News and opinion on the changing world of book publishing
Laura Hazard Owen | October 2009
In 2007, we wrote about a new book publicity trend: ARC giveaway programs, in which publishers provide early copies of books to citizen reviewers through book sites or their own sites. Two years later, these programs have grown quite a bit. Details on a few: BookBrowse.com First Impressions Publisher’s fee: $750/promotion; members pay $30/year. Titles [...]
{ 4 comments }
Laura Hazard Owen | May 2009
Last fall, BookExpo America formed its first-ever Conference Advisory Board and decided to increase the show’s focus on content and programming. “In the past, we had too many sessions that were all over the map and that were trying to be all things to all people,” says Courtney Muller, Group Vice President of BEA. In [...]
{ 1 comment }
Laura Hazard Owen | December 2008
To be on the Web or not to be on the Web—sorry, technophobic authors, that’s no longer the question. Rather, what should be on your website and how can you draw traffic to it? There’s no universal key to success. But with help from a recent groundbreaking report and four web designers who specialize in [...]
{ 16 comments }
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 [...]
{ 1 comment }
Whether it is the best of times for the publishing industry, or the times that try publishers’ souls, depends on whom you ask, and of course, what you really want to know. But there’s little doubt that these are the best of times for anyone who wants his or her oeuvre to be published. The [...]
{ 0 comments }
November 2006
Ann Coulter, contentious as she is, saw page views (and book sales) skyrocket when she launched her website www.anncoulter.com. “A website that’s an instant hit is like having 10 Oprahs at once,” Joni Evans, ex-William Morris agent and Coulter rep said. “It really is the future.” To better understand agents’ involvement in their authors’ e-lives, [...]
{ 0 comments }
September 2006
PEOPLE The Book Industry Study Group has a new Executive Director in the person of Michael Healy, Editorial Director of Nielsen Book Services. He will be the keynote speaker at BISG’s September 8 annual meeting and may be reached at michael@bisg.org. BISG’s previous Director, Jeff Abraham, left at the beginning of the year to become [...]
{ 0 comments }
June 2006
Last year, Bookreporter.com‘s Carol Fitzgerald had the novel insight that if there isn’t an audience for a book, perhaps it shouldn’t be published. The publishing palooza has subsided a bit (Bowker recently reported that total titles were down to 172,000 last year – an 18,000 title drop from 2004), and Chris Anderson mania has everyone [...]
{ 0 comments }
January 2006
Last year brought more change to an industry which is, with varying results, trying hard to embrace it. We asked some people who have recently undergone and embraced their own transitions, to look at what changes they see on the horizon. Herewith: Larry Kirshbaum, Former CEO, TWBG President, LJK Literary Management & PW’s Publisher of [...]
{ 0 comments }
October 2005
WOM’s The Word As Podcasts, Blogging, Buzz & Viral Go Mainstream Although the book publishing industry as a whole has yet to go viral in the way of blockbusters or burgers (Have you “crashed” the Wedding Crashers trailer or Had It Your Way with Burger King‘s Subservient Chicken?), many in the industry say they’re not [...]
{ 0 comments }
