The digital dynamo prepares to stand its ground in the ebook price-fixing case coming next month to a Manhattan courtroom. Meanwhile, book industry insiders discover they will have to settle for double-digit growth in ebook sales, after years of triple-digit jumps. “E-books in 2012 accounted for over $3 billion is sales, with a slew of [...]
Archives: Publishers Weekly
A regular Friday feature of CCC’s podcast series, “The Publishing Week Ahead With Publishers Weekly” previews the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday. CCC’s Chris Kenneally checks in with Andrew Albanese, PW’s Features Editor, as well as a range of PW writers, experts and editors.
Publishers Weekly is the leading publication serving all involved in the creation, production, marketing and sale of the written word in all formats.
Books Make Good Listening
The idea is often advanced that the rise of video on the Web will undermine reading habits – and that in a contest of pictures over words, the words will come out the loser. The jury is still out, but the spoken word has long enjoyed a warm relationship with books, and in 2013, that [...]
Hot Books Start With ‘Hot House’
With more books appearing every day, finding a book that’s worth the money and time it takes to read becomes a challenge. The publishing business worries over this as much as readers do, and they’ve taken to talking frantically at conferences about “discoverability.” For Publishers Weekly’s upcoming issue, staff writers come to the rescue with their [...]
Who Will Save Our Books?
A bestselling author has sent out an S-O-S for the book trade. Last week James Patterson took out ads on the cover of Publisher Weekly, in The New York Times Book Review, and in Kirkus asking the questions, “Who will save our books? Our bookstores? Our libraries?” Judging by the ensuing media coverage, he achieved [...]
Amazon: Friend or Foe?
As the US celebrates National Library Week, there’s cause for celebration in the stacks. News from Simon & Schuster details a one-year, pilot e-book lending program with New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and the Queens Library. Over at the London Book Fair, attendees have argued the future of copyright, and debated the question: “Amazon: Friend or [...]
Are Books Part of the Past?
Are books part of the past? Or are they essential to the future? No, we’re not talking about the shopworn debate over the death of print. In this clash for hearts and minds and money, books will likely survive — but what future lies ahead for books authors? Even as the industry sees reason for [...]
No Such Thing As Used E-Book
While the publishing world learns to live with the idea that e-books may be good for business, after all, a federal district court judge finds there is no such thing as a used e-book. “To quote OR Books founder, John Oakes, ‘e-books are God’s gift to publishing,’” Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer, tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “That gem [...]
Shades of Grey… And Green
Random House parent company Bertelsmann has put a cap on a record year for the global publishing giant with an announcement that worldwide revenue at RH rose almost 23%, while the companies’ profits operating margin jumped almost 76%. “Those are both astounding figures,” Andrew Albanese, senior writer for Publishers Weekly, tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “So what’s the key driver there? [...]
Copyright Reform Next?
Publishers prepare to pack for London, while the Supreme Court sends John Wiley & Sons packing with a copyright-related ruling that the First Sale doctrine applies as well in Bangkok as it does in Berkley. Ahead of the London Book Fair, running from April 15-17, Publishers Weekly has a preview of attractions, including Rachel Deahl’s “London Briefcase,” detailing [...]
Millionaires By the Book
With the tide of e-book sales rising fast, the number of million-selling digital titles has likewise swelled. That’s good news for authors and their publishers, and lest we forget, heartening too for all makers of devices. Yet bookstore owners can take heart as well: Hardcover sales for 2012 saw a respectable number of titles break [...]
