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If there’s ever a good time to talk about the state of book distribution, this would be it. Right now, everyone is abuzz about changes occurring within the system thanks in part to the July release of Chris Anderson’s “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More.” Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, declares the demise of common culture and cites occurrences called “long-tailed distributions,” or distributions to a greater number of smaller markets, rather than one, big mass market. According to Anderson, this helps distributors since they are no longer cut off by bottlenecks of distribution, such as limited

HarperCollins new Digital Media Cafe (harpercollins.iamplify.com) opened for business earlier this week. The new online venture charges for subscription and on-demand audio and video downloads featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes snippets of the publishing houses’ top talents. The distribution platform tools for the venture were created by iAmplify, a two-year-old publisher of digital media, who began working with Harper earlier this year. iAmplify Cofounder Jack Hidary spoke with Book Business EXTRA! about the new venture for offering premium downloads that allow publishers to go ‘beyond the book.’ Hidary said he believes this enterprise demonstrates a more sustainable business model for the book industry.

18,000 Based on preliminary figures from U.S. publishers, Bowker is projecting that U.S. title output in 2005 decreased by more than 18,000 to 172,000 new titles and editions. This is the first decline in U.S. title output since 1999, and only the 10th downturn recorded in the last 50 years. According to Bowker projections, however, 2004 numbers were a tough act to follow—it had the highest total of new titles and editions ever, and reflected an increase of 19,000 new books over 2003. Bowker, May 2006 No. 1 Great Britain, long the world’s per capita leader in the publication of new

Despite the predictions of gray skies that have become increasingly prevalent in forecasts for the book publishing industry, a recent survey conducted by Book Business shows that the large majority of industry executives still cast an optimistic eye toward the future. In addition, most respondents foresee a lucrative long-term future for their companies and appear unconcerned that digital-format books will eventually replace print. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed replied they feel “optimistic” about the industry’s future and another 10 percent are “very optimistic.” Just 16 percent consider themselves to be “pessimistic.” Furthermore, these executives appear to, for the most part, have high hopes

With the launch of Amazon.com’s “Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher” earlier this month, the Internet-based retailer made its first foray into the realm of original, episodic entertainment webcasting. The new half-hour program is a talk show produced by Amazon. “Amazon Fishbowl” can be found exclusively on its Web site home page. It features conversations between Maher and a variety of guests who come on to promote recently-released books, music and movies. A new episode of the show premieres each Thursday night 8 p.m. PST throughout the summer, while host and executive producer Maher, best known for his edgy political humor and pop culture observations, is

While digital toner and inkjet based color has been available for years, Lightning Source’s announcement at Book Expo America of its four-color one-off production line exponentially expands the base for untapped publishing business opportunities for mid-range, independent and high-end publishers. It also shines the light on the transformation of manufacturing business models in the past 10 years, providing a price-list-based, sophisticated manufacturing service that simplifies the supply chain process without sacrificing quality controls. Buying color in Asia or Europe in sufficient quantities to bring the unit cost down and allowing for the weeks of turnaround time need no longer be a barrier to the

The university press has always been about more than just turning a profit. There’s the contribution of enabling scholars to write about unusual subjects, professors expanding on their classroom teachings and the overall extension of the university’s mission. Still, in a time when college budgets are dealing with further cutbacks and digital publishing is becoming more of a factor, university presses have never felt more pressure to produce economically, as well as educationally. “We’ve always relied on the credibility of what we publish to keep us afloat, but we need to expand our market to the mainstream,” says Ivar Nelson, director of the Eastern

Last year, retail e-commerce totaled $88 billion, or 2.4 percent of total U.S. retail sales, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In the first quarter of this year, U.S. retail e-sales hit $25 billion—2.7 percent of total retail sales for the quarter ($906 billion). And based on the average annual growth rate (in the mid 20-percent range) of the last few years, 2006’s year-end e-commerce totals are likely to top $110 billion. Book publishers in almost every market have launched e-commerce sites to tap the growing potential in e-sales. Major publishers such as Scholastic (ShopScholastic.com), Random House (RandomHouse.com), McGraw-Hill (Books.McGraw-Hill.com), Penguin Group

It’s a metamorphosis of the media. Book publishers with ad-supported content models traditionally donned by magazine publishers. Magazine publishers broadcasting live event coverage on their Web sites, and traditional broadcast news media directing consumers to their Web sites for supplemental content. The newest development on this front opens up a whole new can of worms. Amazon.com has crossed over into traditional media territory with its first online, video entertainment talk show. And I realized that not only is the media blurring into one behemoth information-blob, but the boundaries that separate the media from the rest of the world are even beginning to disappear. Amazon.com

‘The Passion of Mary Magdalen’ Monkfish Book Publishing Co., an independent press in Rhinebeck, N.Y., has high hopes for “The Passion of Mary Magdalen,” the central book in the trilogy “The Maeve Chronicles.” With a first printing of 5,000, the company has already had orders for 2,500 copies from wholesalers and distributors. “It is a great book with a lot of different angles to pursue,” says Paul Cohen publisher and co-founder of Monkfish. “One of the more interesting is the marketing of the character Maeve (aka Mary Magdalen) as a feisty Celt and an endearing character.” “The Passion” is a historical fantasy focusing