Traditional Publishing
- How will publishers handle lack of distribution for mass-market paperbacks? Basically, they’ll stop publishing them in favor of trade paperbacks. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
- What’s the buzz at London Book Fair? At the first major rights event of the year, agents and publishers are excited about feel-good, entertainment-driven fiction and comedic thrillers. In nonfiction: self-help and health and wellness. Read John Maher at Publishers Weekly.
- A profile of a small publisher that focuses on translations: Tilted Axis is a small British publisher of books written in languages not commonly translated into English. Their books have received major awards, and Tilted Axis is now coming to the United States. Read Alexandra Alter in the New York Times (gift link).
- How comics publishers are navigating the bankruptcy of distributor Diamond: not too dissimilar from how small, literary presses handled the bankruptcy of Small Press Distribution last year. Some are going straight to readers and supporters for help. Read Heidi MacDonald at Publishers Weekly.
Magazines
- Narrative Magazine, well known for charging $25+ submissions fees, recently ran a contest with an entry fee but did not name first or second place. Becky Tuch writes, “Will the entrants receive a refund? No, because as per their submission guidelines, the fees are non-refundable. Will the magazine explain why they did not choose winners in any of these categories? It doesn’t seem so.” Read at Lit Mag News. Related, also in Lit Mag News: What is a fair wait when you’ve paid a reading fee to a literary magazine or journal? Some journals have an average waiting time that exceeds 2,000 days. Eye opening.
- Five genre fiction magazines are under new ownership. The magazines are Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. All editorial staff from the magazines will stay on. The new owners want to expand distribution to bookstores, bolster online presence, and do more marketing. Read Jason Sanford for an idea of how this might go.
Marketing & Promotion
- Learn about the “galley brag.” Limited advance review copies get posted on Instagram and TikTok to showcase the status of the person who received it. Read Clare Mulroy in USA Today.
- How not to do blurbs: Blurbs can be worth the labor, says this publisher, but the endorser must have relevance for the book and your community. Read Jeevan Sivasubramaniam at LinkedIn.
Children’s Publishing
- Sales of graphic novels (a term that’s interchangeable with comic books) have doubled since 2019. Their popularity has surged among elementary school children. Read Elizabeth Segran in Fast Company.
- Kids are also turning to audiobooks. In the UK, research shows that kids are listening more than they’re reading. Read Georgia Lambert and Peter Chappell in The Times.
- The opportunity for children’s audiobooks: Darcy Pattison discusses when to add audiobook formats for your children’s books. Read at Indie Kids Books.
Romance
- What are the most commonly banned romance novels in US public schools? PEN America took a look and found (unsurprisingly) that Sarah J. Maas topped the list, along with books by Malinda Lo, John Green, Casey McQuiston, Abdi Nazemian, and Stephenie Meyer. Learn more.
- What’s behind the rise of interspecies romance novels? These, of course, include the Maas books that are getting banned in US public schools. “This invitation to temporarily suspend investment in socially expected forms of gendered comportment turns out to be key to the whole reading experience.” Read Sarah Brouillette in Defector.
- Why is BookTok obsessed with dark romance? Bestselling dark romance author Brynne Weaver talks with Rolling Stone about the popularity of the subgenre. She says, “Dark romance is an exploration of trauma, darker themes, adult content, morally gray behaviors. Those kinds of darker elements to life, but with the romantic setting, so there’s always a happy ending at the end. It’s dealing in those darker concepts of past trauma, the concerns about feeling like you’re unlovable or alone in the world. And I think that’s why it’s becoming more popular. It’s almost like therapy.” Read CT Jones.
- Romance bookstores are booming. The first such store opened in 2016; there are now 30 around the country. Read Elizabeth Segran at Fast Company.
Media
- YouTube is now watched more on TV screens than on mobile and desktop devices. YouTube is also said to be the biggest platform for podcasts. Learn more from YouTube. Also read Alex Weprin at Hollywood Insider.
- News Corp buys Red Seat Ventures, a creator network of independent conservative personalities. This is another sign of where attention and power are moving and how mainstream media plans to take advantage. Just as traditional publishers capitalize on the success of self-publishing authors, traditional media outlets will look to capitalize on small, independent creators. Expect to see more partnerships between institutional media companies and individual creators and networks of creators. Read Michael M. Grynbaum in the New York Times.
AI
- Amazon’s Alexa returns with AI capabilities. The cost: $20 per month or free for Prime members. For those unaware: Alexa has been a disappointment for Amazon in terms of being a revenue-generating product, and the team was cut back in 2023. Apple is confronting a similar problem with Siri. Learn more from Amazon’s press release.
- Australian publisher asks authors to grant permission for AI licensing. The publisher is Black Inc., and they’re offering a 50-50 split, as HarperCollins did some months ago. Authors may decline to grant such permission. Read Kelly Burke at The Guardian.
- Dow Jones (owner of Wall Street Journal) has built a marketplace for publishers to license their content to AI companies. So far no AI companies are onboard—that’s still to come. Read Sara Fischer in Axios.
- Was the latest AI copyright case, in which the judge ruled in favor of content creators, really a big win for publishers? If you missed the story, here’s a summary of the ruling. One analyst advises against celebrating this ruling because it’s not a slam dunk. Read Mathew Ingram.
Libraries
- An investigation into “neo-censorship” in US libraries: The report focuses on restriction of youth access to ebooks and other digital content. Read at Library Futures.
- ProQuest ends perpetual access and moves to subscription only. For those in the library and university press communities, this change is a big deal. It means libraries don’t own content or make permanent acquisitions; they lease content. Read Nathalie op de Beeck at Publishers Weekly.
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.