Content Strategy

3 Marketing Success Stories from the Publishing Trenches
November 8, 2016 at 3:10 pm

Every publisher represents a storehouse of interesting content that can be used to attract readers, capture email subscribers, and increase book sales. In past articles, I’ve written about these concepts and reasons why publishers should invest in inexpensive digital marketing tactics. Free content attracts readers who become email subscribers. Those email subscribers can be converted…

Revisiting: Why Publishers’ Brands Matter
November 1, 2016 at 12:17 pm

Publishers’ brands are under attack from all sides. We hear, for example, about the “article economy” and the strongly held view that publishers add no value to the process of editorial development and the dissemination of materials. In the book world, the argument is that no…

Simon & Schuster Latches onto Podcast Trend With Launch of "Paper Donkey"
October 31, 2016 at 12:37 pm

Last week Simon & Schuster announced a new podcast created in partnership with CBS Radio's Play.it podcast network. The podcast "Paper Donkey" will feature interviews with famous editors and authors about how books are created and how editors help bring authors' vision to life. “We want to give people the chance to eavesdrop on the…

The Gone Girl With The Dragon Tattoo On The Train
October 28, 2016 at 8:30 am

There was a time a few years back when it seemed to me that about every third book I encountered was called “The X’s Daughter,” with X standing in for just about any occupation, title, rank and pejorative imaginable. Bookshelf upon bookshelf was filled with the daughters of generals, cartographers, lacemakers, lighthouse keepers, veterinarians, preachers…

Editor's Note: Industry Disruption Has a Silver Lining
October 13, 2016 at 5:34 pm

Over the past few years we’ve reported extensively on two major trends that have reshaped the book publishing landscape: direct-to-consumer marketing and digital book printing. While these topics could not be more different—one is a strategy for audience development and a catalyst for book sales while the other is a method of book production and…

Publishing Risks 'Becoming Irrelevant,' Warns Penguin Random House Boss
October 11, 2016 at 12:27 pm

The chief executive of the UK’s largest publisher has warned that the books industry will “become irrelevant” if it continues to fail to reflect the society we live in. Tom Weldon, chief executive of Penguin Random House UK, was speaking as the publisher launched a new scheme intended to discover and mentor authors from the…

Old Media, New Media, Data Media: Evolving Publishing Paradigms
September 27, 2016 at 1:48 pm

It is not so long ago that we routinely talked of Old vs. New Media. The “Old” was characterized by the investment in and creation of content, which in turn gave rise to a common set of properties — definitive and authoritative journalism and scientific reports, the fixed text, the pursuit of the finest authors…