News and opinion on the changing world of book publishing
Laura Hazard Owen | February 2011
In November, the New York Times announced that it would begin publishing e-book bestseller lists (fiction and nonfiction) in early 2011. “We wanted to be able to tell our readers which titles were selling and how they fit together with print sales,” said Janet Elder, NYT Editor of News Surveys and Election Analysis. The tracking [...]
{ 6 comments }
May 2010
Take a look at BookScan’s bestselling juvenile titles for the week ending April 25: an astounding 73% were titles from one of several series. But these are not your Baby-Sitters’ Club of yesteryear: “Harry Potter turned the whole paperback series notion on its head,” says Megan Tingley, SVP, Publisher, Little Brown Books for Young Readers. [...]
{ 5 comments }
Laura Hazard Owen | February 2010
After Ipsos/NPD, which provided consumer data to the Book Industry Study Group’s Trends, exited the market, publishers struggled to get timely—or detailed—data on their consumers, and because their customers were retailers, they had little idea of who their readers were. The data that existed was too generic and surveyors often used questionable methodologies to get [...]
{ 0 comments }
Liz Thomson and Nicholas Clee Founders, Bookbrunch.co.uk Many trends become apparent in the US book market before finding their way to the UK, and, unfortunately, recession is one of them. At the Frankfurt Book Fair this October, publishers in the UK aisles were reasonably sanguine (about prospects for the coming season, at least), while their [...]
{ 0 comments }
September 2006
Publishers Brandish New Models to Support Authors: Joint-, Co-, & Assisted Self-Publishing When Arthur Klebanoff began shopping around longtime BBDO CEO Allen Rosenshine’s book Funny Business a few years ago, nobody bit. Rather than a straight how-to-succeed-in-business type of book, Rosenshine had written an anecdotal memoir about his experiences in the ad industry. “Here was [...]
{ 0 comments }
August 2005
The Rise and Fall and Rise of the Publishing Convention, Seminar, and Summit In the golden years of the publishing conference, 400 people clamoring for access to a panel, summit or seminar, wasn’t unheard of. Some frequenters admit to going to upwards of 10 conferences a year in the late 1990′s techno boom, while others [...]
{ 0 comments }
May 2005
NYU’s Center for Publishing hosted its third Management Forum for Small and Independent Publishers April 15-16, and got an impressive turnout from around the country. Director Robert Baensch hosted the event. Friday morning was devoted to the Big Picture, and Bruce Harris, who headed sales at Random before going to Workman and now, consulting, gave [...]
{ 0 comments }
February 2005
Publishers Pressured to Use Coding System Despite its many Flaws Not too long ago, an editor at a major househeard from a disgruntled author. He was fretting over the fact that his Thanksgiving-themed book was being categorized under the BISAC subject area “Social Science/Customs & Traditions.” He was concerned that the potential buyer for his [...]
{ 0 comments }
January 2005
Phillip Sturrock, Chairman & CEO, Continuum Int’l Publishing Group There’s a small word to describe China, but it’s hugely accurate: “big.” China is a country with a population of at least 1.3 billion, an annual economic growth rate of about 8%, and the motivation to modernize quickly. Literacy is increasing, the teaching of English is [...]
{ 0 comments }
August 2004
Doing its part to promote an old-fashioned, relaxed summertime, The New York Times launched its Great Summer Read novel-serialization program in July. Part public service, part self promotion, the program seems to have succeeded on both fronts, as the eye-friendly inserts have been popping up everywhere from Metro North compartments to midtown Starbucks. Though it’s [...]
{ 0 comments }
