News
- Tariffs on books are suspended for now. The Trump administration has reached an agreement with China and suspended new tariffs that would have gone into effect on Dec. 15. The tariffs would have affected children’s picture books, coloring books, and drawing books. Learn more from Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
- After Endeavor cancels its IPO, agents may jump ship. A rival agency tells Hollywood Reporter, “A lot of WME agents are now in play. We are all talking to them. They are big agents, executives, department heads.” Read Alexandra Steigrad.
- The employees of McNally Jackson bookstore have unionized. The bookstore has five locations in New York City. Their 90 workers are joining the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. Read Ed Nawotka at Publishers Weekly.
Trends
- Poets & Writers takes a close look at the literary publishing assistant—likely the first reader of your query when you’re seeking an agent. Read Michael Bourne.
- How the Nobel Prize affects book sales. Such a prestigious win obviously provides a boost, but not as big as one might expect. Read Sabine Peschel at DW.
- You know reading is in trouble when … Faced with the task of reading a very long article, essay, or book, some scholars wonder: Is this really the best use of my time? Is there some kind of service or AI that can condense this long read into a meaty paragraph? Read Jill O’Neill at The Scholarly Kitchen.
- How Amazon wields power through AWS. Because of Amazon’s broad reach, startups often agree to Amazon’s restrictions and share client and product information. But it’s a devil’s bargain. Read Daisuke Wakabayashi at The New York Times.
Marketing Toolbox
- A comprehensive overview of how to launch a book. The people at BookBub have compiled a free, online guide that includes a book-launch checklist, target-audience research tips, and more. Read at their blog.
- Why you should think twice before paying for an interview. Victoria Strauss delves into the vanity radio market and why you shouldn’t pay for such “exposure.” Read at Writer Beware.
- Learn to follow the buzz on social media to boost your book sales. Marketers at PRH discuss how they take advantage of “National _____ Day”–style promotions, current events, and various mini-trends that happen on Twitter. Read Phil Stamper-Halpin at PRH News for Authors.
- Back in October, an insightful author earnings survey made the rounds. Now there’s a followup. Notable: most of the surveyed emerging authors (those earning less than $60,000) earn less than $6,000 per year. The genre most likely to feature high earners? Romance. Learn more from Clayton Noblit at Written Word Media.
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.