Trends
- For Malcolm Gladwell, it’s audio first. Several years ago, Gladwell launched Pushkin, a producer of audiobooks and podcasts. The production budget for some titles exceeds six figures. Now Pushkin will be part of the new paid podcast subscription service Apple is launching. Read Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- What’s happening in the middle-grade market? There’s a boom in graphic novels, and nonfiction sales are growing. Read Shannon Maughan in Publishers Weekly.
- Could NFTs work in publishing? Industry consultant Bill Rosenblatt says NFTs essentially give their buyers bragging rights; whether that has application for authors and publishers is too early to tell. Read in Publishers Weekly. Meanwhile, Wiley teamed up with one of its authors to create an NFT author trading card to promote an upcoming book. Read Calvin Reid in Publishers Weekly.
Amazon
- Jeff Bezos reveals there are 200 million Amazon Prime members around the world. The membership program costs $119/year and offers free shipping, streaming media, and other perks. Read Taylor Soper at GeekWire.
- Bezos agrees Amazon employees should be treated better. In his final letter to shareholders, he writes, “It’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees—a vision for their success.” Read Casey Newton at The Verge.
Culture & Politics
- Why it’s harder for neurodivergent people to break into publishing. Part of it is the difficulty of querying and connecting with agents and editors—and part of it is the atypical story arc of neurodivergent characters. Read Thom Dunn at BoingBoing.
Marketing Toolbox
- How publishers can balance paid and organic visibility on Amazon. Authors too can benefit from this Amazon advertising walk-through. Read at Ingram Content Group.
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.