The Book Industry Study Group

When the subject of e­books versus print — EVP, if you will — is discussed, one sees passionate loyalty on both sides. This is good news for the art, science and business of publishing. Such passion shows that this long established format of encoding and exchanging knowledge has captured the hearts of millions who view books as essential to their lives. What it also does, unfortunately, is cloud the real issues. Partisan loyalty to old or new book formats can blind us to what makes a book valuable in the first place.

English-language books from US Trade sector publishers continue to flourish worldwide, especially in Europe and Asia and in expanding online international retail sales channels, according to the second annual Association of American Publishers (AAP) Export Sales Report being released today. The report also shows particular worldwide growth in US-published, English-language fiction for Adults and Young Adults.

The report examines US Trade sector (publishers of fiction and non-fiction) 2012 net sales revenue from international markets and includes data from all major consumer publishing houses.

The number of parties has dwindled and there are fewer blockbuster celebrity authors, but the actual business of book publishing looks a little brighter this year.

Book Expo America, which kicks off at the Javits Convention Center today, is designed to bring independent booksellers together so that publishers can hype books they think will be big sellers in the coming months.

Yesterday, the Alfred A. Knopf imprint announced “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” the third book in British writer Helen Fielding’s mega-selling series about the travails of a single woman. The first two books became international sensations in the 1990s

Lynn Rosen, Editorial Director of the Publishing Business Group, interviewing Len Vlahos, Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group, and Karina Luke, Executive Director of Book Industry Communication at the IDPF's Digital Book conference at Book Expo America

New York, NY, May 8, 2013 – From May 29-30, 2013, the best minds in digital publishing will convene in the Javits Center in New York City for the highly-anticipated, perennially sold-out at IDPF Digital Book 2013 conference (http://idpf.org/db13). This year’s theme, Advancing Publishing in a Digital World, has already drawn an enormous crowd, with seats expected to sell out soon.

Some featured speakers and session insights include:

• Otis Chandler, Co-founder and CEO of Goodreads will share an update and tackle questions from the crowd, including: what’s next for Goodreads now that it’s owned by Amazon? What does the recent sale mean for the 17 million members, 530 million books and 23 million reviews?

• Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author and staff writer for The New Yorker will speculate on the digital future with Brad Stone, Bloomberg Businessweek writer and author of the upcoming The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

The US Trade publishing industry – which produces general-interest fiction and non-fiction for adults, children and young adults – experienced significant overall growth in 2012, with eBooks increasing 45% over the past year while hardcovers and paperbacks held steady, according to the just-released BookStats Volume 3, the most comprehensive survey capturing the size and scope of the US book publishing industry.

According to BookStats, total net revenue for the Trade publishing sector was $15.049 Billion in 2012, an increase of +6.9% over 2011.  The overall US publishing industry – including Trade as well as K-12 School, Higher Education and Professional/Scholarly Publishing, - was $27.124 Billion for 2012.

As the Book Industry Study Group report "Student Attitudes Toward Content in Higher Education" suggests, things are changing, and fast, for higher education publishing. And the Supreme Court's decision in Kirtsaeng V. Wiley is only going to hasten the speed at which higher ed publishers move to digital platforms for course content.

Enter GinkgoTree, a fresh-faced start-up from a group of former academics who, after bemoaning the lack of a cheaper alternative to expensive textbooks and a more elegant alternative to online course packs, decided that theirs was the solution they were waiting for.

Boston, MA, April 30, 2013 - Publishing Technology plc (LSE: PTO), a leading provider of content solutions for publishers, has appointed Michael Cairns as COO, Online Solutions Division and member of the executive team. Replacing Louise Russell, Michael will assume commercial responsibility for the Online business unit, including product development, implementation and client management for Publishing Technology’s flagship pub2web hosting platform, the ingentaconnect portal and associated product lines including Information Commerce Software and the Heron elearning resource.

The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) has selected Angela Bole, current Deputy Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group, as the association’s next Executive Director

US Trade publishers’ net revenue grew by 6.2%  compared to calendar year 2011, according to the Association of American Publishers “StatShot” monthly report for December 2012, released today.
 
The report also showed increases year over year for net revenue in the Trade categories of Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction and Children’s/Young Adults.
 
In formats, Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction saw growth in eBooks, downloaded audiobooks and paperbacks while Children’s/YA eBooks, hardcover and board books saw increases.  The eBook format in the Religious Presses category also grew as compared to 2011.