Traditional Publishing
- Open Road Media sees record growth. Open Road Media, which focuses on marketing and promoting backlist ebook titles, is excelling in helping other publishers. They currently handle 100,000 titles; they publish 11,000 titles of their own. In the last year, Open Road started moving into the audiobook space. Read Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly.
- Not all Netflix adaptations lead to big book sales. When The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante and All Quiet on the Western Front were released on Netflix, sales increases were modest. Read Natalia Keogan at Publishers Weekly.
- Browse the children’s and YA titles that sold more than 100,000 copies last year. That’s according to Circana BookScan, which tracks print sales in the US. Read Cady Zeng at Publishers Weekly.
AI
- A closer look at ElevenLabs. This article covers the ElevenLabs Summit, held in the UK, which wasn’t about publishing but has deep implications for publishing. The writer concludes, “The company may well be one of the most important players in the publishing industry today.” Absolutely. Read Carlo Carrenho at Publishing Perspectives.
Marketing & Promotion
- The state of book publicity according to a university press publicist. The promotions and marketing communications director at the University of Chicago Press (my publisher!) did an interview on how university presses are navigating the lack of book review outlets. Read Derek Krissoff at Book Work.
Culture & Politics
- The intersection of tariffs and book publishing: The anxiety continues. While books have been largely exempt from tariffs so far, high uncertainty, trade deal negotiations, and upcoming court decisions might upend the status quo. Read Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly.
- Learn all about romance tropes. Age gap, enemies-to-lovers, second chance … The New York Times has helpfully defined all the tropes you’ve heard of, plus more, in an interactive feature. Read Jennifer Harlan (gift link).
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.