News
- Libraries have a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a funding boost. The US House of Representatives just passed a $3.5 trillion budget, and legislators now must earmark how that money will be spent. The American Library Association is urging supporters to contact their representatives to encourage funding for libraries. Read Andrew Albanese in Publishers Weekly.
Traditional Publishing
- Is it harder to be an agent today than 20 years ago? Kristin Nelson says yes and offers 14 reasons why. Read at her blog, Pub Rants.
- Independent publishers are doing well. Like big publishers, they have benefited from the boom in book sales. Publishers Weekly takes a look at Beacon Press, Chelsea Green, and Turner. Read Alex Green and Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
Marketing Toolbox
- The making of a YA bestseller. Sourcebooks offers an inside look at their positioning and marketing for The Nature of Witches. Read at Beth Oleniczak at the Sourcebooks blog.
- Does Amazon give algorithmic preference to new books? Oh, yes. Very much so. But for the best and longest “honeymoon period,” you need a strong launch and sales compared to other, similar books. Read Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur.
- Creators are frustrated by Instagram’s focus on video. Artists and photographers in particular are not happy. Read Amelia Tait in The Guardian.
- Learn a few LinkedIn tips and tricks. There’s now a creator mode on LinkedIn (of course there is!), which makes sense to flip on if you’re actively contributing content to the site. Read Andrew Hutchinson at Social Media Today.
Amazon
- Two book publishers have filed a class action lawsuit against Audible. This is part of the ongoing #audiblegate scandal from last year. Both publishers are business entities owned by self-publishing authors. Read Kendal Enz at Law Street.
- Amazon is moving to podcasts for the advertising dollars. It recently acquired podcast network Wondery as well as distribution rights to SmartLess. Read Lucas Shaw at Bloomberg Businessweek.
- Amazon is believed to be investing in live audio. Currently, the focus is on live music and events; talk radio and podcasts may enter into the mix. Read Sara Fischer at Axios.
- JRR Tolkien and Amazon’s fight for a franchise. Amazon analyst Tim Carmody says Amazon is spending a huge amount of money on its new Lord of the Rings TV series to not only create a boost in subscriptions and sales but also to build its reputation in Hollywood. But Amazon’s rights are limited to a very narrow slice of the LOTR canon. Read at the Amazon Chronicles.
Comics & Graphic Novels
- Manga picking up momentum in North America. NPD BookScan reports that sales of comics and graphic novels have increased 178 percent over last year and represent 20 percent of adult fiction sales in 2021. BookNet Canada reports a sales increase of 106 percent from 2016 to 2020. Read Aline Zara at BookNet Canada.
- A deep dive into what NPD BookScan says about graphic novel sales in 2020. A staffer at The Beat parses the data to show what’s happening in the market. Read Brian Hibbs.
- DC and Webtoon partner up on webcomics. The companies will collaborate on several webcomic series set in the DC universe. Read Calvin Reid at Publishers Weekly.
- Meanwhile, DC and Marvel are facing contract scrutiny. Partly that’s because Substack has been making deals with big names in comics. Read Gita Jackson at Vice.
Culture and Politics
- Police officer involved in Breonna Taylor’s shooting looks for another publisher. Jonathan Mattingly originally signed with Post Hill Press, but Post Hill’s distributor, Simon & Schuster, announced they would not distribute the book—a highly unusual move. Now Mattingly has returned his advance and seeks another publisher. Read Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- What do fiction writers owe their real-life inspiration? People whose lives have been fictionalized are protesting their treatment at the hands of writers. Read Alice Bolin at Vulture.
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.