PEOPLE Random House SVP and Editor-in-Chief Susan Kamil has been given the additional position of Publisher of the Random House and Dial Press imprints. Tom Perry, EVP, Deputy Publisher of the Random House Publishing Group, will join her at the Random House imprint and will also become Publisher of the Modern Library. Theresa Zoro has…Continue Reading
Customs Delays and Wal-Mart Threaten Illustrated Book Publishers’ Holiday Offerings While merchants and shoppers alike are gearing up for the holiday season, publishers are giving a collective sigh of relief. Recent delays of Asian imports nearly squelched many publishers’ holiday cheer well in advance of returns. While the fourth quarter looms large for manufacturers and…Continue Reading
Here’s a lesson from the licensing pros: Political affiliations or patriotic logos may attract some, but they’re just as likely to repel potential buyers. That was Everlast’s recent eye-opener, according to its SVP Global Licensing, Hal Worsham, when the company discovered that its signature USA logo had depressed international sales — confirming the US’s recent…Continue Reading
People June was a relatively quiet month, though that doesn’t guarantee a quiet summer, judging from the increase of job listings on industry job boards and murmurings around town: Harold Augenbraum is leaving The Mercantile Library to become Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, effective July 12. A search committee has been formed to…Continue Reading
Far-Flung Regional Houses Hit the Heartland Bull’s-Eye Just one word: scrapbooking. Yes, scrapbooking is the fastest-growing hobby sector in the United States, with sales of related supplies — presumably including books — quadrupling in the past five years to an estimated $2 billion, as the New York Times recently noted, and projected to grow as…Continue Reading
As Publishing Trends rolls out its bestseller lists for the Czech and Slovak Republics, we herewith offer a brief survey of this modest but dynamic literary landscape, as sales rise in Wal-Mart-esque chains, and pivot sharply toward nonfiction. Though Czech readers have long lapped up the likes of Stephen King, Danielle Steel, and Tom Clancy,…Continue Reading
Online Learning’s 600-Pound Gorilla Tangos With Textbook Publishers The University of Phoenix, an Arizona-headquartered, for-profit institution offering degrees in adult-education staples such as business administration and information technology, may seem an odd candidate to be turning the world of higher educational publishing upside down. Yet as the nation’s largest accredited university — 163,627 current students…Continue Reading
“Best of times, worst of times” was the Dickensian scenario facing representatives from more than 50 publishing houses who hunkered down at the first Management Forum for Independent Publishers, hosted April 4-6 by NYU’s Center for Publishing. At the top of the agenda? “The economy, the economy, the economy,” chanted Center for Publishing Director Robert…Continue Reading
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
As the great mother ship BookExpo America prepares to set down in New York City on May 1, and the wall-to-wall lineup of bashes, fests, and sundry galas has us all excruciatingly triple-booked, Publishing Trends checked in with a number of show veterans to see whether this year’s industry summit will be a whirlwind of…Continue Reading
