Even though in-store retail shopping fell dramatically on Black Friday compared to last year, activity on Cyber Monday increased anywhere from 20 to 45 percent, depending on whose figures you rely on. Bookshop reports selling $2.3 million in books between the Friday and Monday after Thanksgiving; NPD BookScan recorded the highest Black Friday week sales for print books since tracking started in 2004. And Amazon reported its best period ever in the company’s history. NPD said that print book sales are up 7.7 percent for the year through November 28. Keep in mind that one in four print books in the US were purchased during the holidays in 2019, so a few critical weeks lie ahead.
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.
