Links of Interest: March 3, 2021

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Traditional Publishing

  • Scholastic and Penguin Random House were top children’s book publishers in 2020. Scholastic is the publisher of Dav Pilkey, author of the bestselling Dog Man series, and puts out the largest number of frontlist fiction bestsellers, according to Publishers Weekly lists. The top publisher of picture books: Penguin Random House. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
  • What happens when a publisher becomes a megapublisher? How many more articles can be written about Penguin Random House buying Simon & Schuster? Apparently, the appetite for analysis and nail-biting is unlimited. Read Elizabeth A. Harris in The New York Times.

Pandemic

  • International book publishing sales show a mixed response to the pandemic. Germany reports a decline of 2.3 percent in revenue; Austria, a 4.4 percent decline; France, a 4.5 percent decline; Sweden, an 8.7 percent increase; Japan, a 4.8 percent increase for print books, magazines and ebooks; Australia, a 7.8 percent increase for print books. Read Heloise Wood in The Bookseller (subscription required).
  • How online rights fairs are going. Two rights agents and two publishing rights managers discuss their experience with virtual events for rights sales as a replacement for in-person fairs. Read Porter Anderson in Publishing Perspectives.
  • Writer’s blockdown: novelists struggling to write. Some writers say the pandemic has stifled their imaginations. Read Alison Flood in The Guardian.
  • UK’s bookstores are closed through April 12. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says all social restrictions could end in the country by June 21. London Book Fair is still scheduled as an in-person event this year, to start June 29. Read Mark Chandler and Ruth Comerford in The Bookseller (subscription required).

Self-publishing

  • The power of self-publishing in food media: Some writers have been successful with paid newsletters, Patreons, and other direct-to-consumer content. Read Cathy Erway at Food52.
  • The truth behind ACX audiobook earnings. Colleen Cross of Fair Deal for Rights Holders and Narrators dives into the very arcane calculations required to determine author royalties on audiobooks sold through Audible via ACX. Read at ALLi’s blog.

Audio

  • Spotify rolls out in more than 80 new countries. The expansion means Spotify will be available in 170 countries, representing more than 1 billion people. They’re also adding new languages. Learn more.
  • Storytel plans to capture 20 percent of the audiobook market by 2030. Right now, the company has 5 percent of the international market. Read their year-end report.
  • Spotify is working on more interactive podcasts. It has rolled out tools for WordPress.com users, along with video functionality, polling, and Q&A. Read Sara Fischer at Axios.

Libraries

  • An updating visualization of ebook demand through libraries. Robin Sloan is tracking the New York Times bestseller list and showing demand for those titles through libraries, based on number of holds. Take a look.
  • The Big Five publishers’ terms for libraries in 2021. It’s not the nicest thing to look at and will require some zooming, but still—a valuable reference. Read Michael Kozlowski at Good e-Reader.
  • The problem with Libby, the library e-reading app. Readers love the app, but it’s leading to increased use and thus costing libraries a pretty penny due to publishers’ ebook prices. Read Anna Kramer at Protocol.

Culture & Politics

  • Big publishing’s new power club. Last year there was a wave of new hires and new imprints established by Big Five publishers to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. So how is it going? New York’s Intelligencer gets eight people on the record, in their own words. Read Lila Shapiro.
  • What about small publishers and diversity? Publishers Weekly portrays Christian, Catholic, and spirituality publishers as in a “struggle” to hire people of color. Read Cathy Lynn Grossman.
  • Six titles from Dr. Seuss have been pulled from the market. Dr. Seuss Enterprises will stop publishing and licensing six titles containing offensive images. Not long after the announcement, the books shot up the Amazon bestseller list. Read Tim Baysinger at The Wrap.
  • The controversy over the Amanda Gorman translation: A prize-winning Dutch author, who is white, has stepped down from her role as translator of Gorman’s poetry collection after criticism that began on Twitter. Read Walker Caplan at Lit Hub.
  • The queen of Black historical romance talks about her experiences as an author and her writing and research process. Beverly Jenkins writes Black 19th-century romance and was recently interviewed by NPR on how she became romance royalty. Read or listen to the conversation with Karen Grigsby Bates.
  • How Toni Morrison changed book publishing. Morrison worked at Random House in the 1970s—the first Black woman editor at her level in Random House history—and nurtured a host of important Black writers before becoming a full-time novelist. Read Arielle Gray at Zora.
  • Three years after publication, Amazon pulls from sale a book on transgender people. The bestselling book by Ryan Anderson, When Harry Became Sally, has long been controversial, but it’s not clear why Anderson’s book was only just removed from sale. Republican Senators have asked Amazon to offer further information on the decision. The book remains on sale elsewhere. Read Bruce Haring at Deadline.

Marketing Toolbox

  • Six steps to creating a high-performing Facebook ad. A simple walkthrough of Facebook ads, this illustrated guide defines the most important terms and offers tips along the way. Read at Ingram Content Group.
  • How to design a book cover that sells. Indie author and marketer David Gaughran offers a lengthy and comprehensive guide to one of the most important elements of any book’s success. Read at his site.