Ingram advises publishers shift from B2B to D2C marketing tactics
While overall demand for books has not lagged, the purchasing journey has shifted from in-store placement to social media and retail websites.
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Hot Sheet Index: September 2, 2020
The Hot Sheet Index reviewed the change in unit sales in January 2020 versus January 2019 in traditionally published romance.
Emory undergrads start a children’s publishing house
A company plans to publish children’s books to help young children better understand the pandemic.
Closing Image: September 2, 2020
While the NPD Group tracks sales of traditionally published romance only, they’re seeing growth in the category this year as a result of COVID-19.
Major media report on publishers’ printing woes
In the US and UK, a crowded fall season makes it challenging to get media attention for new releases and to keep popular books in stock.
Agents demand that publishers protect authors during virtual events
At this point, just about everyone has heard about “Zoombombing,” where Zoom events are infiltrated and intentionally disrupted by trolls.
Agent gets fired from agency for tweets about trans people
Sasha White, an agent at Tobias Literary Agency, was fired last month for tweets about trans people.
Ingram advises publishers shift from B2B to D2C marketing tactics
While overall demand for books has not lagged, the purchasing journey has shifted from in-store placement to social media and retail websites.
Carlin Romano remains on the board of the National Book Critics Circle
Earlier this summer most of the organization’s board resigned after internal dissension over its anti-racism statement.
New agent alert
Stephanie Kim has joined New Leaf Literary & Media. Previously, she worked in traditional publishing at William Morrow and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Literati expands into celebrity book clubs
Literati is a service that delivers a selection of children’s books (print only) to subscribers every month for $9.95
Book sales update: September 2, 2020
For the week ending Aug. 15, year-to-date sales for print books were up by 5.5 percent versus 2019.
Independent Bookstores Take a Cautious Approach When Placing Orders
Unpredictability permeates all aspects of bookstore operations, including inventory selection, title availability, and mail delivery.
Spotify Takes Tentative Steps into the Audiobook Market
Without any information about Spotify’s editorial direction or payment terms, it’s an open question whether—and how—this move benefits publishers or authors.
This Studio Turns Successful Self-Published Novels into Hit Audiobooks
Scott Dickey of Podium discusses working with Audible, coordinating ebook and audiobook releases, and producing entire series.
Hot Sheet Index: August 19, 2020
The Hot Sheet Index reviewed the audiobook markets. The United States had the largest market with a market of $1.5 billion.
New agent at Aevitas Creative Management
Danya Kukafka is seeking literary suspense, sophisticated thrillers, speculative fiction, and experimental fiction.
Closing Image: August 19, 2020
Of the Big Four tech companies, Amazon is showing the strongest results. During the second quarter of 2020, its revenue was up by 40 percent.
Big New York publishers are seeing sales declines but improved earnings
Several big houses are seeing sales declines but increased profits (as well as lower costs) due to better-selling ebooks and audiobooks.
US retail print sales still trending positive versus last year; UK now improving
Driving factors right now are the continuing strong market for books on civil rights, history, and discrimination.
Some independent bookstores are very unhappy (still) about Bookshop
Bookshop has seen tremendous growth and sales in a very short amount of time, partly a result of the pandemic.
Storytel’s subscriber base grows 42 percent versus last year
So far, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the Netherlands are profitable for Storytel on a local level.
Scribd acquires SlideShare
The CEO says, “Our acquisition of SlideShare is a major step towards creating the world’s largest digital library.”
WH Smith plans to restructure and cut jobs
The UK bookselling chain, which also has a presence in the US, expects to lay off 1,500 employees, or roughly 10 percent of its workforce.
China Literature suffers an operating loss, promises to do better by writers
China Literature can be thought of as the Chinese version of Amazon KDP, with millions of pieces of serialized content uploaded to its site.
When Your Book Releases, Will It Be Available? Publishers Deal with Uncertainty in Both Supply and Demand
Ingram is seeing publishers use fewer offset print runs, more digital short runs, and POD as the backup for everything.
Amazon and Spotify make moves into each other’s territory
Recently, Amazon sent emails to podcasters inviting them to manually submit their podcast for inclusion in Amazon Music and Audible catalogs.
Higher Education “Takes It on the Nose,” with Years of Difficulty Ahead
As the pandemic creates shortfalls in state budgets, all educational programs face budget cuts, but higher education may get hit the hardest.
UK’s Canelo launches a new crime fiction imprint
Canelo Crime will launch with eight titles this September and actively seeks new novels for 2021 and beyond.
New agent at Context Literary Agency
Crystal Orazu “hopes to represent and uplift authors whose stories allow readers to feel seen and heard in new and exciting ways.”
A new independent political press launches in the UK
Hajar Press intends to publish “ambitious and politically engaged fiction and nonfiction” by writers of color.
Emancipation Books to focus on Black and minority authors
The imprint will “give a voice to black and minority authors—including conservatives, libertarians, traditional liberals, and iconoclasts.”
Traditional publishers may have to quickly find new printing and distribution partners as the country’s largest printer moves through bankruptcy
There’s a risk that book publishers may have to scramble to find new printers if the bankruptcy of LSC takes a bad turn.
Crooked Lane books launches a new imprint
Alcove will focus on book club fiction exploring family, friendship, and communities. Its first titles release this fall.
A controversial op-ed calls for libraries to place restrictions on commercial fiction borrowing
Publisher, author, and journalist Kenneth Whyte blames libraries for the declining fortunes of independent and chain bookstores.
How COVID-19 Has Transformed US Book Sales—and What’s Next
Trade book publishing is now seeing its best unit sales since 2010, but some categories are performing better than others.
Amazon Advertising Offers New Metric for KDP Authors
Authors who pay for advertising on Amazon can now see the effect on pages read through Kindle Unlimited—a potential gamechanger.
The Internet Archive versus Book Publishers: A Battle over the Future of Copyright Law
Several US publishers filed a lawsuit against Internet Archive over its provocative move to establish an online National Emergency Library.
New music imprint announced at Bonnier Books UK
The imprint will publish memoirs, musical social histories, and first-person narratives from well-established writers, musicians, and commentators.
PublishDrive extends the functionality of Abacus
Abacus, a royalty tracker, can now accept sales reports from IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, Kobo, Google, and Apple Books.
Arcadia rolls out a new children’s series: Spooky America
Eight titles for middle-grade readers will release on Sept. 7, all adapted from Arcadia’s existing Haunted America series for adults.
New Canadian booksellers association established
Member Shelley Macbeth, owner of Blue Heron Books in Ontario, said the organization’s platform is to “advocate, educate, communicate.”
Hot Sheet Index: August 5, 2020
The Hot Sheet Index reviewed the print bestsellers for 2020 so far. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins had the top spot.
New digital publisher NeoText to publish short-form works
NeoText will publish works ranging from science fiction and noir novellas to investigative journalism and narrative nonfiction.
Closing Image: August 5, 2020
According to NPD BookScan, ebook unit sales increased by 31 percent in April 2020 compared to ebook unit sales for March 2020.
Scribd increases its appeal to Mexican and Latin American subscribers
Scribd now offers 1,000 titles from Mexico-based Grupo Planeta in their Spanish-language subscription service in Mexico and Latin America.
US book sales continue their upward trajectory; big-box stores are helping
Through July 25, US print unit sales are up by 4.1 percent versus 2019, according to NPD BookScan.