Tag Archives: Carol Fitzgerald

Trendspotting 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…Continue Reading

Marketing Makeover

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…Continue Reading

The Other Book Club

A gaggle of writers and publishers gathered at the Small Press Center in mid-April to witness a lively panel discussion on the growing phenomenon of Reading Groups, aka the Other Book Clubs. PT attended the panel and then did follow up interviews with some of the panelists. Organized by Mark Kaufman, Donna Paz Kaufman who…Continue Reading

Trendspotting 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…Continue Reading

What’s in a (Publisher’s) Name?

Industry pundits and publicists have noted and mourned the declining space given to book reviews in newspapers and magazines over the last decade. But now that declining space has wiped out what was once an inevitable accoutrement to the book’s author and title — the publisher’s name. While the NYTBR, Time, and The New Yorker…Continue Reading

Trendspotting 2004: Surviving the Spin Cycle

The conventional press rarely covers them, but these days the action is with the literary agencies more than publishers. And oh, the changes we’ll see. Small shops will partner up in all kinds of unexpected combinations, creating a whole new landscape of mid-sized agencies. More British shops will follow the lead of PFD in planting…Continue Reading

Thrilling Ebook Sales? Mirabile Dictu

Like most publishers’ ebook expectations in this deflated era of digital publishing, Seven Stories Press had fairly unspectacular ones. They dutifully digitized their files. They hung out their e-shingle. They even wrangled a way to sell ebooks directly from their site. And the results trickled in. “Tiny” is the word one executive used. Even Noam…Continue Reading

Of Pricing and Purgatory

Two New Surveys Suggest That Book Price-Elasticity Is Getting All Stretched Out Among the persnickety trends of 2002 was continued brow-furrowing from industry observers and surveyors about the perception that book prices are disastrously high (see article). Some have cited the ruinous effect of “increasingly ubiquitous remainders” on the one hand, and stunningly deep discounts…Continue Reading

Battle of the Brands

In the War Over Market Share, Focus Groups Are a Secret Weapon If you wandered into the loo of London’s Grosvenor House Hotel last month, as did plenty of attendees at the British Book Awards, you’d have found one of the more literal-minded brand campaign “roll-outs” in recent years: stickers slapped on rolls of toilet…Continue Reading

Click Here for Authors

It’s strap in and launch time for the three most prominent contenders in the world of author-focused websites. To wit: AuthorsOnTheWeb.com, another node on Carol Fitzgerald’s Book Report Network, expects to go live by December 11; PreviewPort.com, an author portal headed by novelist Susan Bergman, is set to roll out an e-book store, and hopes…Continue Reading