Milwaukee

The digital revolution has written a nail-biting new chapter for book publishers. E-books are overtaking their paper-bound counterparts as bookstores vanish and Amazon.com inflicts unrelenting price pressure on a time-honored trade.

For all the upheaval, however, little has changed at Milwaukee-based Henschel HAUS Publishing Inc.

"Regardless whether it's an e-book, a print book or an audiobook, it still needs to be edited, it still needs formatting, it still needs a compelling cover," said Kira Henschel, the one-woman founder, owner, agent, editor and writing coach of the 12-year-old publishing house.

Today in books and publishing: E.L. James' husband isn't a dom; Cosmopolis reconsidered; NYPD called in for Junot Díaz reading; Pussy Riot to storm e-readers.

Pussy Riot: the e-book. The City University of New York's Feminist Press plans to release Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom on Sept. 21st. The e-book will collect writings about the punk band/feminist collective who incurred the Russian government's wrath by performing an anti-Putin song in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

A new breakthrough in dust jacket material, introduced to the market earlier this month, could wind up saving publishers time and money by helping to bypass the need to add a protective laminate during production. Visual Systems Inc. (VSI), a Milwaukee-based book component manufacturer, introduced the innovative new plastic material to the market in early July. The company says the product--called BaseOneone that omits part of the production process resulting in approximately 20 percent savings for educational publishers. On the trade side of things, VSI says there is a 2 to 5 percent savings from eliminating the laminating step and the extra time and materials

Consumer spending on books will reach $44 billion by 2008, and publishers will be serving up a menu of more than 2.3 billion books from which readers can choose, predicts a recent study by the Book Industry Study Group, a nonprofit industry organization. With so many titles vying for a piece of the pie, each book's cover becomes increasingly important to catch the book-buyer's eye, despite the old caveat about judging a book by its cover. But does pomp and circumstance help sell books? Beauty Is Only Cover Deep, But It's The Cover That Buyers See Many in the industry agree that a

The numbers tell the story. There are 145,000 book titles vying for attention on bookseller's shelves. That's up a mere 3% over last year, according to market researcher R. R. Bowker, with little prospect for growth in this stalled economy. Book publishers have limited options to capture the attention of buyers. One tactic is increasingly popular: a striking cover. Vivid colors, metallic foil and inks, ultraviolet-cured compounds, 3D holograms, lenticular motion graphics—all are techniques finding favor with book designers and marketers. Intended to grab the eye or titillate the touch, these design techniques stand out, attracting readers to the detriment of lesser-styled competing

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