Trade

Now is better than later because later might never come. Among the many tragic losses related to the above wisdom, one of the most trivial revolves around the topic of shopping behavior. (Apologies to the Maharishi inside us all.) And this matters a great deal in the world of books, where we know from our…

Washington, DC; April 26, 2016 – Publishers’ book sales for trade (consumer) books from Jan. to Dec. were up 0.8% to $7.2 billion compared to $7.1 billion in 2014. Despite a slow holiday season, the year ended slightly up, with a shift in sales for format and category. Overall publisher revenue for 2015 was $15.4…

As The Guardian and other parts of the mainstream media begin to notice the month and a half old story on the Kindle Unlimited page count scam, it's time that we consider just who is being harmed. In early March David Gaughran discovered, and Amazon confirmed, that scammers were taking advantage of a loophole in how…

Henry Holt & Company has undergone a number of incarnations since it was formed in 1866, when Henry Holt partnered with Frederic Leypoldt to publish books under the name Leypoldt & Holt. For one thing, it has had a number of different names, owners, and mission. The Henry Holt that exists today began to take…

Books as a technology have been around for such a long time that it’s easy to forget that they were once major innovations themselves: Before the book there was the scroll, and the clay tablet before that, and it wasn’t until the end of the 16th century that modern indexes were invented, still largely the…

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on The Future of Publishing. Netflix released its latest quarter earnings report today. In a Letter to Shareholders (PDF), Netflix CEO Reed Hastings described the competitive landscape the company faces. In doing so he framed the challenge faced today by all publishers, certainly all book, newspaper and magazine publishers.…

Publishers know promoting books and authors on Facebook is smart, but it's a lot more impactful when there's high engagement from Facebook users. Why do some publishers earn 1,000 or more likes on a post while others may receive as few as 7? If you want to increase  Facebook engagement, here are 12 tips you…

Mike Shatzkin said in his opening remarks at Digital Book World 2016 that publishers need to help authors with their marketing efforts. “At the very least, every house should do a ‘digital audit’ for every author they sign that includes concrete suggestions for filling in gaps and improving discoverability and engagement. To my knowledge, not…

In March, I attended the Ricoh Publishing Executive Symposium to learn about digital book printing and its evolving role within the book industry. The event gathered a number of book manufacturers and publishers in order to discuss the latest innovations in digital printing technology and how those innovations are reshaping the business. According to printing…

I’ve been a fan of unlimited e-reading services for at least a couple of years now. When Oyster Books went under I shifted to Kindle Unlimited. For short-form magazine content I use Texture, the offering formerly known as Next Issue. Prices for these services are typically in the $10-15/month range and, for the most part,…