Author Archives: Lorraine Shanley

From the Ground Up: Inventing Mexican Publishing in 2013

While many BEA 2013 Conference sessions dealt with the familiar subject of how an established industry adapts to change, the recurrent issues in BEA 2013’s Global Market Forum on Mexico were a bit different. Unlike some industries that are “reinventing” themselves, Mexican publishing is a small trade community attempting to build a large and globally competitive…Continue Reading

Tipping the Scales: Publishers Launch BEA 2013

If “Wild West” and “Discoverability” have been buzz words of BEAs past, “Scale” is certainly a strong contender for this year’s theme. Size and scale certainly come to mind when looking at the ever-increasing offerings and co-located events supplement the BEA exhibit hall, from IDPF and bloggers conferences to library tracks and author events. Size and…Continue Reading

The Next Big Thing: Business Development in Publishing

While Business Development is not necessarily one of the first departments that comes to mind when thinking of careers in the publishing industry, it is an area of increasing importance in light of the many startups and platforms that are now part of the digital landscape. The term “Business Development” or, more commonly, “biz dev”…Continue Reading

Driven to Disruption: Reading James McQuivey’s Digital Disruption

PublishingTrends.com continues its regular column in which we review, explicate, and excerpt books that we think will resonate with people in the business of publishing and media.  **** The word “disruption” is hardly unfamiliar to those in the publishing industry. Almost every part of book business has been affected by disruption, particularly of the digital kind, from the advent and availability…Continue Reading

All Dressed Up with No Place to Go: The Renaissance of Argentinian Publishers VS. Global Isolationism

From April 25 to May 19, the Buenos Aires Book Fair will be welcoming readers and Spanish-language publishing professionals around the world, seeking, says the Fair’s Executive Director, Gabriela Adamo, “to reassure Argentina’s place as a leading country in the Spanish book industry.” Like every other part of the Spanish-language book industry, Argentina is feeling…Continue Reading

How to Get Your Second Job in Publishing

(Written from interviews conducted by Elisabeth Watson and Kimberly Lew) Getting your foot in the door is important, but it’s also only the first step in building a career in the publishing industry. Though there have been many articles and stories about how to navigate a first job, very few delve into what happens next….Continue Reading

Little Engines That Could: Children’s Publishers in Europe’s Smaller Markets

In anticipation of the Bologna International Book Fair, there’s no shortage of buzz about the fast-emerging kids’ markets in Asia, Latin America, and the Arab world, along with curiosity about how the traditional powerhouses of France, Spain, and Germany are faring. Falling somewhere in between, the smaller European territories are feeling the benefit of Asian…Continue Reading

The Jerusalem Book Fair’s Midlife Crisis: Taking Stock at 50

In the fiftieth year since its founding, the 26th biannual Jerusalem International Book Fair (JIBF) hosted 5 days of exhibits, panels, and literary events from February 10-February 15, 2013. More than 400 publishers from 30 countries exhibited, and the visitor head-count for the week exceeded 45,000. Amid jubilee celebration, though, a growing contingent of long-time participants…Continue Reading

One for the Books: My First Winter Institute

Experienced booksellers will tell you Winter Institute 8 was great but possibly not as great as some of the earlier ones; but those who came for the first time raved about it. There’s been lots of coverage of the breakfast presentations by Daniel Pink and Malcolm Gladwell, both of whom delivered mesmerizing talks that were smart,…Continue Reading

New Tools, Old Trade: Digital Publishing at the 2013 College Art Association Trade Show

The College Art Association’s 101st Annual Conference (held this year in New York, from February 13-16 at the New York Hilton) is primarily a spot for grad students seeking for jobs in the academic art world; professional symposia; and panels on such popular topics as “Eschatology in Art Historiography.” Tucked amongst all this heavy-hitting scholarship,…Continue Reading