Closing image: The Association of American Publishers released its final sales estimates for 2017, detailing the shift in traditional publishing’s format sales between 2013 and 2017. As shown above, the ebook format declined as a percentage of overall revenue for traditional publishers, from 21.4 percent to 12.8 percent. Hardcover and paperback, as well as digital audio, have enjoyed increases. Read more in Publishers Weekly from Jim Milliot.
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.
