If $3.99 Is Mark Coker’s Favorite Price, What Works in Germany?
Munich-based journalist and self-publishing author Matthias Matting has offered a response to the article at Smashwords we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this issue.
Premium Content
On the List: Born into the Children of God
First released in 2014, Born into the Children of God tells the story of Natacha Tormey, who was born into a religious cult known as The Children of God.
New Signs of Life (and Death) in Multimedia and App-Based Publishing
Inside the industry, you hear a lot of talk about multimedia publishing, but you don’t necessarily see a lot of activity—it’s still considered a risky and unproven business.
ALLi’s New Publishing Rights Service: London, Frankfurt, but Not Chicago
The U.K.-based Alliance of Independent Authors is working with literary agency Toby Mundy Associates to have eligible members’ translation and other subsidiary rights sold by TMA.
Barnes & Noble Wants to Become a Lifestyle Brand
Earlier this month, Barnes & Noble reported their latest earnings; the report was fairly grim news to anyone inside the industry who follows the financials.
Ingram’s Acquisition of Aer.io Will Include IngramSpark for Authors
It’s just been announced that the San Francisco–based startup Aer.io (formerly known as Aerbook) has been acquired by Ingram Content Group.
Hot Sheet Index: December 2, 2015
The Hot Sheet Index broke down the New York Times bestseller list totals by big Five publishers. Random House led the way with 28.9 percent.
Closing Image: December 2, 2015
Graph showing that Amazon’s stock price has been steadily climbing in 2015
Orna Ross: The State of the Author in Independent Publishing
Orna Ross, the founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) expressed solidarity among authors represented by ALLi and the Society of Authors.
Emma Barnes: What the Tools of the Trade Tell Us
Barnes, who started her UK-based small press, Snowbooks, in 2003, has become one of the industry’s strongest proponents of technological fluency in publishing.
Nicola Solomon: The State of the Author in Trade Publishing
The chief executive of the UK’s Society of Authors offered an understanding of author advocacy in the UK market, particularly in its range of paths to publication.
Roz Morris: An Author’s Response
Roz Morris, based in London, is an independent literary author, a ghostwriter with hundreds of thousands of copies sold, and a former traditional publishing house editor.
Profile: Judith Curr
Judith Curr is the founding president and publisher of Atria Publishing Group, one of the four major divisions of Simon & Schuster.
Rebecca Smart: What Publishers Tell Us
Rebecca Smart, Managing Director of Ebury Publishing, holds a special popularity in much of the UK publishing community for her willingness to speak frankly of challenges, even to her fellow publishers.
Hot Sheet Index: November 18, 2015
The Hot Sheet reviewed the change in publishers’ book sales from 2014 to 2015 for ebooks, digital audio and trade books.
Closing Image: November 18, 2015
The above slide was included in a presentation by Jonathan Stolper from Nielsen, at Frankfurt’s conference “The Markets.
On the List: The School of Greatness
The School of Greatness shares lessons learned by Lewis Howes from interviewing the “greats” on his podcast of the same name.
Can Facebook Advertising Sell Books? Yes and No.
You’ll find widely varying reports and opinions about how and when to use Facebook paid promotions effectively.
Virtual Book Festivals: A Reader-Focused Effort from Traditional Publishers
You’ve probably heard of a virtual book tour, but how about a virtual book festival or summit?
Self-Publishing Tools Coming to a Library Near You
For some time, we’ve heard murmurs of library-based self-publishing, usually as a good idea unexecuted.
Amazon KDP Select Per-Page Payout Slips to Below Half a Penny
We’re now seeing calculations that the October per-page payout will be $0.004809—less than half a cent.
A New Agent-Assisted Digital Publisher Opens: London’s Ipso Books
The latest entry in the growing field of agency-based publishing is Ipso Books, a new addition to the services offered by Peters Fraser + Dunlop (PFD).
Closing Image: November 4, 2015
Pew Research Center survey conducted March 17 through April 12, 2015. Smartphones, tablets grew in recent years. Other devices declined or stayed flat.
NoiseTrade: A Way to Build Direct Reach to Potential Fans
NoiseTrade is a little-known site in the book-publishing world that got its start in the music industry in 2008.
Two No-Fee Contests for Book Manuscripts
Within the last couple weeks, we’ve heard news about two brand-new contests with no entry fees for book-length manuscripts.
Amazon KDP Select Payouts Will Reflect Territories
The news that Amazon is opening a physical bookstore almost eclipsed the fact that the company is also making a potentially potent change in Kindle Direct Publishing Select payouts.
Profile: Sangram Surve
Sangram Surve is an author-strategist and founding director of Think WhyNot Pte. Ltd., based in Mumbai.
… And about That Amazon Store
Calling it “a physical extension of Amazon.com,” the world’s largest retailer has opened its first “terrestrial” bookshop in Seattle’s University Village.
Ellora’s Cave and Dear Author Settle Defamation Lawsuit
The lawsuit against Jennifer Gerrish-Lampe (a.k.a. Jane Litte) has been one of the more chilling stories for authors in the past year.
For Optimism in Publishing, Look No Further Than Audio Storytelling
Digital audiobooks are the biggest growth area for the book publishing industry. In 2014, the category grew about 27 percent in terms of units and revenue over 2013.
Closing Image: October 21, 2015
This statistic shows the number of visitors at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany from 2007 to 2014. In 2012 nearly 282,000 visitors came.
Hot Sheet Index: October 21, 2015
The Hot Sheet index reviewed the statistics for Amazon Publishing which was launched in 2009 and has 14 imprints.
Looking at YouTube as Means to Reach Fans for Books
One of our favorite interviews at Frankfurt last week was with two of London’s publishing stars, Pan Macmillan digital communications manager Naomi Bacon and Canelo publisher Michael Bhaskar.
Going Global: How Indie Authors Are Entering International Markets
Frankfurt Book Fair is all about rights sales, and ALLi has launched a Going Global campaign to search for meaningful international direction for authors.
On the List: The White Rose
The sequel to Ewing’s 2014 debut novel was released earlier this month and is enjoying its first week on the New York Times Young Adult bestseller list.
Google Books Scanning Is Deemed Fair Use; Authors Guild to Appeal
In 2004, Google announced its intention to digitize and make searchable more than 15 million books with help from library partners.
Getting inside the Head of a Big-Five CEO: Frankfurt’s Headliner Interview
Every year, Frankfurt Book Fair offers a headliner CEO interview, and this year featured Hachette Livre’s Arnaud Nourry.
AmazonCrossing Open to Submissions from Authors Worldwide
Just as Frankfurt Book Fair was getting underway, AmazonCrossing announced a $10 million commitment to translating books into English.
Hot Sheet Index: October 7, 2015
The Hot Sheet Index reviewed the number of countries that Kobo, Apple iBooks, Nook and Amazon Kindle sells in.
Closing Image: October 7, 2015
The Bookish Elites: Market size and new title production in relation to GDP per capita in the twenty-three largest publishing markets worldwide.
The Growing Footprint of Draft2Digital: The Next Big Ebook Distributor?
Founded in 2012, Draft2Digital is a growing ebook distributor for independent authors, with more than 16,000 authors using their service.
Speaking of Ebook Distributors, There’s a Brand-New One: Pronoun
Do you remember Vook? Booklr? Byliner? They no longer exist, having been mashed up into an all-new ebook distribution service called Pronoun.
The New York Times Celebrates the Decline of Ebooks in a Very Misleading Article
No doubt you’ve already seen the headline “E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far from Dead” and encountered speculation as to whether the Times got the story right.