News and Trends
- Penguin Random House changes ebook library lending terms. Unlike Tor, which recently restricted library access to new ebook titles, the world’s largest trade publisher is changing its model after listening to librarian feedback. Instead of charging a high price for perpetual ebook access, PRH is moving to a metered model. Read Andrew Albanese in Publishers Weekly.
- Traditional publishers have a mixed first half of the year. HarperCollins is enjoying the best performance, aided by a sublicensing agreement with Amazon Studios for the Lord of the Rings series. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
- Why the US changes UK book titles. The Guardian looks at how and why title changes, which affect mysteries most of all, happen in the book-publishing industry. Read Terena Bell.
Innovations
- The evolution of Tor.com. The science fiction publisher launched Tor.com in 2008 as a marketing and promotion platform. Today it serves as much more than that—and it has its own publishing imprint. Read Andrew Liptak in The Verge.
- Open Road Media launches a new book club. The backlist ebook publisher announces Spread the Words in the US, a club focused on the FabOverFifty.com community. The first title selection is Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. Read more at Publishing Perspectives.
Politics and Culture
- Children’s lit authors take a stand. YA authors in particular are banding together to fundraise and speak out on political issues such as school shootings and migrant children. Read Maria Russo in The New York Times.
- YA novels make sense of #metoo. Fiction can give teenagers a language to describe the trauma they experience. Read Julia Jacobs in The New York Times.
- The books we’re drowning in. A bookseller discusses what titles arrive by the truckload at a used bookstore. Read Margaret Kingsbury in Book Riot.
Beyond the Page
- The Ripped Bodice bookstore owners have struck a deal with Sony Pictures Television. The romance bookstore based in Culver City, California, opened in 2016 and has already won awards for its service to the romance community. The owners will develop projects based on their relationships with romance writers. Learn more in Variety from Joe Otterson.
- Episodic videos are the new thing on Instagram. Two months ago, Instagram launched IGTV, and creators are starting to post TV-like and serialized content. Read Tim Peterson in Digiday.
- Audible has boosted their monthly membership package. Subscribers can now listen to two Audible Originals every month along with one regular audiobook. Audible Originals are available only at Audible. (That includes work by journalist and author Michael Lewis, who was hired to produce content exclusive to the site.) Here are a few highlights of the new program.
Amazon
- Amazon is integrating all of its advertising services. This means self-publishing authors will see changes in the interface they use to buy AMS ads. Read more from Ilyse Liffreing in Digiday. Author Ian Lamont has blogged about some of the most important differences thus far; read here.
- Speaking of Amazon ads, you’ve probably noticed that Amazon search results feature more ads than ever. Amazon is actively competing with Google and Facebook for more of the digital ad dollar, and it seems to be working. Read Rani Molla at Recode.
New Imprint Alert
- Canongate launches a new crime imprint. The UK publisher is launching Black Thorn, featuring titles acquired from Severn House (purchased in 2017). Learn more from Ed Nawotka in Publishers Weekly.
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.
