Bowker

Join hosts Book Industry Study Group — the standards and research body for the US publishing industry — and Bowker Market Research — a leader in consumer research for the US & UK — as they debut results from the first ever Global eBook Monitor (GeM). This virtual webinar, offered on both the 2nd and 23rd of April will host participants from around the world thanks to the support of participating partners Pearson, Tata Consultancy Services and AT Kearney in making the seminar available to the global publishing community.

Bowker has merged the U.S.-based PubTrack Consumer brand with U.K.-based Book Marketing Limited (BML) under a new global brand named Bowker® Market Research. Products and services coming together under Bowker Market Research are the newly merged U.S. and U.K. consumer research products, industry statistics, U.K.’s Book Marketing Society, and U.S. bibliographic statistics.
 
The day-to-day operations of the team will be headed up by Jo Henry as Director of Bowker Market Research.

The centennial of the Titanic’s fatal, maiden voyage has prompted a record number of new books on the disaster, according to Bowker’s Books In Print®, a leading and reliable source of information on books and publishing metrics. Ninety-eight books—in print and e-versions—have been brought to market in 2012 in anticipation of a surge of interest from the milestone anniversary.  The previous record was 76 titles released in 1998; a year after James Cameron’s movie epic “Titanic” hit the big screen. Bowker is an affiliated business of ProQuest.

The world has caught up with the U.S. when it comes to e-book buying and overall engagement with digital books, according to a new study.

While the U.S. remains the largest e-book market, many readers in countries like Australia, Brazil and India have purchased e-books and intend to buy more in the future, according to R.R. Bowker’s Global eBook Monitor study.

“The world is ready for digital books and it’s a far bigger marketplace than we thought,” said Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services at Bowker.

49.7: Percent of avid book buyers who refuse to go paperless. Nearly half of avid book buyers, compared to just 2.1 percent of regular book buyers, allegedly shudder at the thought of a digital book.

You can’t spend three days at a conference such as the recent Tools of Change (February 13-15) and not marvel at the logistics, atmospherics and the countless insights and discoveries sprinkled throughout the event.

The location at the Times Square Marriott provided a striking reminder of the new power of electronic media in lights and motion. The glittering mash up of news crawls, jumbo video screens, advertising and entertainment that now define the Manhattan theater district, and Broadway and 42nd Street has become an urban theme park.

Where does a publisher go for the latest in process, for a view of the future and to map a path for getting there? This year’s three day 6th annual TOC conference provided an immersive opportunity to do so. It was at once a celebration of the traditions of storytelling and an exploration of new developments and business frameworks for their presentation and distribution. The theme was "Change/Forward/Fast and Start Again."

BISG has learned how to pack enriched expert presentations into a 3-and-a-half-hour session that provides useful perspectives, allows for productive networking and a savory luncheon, and for the rest of the day to catch up on business.
 
Pitched to the theme of “Innovation in the New Reality,” the meeting brought together on neutral ground and in equal standing publisher, distributor and vendor stakeholders in the college sector to consider matters of mutual interest to their business development. Len Vlahos, recently installed as the BISG executive director, characterized its unique blend of multi-sector membership as “The Switzerland of the Industry.”

As tablet sales surge and put downward pressure on dedicated e-reader ownership growth, publishers are pessimistic that tablets will provide readers with an enticing reading platform. According to a recent Digital Book World survey, conducted by Forrester Research, 31% of publishers think iPads and other tablets computers are the ideal e-book reading platform, down from 46% a year ago.

Only 30% of publishers think reading tablets like the Nook Color and Kindle Fire are an ideal reading platform. This question was not asked in the previous year’s survey.

Lisa James McKenzie, one of my kickstarter supporters, requested a behind the scenes summation of my experience self-publishing my new book, Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, a book of advice on thinking, wisdom and living a creative life. Here are all the questions I’ve been asked, with honest answers: Why did you do this? You’ve had 3 bestselling books the traditional way. I know I will be writing books the rest of my life. The sooner I learn everything about the process, the better off I will be. I already know how to write – it was time to learn