Book Industry Research
- The Global 50 publishing ranking: Every year since 2007, analyst Rüdiger Wischenbart releases an in-depth report that determines and discusses the biggest 50 publishers in the world. Take a look (free preview, or pay what you want).
- Where is all the book data? A group of scholars takes issue with an industry that has made sales data proprietary and unavailable to researchers. Read Melanie Walsh at Public Books.
- A study on audiobook consumption reveals a segment of “repeaters” who listen to the same books over and over again. Most likely they are using audiobooks while going to sleep or having sleeping trouble. Read Karl Berglund at Public Books.
Trends
- What is a hot girl book? They include Sally Rooney literary romances and Ottessa Moshfegh novels of female alienation. Read Samantha Leach at Bustle.
- Let’s get rid of the blobby book cover. Critics believe that mainstream fiction covers have “regressed to a sort of algorithmic average.” Read Miles Klee at Observer.
- Sales of graphic novels grew more than 60 percent in 2021. Much of that is driven by manga. Graphic novels now comprise about 70 percent of the comics market. Read Calvin Reid at Publishers Weekly.
TikTok
- Oops, creators don’t like the “cash grab” of Penguin Random House’s partnership with TikTok. Right now, only PRH has access to a promotional linking feature for their titles that works directly in the TikTok app, and this strikes some TikTok users as inequitable. One creator says, “There’s so much diverse literature that’s coming from so many publishers that aren’t Penguin Random House.” Read CT Jones at Rolling Stone.
- The impact of BookTok on library circulation in Canada. Between September 2019 and August 2022, library loans of trending BookTok titles increased by 561 percent. Read Aline Zara at BookNet Canada.
Potpourri
- Are you experiencing problems with Amazon KDP? There are reports of an unusual number of glitches this month. Learn more from Keri at New Shelves Books.
- An artist receives the first copyright registration for an AI-assisted work. It’s for a graphic novel, and the artwork was created using Midjourney. Read Benj Edwards at Ars Technica.
- How to raise your freelance rates: Learn how to develop the right mindset and then the right process for communicating price increases to existing clients. Read Komal Ahuja at ConvertKit.
- Axios suggests that employees buy six copies of the co-founders’ book. Employees can then get the cost comped by Axios. That’s called gaming the bestseller list. Read Robinson Meyer at The Atlantic.
- Seven authors make their YA debuts after 50. You’re never too old to write and publish in any category. Read Julia Edelstein at Publishers Weekly.
- Are we overusing over-the-top words? If you’re the type of person who dislikes the overuse of exclamation points, you’ll probably appreciate this article by a writer who is concerned about “maxims of extravagance.” Read Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza at Lit Hub.
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.