News
- Where the Crawdads Sing surpasses one million print copies sold. In an inspiring story for struggling fiction writers, author Delia Owens has seen success with this debut novel at a very young 69. Read Jim Milliot and Rachel Deahl in Publishers Weekly.
- The romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice is launching an award, sponsored by Sony, for excellence in romantic fiction. Up to twelve winners will be named on Valentine’s Day 2020 and receive cash prizes. Learn more at the ABA blog.
Traditional Publishing
- Students oppose the McGraw-Hill Cengage merger. They argue the consolidation will only drive up textbook prices. Read Benedicte Page in The Bookseller.
- Meanwhile, Pearson’s CEO talks about the company’s recent decision to pivot to digital textbooks. “The $300 textbook is dead,” John Fallon says. Read a transcript of his discussion with Kara Swisher at Recode/Vox.
- Scholastic revenue takes a huge hit. Operating income dropped 55 percent as a result of sales tax collection and higher costs, among other issues. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
- The Washington Post has been publishing erroneous bestseller lists. The lists only just began in February 2018, using data from NPD BookScan and Amazon. (The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos.) Starting in May 2018, a software glitch started producing inaccurate lists, but now all lists have been republished and labeled with corrections. Read the editor’s note.
Trends
- A lot has changed in publishing in 10 years. Industry vet Mike Shatzkin discusses changes in sales, marketing, and distribution. Read at his blog.
- What is the future of ebook and audiobook subscription markets? Starting with a look at Storytel—the Sweden-based audiobook subscription service—Mark Williams considers at length how the digital subscription market might evolve. Read at The New Publishing Standard.
- There’s a new industry publication: Publish Africa. Edited by Mark Williams and published by ebook distributor StreetLib, the email newsletter is bi-weekly and available in six languages. Subscribe for free.
Culture and Politics
- Here’s a guide to Marianne Williamson’s books. The Oprah-featured author has become a “meme queen,” according to Entertainment Weekly. Learn about what she’s published from Caroline Tew.
- As the church deals with ongoing sexual abuse scandals, Catholic publishers focus on readers who seek help and support. Presses are publishing books that address the crisis and how to move forward. Read Emma Wenner in Publishers Weekly.
Amazon
- Get more insight about the Dean Koontz deal with Amazon Publishing from the leaders of Thomas & Mercer and Amazon’s Original Stories, with commentary from industry vet Mike Shatzkin. Read at Publishing Perspectives.
- New media podcast Land of the Giants is focusing part of its season on Amazon. The podcast is a partnership between Recode and Vox. Take a look.
- Amazon is successfully cutting into Facebook’s and Google’s ad revenue. It now has about 4.2 percent of worldwide digital ad spend. Read Megan Graham at CNBC.
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.