This month, unsubstantiated rumors were circulating that the New York Times would discontinue its standalone book review section, and even its magazine. Those rumors were put to rest, however, when the NYT announced that Pamela Paul—editor of the New York Times Book Review—would oversee all books coverage at the publication, including daily book news as well as publishing industry news.
Prior to the move, daily books coverage was handled separately from the Sunday section, which was handled separately from publishing industry coverage. The new structure—to have the left hand always know what the right hand is doing—makes so much sense, one wonders why it wasn’t always in place, but the old structure was more in line with a print-era publishing strategy. The Times said of the change, “[It] is part of the continuing effort … to imagine the newsroom of the future.”
Bottom line: The NYT is the last US daily newspaper with a freestanding books coverage section; all reports we’ve seen about the move have characterized it as a commitment to books coverage in the long term. Furthermore, Paul has been seen as a positive force for change in being more diverse and inclusive in review coverage.
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.
