The Book Industry Study Group

It is a difficult time to be an independent book publisher. Fractured distribution models, soaring manufacturing costs, technology changing at breakneck speeds and the ongoing global recession are just a few of the threats coming at indies from all directions.

Digital book printing, be it in the form of short-run or print-on-demand (POD), has unquestionably transformed the book business. While no longer in its infancy, digital printing and its economic benefits still remain a mystery to many publishers. Industry trade groups like the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), with its mission statement of “working to create a more informed, empowered and efficient book industry,” are pushing to further publishers’ understanding of the technology and its strengths and limitations. BISG’s forthcoming “Print On Demand for Dummies” book, created in collaboration with John Wiley & Sons and set to debut this summer, aims to help demystify the business of POD with a number of industry case studies.

One night recently, I woke suddenly, due to a horrifying dream about … do I dare admit it? … Twitter. The dream made no real sense; I was tweeting—or posting, for you non-Twitterers—quotes from various people in the book publishing industry, one quote after another, but I couldn’t post them fast enough. I have similar work/stress-related dreams quite frequently, but I was amazed that I had one about Twitter—tweeting is one of the simplest things I do. So why the tweet dreams?

Book publishers combined to pull in $40.3 billion in net dollar sales in 2008, a 1-percent increase over 2007, according to Book Industry Study Group’s (BISG) “Book Industry Trends 2009.” Total unit sales, however, slipped 1.5 percent from 3.13 million in 2007 to 3.08 million last year.

Dominique Raccah (Sourcebooks) and Andrew Weber (Random House), Co-Chairs of the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG), announced today that it has formed a search committee to consider candidates for the position of BISG Executive Director

"We’ve almost become accustomed to an uninterrupted flow of bad news,” said Michael Healy, executive director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) at the organization’s sixth-annual Making Information Pay event, held May 7 at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York City. Falling sales, shrinking margins, closing bookstores and job losses are among the negatives facing the industry, noted Healy.

Dominique Raccah—Publisher and CEO of independent book publisher Sourcebooks and co-chair of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG)—focused on the changes facing the book industry and how publishers need to adapt, during her presentation “Not Business as Usual” at BISG's Making Information Pay event on May 7 in New York.

From multimillion-dollar acquisitions to multimillion-dollar best-sellers, powerful women stand at every pivotal, decision-making point in the book publishing process. Book Business’ first annual “50 Top Women in Book Publishing” feature recognizes and honors some of these industry leaders who affect and transform how publishing companies do business, and what—and how—consumers read.

Approaching the same problem from different angles, both the book publishing industry and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided one day apart that measures must be taken to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions.

Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. has received certification through the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) Product Data Certification Program (PDCP), a voluntary certification program that objectively evaluates publishers’ product information, either as ONIX or Excel files, against the criteria defined in BISG’s Product Metadata Best Practices (http://www.BISG.org/documents/metadata.html). The goal of the PDCP is to lead publishers toward adherence to agreed-upon standards of electronic communication, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective business transactions for all.