Marketing

Innovative and energetic publishers such as And Other Stories and Dalkey Archive are finding new routes to a committed audience. "We were dreaming of freedom; we woke up in capitalism," is Slovenian writer Drago Jančar's wry comment at the launch of Dalkey Archive's anthology of short stories, Best European Fiction 2014 (#BEF14)."Yes, we have freedom now," says fellow writer Tõnu Õnnepalu, speaking in English (he also writes in French as well as his native Estonian), but he sounds a little puzzled. No wonder. The reaction of authors from former Soviet countries

The Pew Research Center reported last week that nearly a quarter of American adults had not read a single book in the past year. As in, they hadn't cracked a paperback, fired up a Kindle, or even hit play on an audiobook while in the car. The number of non-book-readers has nearly tripled since 1978.

If you are the sort of person who believes that TV and the Internet have turned American culture into a post-literate scrubland full of cat GIFs and reality TV spinoffs, then this news will probably reinforce your worst suspicions. But buried beneath it, I think

Is the branded author really our savior? Or is he distracting publishers from new stories and undiscovered talent?

Before you enter a negotiation, talk yourself into success. Here are Ten Ways to Project a Winning Personality in a Sales Situation.

With Netflix soaring, investors are betting that a start-up based on the same business model - but for e-books - will succeed as well.

Oyster, which gives customers access to more than 100,000 books for $10 a month, has raised $14 million in a new round of financing. The new investment was led by Highland Capital Partners and included additional capital from an existing investor, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund.

That raises the company's total fund-raising to $17 million.

Huzzah! This week we are reaching 100,000 authors in the Goodreads Author Program! When we started offering verified author pages five years ago, we never dreamed that one day our members would have the opportunity to interact with some of their favorite writers like Khaled Hosseini, Neil Gaiman, Amy Tan, Helen Fielding, James Patterson, Cassandra Clare, Rick Riordan, Jodi Picoult, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, and many, many more. You'd think we'd get used to working with authors, but we still get awestruck when someone on our To-Read list joins the site!

Still think DRM is good for IP owners? Have you bought into all the fear, uncertainty and doubt to believe DRM protects sales by keeping freeloaders away from your content?

If so, I've got a report you need to read. It's one that came out late last year but didn't get a lot of publicity.

Increasingly fixated on the stars of today, such as Hilary Mantel and JK Rowling, publishers are neglecting the experimenters who could save their industry tomorrow: the mid-list writers.

The tickets sold out months ago. Long before the admiring reviews of the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies hit the press at the end of last week, theatre-goers were in no doubt they wanted to see six hours of blazing Tudor intrigue.

Scientists have developed an algorithm which can analyse a book and predict with 84 per cent accuracy whether or not it will be a commercial success.

A technique called statistical stylometry, which mathematically examines the use of words and grammar, was found to be "surprisingly effective" in determining how popular a book would be.

People who say no to one thing may be more likely to say yes if asked again. Use that fact to your advantage in a sales situation. If your prospect says no, think, "I heard what you said but it's not what you meant." You can more easily get to yes when you recognize the Top Ten Tips for Getting to Yes after No.