Traditional Publishing
- The story of a niche book publisher: Mountaineers Books published its first reference book in 1960; it has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Theirs is a clear and successful business model: Specialize in a niche area where you have mastery of the audience and market. Read Gregory Scruggs at the Seattle Times.
TikTok
- Will the US ban TikTok? The court case is now underway. If the ban isn’t stopped by a federal appeals court, the ban could go into effect early next year. Read Sapna Maheshwari at the New York Times.
AI
- Thank to Google, there are now there are AI podcasts: A new tool, Google’s NotebookLM, can generate a realistic conversation about uploaded materials, such as a book. Keep an eye out for AI-generated podcasts that will “review” your book. Read Kyle Orland at ArsTechnica.
- Can AI help you write a children’s book? Darcy Pattison tries out generative AI tools to outline and research a children’s book, among other tasks. Read at Indie Kids Books.
Trends
- The rise of historical fiction: Recent book award nominations have gone overwhelmingly to historical novels rather than ones dealing with contemporary life. Read Alexander Manshel at The Nation.
- A new book from Sally Rooney? Cue the fawning coverage. This one is titled “There Will Never Be Another Sally Rooney,” by Kate Dwyer at Time. And here is one from Esquire looking at how galleys of her new novel are a status symbol.
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.