Category Archives: Featured Articles

Publishing’s Publishers and Pundits

There’s a cornucopia of newsletters, blogs and podcasts available to publishers, authors, and book people, so we asked those who follow the industry what they actually read.  Publishers Lunch and Publishers Weekly (PW), both of which have free daily newsletters as well as paid subscriptions, were cited by many, but after that a lot depends…Continue Reading

Job Hunt Prep for the Unprepared

Although our firm, Market Partners International (MPI), does a lot of different kinds of consulting, we’re known for recruiting.  We’ve found presidents, publishers, publicists, and production pros – you get the drift.  As a result, we’re often the first call after someone is laid off or fired, or just restless.  And because we talk to…Continue Reading

The Riyadh International Book Fair: An Inspiring Destination

The 2023 Riyadh International Book Fair wrapped up its 10-day run on October 9, after more than a million visitors had flocked to browse and buy books from the 1,800 publishers from 32 countries that exhibited.  While not as well known as Sharjah Book Fair, which begins on Nov. 1, and with few English language…Continue Reading

Just What Makes An Audiobook “Original”?

Though still a fraction of the overall book market, audiobooks continue their double-digit annual growth: the global audiobooks market is expected to reach $35.04 billion by 2030, and U.S. audiobook sales topped ebook sales for the second year in a row. At last count, more than seventy-five thousand titles have been published, a number that…Continue Reading

The Key Book Publishing Paths: 2023–2024

Jane Friedman, friend of Publishing Trends, regularly updates an invaluable resource about paths to publication. With her permission, we have reproduced the latest version below of her chart below. You can also view it on her site, along with its full accompanying text.

Digital Printing: The New Normal

Everyone’s looking for silver linings in their COVID-19 playbooks, and for publishers – along with their distributors and wholesalers – the answer is, paradoxically, print.  In the olden, pre-pandemic days when most books were printed offset, digital files were stored in case a book needed to be reprinted quickly. But this March, that dynamic was…Continue Reading

Voice-first ups the volume on podcasts, audiobooks

Are you a good listener?  More and more people consider themselves to be, and the evidence is impressive: according to the Audio Publishers Association (APA), audiobook sales grew 22.7% with over 46,000 audiobooks published in 2017, and podcasts now total more than 500,000, up from 150,000 last year. According to eMarketer, 73 million people in the…Continue Reading

Columbia Publishing Course Super-Grad 2018

It’s back-to-school season, and the Columbia Publishing Course (formerly the Radcliffe Publishing Course) has already launched a new crop of graduates for 2018. Here at Publishing Trends, we’re once again marking the occasion by compiling one mega-profile from the most interesting and surprising parts of the students’ biographies. With the exception of some connecting phrases,…Continue Reading

Social Media for Children’s and Adult Books: Who Posts Where?

Look at some of the top authors on Twitter and you’ll see that the list is pretty evenly divided between authors of books for children and adults.  Paulo Coelho weighs in at 12.2 million, followed by JK Rowling at 11.3 million.  Then a steep fall to Anthony Bourdain (6.1) and John Green (5.33), Stephen King…Continue Reading

Columbia Publishing Course Super-Grad 2017

This year’s Columbia Publishing Course (formerly the Radcliffe Publishing Course) Graduates are just as remarkable as ever. As is our annual tradition here at Publishing Trends, we’ve assembled one ultra-accomplished graduate profile from the most interesting and amusing parts of the students’ biographies. With the exception of some connecting phrases, all words are the students’ own. *** Born into…Continue Reading