Publishing Trends
- Tor scales back ebook library lending. Beginning this month, newly released ebooks from Tor will not be available to libraries for four months. This goes against the practice, established in 2014, of Big Five publishers making their full catalog available for ebook lending upon publication. Learn more from Andrew Albanese in Publishers Weekly.
- The world of author merchandise is both predictable and unusual. The New York Times takes a breezy look at what authors’ fans are willing to buy. Read Tina Jordan.
- Authors and publishers try to offer boys gentler role models. The Guardian looks at a wave of newly released children’s and YA fiction, mostly from men. Read Donna Ferguson.
- The top-selling print and ebooks thus far in 2018 will not surprise those paying attention to current events. Read John Maher in Publishers Weekly.
TV and Movies
- Wattpad is rewriting the rules of Hollywood. The development process becomes less risky and more efficient with Wattpad’s data of what readers enjoy. Read more from Chris Lee in Vulture.
- It used to be fashionable for literary writers to turn up their noses at TV. No longer; we now talk about TV the way we talk about books. Read Joy Press in Vanity Fair.
- Chinese web novels launch gold rush for adaptation rights. Online platforms for user-published serial fiction (like Wattpad) are immensely popular in China for both writers and readers—and create valuable and sought-after IP. Read Magpie Kingdom at Medium.
Amazon
- The Verge reports extensively on KU fraud in the romance community. Indie authors who are well-established in romance will likely find no surprises here, but those who are unaware of the current KU marketing dynamics may be in for an eye-opening experience. Read Sarah Jeong.
- Amazon’s share of all US ecommerce is now 49 percent. Of all US retail spend, Amazon is believed to account for 5 percent. Learn more from Ingrid Lunden in TechCrunch.
Ebooks
- BookFunnel now offers codes to facilitate in-person ebook giveaways and sales. Each code is good for one reader and valid for 14 days. You’ll know exactly who is downloading your ebook. Learn more.
- Should Nook readers proactively jump to Kobo? With Barnes & Noble pulling resources from Nook—and with B&N’s brick-and-mortar business faltering—some are wondering not if, but when, Nook will be sold. Read Chris Meadows in TeleRead.
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.