PT’s Savvy Commentators Ponder the Fallout from Another Year in Publishing As we surveyed the smoking turf from another twelve months in the book business, it struck us that this year’s pinnacles and pratfalls were decidedly in the eye of the beholder. We asked a number of savvy publishing personalities to offer their take on…Continue Reading
Posted in Featured Articles •
Tagged AMS, Andrews McMeel, AOL, Avalon Publishing Group, Bertelsmann, BookScan, Borders, Brown, Charlie Winton, Frank Pearl, Glamour, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin, Idea Logical Company, Jack McKeown, Jack Shoemaker, Joe Spieler, Journals, Karen Jenkins Holt, Kurt Cobain, Little, Michael Cader, Michael Crichton, Michael Wolff, Mike Bryan, Mike Shatzkin, New York Observer, Pantheon, Pat Strachan, Perseus Books Group, PGW, Prey, Publishers Lunch, Random House, Reader's Digest, Reiman Publications, Riverhead, Running Press, Sara Nelson, Scholastic, Shoemaker & Hoard, Simon & Schuster, Stephen King, The Spieler Agency, View From A Buick 8, Vivendi
Despite being ritually deemed “the bane of the publishing industry” and “one of the costliest aspects of the business,” the problem of book returns remains an estimated $7 billion thorn in the industry’s side. Last year, BISG figures show, the average adult trade hardcover return rate was 37.5%, up 3% from the year before. Publishing’s…Continue Reading
Posted in Featured Articles •
Tagged Anant Mahale, Barnes & Noble, BISG, BN.com, Bookmaster, BookScan, Borders, Columbia University Press, i2 Technologies, Idea Logical Company, Manugistics, Mike Shatzkin, Scholastic, TMS
Targeted Sales to Enthusiasts Turn the Off-Beat Into Big Bucks Looking for the bestselling art books in America? Sniffing around the Ansel Adams shelves, perhaps? Nope, not there. Taking a peek at Taschen’s Fetish Girls? Nice try. According to numbers from Nielsen BookScan, you’d better swing by the cartoon section. Because the top art titles…Continue Reading
Posted in Featured Articles •
Tagged A Twist of the Wrist, Anime Mania, Ansel Adams, BN.com, BookScan, Buck Brannaman, Charles Nurnberg, Christopher Hart, Dave Weich, DC Comics, Drawing Cutting-Edge Comics, Falcon, Fetish Girls, Garden Decor, Globe Pequot, Harriet Pierce, Home Depot, Landscaping with Stone, Lee Miller, Lyons Press, Manga mania, Mike Hejny, Minneapolis-Moline Farm Tractors, Motorbooks, New Router Handbook, Powells.com, Rich Smeby, Schiffer Publishing, Spider-Man, Sterling, Sunset Books, Taschen, The Collector's Guide to Cloth Third Reich Military Headgear, The Faraway Horses, Tina Skinner, Trellises and Arbors, United States Army Shoulder Patches, Watson-Guptill, Western Garden Book, Western Horseman
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…Continue Reading
Posted in Featured Articles •
Tagged A Return to Cooking, Abbeville, Abradale, Abrams, AOL TW, Artisan, Barnes & Noble, Black & Decker, book sales, BookScan, Borders, Briggs & Stratton, Bruce Harris, Bulfinch Press, Chain Sales Marketing, Christopher Capen, Claekson Potter, Creative Publishing, Day in the Life of America, DK, Earth From Above, Eric Ripert, Fog City Press, French Laundry Cookbook, HarperCollins, Harvey Markowitz, Healthy 1-2-3, Jill Cohen, Karen Kreiger, Konemann, Lauren Shakely, Laurie Rippon, Len Riggio, Mel Shapiro, Popular Mechanics, Quarto, QVC, Rizzoli, Rozanne Gold, Simon & Schuster, Singer, Small Engine Care and Repair, Steve Tager, Stewart Tabori & Chang, Taschen, Tehabi Books, Terry Newell, The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair, The New American Cheese, Tim Street-Porter, Tropical Houses, Wal-Mart, Weldon Owen, Williams Sonoma Savoring, Workman
The drumbeat of optimism was heard on the floor of the London Book Fair, and it is echoing in the corridors of New York publishers, as well: Sales, it appears, are improving. The AAP came out with stats that chart a “meager” growth rate in 2001 of 0.1% overall, with trade sales actually dropping 2.6%….Continue Reading
Mike Shatzkin of the Idea Logical Company took a retro tack at the Seybold Seminars last month as he rolled out “a brand new opportunity to get more sales and lower the returns of physical books.” We offer a brief excerpt of his remarks. Here’s the fact most publishers and chain booksellers seem to ignore:…Continue Reading
PEOPLE A month into the naughts, let’s recap some recent moves: Greg Tobin leaves Ballantine after seven months as VP, Editor in Chief, to try his hand as a full time author. He has a two-book contract with St. Martin’s/Tor Books’ Tom Doherty. . . . Alun Davies, longtime head of BDD’s international division, moves…Continue Reading
Posted in Book View •
Tagged A. M. Homes, Algonquin, Alun Davies, An Imperfect God, Ariel Kaminer, Art Winslow, Avon, Ballantine, Barbara O'Dair, Barron's, BDD, Bethany Harris, BOMC, Bookforum, BookScan, Borders.com, Broadway, Business Week, Cathy Lobel, Charlesbridge Publishing, Chris Willcon, Craig Offman, Dell, Donadio & Olson, Doubleday, Doubleday/Broadway, Dummies Series, Edith Berelson, Elaine Markson, Elisabeth Sifton, Elizabeth Sheinkman, Ellen Levine, FSG, Geoff Kloske, Grace Freedson, Greg Tobin, Harold Underdown, Harper's Bazaar, HarperCollins, Harriet Bell, Harriet Rubin, Henry Dunow, Henry Holt, Henry Wiencek, Howard Morhaim, ICM, Ira Silverberg, iVillage, Jack Romanos, Jennifer Carlson, Jessica Lichtenstein, Jim King, Joelle Delbourgo, John Leonard, Jonathan Levin, Joy Press, Justin Schwartz, Kate Hartzen, Kathryn Court, Knopf, Laura Miller, Laurie Muchnick, Libby Jordan, Lisa Marks, Lisa Rasmussen, Little Brown, Louise Quayle, Lynn Nesbit, Manil Suril, Michael Cunningham, Michael MacCambridge, Morrow, Motley Fool, New York Review of Books, New York Times Magazine, Newsday, NFL, Nick Webb, Nicole Aragi, Norton, Out Magazine, Pam Honig, Paul Gediman, PEN American Center, Penguin, Peter Franklin, Pocket Books, Prentice Hall, Publications International, Random Value, Reader's Digest, Richard Price, Rightscenter.com, Robert Frump, Robin Desser, S&S, Salon, Salon.com, Sarah Burnes, Scott Moyers, Shawn Coyne, Sloan Harris, Sonny Mehta, St. Martin's, Stacey D'Erasmo, Sterling Lord, Susan Friedland, Suze Orman, The American Academy in Rome, The Death of Vishnu, The Hairstons, The Nation, Time Life, Tom Beer, Tom Doherty, Tor Books, Tracy Behar, Until The Sea Shall Free Them, Vanity Fair, VLS, VNU, Watkins Loomis, Wayne Lawson, Wendy Sherman, William Morris
