Product Launches

Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of August increased 0.6 percent to $1.5 billion, compared to August 2007. Calendar year-to-date sales were down 1.4 percent. Categories posting an increase in August included: •E-books sales jumped up by 82.9 percent for the month ($4.3 million), and the category also posted a 52-percent increase for the year. •The children’s/young-adult paperback category increased 18.4 percent in August with sales totaling $69.4 million, reflecting an increase of 14.1 percent for the year. •The adult-hardcover category increased 9.2 percent in August with sales of $100.9 million; year-to-date sales decreased 3.6

76,000 The number of copies of “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down,” by Kaylene Johnson—the only biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin—regional publisher Epicenter Press printed in a few days, due to an overwhelming, nationwide demand in the week following the announcement of her Republican vice-presidential nomination. That same week, Zondervan announced that it would release a biography of Palin in October entitled “Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader.” Source: Book Business Extra, Sept. 12, 2008 10,000 Number of copies Barnes & Noble (B&N) originally ordered of Robert Kuttner’s “Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of

Children are pulled in many directions today; at least, their attention is. They are occupied by MP3 players, gaming systems, computers, cell phones, handheld electronic games and other digital technologies. And yes, children still play old-fashioned board games. They also attend school, compete in team sports, and participate in community and extracurricular activities. With all of these outlets occupying children’s time, how are books faring? With an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 new children’s titles released each year, children’s book publishers are concerned with how their books can compete for young readers’ attention with the thousands of titles already in the market, according to Ron

Amazon.com Inc. announced that Kindle customers will have an exclusive opportunity to download and read new biographies of potential first ladies Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama in advance of their print publications. “Michelle Obama: Grace and Intelligence in a Time of Change,” by Elizabeth Lightfoot, was made available on the Kindle Wednesday. The print version is scheduled to be released Nov. 26 by The Lyons Press, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press. “Cindy McCain: Elegance, Good Will and Hope for a New America,” by Alicia Colon, will be available on the Kindle Monday. However, this book will only go to print if

Biographies of political hopefuls typically see a significant bump in demand during presidential election years. But a sudden spike in orders wasn’t something Publisher Kent Sturgis expected for Epicenter Press’ 2008 biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Kaylene Johnson’s “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down”—the one and only biography of the 44-year-old politician in print at the time. That all changed Friday, Aug. 29, when Sen. John McCain announced that Palin would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Almost immediately, Sturgis and his small publishing house, which consists of himself and three part-time employees, mobilized to meet the sudden, overwhelming

53% Percentage that the number of RSS users increased between June 2007 and March 2008. Source: Universal McCann $3.4 million Amount of trade e-book sales for April 2008, a 19.9-percent increase over April 2007. Source: Association of American Publishers/International Digital Publishing Forum 82% Percentage of readers who prefer curling up with a printed book to new reading technology. Eleven percent of respondents said they are comfortable reading books in other formats, such as online or with an e-book reader or PDA. Source: 2008 Random House/Zogby Poll $37.26 billion Total book publishers’ net revenues in 2007, up 4.4 percent over 2006’s total. Unit sales

The privately held Bertelsmann AG, which owns Random House, announced its corporate and divisional half-year results Thursday, reportedly earning 284 million euros (US$546.3 million) from January to June, compared to a loss of 51 million euros (US$74.9 million) a year earlier. In a letter dated August 28, Markus Dohle, who took over as chairman and CEO of Random House on June 1, addressed his colleagues regarding Random House’s performance. He reported decreased operating revenue and profits from the previous year, due in part to the weak U.S. dollar and British pound, and increased freight and paper costs. He also noted that e-book revenue in

Despite the rising costs and tight supply of paper, increasing fuel costs impacting shipping prices, and growing pressure to cut inventory and increase turnaround times, among other challenges facing book publishers, two Book Business articles reveal positive news for the book manufacturing industry. In the June issue, the “Top 30 Book Manufacturers” feature showed that revenue for 23 of the 30 book manufacturers listed had grown over the previous year. According to Book Business’ 2007 ranking (in the June 2007 issue), just 17 book manufacturers had reported revenue increases. In this issue, in Book Business’ first compilation of leading digital book printers

It has been another year of increasing challenges and opportunities for book publishing executives as manufacturing and distribution costs escalate, and the media landscape shifts and shimmies before our very eyes. As costs continue their steep incline and new opportunities on the digital horizon demand more and more attention, many of you have been increasingly tasked with wearing additional hats—whether you’re the president, the head of operations or manufacturing, the production director, marketing director, or just about any other position. While publishing has never been a cakewalk (for most, anyway), it seems that now is a time when you certainly need to earn your

Last month, I attended the London Book Fair and came home with new thoughts on the future of e-books. In particular, an in-booth presentation by DNL eBooks’ Peter Kent—author of many books including “SEO for Dummies” and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Internet”—combined interesting statistics and Kent’s opinion on e-books’ future. Of course, Kent’s affiliation with DNL eBooks should be kept in mind, as the vendor provides a 3-D e-book technology (that incorporates Adobe Flash) through a software download for personal computers. (The technology was used in the Avon [a HarperCollins imprint] e-book release of “Lady Amelia’s Secret Lover,” which featured embedded video