARC this round while some “winners” claimed they were picked due to their track record of superior reviews. Once the ARCs began arriving, some commenters lamented how far they lived from the shipping source and others reported reading the other titles in an author’s oeuvre ahead of time to write a more informed review.

Perhaps best summing up the enthusiasm of “chosen” readers is Literate Housewife (www.literatehousewife.wordpress.com), a blogger who was selected for both LibraryThing’s ERG and Barnes & Noble’s First Look Book Club. “Today, my free advanced reading copy arrived! I cannot tell you how excited I am!” she writes. After receiving her ARC of Lauren Goff’s Monsters of Templeton from BN, she posted a 983 word review on her personal blog, a link to buy the book at BN, and a link to Goff’s site as well as this note to BN at the end of the post: “Thank you Barnes and Noble for providing me with an Advance Reading Copy of this book. Your First Look Book Club is an incredible opportunity.”

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Wunderwidgets

By PT Editors
November 14, 2007
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Aggregation is so 2006. The new web is all about distributed media, and widgets are the new web’s wunderkind. With widgets, users can easily remix, repost, and share chunked content, making them a popular (and rapidly growing) marketing tool. According to ComScore, more than 48% of all US internet users – over 87 million people – now use web widgets. And that includes publishers. Matt Shatz, VP Digital at Random House, announced at the recent AAR panel that RH now has 600,000 web widgets on 2,000 sites, for a total of 8,000,000 pages views.

But, you might ask, who are these 87 million people? Where are these 600,000 widgets? What is a web widget anyhow?

Widgets (aka gadgets, badges, modules, capsules, snippets, minis, and flakes) are portable chunks of code that can be easily embedded on various websites, blogs, and profile pages without any extra coding. On the user end, that translates into little windows of syndicated content. Your Trip Advisor “Places I’ve Been” app on Facebook? Widget. Your number-of-days-until-Bush-is-out-of-office desktop badge? Widget. The Flickr feed on your friend’s blog? Widget.

“The widget market is in its infancy,” Carolyn Pittis, HarperCollins’s SVP Global Marketing Strategy & Operations said. “We set out to experiment, to see what happens, to see usage, to see what types of consumers widgets attract.” For publishers, widgets are a way to begin to regain control over their digital space in the age of Google and Amazon search-inside dominance. Emboldened by that control (limiting page previews, specifying search inside capabilities), pubs are finally warming up to what’s really important: expansive online distribution. “Our priority is syndicating our content as broadly as possible,” Shatz said. And because widgets are so easy to post and share – creators provide code which users easily cut and paste – widgets are the perfect syndication vehicle.

In addition to RH’s Insight widget program, both HC (“Browse Inside”) and Bloomsbury (“Search Inside”) have title-based widget programs with almost identical functionality (both are powered by LibreDigital). Harper was LibreDigital’s first partner, and Pittis said that HC has prototyped a variety of digital functions and apps with them that other publishers have gone on to use. HC currently has two widget templates available–the LibreDigital “sampling” widget that allows readers to browse inside books, and the SpringWidgets “countdown” widget that allows fans to countdown the days until a book is in the marketplace.

Publishing widgets across the board share some similar features (cover image, TOC, sample pages), although RH’s widgets have received immeasurably better press due to their increased functionality, usability and customizable features. For example, the RH widget comes in two sizes, and pages can both be browsed within the viewer, and within a larger pop-up widget (the HC and Bloomsbury widgets always launch in a separate window). RH also has a search function, and a customizable “buy” button link. “From the moment we launched, anyone could easily reconfigure the buy button on our widgets,” Shatz said. “The day after we launched , all of the retailers in the Booksense program had all of our widgets with the buy button bound for their respective carts.”

Still, there are RH compatibility issues–unlike HC’s widget, RH widgets still aren’t compatible with MySpace, and some bloggers have cited difficulty embedding the larger sized widgets.

Although Harper doesn’t track widget usage on 3rd party sites, Pittis said that about 1,000 widgets/day are being browsed on the HC site, and that on average the widgets are getting up to 10-15 pageviews/unique user – “a pretty sticky number that we are pleased with,” she said. (HC doesn’t break out how many users have gone on to embed those widgets elsewhere.) At last count, HC had a global total of 12,000 widgets, with every title in their digital warehouse available automatically as a viral widget on the HC site.

Shatz said that RH doesn’t capture any personally identifiable information about widget embedders beyond their URL, and that viewers, likewise, remain entirely anonymous. “We monitor traffic in the aggregate and can tell which widgets are generating interest and views, both at a site- and book-level,” he said.

Other publishers in the process of launching title-based widgets include Hachette which will soft launch its OpenBook widget the first week of November. According to Jim Bean, Head of OpenBook, Hachette is starting with a small number of titles on the HBGUSA website in order to “learn and discover the different possibilities that come with a viral marketing tool.” Hachette plans on rolling out a larger number of titles on its new website early next year.

Simon & Schuster has partnered with Innodata to digitize their backlist and with TurnHere to produce their book video channel, and create their widget player. In addition to making the widgets available from the S&S site, TurnHere distributes BookVideos.tv content to numerous book-centric sites including Book Divas, Goodreads, Lib.rario.us, and LibraryThing, as well as to major Web portals including AOL, Google, MSN, Yahoo! and YouTube.

Last May, Michael Cader launched a Job Board widget to show industry readers how simple it was to set one up. “As our experiments go, the Job Board widget has been a very modest one,” he said. “But it was also really easy – which is a big part of what we wanted to demonstrate to others in the community!” Although he says that he’s not monitoring the stats closely, Cader estimates that about 200 people/sites have displayed the Job Board widget at some point since they introduced it, garnering about 2,500 pageviews a week.

The next stage of the publisher widget will most likely include increased functionality (more extensive search capabilities, compatibility with all social networking sites, buy buttons), as well as a further degree of customization (similar to the recently introduced Amazon suite of widgets which allow users themselves to become the widget creators and assemble Amazon content).

Pittis emphasized that since the HC widget launched in February, the marketplace has evolved rapidly – she specifically cited Facebook opening up to the public as a key advancement since the Facebook apps are some of the most heavily trafficked widgets on the web. “We need to put into the hands of consumers things they will be eager to pass onto their friends. Our first widget was a no brainer – search inside – but now there are a huge number of different riffs on that. We’re very connected in watching what’s happening and planning our next move. It’s still early going.”

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Media & Money, Kings & Castles

By PT Editors
November 8, 2007
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Nielsen and DowJones sponsored a conference focused on, well Media and Money, though with few exceptions, they forgot that books are part of the Media landscape. Jeff Berg, Chairman and CEO of ICM, mentioned that movies were the only medium that has used the same method — a projector in a theater — to disseminate its content for the last hundred years, presumably forgetting momentarily about the bound book.

Still, Michael Eisner mentioned Remembrance of Things Past not once, but twice in his talk; and Sumner Redstone had some great, albeit nonspecific, references to what writers do: Speaking of media in general he said, “this is an industry that thrives on good old-fashioned storytelling.” And later he announced: “If content is king, copyright is its castle.” Quick, print up the t-shirts and take to the streets.

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The Art of the Media Launch

By PT Editors
November 8, 2007
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If you went to the NYU Center for Publishing’s “Art of the Media Launch” looking only for practical tips from media gurus Arianna Huffington (Huffingtonpost.com), Susan Lyne (CEO, Martha Stewart Omnimedia), Craig Newmark (Founder, craigslist.org), and Laurel Touby (Founder, mediabistro.com), you might have come away disappointed. The inimitable moderator, David Carr, teased his all-star panelists quite a bit, getting them to talk about their new favorite gadgets, how they deal with naysayers, and what keeps them focused on their vision, but most of the nitty gritty advice (i.e. how do you fund a new site anyway? What about Google? Getting traffic?) came during the brief audience Q and A.

Carr asked about obstacles and getting over them: On the day The Huffington Post launched, the LA Times panned it saying the site was “the web version of Gigli.” Huffington has since memorized it, channeling the negativity into more verve and “fearlessness” (which she talks about in her oft-plugged book, On Becoming Fearless). About the “Gawker chick” who ragged on the notorious boa she’s worn to media parties since 1994, Touby said focusing on the hundreds of thousands of media people who “voted [for her] with their dollars” at mediabistro.com kept her going. Lyne talked about being very publicly fired from ABC and bouncing back to head Martha Stewart’s empire.

When Carr asked the group their thoughts on Facebook, “social advertising,” and behavioral ads, saying he felt like “[advertisers’] hands are a little too far up my skirt,” Newmark emphasized the need for transparency through opt-ins and full disclosure from advertisers. Huffington handled the issue in an equally straitforward manner. When Toyota signed on as an advertiser, she asked readers to take pictures of themselves with their Priuses and posted them on her site. All agreed there’s never been a better time to start a media business. It’s less expensive (Huffington started with $1 million, Touby and Newmark with “nothing,” and Martha Stewart was the exception of course). Touby pointed out the importance of good market research, understanding your audience, and figuring out what people will (and won’t) pay for.

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Do you do good?

By PT Editors
November 8, 2007
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For our December issue, Publishing Trends is looking for any publishing people who contribute a significant amount of effort to charities, from building medical centers in Africa to organizing grassroots political action at home (and because we know we all love books, we’re continuing to focus on non-literacy endeavors). Donation information for the charities we highlight will be prominently featured.

If anyone comes to mind (including yourself), please comment here, email meredith@publishingtrends.com, or call us at (212) 447-0855. We look forward to hearing your stories and telling others about them.

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Bookview, November 2006

By PT Editors
November 1, 2007
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PEOPLE

Tracy Carns, who had been Publishing Director at The Overlook Press before going briefly to Reganbooks, has launched The Rookery Press, in association with Overlook (and in Overlook’s offices). For more information, email Tracy@therookerypress.com.

Sterling Publishing announced that Marisa Bulzone has joined the company as Editorial Director, Hearst Books. Bulzone was Executive Editor at Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

Harriet Bell is leaving HarperCollins November 16. She may be reached at harrietbell@verizon.net. Rakesh Satyal has moved to Harper as an editor reporting to Jonathan Burnham. He was an associate editor at Doubleday Broadway, working for Gerry Howard.

In sales, Greg Anastas, Director of Customer Operations is leaving S&S to join Perseus Publishing as VP of Sales Operations. . . . Jim Conlin is joining S & S as National Account Manager for Books for Young Readers and other imprints. He will share the selling responsibilities for B&N with Elena Blanco. Prior positions were at Disney Publishing Group, Scholastic, and thirteen years as a buyer at Borders. . . . Stephen Sussman has been named VP Sales for print products at LearningExpress. He was mostly recently at Barron’s. LearningExpress is distributed through PGW. . . . Kevin Hunt has taken a position at Sylvan Source as VP, Sales. He had been VP of Sales at Klutz, located in California. His email is khunt@sylvansource.com . . . . Peter Ackroyd has been named VP of Sales and Marketing at Quayside Publishing/Quarto. He reports to CEO Ken Fund, working out of the Gloucester, MA office.

John Oakes will be joining Atlas Books as Executive Editor, the position Jesse Cohen held until earlier this summer. (He may be reached at jesse.cohen5@verizon.net.) Oakes was most recently at Avalon, which had purchased the company he co-founded, Four Walls Eight Windows, in 2004.

John Fedor Publisher, Books at the American Diabetes Association, has gone to the Thomson Corporation in their Career and Professional division.

Following the sale of Trafalgar Square to IPG, Managing Director, Paul Feldstein will stay on till the end of the year and will continue to consult for them through June of next year from various points on both sides of the Atlantic while he ponders his next move.

Adam Korn has moved from Villard to Kensington, as an Editor. . . . Allison Dickens has moved to Plume as Senior Editor, acquiring for both trade paperback original and hard/soft with Dutton. She had been at Ballantine. . . . Dedi Felman has joined the S&S imprint as Senior Editor, reporting to Alice Mayhew. She had been at Oxford University Press for the past seven years, and is editor of Words without Borders, an online magazine for international literature in translation.

Kristen Giorgio has joined DK as Marketing Manager. She has been Marketing Manager for Scribner and Touchstone Fireside. . . . Ronnie Gramazio has joined Globe Pequot Press as Executive Editor for the Lyons Press imprint, relocating from Australia, where he worked at Wiley most recently.

Kathy Daneman has left her position as Publicity Director of Soho Press to become Publicity Manager at FSG. Colleen Lindsay has taken over her position at Soho. She has worked as an independent publicist and Assistant Director of Publicity at Ballantine.

Morgen Van Vorst has joined Public Affairs as an Editor. She had been at Norton.

Laura Pillar joins Goldberg McDuffie Communications as Associate Director on November 1. She was Publicity Manager at Doubleday.

PROMOTIONS

Richard Sarnoff, President of Random House’s Corporate Development Group and Random House Ventures LLC, has added responsibilities as head of Bertelsmann‘s newly established international venture capital fund, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.

Lindsay Jones has been promoted to Editor at Public Affairs. She had been Associate Editor.

At Avery and Viking Studio, Lucia Watson has been promoted to Senior Editor and Jeff Galas is moving over from Dutton, continuing as Editor.

At S&S, Frank Nunez, currently Director of Financial Planning and Analysis in the S&S Children’s Division has been promoted to the position of Director of Customer Operations, previously held by Greg Anastas.

LATE OCTOBER EVENTS

The CLMP Spelling Bee – “A Better Bee,” is back on October 30 at Exit Art, 475 Tenth Avenue. MC: Bob Morris; Judge: Jesse Sheidlower. Spellers include Lev Grossman defending his crown; Alex Kuczynski, Patrick McGrath, Sara Nelson and many more. Go to www.clmp.org/invite for information.

NOVEMBER EVENTS

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses will host the first Literary Writers Conference at The New School in New York City (LWC/NYC) November 2 – 9. Attempting to go beyond “how to get an agent,” the conference is aimed at post-MFA fiction writers and poets, and brings together a who’s who of publishing pros (including Sonny Mehta, Morgan Entrekin and Jonathan Burnham) to help them navigate the marketplace effectively. For more info, visit: www.clmp.org/lwc.

The Thurber Prize for American Humor will be presented on Monday, November 6 at the Algonquin. Henry Alford, who won last year’s prize, will host the evening’s reception and ceremony. For further information email sjaffe@ thurberhouse.org.

Also on November 6, The Mercantile Library announces the John Sargent Sr. first novel prize, and honors Gary Fisketjon and Robert Coover at its awards dinner at the New York Racquet and Tennis Club. For information go to www.mercantilelibrary.org.

Barbara Lowenstein, ably abetted by many publishers and colleagues, has organized the Village Health Works Benefit on November 8 at 88 Crosby Street in SoHo, from 6-8. Donations help build and maintain a medical center in Burundi. Join Paul Farmer, Tracy Kidder and others, or send a check to The Hitchcock Foundation, c/o Barbara Lowenstein, 1025 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10028.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, NYU’s Master of Science in Publishing program presents How to Lead and Succeed in a Brave New Media World, moderated by NYT’s David Carr, with panelists Steve Murphy, Carolyn Reidy, Yahoo’s Daniel Rosenzweig and Conde Nast’s Tom Wallace. The event takes place Wednesday November 8 at 6:30 at the Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South. Space is tight, but if interested in attending, email Heidi.johnson@nyu.edu to check availability.

The 2006 National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner takes place on Wednesday, November 15 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Fran Liebowitz is MC, Adrienne Rich is honored, and The New Yorker’s David Remnick will present the Literarian Award to Robert Silvers and, posthumously, Barbara Epstein, co-founders of The New York Review of Books. For information go to www.nationalbook.org.

The Small Press Center’s Annual Benefit and Cocktail Reception honors Alice Walker, on Friday, November 17, 2006, 6:00-8:00pm. Call 212.764.7021 or email or info@smallpress.org for information.

Meanwhile, the 19th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair will be held December 2nd & 3rd, at the Small Press Center. 3,000 to 4,000 attendees are expected, with over 100 independent presses taking part. Got to http://www.smallpress.org, for further information.

Peter Workman is the honoree at “An evening of Fond Tales and Gentle Roasts,” a benefit for Goddard Riverside. The gala takes place at Tavern on the Green on November 20. Call 212 873 4448 or email bookfair@goddard.org. The 20th Annual New York Book Fair takes place November 17-19.

DULY NOTED

Robert Stone, speaking at the Whiting Awards on October 25th: “Writing is not an indulgence; it’s a service.” On the same night, the publishing industry bade farewell to William Morris’ Owen Laster at the Four Seasons. Judy Blume, Suzanne Gluck, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Dominick Dunne were among the speakers.

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The First Annual PT Industry Survey…

By PT Editors
October 14, 2007
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Not sure which refreshments to serve at your next publishing soirée? Wine and beer are the safest bets…but it wouldn’t hurt to stash a few joints behind the bar either. Providing a protective cloak of anonymity in its first annual survey, PT uncovered the quirkier side and secret aspirations of publishing people, not to mention how they really feel about their singular industry (“no innovation!”). With a response rate well in the double digits, the survey also inspired hundreds of respondents to write in their own comments, offering insight that goes beyond the typical salary comparisons and demographic data gleaned from other industry surveys.

From virtually all areas of the industry and country, publishing people from CEOs to assistants added their two cents, but the typical respondent was around 45 and works at a publisher. Editors responded disproportionately which may explain why they also claim that “filling out surveys” is a favorite office time-waster. New York is home to two thirds of the respondents and 28.3% have more than a quarter century experience in the industry.

Let’s Be Social

Despite the industry’s somewhat luddite reputation, 36% of respondents engage in social networking. Proletarian MySpace (20.4%) and professional LinkedIn (18.5%) attract the most with wunderkind Facebook (14.3%) following close behind. As a way to connect with friends, MySpace is a hit, but as an aside, some book people are blunt about its dismal publishing potential. “MySpace isn’t really that helpful in promoting authors,” comments a prominent New York agent. “But it’s one thing an author can use to feel proactive, so it’s worth trying. There aren’t a lot of outlets for authors to feel like they’re working to promote themselves actively.”
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When not updating their online personae, lots (40%) read blogs (Huffington Post and celebrity gossip being favorites) and 31.7% say they get their publishing news from industry sites blogs. After independent booksellers (49.4%), most publishing people buy books online (48.9%). Yet 14.8% of respondents report that they’re “still getting into Web 1.0.” A marketer-cum-editor confesses that she feels “very low-tech compared to a lot of other people I know. I’m most curious about the new Sony Reader and other similar devices.”

So if online networking isn’t your thing, but you’d still like to be social, consider working at an agency. Literary agents talk amongst themselves the most with 47.7% reporting their biggest office time waster is chatting in real life. They might be friendly at the office, but the largest group of them (43.1%) says that less than 5% of their friends are in publishing and 22.2% say fewer than a quarter of their friends work in the business. The friendliest department is editorial as 77.6% say that at least one in four of their inner circle works in publishing and 40% say at least half of their closest friends are in publishing.

Everyone has a book in them, but editors are actually writing it. Almost half (48.6%) of those in editorial call themselves writers, both published and unpublished, compared with the 29.6% overall response. Marketing has the next biggest group of writers, aspiring and arrived, (36.4%) and rights people are the least authorial, with 70.4% saying they never feel the creative urge.

Our Own Brand of Insanity

Predictably, the siren song of publishing attracted more than 2/3 of respondents (68.3%) to the industry when they were between the ages of 21-27. Those who arrive later come from a variety of unlikely places, such as the 30-something New York agent who started out in children’s theatre. “The amount of drama in the office [was] insane,” he says. “Someone would cry everyday; people were always doing imitations or breaking out into song. So while publishing has its own brand of insanity, it fits better with who I am.” Among respondents are former teachers (Latin, ESL, Spanish), lawyers (patent attorney, immigration), actors (film, TV, and theatre), hospitality workers, and non-profiteers, not to mention the oil executive, dancers, U.S. Navy officer, baker, waitress, and government defense contractor.

Indeed, whether they begin their career in publishing or not, the industry seems to be a relatively happy place for most with the exception of an agent who says “every sale I make is like getting a root canal.” Just about a third (32%) “never” consider leaving and another 18.5% feel like throwing in the towel only when the season changes. The department with the fewest flight fantasies is marketing. Almost half (45.5%) “never” consider leaving the publishing industry and 44.1% report their departmental choice is “a perfect fit!”

Perhaps inspired by travels to distant book fairs, people in rights daydream the most about leaving; 59.2% consider striking off “seasonally” or “yearly.” Salespeople report the most overall satisfaction. When asked if happy working in their department, 74% say “yes” or “it’s a perfect fit!” compared with 65% overall.

If the book industry were to collapse tonight, other media would probably be inundated with resumes tomorrow. Not taking potential salary into consideration, if they had to leave publishing, the biggest group of book people would dabble in broadcast (21.8%) or print media (16.8%), followed by non-profit work (14.5%) and education (13.2%). When salary comes into play, however, publishing folk become a bit less altruistic. While media still rules as the top choice, finance (10.5%) edges out non-profits (9.1%) and education (9.4%). Plenty have horticultural fantasies also or of doing “anything outdoors,” perhaps running a “canine country club” or “driving a UPS truck.” One cheeky respondent dreams of taxidermy. Several consider sports as well: driving race cars, working in “the bicycle industry,” “golfing,” or managing pro teams.

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Commiserating over dismal entry level pay is universal across industry and geography, which could explain why 73.6% of the youngest respondents aged 21 to 35 report knowing they make “less” or “much less” than peers outside publishing. Compared with respondents 36 and older, they’re about five times as likely to know what their peers make. Whether they talk about it or not, most in publishing cite compensation as the worst aspect of the industry (39.2%).

But don’t count on supplementing a meager income by skimming off your company’s expense account until you’ve been around a while. Only half (51.2%) of the youngest respondents (21-27) has access to a company credit card and most of them (76.9%) spend under $50 per week. Not until respondents hit the 36-45 range does pretty much everyone (81.1%) have an expense account and the largest group of them charges over $100 a week (48.4%). The biggest spenders are salespeople of whom 54.6% write off over $100 a week. For editors still waiting for an agent to pick up the lunch tab, this will not come as a surprise: literary agents spend the least with 40.7% reporting weekly charges under $50.

Money isn’t the only thing publishing people gripe about. When asked about the best and worst aspects of the industry, twice as many wrote in with complaints as praise and they didn’t mince words either, not even for their colleagues. According to some, publishers lack vision, editors lack taste, managers don’t understand the business, authors have bad behavior, and a pot-smoking West Coast sales rep gets frustrated by the “idiots” he has to deal with at the companies he represents. An Oregonian publisher thinks the industry is “too narrowly focused in NYC” and one VP of Sales and Marketing at a major publisher simply “fears for the future of the biz.” Overall, after compensation, the unstable market (38.4%), job insecurity (14.8%), and a competitive/unsupportive work environment (11.4%) worry the most.

Gratifications

Though the unpredictable market irks book people to no end, it’s also what seems to bring the most gratifying moments. For the president of an international rights agency in the Northeast, all the effort becomes worth it when “that ‘little book’ gets astonishing royalties because you never really know when a book will sell or not.” Indeed, perhaps cracking the capricious market is part of the “intellectual challenge” that 63% of respondents cite as the best part of their jobs. And despite occasionally grumbling about them, 48.1% say “working with like-minded people” is the best part. “Contributing to literary culture” (39.7%) and a “flexible schedule” (24.1%) also enthuse the industry. A little fame doesn’t hurt either. “Meeting someone who has read and enjoyed a book on which I’ve worked” is a high point for one editor. Some simply like all the free books and going to Frankfurt (though schlepping across the sea is a downside for others).

No matter what side you’re on in publishing, seeing one of your books “make it” in spite of naysayers is undeniably delightful though not everyone goes to this extreme of showing that damn editor/ agent/publisher/marketer just how wrong they were: “The most gratifying moments are when a novel or memoir that I’ve been told over and over is ‘difficult’ sells tons of copies,” comments an agent. “Even more gratifying is when an editor writes to you about said book and says, ‘gosh… we really would have liked to have published that book here.’ I’m happy to send them a copy of the finished book with a copy of their very opinionated rejection letter folded neatly inside.”

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Bookview, October 2007

By PT Editors
October 14, 2007
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PEOPLE
The big news this month was the long-anticipated promotion of Carolyn Reidy to the position of President & CEO of S&S, following Jack Romanos‘ retirement announcement. Following that move, Michael Selleck has been promoted to the newly created position of EVP, Sales and Marketing for S&S Inc.. He was SVP Sales & Marketing for the Adult Division. Dennis Eulau has been promoted to the newly created position of EVP, Operations from SVP and GM for the Adult Division. Larry Norton, President of Sales & Distribution, is leaving the company at the end of the year.  Reidy also announced that Simon Spotlight Entertainment will now join the Pocket Books unit, with SSE VP and Publisher Jen Bergstrom reporting to Pocket’s EVP and Publisher Louise Burke. Simon Pulse remains under the Children’s Publishing Division.

Richard Charkin has resigned from CEO of Macmillan to become Executive Director of Bloomsbury.

Amy Hertz is returning to Penguin as Editor-at-Large at Dutton, reporting to Brian Tartt. Most recently, she was the VP and Publisher of Morgan Road Books, an imprint she founded in 2004. Before deciding to run her own imprint, Amy had been an Executive Editor of Riverhead.

Gina Centrello announced that Nancy Miller, SVP Executive Editor at Random House, is leaving the company in October.

Charlotte Abbott is leaving Publishers Weekly but will remain as a contributing editor. She is available to pursue other freelance opportunities as a publishing consultant and writer. She may be reached at 718 619-6794 or at abbcha@gmail.com.

David Shanks announced the appointment of Jeff Gomez to the position of Senior Director of Online Consumer Sales and Marketing at Penguin, effective October 29th. Gomez was most recently the Director of Internet Marketing for Holtzbrinck Publishers and is the author of the forthcoming Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age.

HarperCollins announced Doug Jones has been appointed SVP, Director of Sales for the Collins Division, reporting to Josh Marwell, President of Sales. Jones had been VP Director of Marketing for the Putnam and Riverhead imprints at Penguin, and previously VP, Sales Director at Crown.

Steve Rotterdam has been named SVP Director of Sales and Marketing for DC Comics reporting to President and Publisher, Paul Levitz. He was SVP/Chief Creative Officer at the EastWest Marketing Group. Meanwhile John Nee has been promoted to SVP of Business Development.

After several years in nonprofit and educational space, most recently as Editor in Chief of Redleaf Press, Sid Farrar returns to Hazelden as Director Content Development and Product Management, overseeing acquisitions. He may be reached at SFarrar@hazelden.org.

Nick Bogaty, Executive Director of the International Digital Publishing Forum has moved to Adobe. He will be assuming the publisher relations responsibilities that Jim Alexander once held.

Lisa Berkowitz has left Meredith following Linda Cunningham’s departure earlier in the summer. She may be reached at lisaberkowitzpr[at] yahoo.com.

Kathy Wiess has been named VP, International Sales, for Ingram International. Wiess spent 16 years with Random House and most recently served as Senior Sales Director of the International division.

David Naggar announced that Robert Manger has joined the Crown Group as Director of Direct Marketing. He will oversee the existing Direct Marketing continuities programs, including the long-lived Louis L’Amour continuity, as well as the Direct to Consumer (D2C) business. Manger was most recently Senior Director of Customer Marketing for BMG Direct and Columbia House.

Shawn Coyne, former co-founder and publisher of Rugged Land Books has joined Endeavor in their New York book division as a literary agent, working with Richard Abate and Rebecca Oliver.

Michael Murphy has left the Queen Literary Agency to launch his own literary agency, Max & Co.: A Literary Agency & Social Club. Go to www.maxliterary.com or mmurphy[at]maxlit.com.

InkWell Management announced the arrival of Rose Marie Morse as Public Relations Strategist. She will oversee publicity and media planning for the agency’s clients. Prior to joining InkWell, Morse ran Morse Partners, a boutique public relations company. Inkwell’s previous publicity guru, Beth Davey, moved to Rodale earlier this year.

Haights Cross Communications, Inc. (HCC) announced that Peter J. Quandt, Chairman, CEO and President, has resigned. Quandt founded HCC in 1997. Paul J. Crecca, EVP and CFO, assumes the role of Interim-CEO/President.

Abrams’ newly named Art Director, Michelle Ishay-Cohen, was most recently Art Director at Hyperion Books, where she art directed and designed for three imprints including the visual branding for the newly launched imprint, VOICE.

Sterling announced that Dave Nelson has been named Executive Acquisitions Editor for Mind/Body/Spirit titles, as well as health and self-improvement. He reports to Philip Turner, VP and Editorial Director of Union Square Press. Nelson was Publisher of Beaufort Books.

Meanwhile, National Book Network announced that Marie Hergenroeder has joined NBN as Director of Special Sales. She was formerly Director of Premium Sales at HarperCollins and before that was director of special sales for Random House. Tracy Fortini has joined NBN as an Account Manager/Marketing Director. Fortini was most recently an account manager at PGW and was earlier a senior buyer at Waldenbooks and the Nature Company.

Anne Hollinshead DeCourcey has joined HarperCollins as Sales Rep, reporting to Jeannette Zwart and selling both Children’s and adult titles in the New England region. She was head of sales for Gibbs Smith.

PROMOTIONS
Random House Chairman and CEO Peter Olson has taken on the additional responsibility of overseeing Direct Group North America (which now will operate under the name Bertelsmann Direct North America), retaining his Random House day job.

Leigh Ann Ambrosi has been promoted to VP, Marketing & Publicity for Sterling & Lark Books. Ambrose joined Sterling in 2004 as Director of Publicity and was promoted to Director of Marketing & Publicity.

David Naggar named Jacob Bronstein Associate Director, Interactive Media for the Crown Publishing Group. In the Marketing Department Michael McGinley has been promoted to Creative Director, Advertising and Promotion.

Abrams, Inc. announced the promotion of Deborah Aaronson to Abrams Editorial Director. She reports to Steve Tager.

In the expanded Perseus sales organization, Matty Goldberg announced: Elise Cannon was promoted to VP, Field Sales, responsible for PGW, Perseus Books Group and Perseus Distribution sales into the independent channel. Clay Farr was promoted to Director, National Accounts, BGI; Keith Arsenault becomes Sales Manager, mass retail; and Peter D’Erasmo is now Director. Charles Gee is now a National Accounts Manager; Laura Robinson is now a Senior Sales Rep; Holly Demeter becomes Special Markets Manager.

At RH Children’s Books, Christine Labov has been promoted to Director of Publicity. Noreen Marchisi moves up to Publicity Manager, Kelly Galvin is joining the group as senior publicist, moving over from the Random House Audio group, where she was a publicist.

Jeanne Kramer has been named VP, Marketing for NBN. She has been with NBN for two years as Senior Director of Marketing and heads the account management team that works with NBN publisher clients.

Harper announced that Rachel Brenner has been promoted to National Account Manager for Baker & Taylor and Target. She will report jointly to Rhonda Rose and Jeanette Zwart respectively.

OCTOBER EVENTS
The Quill Awards are upon us, taking place on October 22 at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Ann Curry and Al Roker host, with Stephen Colbert a “special guest.” Go to www.thequills.org for details.

To Bee or Not to Bee: The annual spelling bee to benefit the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses will be held Monday October 29. Bob Morris MCs, Jonathan Burnham, Sara Nelson, Alex Kuczynski, Patrick McGrath and others will spell, and Jesse Sheidlower will judge. Doors open 7.30pm, Bee 8pm. At Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue at 36th Street, New York. Check www.clmp.org for details and to buy tickets.

Also on October 29th, Goddard Riverside Community Center holds a “Festive Evening of Raucous Roasts and Snappy Toasts” honoring Random House Children’s Books’ Chip Gibson, at Tavern on the Green. Go to www.Goddard.org for details.

DULY NOTED
Bookspan has moved to One Penn Plaza, 250 West 34th Street, New York, N. Y. 10119. The phone number (212-651-7400) remains the same. And, after working 54 years at The Book-of-the-Month Club, Mary Idoni is retiring on October 12, 2007.

Tony Lyons launched Skyhorse Publishing in 2006, and will move his distribution from Sterling to Norton in 2008.

The 20th Independent and Small Press Book Fair will take place on Saturday, December 1 (between 10am and 6pm) and Sunday, December 2 (between 11am and 5pm) at the New York Center of Independent Publishing, at 20 West 44th Street. More than 100 presses from the U.S. and abroad will exhibit. Contact the NYCIP at 212-764-7021, www.nycip.org, christopher[at]nycip.org.

Congrats to Sourcebooks and its indomitable founder, Dominique Raccah, on the company’s 20th anniversary this month.

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Hey, Hay House!

By PT Editors
October 14, 2007
Comments (2)

Louise Hay, the 80 year-old founder of Hay House, and Reid Tracy, President and CEO, were in town in mid-September to celebrate the opening of the New York office, under the supervision of Patty Gift. In addition, they were celebrating the launch of SmileyBooks, a joint partnership between the publisher and Tavis Smiley.

At a breakfast held near Union Square, Hay and Tracy told a group of literary agents about the company, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. Started as a result of the phenomenal success of You Can Heal Your Life, written by Louise Hay and now with 35 million copies in print, Hay House expects to exceed revenues of $100 million in 2007. The company publishes about a hundred books and CDs per year, all of them nonfiction, and focused on what the principals call “transformational publishing.” In addition to the San Diego and New York offices, the company now has offices in the UK, India, South Africa and Australia. Agents perked up upon hearing that authors receive full royalties on sales in these countries. In addition, Hay House will set up or enhance an author’s proprietary website, at no cost.

Also of interest is the internet-only Hay Radio, which has in excess of a half million visitors per month and broadcasts many of the publisher’s authors. There are also on- and offline workshops and seminars, as well as a speakers bureau which tours both the publisher’s own authors as well as other publishers’ authors. When one of the audience members commented that several of the names listed as Hay House authors were also published by other companies – including Suze Orman, Mehmet Oz, etc., Tracy explained that in some cases what was being sold – Orman’s Will & Trust Kit, Wayne Dyer gift cards, Marianne Williamson CDs, Oz’s tour etc. – was complementary to the author’s books. However, he did imply that it gave Hay House a potential “in” with those authors in the future.

Tracy was also quick to point out that so far in 2007, seven deals have been made for advances exceeding a half million dollars. If that (plus various television and movie projects) weren’t enough to interest the assembled, there’s the potential of a spot on the Hay House cruise to the “Mexican Riviera,” that is scheduled for April 2008.

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