Editor's Note: A Glow Among the Gloom

As many of you may also be finding yourselves particularly introspective at this time of year, and perhaps a little battered and bruised from this business’ roughness, I think it’s worth turning the focus back to the glow every now and then.

Our Brand-New Column and Other Changes
And, as the new year begins, we have made some exciting changes to our content. First, we’ve launched a brand-new piece called “$-Savers” (page 7). It will alternate with another new feature “Time-Savers” in each issue, and features tips provided by our readers, your peers. Thanks to all of you who so graciously shared your ideas for helping other publishers cut costs and do more with less—two of the biggest challenges publishing executives face today. (If you want to share with other Book Business readers what you’ve done in your organization to save time and money, you can submit your ideas for publication in Book Business at: BookBusinessMag.com/survey. Every idea has the potential of strengthening the industry, if little by little, company by company—sort of like the story about the woman who planted one sunflower a day on a hillside; after a few years, the hillside was a sea of beautiful sunflowers.

We’ve also introduced a brand-new column in this issue—the very special “Guest Columnist,” where a different industry thought-leader will write for us in each issue. First up is industry consultant and analyst Mike Shatzkin (page 26), who no doubt, many of you know. If you don’t know his name, he’s a good person to keep your eye on. He shares his perspectives on what the industry will look like a number of years from now, and I think you’ll find it fascinating.

We’ve also moved Andrew Brenneman’s popular “Digital Directions” column to the back page of every issue.