Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.
Which changes have kept Barnes & Noble afloat?
How can literary spaces and libraries welcome neurodivergent audiences?
What do we hope to learn from books written by the dying?
How has Book Twitter facilitated industry connections?
Amazon saw its first unprofitable year since 2014.
Every month, Publishing Trends runs fiction international bestsellers lists from four territories–France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This month, our four regular territories are joined by two more: South Africa and Sweden. Those books that have been published in English are listed with their official English-language title. All others are translated as literally as possible from the original. Where applicable, the US publisher is listed after the local publisher, separated by a “/”. The lists are taken from major newspapers or national retailers, which are noted at the bottom of each list.
Download the full list as a PDF here.
Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.
Will TikTok inevitably decline?
How does a rise in YA paperback price negatively impact YA readers?
What is the industry doing to platform Native voices?
Have book bans strengthened the resolve of activist bookstores?
Why have we spent so long trying to “disrupt” the book?
Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.
Who shapes the future of AI translation?
Why does the HarperCollins strike matter for the entire industry?
How are queer authors responding to increasing book bans?
What percentage of science editors publish their own work?
Are AI engines actually ready to write publishable articles?
Bonus: read PT‘s Lorraine Shanley‘s report from Digital Book World.
Digital Book World is back in NYC after an absence of six years. Since Bradley Metrock bought the program and moved it to Nashville, it has evolved into a great place for publishers and vendors to see how technology is changing – and will change – the industry. From AI-narrated audiobooks to the melding of podcasts with audiobooks and the rise of ChatGPT and blockchain, the conference attempted to cover it all. While many of the presentations were thinly disguised pitches, the quality of most of the products was high enough to warrant a listen. Among those presenters and products that Publishing Trends found particularly alluring were:
There were few traditional publishers on the panels, or even in the audience. One of those who made it was Mary McAveney, newly appointed CEO of Abrams, who talked with Bradley Metrock about what the future may bring for publishers. Coming from OpenRoad, she is focused on learning who Abrams’ readers are and how best to reach them “on a one-to-one level.” When asked what she thought of ChatGPT, her response was, “How can we harness it?” In the next breath she suggested that “catalog copy is the perfect job” for the chatbot.
PageMajik’s Ashok Giri took the challenge even further in his talk “Trends in Content Creation Using AI and Smart Technology.” Using it, he said, “we become lazy, or we can become more productive.” He noted that ChatGPT provides shortcuts that free the user up to do other things, and insights that the writer might not have reached without it. The company blog for January 18th, which discusses the ways in which it will be a useful tool was – of course — written by ChatGPT.
Book.io co-founder Joshua Stone provided the audience with the most sweeping opportunities brought on by the use of blockchain technologies. “IP,” said Stone, “will have a significantly higher value; this is the golden age of publishing.”
In this golden age, books can be created, published, sold and tracked through multiple owners, which means authors and publishers can be paid over time; Ingram (an investor) has partnered with Book.io on a “mint and print” operation where books and ebooks can be bundled together in ways that make a distinct and original unit. Multiple book covers can be generated, to appeal to a variety of audiences, and – hard to believe in the wake of crypto scandal – fraud and counterfeiting will be eliminated.
Some traditional vendors had innovations to unveil as well. Overdrive, which reaches an astounding 88,000 libraries and schools in 109 countries, has a success story in its EdTech outreach efforts with the student reading app Sora. Creating a new lending model through its on-demand “class sets” has allowed teachers to provide a title in multiple translations to the entire class for a limited time. Capstone Publishing’s CEO, Randi Economou, and CMO, John Costilla, also discussed their innovations in the EdTech space, providing students with multi-format learning experiences through Capstone Connect.
Even though it’s known as the Creator Economy, Jane Friedman’s panel was focused more specifically on newsletters and the difficulties involved with monetizing them. Each platform has a different model which has evolved in order to provide writers with greater support, but writing for a living requires, as publisher of Oldster, Sari Botton, said, “having another job” to pay the bills. Friedman’s HotSheet wasn’t discussed, but it’s both successful and “must” reading (and has a write up of DBW this week).
Other sessions that we didn’t attend have been covered elsewhere (see below), and some sessions were informative but not as newsworthy: Pete McCarthy on Open Road and Wade Lucas on BookBub, explained their respective usefulness to publishers in promoting backlist, for instance. The bulleted companies above, however, broke some new ground that is relevant to the industry.
Meanwhile, we were amused to learn that anyone tempted to go on to ChatGPT to find out what the fuss is about is getting the message: “ChatGPT is at capacity right now: Get notified when we’re back.” So much for the infinite potential of the digital world.
Recent articles on DBW:
Publishers Lunch (subscription required)
Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.
Can climate writing be hopeful?
When is self-publishing more effective than traditional publishing?
Is AI a threat to human audiobook narrators?
What does the failed merger mean for the industry?
A record number of library systems surpassed one million digital checkouts on OverDrive last year.
Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.
Do English-language trends in audiobooks and ebooks translate into Arabic?
What effects are Florida Gov. DeSantis’s “anti-woke” legislation already having in higher education?
How can librarians use TikTok for community outreach?
Is book recommendation by trope helpful or reductive?
OverDrive released 2022 digital book circulation data.
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.
Click the image above to view the full chart.
Every month, Publishing Trends runs fiction international bestsellers lists from four territories–France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This month, our four regular territories are joined by two more: Ireland and Romania. Those books that have been published in English are listed with their official English-language title. All others are translated as literally as possible from the original. Where applicable, the US publisher is listed after the local publisher, separated by a “/”. The lists are taken from major newspapers or national retailers, which are noted at the bottom of each list.
Download the full list as a PDF here.
