Product Launches

The biggest news in book retailing so far this year may be Borders’ opening its first “concept store,” a new generation of superstores unveiled in February in the company’s hometown of Ann Arbor, Mich. At 28,900 square feet, the new store—the first of 14 planned to open this year—does not skimp on size, and a lot of that space is taken up by innovative features: shop-within-a-shop “destination zones” for travel, cooking, wellness, graphic novels and children’s categories; bold, new architectural designs; and a “digital center” offering services ranging from book downloading to self-publishing. “Our mission is to be a headquarters for knowledge

41% Percentage of items purchased worldwide over the Internet in the past three months that were books, making books the most popular online purchase. In the United States alone, books were the second-most popular purchase (38 percent) behind clothing, accessories and shoes (41 percent). Source: Nielsen Global Online Survey, January 2008 5 Number of Top 10 best-selling novels in Japan in 2007 that originated as cell-phone novels and were later republished in book form. Usually love stories written in short, text-message-like sentences, cell-phone novels are originally composed and shared with fans via cell phones. The top three best-selling novels were written by first-time, cell-phone

A commuter driving on the freeway. A businessman riding the subway. A stay-at-home mom exercising on an elliptical. If there’s one thing they all have in common, it’s that they can listen to an audiobook while going about their business. From self-improvement and personal finance to blockbuster fiction titles and biographies, the audiobook market is booming. Sales neared the $1 billion mark in 2006, and with increasingly busy lifestyles and the rising popularity of personal audio players, the industry is poised for continued growth. Bringing Books to Readers With Technology A 2006 survey by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) found that nearly 25

According to one of the better-known accounts in the compendium of humankind’s greatest achievements, it was in the year 105 that a Chinese man named Ts’ai Lun invented paper, mashing up wood from a mulberry tree with fiber from bamboo. Thus was born a technology that would literally change the world, making possible artistic, scientific and religious revolutions, democratizing literacy and learning, and ushering humanity into the modern age. In recent times, paper production has played a role in changing the world in other ways. The book industry alone required 3 million to 4 million tons of paper over just the last three years,

2007 might well be remembered as the year when, a few months after the final installment of “Harry Potter” hit the shelves to blockbuster acclaim, the “To Read or Not to Read” report was issued by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The report raised serious concerns about the future of reading in this country: Amount and proficiency are on the decline, the report found, especially among young adults and older teens. Then, there are new U.S. Census numbers, released in December 2007, that show that the number of hours per person spent reading consumer books has been basically flat over the

5.4 million Number of items Amazon.com sold on its busiest day of the 2007 holiday season, Dec. 10, which translates to 62.5 items per second. Top sellers in books included “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, “The Dangerous Book for Boys” by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden, and “I Am America (And So Can You!)” by Stephen Colbert. 40% Percentage of luxury consumers who visited a social networking Web site, such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, in the past three months. The finding is based on a survey conducted among affluent consumers in October 2007. The average income of respondents was $150,200, and the

John Edward, psychic medium, talk-show host and best-selling author Favorite Book: “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis “I think it’s master storytelling with a great message. As a dad, I take the opportunity to use the characters and the stories to act as a bridge to discussing spirituality, religion and God.”

For the month of October, book sales increased 2.1 percent over last October, according to the Association of American Publishers. Year-to-date sales increased 9.3 percent over the same time period last year. Market segments that posted year-to-date sales increases included: adult hardcover (13.7 percent); children’s/young adult paperback (3.3 percent); university press hardcover (9.7 percent); university press paperback (2.4 percent); professional and scholarly (7.0 percent); higher education (9.0 percent); audio books (29.7 percent); e-books (23.7 percent); and religious books (6.8 percent). Sales of children’s/young adult hardcover books increased the most, by 52.7 percent. Only two segments experienced a decline in year-to-date sales: adult paperback

Longfellow’s celebration of the forest primeval finds its echo today in the green revolution taking place along the supply chain of the paper industry. Although—as I learned from interviewing people who prefer not be quoted on the subject—good intentions are ahead of actual practice, it is a harbinger nonetheless of the revolutionary transformations taking place in the paper industry’s business practices. Which brings me to the subject of this column: a snapshot of the globally transforming paper industry, the state of book-paper supply, and how the present outlook shapes your paper usage and purchasing strategies. As long as print products are foundational to the

According to the Children’s Publishing Market Forecast 2008, a new report released this week by Simba Information, the U.S. children’s and young adult book market is projected to decline by more than 1 percent next year, and increase only slightly in 2009. More than $4.3 billion in net sales is expected next year in this sector. While several factors are cited to explain the anticipated decline, the report emphasizes the lack of a new “Harry Potter” book in the marketplace. The last installment in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was released this summer and met with record-breaking success. It also increased