Scholastic Inc.

Just as ebooks have turned book publishing on its head, so is a new breed of rich media reading devices changing the ebook paradigm. Publishers who delver their ebooks through dedicated reading apps on iPads, Kindle Fires, Nook Tablets and platforms such as Impelsys, Inkling, MAZ and Copia, are privy to volumes of data on how their customers consume their content, from basic information such as how many pages they've read to more granular info such as, "Was this test-preparation chapter effective."

Author J.K. Rowling drew more than a million Harry Potter fans for a live global webcast during which she shared never before heard tidbits about the world of Harry Potter, including back story details, as well as her next writing project and Pottermore.

The world's biggest book fair opened here on Tuesday with the spotlight on children's literature, traditionally an "under-recognised" sector but now seen as a driving force in publishing.

More than 7,000 exhibitors are expected from Wednesday at the five-day Frankfurt Book Fair, which this year also puts the literary traditions, arts and culture of New Zealand in the spotlight as its guest of honour.

"Childrens' books have been doing very well around the world," Richard Robinson, president and chief executive of the publisher and distributor of children?s books, Scholastic told a news conference.

Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Inc., the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today hosted ‘Clifford’s BIGGEST Birthday Party Ever’ – a live webcast event streamed to classrooms nationwide that kicks off a year-long 50th birthday celebration of Clifford the Big Red Dog®. In honor of the celebration, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York,proclaimed the day as 'Clifford The Big Red Dog® Day.'
 
Approximately 5,000 classrooms nationwide registered to participate in the event via livewebcast and watched as hundreds of first graders from New York City schools participated in the party in front of Scholastic's iconic SoHo headquarters. The children met Clifford’s creator, Norman Bridwell, shared their own birthday wishes for their favorite Big Red Dog, participated in some BIG birthday activities that reinforce the social-emotional, literacy and language skills that Clifford espouses, and finally, sang “Happy Birthday” to Clifford as a giant BIG red dog was revealed along the façade of the Scholastic building.
 

September 13, 2012 (NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ) -- More than half the consumers of books classified for young adults aren’t all that young. Fully 55% of buyers of works that publishers designate for kids aged 12 to 17 – nicknamed YA books -- are 18 or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 44.

Join Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines on Thursday, Sept. 13, for the FREE Publishing Business Virtual Conference and Expo. Among the lineup of great panels we've got planned is Ebooks: An Analytics Goldmine. Join our panel of industry expertsas they explore the treasure trove of invaluable reader data you can collect by studying—in aggregate—how your customers use your e-products.

You walk into the bookstore, past the tables of "Books for This Month's Holiday," and find your way to the Foreign Language section. Bring up your bébé in French; speak Chinese like a Tiger Mom; have a conversation in Russian that would warm the cockles of Putin's heart—it's all here. And if you already know a foreign language—Spanish, say—you'll also find novels and self-help books right next to "500 Spanish Verbs."

Kids can vote in the 2012 Presidential Election through the Scholastic Student Vote. The vote, which is live now at www.scholastic.com/vote, is a longstanding tradition for Scholastic News® classroom magazines. The Scholastic Student Vote was launched during the 1940 Presidential election, and has continued every election year since then with the outcome reflecting that of the General Election in every contest but two (in 1948 when students chose Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S. Truman and in 1960 when more students voted for Richard M. Nixon than John F. Kennedy).

In the weeks that I’ve been putting together my ebook bestsellers breakdown, which examines the titles that are doing better in digital formats than in print and investigates how titles hit the bestseller list, one common key to success pops up over and over again: The power of a sale. A one-day Kindle Daily Deal can drive enough sales to propel a title onto the New York Times ebook bestseller list for just one week. And self-published authors’ low-priced titles are taking up more and more spots.

I'll admit that it still thrills me to walk past and gaze up, wide-eyed, at the Empire State Building. Nonetheless, no tourist am I (proven by the fact that three people so far have asked me for directions). I am here to do business.

We Book Business and Publishing Executive editors are a peripatetic lot. Earlier this week you heard from Jim Sturdivant reporting from New Bern, N.C. (Yes, he’s on vacation—what dedication!) Now I am in New York to meet with some of the speakers for our forthcoming Publishing Business Virtual Conference & Expo.