Links of Interest: February 21, 2018

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News and Trends

  • Simon & Schuster finishes 2017 with record profits but declining sales of “important” authors. CEO Carolyn Reidy told Publishers Lunch that backlist remained strong and ebooks declined (which is consistent with general industry reports). She added that Simon & Schuster, like other major houses, has seen some of its important authors experience sales declines. She said, “We’re talking about these real powerhouses that have fueled the industry for a lot of years.” The decline is a pattern across the industry. “It’s still a challenge to help an established, bestselling author maintain and grow his or her audience—that’s a big challenge in today’s world.” Read more in Publishers Lunch by Michael Cader (subscription required).
  • A YA author revised her book to avoid claims of racism. In a genre where race and diversity are hot-button issues and Twitter outrage is the norm, one author took radical steps in response to criticism. Lila Shapiro reports at Vulture.
  • Podcast listeners really are the holy grail. The first month of Apple’s podcast analytics are available, and the numbers are encouraging. Read more in Wired by Miranda Katz.
  • Amid an international standoff over his second detention in China, publisher and bookseller Gui Minhai is given the International Publishers Association’s Prix Voltaire for championing the freedom to publish. Read more at Publishing Perspectives.

Bookselling

  • Canada’s bookselling chain, Indigo, had a record high quarter. In addition, books now account for 49.1 percent of its sales—the first time books have comprised less than half of the company’s sales. Learn more in Publishers Weekly from Jim Milliot.
  • The Washington Post has revised its bestseller lists to be more Amazonian. Until recently, the Post’s lists only took into account print book sales. Now, they incorporate ebook sales and borrowing data from Amazon Charts—data that is so far unavailable to other bestseller lists. (The Washington Post, remember, is owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.) Read the announcement.
  • The Canada Reads television show will again field five national celebrities defending their favorite authors and books to the viewers for a vote.Carla Douglas has more at Publishing Perspectives.

Amazon

  • Evidence of money laundering through Amazon? Independent authors have long known about the shady book offerings on Amazon—those curiously titled tomes filled with nothing but gibberish. Well, they may be connected to money laundering. Learn more at Krebs on Security. 
  • Amazon pushes hard on Audible growth and exclusives. Audible is reaching out to agents and buying up rights before print book deals are in place. Learn more in the Observer from John Bonazzo, or read excerpts from the Wall Street Journal article at The Passive Voice.
  • Amazon has launched a delivery service that will compete with FedEx and UPS. It’s starting in Los Angeles. Learn more in TechCrunch from Darrell Etherington.

New Imprint Alert

Tech Tools

Marketing Toolbox

  • Make a good impression with your author photo. Goodreads offers specific tips for engaging headshots. Read at their blog.
  • How independent publicists work with authors: Assuming you have big bucks to spend, here’s what you need to know. Read Tess Taylor at Poets & Writers.
  • Novelists: Improve your keyword strategy for selling on Amazon. Learn how to increase the chances of your book being discovered by identifying the best keywords for your book. Read Dave Chesson.
  • A sci-fi author self-publishes his work, sells a few hundred copies, then gets a deal with Hachette three years later. It’s an outlying case, to be sure, but it shows the power of high-profile fans. Read more at the Goodreads blog.