News and opinion on the changing world of book publishing
Laura Hazard Owen | May 2009
Would you rather read a “splendid, funny, lyrical book about family, truth, memory, and the resilience of love” or a “powerful novel” about “the strength of love and loss, the searing ramifications of war, and the mysterious, almost magical bonds that unite and sustain us”? A “poignant celebration of the potency of familial love” or [...]
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August 2008
Question: Book Industry TRENDS 2008, just published by the Book Industry Study Group, reveals that total book sales in 2007 (excluding standardized tests) were $37.26 billion. How was this figure derived? Expert: Michael Healy, Executive Director of the BISG Answer: “BISG has been publishing Book Industry TRENDS for more than thirty years. Over that time, [...]
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November 2002
Take a tourniquet to the supply chain if you like, but order pads will still be scorching hot at CIROBE, the indomitable remainder and promotional book fair that hit the Chicago Hilton from Oct. 25 – 27. “Our best show yet,” crowed a show spokesperson, and indeed, no amount of inventory management can seem to [...]
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July 2002
Today’s $50 Lifestyle Books Just Might Be Worth Every Penny Early this year, the illustrated book market was declared dead, or at least mutilated (blame the blood-curdling discount battle between Könemann and Taschen), with high-end art houses such as Abrams, Abbeville, and Rizzoli said to be wallowing hip-deep in a glut of coffee-table books. Just [...]
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March 2002
Just How Big Is The ‘Off-The-Books’ Book Business? Sashay into any Barnes & Noble superstore, and there they are. Past the Barnes & Noble Café–branded 3-piece tea sets (“Great Curves. Excellent Style.”), past the Barnes & Noble–branded laser stationery, the velvet CD wallets, and the handy personal cash boxes, are, of course, the Barnes & [...]
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