Bookstores & Bookselling

Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, launched a multimedia subscription service called RTL+, meant to compete with Netflix in Germany.

Grim Oak Press, a small press, has partnered with Patrick Rothfuss to create a new imprint, Underthing Press. The first project will be Digger: The Complete Collection by Ursula Vernon.

According to NPD BookScan, backlist has continued to drive print sales this year comprising over two-thirds of all unit sales.

A memoir that was published more than 20 years ago has been pulled from distribution by its publisher, Simon & Schuster.

We only mention this because Saunders’s newsletter, Story Club, ties into his latest craft-focused book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.

We’re now past Black Friday, which analysts considered more of a gray Friday—a result of pandemic precautions and supply chain issues.

US bookstore performance continues to look good versus last year, according to Census Bureau figures.

Print book sales are up by more than 10 percent over 2020, with all major categories seeing positive growth except for juvenile nonfiction.

Better sales through online retail means paying attention to the small details and taking advantage of any opportunities that Amazon gives you.

The Book Report Network is hosting an annual event where publishers suggest book club selections to booksellers, librarians, and book group leaders.

After producing an entirely virtual book fair in 2020, Frankfurt hosted a hybrid event last week that saw reduced attendance and exhibitors.

The conservative media outlet Daily Wire has started a publishing imprint, DW Books, that will begin publishing in spring 2022.

For the first nine months of 2021, print sales are up 11 percent versus 2019 and are likely to grow 6 to 9 percent over 2020.

Last year was the first time since 2013 that annual ebook unit sales grew, increasing by 22 percent year over year, according to NPD BookScan.

A recent panel of publishing industry vets discussed how they’re adapting to paper shortages and extended shipping times

This year, ABA reports 1,910 members with 2,496 locations, comparable to where they were prior to the pandemic.

14 percent of UK book buyers were TikTok users in the 12 months to April, rising to 37 percent of 13-to-24-year-olds and peaking at nearly half of 16-to-19-year-olds.

According to Publishers Lunch (subscription required), book deal volume for the first half of 2021 is about 20 percent higher than in 2020.

The University of Nebraska Press is launching Zero Street Fiction, an imprint that will focus on literary fiction and short story collections written by LGBTQ+ authors

One imprint, Clock Tower, will publish fiction for all ages by underrepresented and diverse authors.

Last week, Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle told literary agents that PRH will allow competitive bidding between PRH and Simon & Schuster imprints in the US

A New York Post article reports that Barnes & Noble is “cashing in” on the book-buying craze sparked by the pandemic

For many years now, celebrities (Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah Winfrey, Johnny Depp, Sarah Jessica Parker, to name a few) have been tapped to headline imprints at big publishing houses.

A group of independent bookstores is hosting a free, virtual gathering, Reimagining Bookstores, on October 18 and 19.

As expected, US print book sales are continuing to dwindle when compared to last year’s stellar results—although they remain ahead of 2020 for now.