Links of Interest: November 22, 2023

Traditional Publishing

• A profile of Rebecca Yarros and her phenomenal success: Her bestselling novel Fourth Wing has noticeably boosted sales for the industry this quarter, and it’s emblematic of the ongoing romantasy trend. Read Alexandra Alter at the New York Times (gift link).
• Two long profiles of literary agent Andrew Wylie were recently published. Wylie, known as The Jackal, is perhaps the most notorious agent of our age. He offers a large dose of self-aware snobbery. Read Alex Blasdel at The Guardian. Then read David Marchese at New York Times Magazine (gift link).
• An author earned out in two years. Nothing happened. Most books don’t earn out their advance; when they do, the publisher probably doesn’t even notice. Read Catherine Baab-Muguira at Electric Lit.

Trends

• How TikTok has transformed romance publishing. Learn about three related trends: the resurgence of the new adult category, the romantasy boom, and erotic romance. Read Pooja Makhijani at Publishers Weekly.
• Measuring romance based on Goodreads data. Researchers comment, “What makes romance so unique is that it stands apart as a double-outlier: both much larger and much more modular, much busier internally, than any other major genre of fiction.” Read J.D. Porter et al. at Public Books.
• Tumblr winds down. After numerous missteps by various owners, Tumblr will be “streamlined,” with a focus on core functionality. The service is considered a failure at this point, although it isn’t yet closing. Read Adi Robertson at The Verge.

Audiobooks

• Spotify is likely paying the equivalent of a sale for audiobook subscription listening. So says the Authors Guild. Those who read this newsletter closely will remember that was our assumption as well. Read at their site.
• It’s now a thing to pair celebrity authors with celebrity narrators.The most recent example: Michelle Williams reading Britney Spears’ memoir. Read Frank Rojas at the New York Times (gift link).

Bookselling

• See bookstore sales trends based on US Census data. Someone crunched the sales numbers between September 2010 and July 2023. Mainly, they show that bookstore retail has declined by a lot. (Amazon, of course, is the key reason.) Read at Legendary Everett.
• Dedicated bookstores have not been the main retailer of books historically. An academic looks at detailed sales records from one of the largest publishers of the 20th century and finds most books were sold outside of bookstores. In the early 20th century, most people did not buy books from dedicated bookstores, and department stores sold books at a loss to lure customers into the shop. Sound like any retailer you know? Read Alex Leslie at his site.
• Are we witnessing the end of the gift market in books? Here’s another analysis by Alex Leslie, building on the bookstore data. Read.

Amazon

• Publishers Weekly digs into the FTC suit against Amazon. Read about Project Nessie, an algorithm that helps Amazon keep prices high because it knows when other online stores will raise prices at the same time Amazon does. Read Jim Milliot.
• Amazon stands accused of running irrelevant ads to boost profits.The FTC and 17 states are suing Amazon for using its power to increase prices and exclude rivals. Read Lauren Feiner and Annie Palmer at CNBC.
• Amazon is merging Comixology with Kindle. The original Comixology app will be discontinued on Dec. 4. The digital comics world is very unhappy. Read Katie Reul at IGN.
• Goodreads removes three categories from its annual choice awards.They include children’s & middle grade, poetry, and graphic novels. One category was added: romantasy. Read Iyana Jones at Publishers Weekly.

Culture & Politics

• The New York Times magazine poetry editor resigns. Ann Boyer resigned due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Read at Boyer’s Substack.
• New York City mayor Eric Adams slashes the library budget.Libraries in NYC will no longer be open on Sunday. He also slashed the budget for police and schools. Learn more in Brooklyn Magazine.

Marketing & Promotion

• How do books make end-of-year lists? A publicist tallies up the main factors—algorithms, money, critics’ choices, and more—emphasizing that publicists have no control over these lists. Read Cassie Mannes Murray at Pine State Publicity.
• Publishers must break up with Twitter/X. So argues Kathleen Schmidt, a publishing industry vet and publicist. Read at Publishing Confidential.