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Closing Image: April 28, 2021
Many goods are increasingly purchased online, but the acceleration toward online purchasing is greatest in books.
Despite delaying until late June, London Book Fair goes virtual
This is the second year that exhibitor Reed has canceled the in-person event.
A publisher analyzes the “magic number” of sales required for business and self-help books
Todd Sattersten starts his analysis by nothing that, in the business category, 86 percent of sales are backlist titles.
Book sales update: April 28, 2021
Through April 17, print unit sales were up 28 percent versus 2020, according to NPD BookScan.
Has Simon & Schuster Opened Up a Pandora’s Box?
After claiming an inability to pick and choose which titles it distributes from other presses, Simon & Schuster has declined to distribute a controversial memoir from distribution client Post Hill Press.
Publishers Are Happy That Sales Are Up but Remain Nervous about Frontlist
As publishing celebrates unprecedented sales growth in 2020 and 2021, anxiety looms over declining sales for new titles.
Findaway Voices Attracts More Authors and Promises New Tools This Year
The audiobook distributor and production service hopes to help authors improve profits without remaining exclusive to Audible.
Apple and Spotify to launch paid podcast option
Podcasters distributing through Apple Podcasts will be able to make some or all of their content available through paid subscription only.
The Authors Guild makes model contracts available for free
The Authors Guild has long offered members access to a model book contract and a literary translation model contract.
New agent alert: April 28, 2021
Educator and author Alina Mitchell has joined MacGregor & Luedeke as a literary agent.
Sera Rivers joins Martin Literary & Media Management
Rivers is currently accepting queries for middle grade and YA fiction and graphic novels, as well as picture books.
Disney returns to book publishing with Hyperion Avenue
Years ago, Disney sold its adult book business to Hachette. Now it’s starting up operations again.
A new audiobook retailer launches in Sweden
Sesamy claims to liberate you from the tyranny of subscriptions through an à la carte sales model.
Clubhouse introduces payments to creators
The audio chat platform now allows app users to send payments directly to creators.
Big Five publishers report good performance in 2020, as expected
Full-year financial reports from 2020 are now available from the Big Five with the exception of Macmillan, which is privately held.
Scribd Audio now publishing Spanish-language audiobooks in Mexico
Scribd, which entered the Mexican market in 2019, has now announced it will publish and distribute 100 Spanish-language audiobooks this year
A French publisher asks writers to stop submitting their work
In the very earliest months of the pandemic, writers worried if they should still send out queries and proposals.
StoryOrigin moves out of beta
The marketing service that helps authors with review-copy distribution, group promotions, newsletter swaps, and more is moving out of its free and open beta period.
Publishers Marketplace reports increased dealmaking in 2021
Deal volume, which increased in 2020, continues to grow in 2021, according to reports at Publishers Marketplace.
Welbeck launches a global English language imprint
Welbeck Publishing Group and Mosquito Books of Barcelona are launching Orange Mosquito, which will publish 20 children’s and YA titles per year.
For Barnes & Noble, the shift to online sales has been “relatively minor”
In a recent conversation at IBPA Publishing University, Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt spoke about the effect of the pandemic on the chain’s performance.
Emmy Nordstrom Higdon joins The Rights Factory
Higdon will focus on character-driven #OwnVoices projects. They were previously a bookseller and blogger.
Macmillan launches an imprint for children’s nonfiction books
Neon Squid Books from Big Five publisher Macmillan is a new London-based imprint for children.
Serial Box is renamed Realm, launches free-content strategy
Launched in 2015, Serial Box publishes serialized stories produced by teams of writers in written and audio form.
Catapult has launched a writing how-to vertical
Don’t Write Alone will share tools for pitching, freelancing, and job searching, and offer educational materials from writing instructors.
Revisiting the PRO Act: What If Freelancers Could Collectively Bargain?
The Authors Guild recently tried to dispel fears that the PRO Act, if passed, would be unfavorable to freelancers.
China Literature Focuses on the North American Market with Webnovel
The platform for serialized fiction may not yet offer contract terms that appeal to savvy writers in English-language markets.
Amazon Launches Kindle Vella for Serialized Stories
The platform offers a strong monetization model for serials, but writers lack control over pricing
Storytel exceeds 2020 goals, plans to grow revenue by 30 percent in 2021
The Sweden-based subscription service exceeded its 2020 revenue goals, although the company is not yet profitable as a whole.
Closing Image: April 14, 2021
Corporate publishers saw increased profits in 2020 due to better overall sales, increased digital sales, and lower returns during the pandemic.
Simon & Schuster signs two-book deal with Mike Pence for seven figures
Recently hired Simon & Schuster senior VP and publisher Dana Canedy made the acquisition, with the first book scheduled to release in 2023.
Book sales update: April 14, 2021
The first quarter of the year has seen strong performance in the US market, with print unit sales up 29.2 percent versus last year.
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama may be the first to unionize
Amazon has about a half million employees, and 5,800 of those in Alabama are voting this week on whether to unionize.
A new lawsuit is filed against Amazon—this time by a small Illinois bookseller
The same firm that filed a lawsuit against Amazon earlier this year has now filed a second lawsuit on behalf of a bookstore in Evanston, IL.
Medium pivots again, offers all employees a buyout
In a letter to employees, Medium founder Ev Williams confessed that the business strategy of focusing on branded publications has not worked.
Returns information now available for Audible sales, indicating that some customers return or exchange titles they enjoyed
As promised, ACX/Audible has started showing audiobook returns for authors who use ACX as a distributor.
Authors Are Swarming to TikTok, But Not All Are Talking about Books
As with other social media platforms, topical and even quirky content—not the hard sell—attracts followers.
If You Like MasterClass, Get Ready for BookClub
The upcoming service hopes readers will pay for high-production-value recordings of moderated conversations with authors, among other perks.
As Book Sales Shift (and Remain) Online, Authors and Publishers Must Optimize for Online Retail
Timeliness, flexibility, and knowing your strengths are essential in an increasingly online market
Scribd launches in Australia
US-based Scribd, which offers all-you-can-consume subscription access to ebooks and audiobooks, now has an Australian market product.
Costco now sells digital audiobook bundles
The value-priced offerings—175 bundles in all—can be listened to through Costco’s own audiobooks app.
New podcast: BookSmarts with Joshua Tallent
Tallent, a well-known expert in ebook development and digital publishing, just launched BookSmart.
A new nonprofit supports marginalized book creators
Literary agent Beth Phelan, who founded #DVpit, a Twitter pitch event for diverse authors, has established DiverseVoices, Inc.
UK’s Welbeck Publishing launches Mountain Leopard Press
The new imprint will focus on translated literature plus a selected few outstanding authors writing in English from around the world.
HarperCollins to buy Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade division
HMH Books Media—by some measures, the sixth biggest trade publisher in the United States—is for sale.
Closing Image: March 31, 2021
BookNet Canada recently released the results of its 2020 Canadian Book Consumer survey.
Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster draws government scrutiny
Last week, the US Department of Justice and UK regulators announced further investigation into the proposed merger of the two Big Five publishers.