Refunds for the Bob Dylan book: It was not hand-signed
Simon & Schuster sold 900 copies of a collector’s edition of Dylan’s new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, for $599.
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HarperCollins union goes on strike
The strike began Nov. 10 and continues as of this writing. About 250 workers belong to the HarperCollins union; the publisher employs about 4,000 globally.
Ingram launches advertising platform
Ingram has launched Ingram iD, an ad platform for book publishers to reach consumers.
Book sales update: November 9, 2022
According to NPD BookScan, the holiday season this year is taking a less prosperous path than 2021 in the US book market.
IMHO: The DOJ vs PRH Decision Reflects Our Socio-Political Moment
A judge ruled that Penguin Random House cannot acquire Simon & Schuster, opening the door to similar government cases that can prove harm to workers rather than consumers.
IMHO: I’m Staying on Twitter for the Foreseeable Future
Current alternatives can’t replace Twitter, but uncertainty and chaos seem likely to plague those who remain.
Amazon Trend Report: Romance
To break into the rich romance market, look for a subgenre with high sales and lower competition.
New imprint from Tyndale
Tyndale Elevate will focus on apologetics: arguments and justifications for Christian beliefs.
New imprint from Disney-Hyperion
Freedom Fire is a new middle-grade imprint that will feature stories written by Black creators about Black resilience and Black joy.
New book marketing and consulting company
Andrea DeWerd, who formerly worked as a marketing director at HarperCollins, is launching The Future of Agency, a book marketing and consulting company.
HQN Books relaunched as Canary Street Press
Harlequin’s flagship romance imprint HQN is relaunching as Canary Street Press, named for Toronto’s Canary District.
New literary agency: True Literary
After 12 years with Idea Architects, Lara Love Hardin is launching True Literary Agency.
New podcast: If Books Could Kill
Hosted by Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri, If Books Could Kill focuses on “airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds.”
Amazon limits how many categories a book can rank in
While books can be assigned up to 10 categories, Amazon has now disallowed books from ranking in more than three categories.
For authors who want to work with Yonder
In our last issue, you might recall our write-up of Yonder, a new serialized literature app from the Wattpad–Webtoon family.
IngramSpark dramatically improves sales reporting dashboard
If you rarely check your IngramSpark sales because it’s a huge pain to pull a report and view data, it’s time to rejoice.
The latest literary journal kerfuffle, this time at Hobart
In late September, Hobart published an interview with Cuban-American writer Alex Perez, which included some controversial statements.
Notes from 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair took place in person in Frankfurt, Germany, last week with some programming available online as well.
Book sales update: October 26, 2022
Through the first three quarters of 2022, NPD BookScan reports that US print book sales are 5 percent down compared to 2021.
Self-Publishing Sales Collectively Represent a Whole Other Penguin Random House
Executives from Wattpad Webtoon Studios and Rakuten Kobo discuss the hard-to-measure but growing audience for independently published ebooks and digital serializations.
New Serial App Yonder Joins the Wattpad–Webtoon Family
Yonder will attempt to reach a more diverse audience by serializing multiple genres, including some publishers’ backlist.
Building Relationships with Independent Bookstores
Marketing your book to bookstores—like marketing your book anywhere else—requires research and shoe leather.
Little, Brown launches a graphic novel imprint for young readers
Little, Brown Ink will be a graphic novel imprint at Hachette publishing about 20 titles a year, both fiction and nonfiction.
New CEO of Independent Book Publishers Association announced
Andrea Fleck-Nisbet will become IBPA’s new CEO effective November 1, 2022.
New podcast: The Active Voice
Hamish McKenzie, one of the founders of Substack, has launched a podcast, Active Voice, “about how great writers reckon with the internet.”
Independent bookstore establishes Golden Notebook Press
The Golden Notebook bookstore in Woodstock, New York, is launching Golden Notebook Press.
McGraw Hill launches Sharpen app
Textbook publisher McGraw Hill is hoping to appeal to the TikTok generation with its new learning app, Sharpen.
Audible changes its policy on audiobook returns
On the heels of a major change to its ebook returns policy, Amazon has modified its policy for audiobook returns in Audible.
Authors accuse publishers, among others, of undermining libraries
Since early 2020, tensions have swelled between big publishers and libraries, partly due to an ongoing lawsuit by publishers against the Internet Archive.
Facebook closes Bulletin as Substack powers up recommendations
To the surprise of no one, Facebook has announced it will close Bulletin, the company’s email newsletter experiment, less than two years in.
Book sales update: October 12, 2022
Print book sales in the US are holding steady overall, now tracking at 5 percent lower than 2021, according to NPD BookScan.
How Kids and Teens Engage with Books
Driving the children’s/YA market are plot-centric books enriched with images (comics, manga), cross-platform content (Netflix, TikTok) and even old-school author visits.
Publishers Favor (for Now) Instagram and Twitter for Book Promotion
Canadian publishing professionals discuss how they customize content for social media and engage readers.
Patreon Works for Writers Willing to Hustle
Successfully building a community of patrons and maintaining it can result in a quality-of-life income boost for authors.
New imprint: Regalo Press
Regalo Press is a new imprint at Post Hill Press (distributed by Simon & Schuster) that will publish a broad list of fiction and nonfiction.
New digital publisher of adult commercial fiction
The founder of Bookouture, a UK-based digital publisher that was acquired by Hachette UK, has launched Storm Publishing.
New effort underway to measure self-publishing book sales
The Big Indie Data Drop is a collaboration between the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), Draft2Digital, K-lytics, and Written Word Media.
BookFunnel launches bulk delivery
BookFunnel has long been a popular service for authors wishing to distribute digital review copies or giveaways to individuals.
Ingram invests in NFTs
Book wholesaler and distributor Ingram has invested in the NFT ebook company Book.io.
Zibby Books launches a magazine
Zibby Books, founded last year as a part of Zibby Owens Media, has launched a literary lifestyle magazine.
Open Road Media launches a discovery initiative for middle-grade and YA books
In response to Barnes & Noble’s decision to reduce stock of hardcovers, Open Road is launching a “fall hardcover discovery initiative”.
A big victory for authors: Amazon modifies ebook returns policy
Earlier this year, a viral TikTok post sparked an online petition by authors demanding that Amazon change its returns policy.
Spotify begins selling audiobooks, as expected
For years now, Spotify has been on a long and clear march toward increasing profitability by making more non-music content available.