Just as we were releasing our most recent issue, news started circulating that the largest bookselling chain in the US had fallen victim to a cybersecurity attack. The hack occurred on Saturday, Oct. 10, and affected multiple systems, including sales reporting, customers’ Nook libraries, and corporate office systems—but customers were not formally notified about the problem until Tuesday. Customer data (email, phone, address) and purchase histories were compromised, although Barnes & Noble offered assurances that credit card data was not part of the breach. There are still glitches, and authors who self-publish are reporting some problems with the system as well.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
