Revenue

The Publishing Business Conference and Expo team is currently accepting speaker submissions for the 2009 conference program. The 2009 Publishing Business Conference, produced by Publishing Executive and Book Business magazines, is March 23-25 at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. We are looking for qualified speakers to share their expertise on a wide range of business management, technology, marketing, distribution, manufacturing, production, and other issues related to magazine and book publishing. All submissions must be sent to Matt Steinmetz, conference program editor, at MSteinmetz@NAPCO.com by Friday, August 15. As the vast majority of our speakers each year are magazine and book publishing

Just a reminder that nominations for our second-annual list of “Best Book Publishing Companies to Work For” are now being accepted. The deadline for registration is July 25, so if you think your company should be in the running, register it now. This year, we are working with a new research company, so the process is a little different than last year. (It’s similar to the process Fortune uses to determine its “Top 100 Best Companies to Work For.”) You can nominate your company yourself if you know the required information (such as Federal Employer ID number), or forward the link (http://www.BestBookCompanies.com)

Macon, Ga.-based Samhain Publishing has found its niche in the world of book publishing, despite the fact that most of its titles aren’t resting on bookstore shelves. The e-book-minded publisher has only tread lightly in the world of traditional print publishing since it first opened up shop nearly three years ago. While print versions of the company’s line of popular romance and erotica fiction are now more commonplace, Owner and Publisher Christina M. Brashear says these traditional books haven’t changed the main focus of providing electronic versions of Samhain’s titles. The publisher has achieved such success selling e-books to loyal readers, according to

HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide announced Wednesday that President and Chief Executive Officer Jane Friedman would be stepping down from her position, effective immediately. Brian Murray, president of HarperCollins, was named as her successor. The announcement came less than a month after Random House announced the departure of its CEO Peter W. Olson. Both Olson and Friedman had held their respective positions for 10 years. “My 10 years at HarperCollins have been far and away the most rewarding of my career, and so it was not easy to make the decision to step down,” says Friedman. “It has been a great privilege to develop and lead

“Today the book business stands at the edge of a vast transformation, one that promises much opportunity for innovation: much trial, much error, much improvement.” —Jason Epstein (“Book Business: Publishing Past, Present and Future,” Norton 2001) That was seven years ago, and today, innovation and experimentation—trial and error—is the theme of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) report “From Experimentation to Innovation in the Digital Age.” The report contains the results of a survey on the industry’s attitudes and actions pertaining to experimentation (more on page 7). It also contains case studies—based on interviews conducted by Mike Shatzkin, founder/CEO of The Idea Logical Co.,

Travel planning has never been easier. If you want to pack your bags and go somewhere—be it thousands of miles or only a few hours away—a simple Google search will bring you information from hundreds to thousands of sources. So how do travel publishers stay ahead of the Google game—and at the top of its results pages? Lauren Palmer, executive director of online strategy and business development for Fodor’s Travel—the largest worldwide publisher of English-language travel books and guides—is responsible for overseeing the company’s online property Fodors.com, including advertising and affiliate relationships, and digital licensing. And she knows a thing or two about

I recently attended the Book Industry Study Group’s Making Information Pay event (more coverage on pages 7 and 32), where Michael Cader, founder of Publishers Marketplace and Publishers Lunch, offered publishers simple, yet pertinent advice on engaging their audiences: “Leverage the damn book.” One example he gave: His son read a book from the “Alex Rider” series, so Cader went to the store to buy the series’ next book. To illustrate the point he was going to make, he projected a slide featuring the cover of every book in the series. There was nothing that told consumers which book to read next. The

Missed Part I of This Series? You can find Part I of this two-part series here. Taking the time to step back and evaluate your company’s publishing software can be challenging enough in the midst of the daily grind, but once you become aware that real problems exist, the bigger challenge can be figuring out how to successfully address them. Part I of this article explored “the decision phase”—or, how to recognize the need for a new system and the triggers that alert you to that situation. In this second installment, you will learn ways to analyze, select and determine the success factors

Hartmut Ostrowski, chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann AG, announced Tuesday that Peter Olson will step down from his position as chairman and CEO of Random House, which he has held for the past 10 years, effective May 31. Arvato Print CEO Markus Dohle will vacate his current position and assume the role of chairman and CEO of Random House as of June 1. According to Bertelsmann, Olson will leave the company “at his own initiative.” In a letter to the Random House staff, Olson said he will be relocating to Cambridge, Mass. “I am in discussions for a senior faculty position starting in the

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Random House Chief Executive Peter W. Olson will step down in the next few weeks, according to two executives at the book publisher’s parent company, Bertelsmann, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to the report, Bertelsmann’s recently appointed chief executive, Hartmut Ostrowski, “has lost patience with the performance of the American operations and wants to install his own person … [who] would not necessarily be a prominent figure from New York publishing, and maybe not even American.” Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Random House, the world’s largest consumer publisher, issued the following statement: “Mr. Olson is