Publishing Trends

People Round-Up, Early January 2015

January 8, 2015

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PEOPLE

Geoff Shandler joined William Morrow as VP, Editorial Director at its new unnamed imprint, handling the nonfiction side of the list, which will also feature literary fiction. He was most recently Editorial Director of Adult Trade at Little, Brown.

Bob Spizer is leaving his position as Group Director of Domestic Rights at HarperCollins at the end of January after 31 years. He can be reached at robertspizer@yahoo.com.

W. Ralph Eubanks is leaving his position as Editor-in-Chief at the Virginia Quarterly Review in June. He may be reached at wreubanks@starpower.net.

Brant Rumble joined Blue Rider Press as Senior Editor after leaving a position with the same title at Scribner.

Hilary Teeman joined Crown as Senior Editor. She was previously Editor at St. Martin’s Press.

In children’s publishing, Gillian Levinson is now Paperback Publishing Manager at Random House Children’s. She was previously Editor at Razorbill. . . Kara Sargent joined Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as Executive Editorial Director for brand, licensed, and media tie-in publishing. Formerly, she was Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Children’s. . . Michael Petranek is now Senior Editor at Scholastic. He was previously Associate Editor at Papercutz.

Nan Vermylen Thornton joined Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Agency as Agent. Previously, she was practicing copyright law as In-House Counsel at Pearson Education.

In religious publishing, Shaun Tabatt is Nonfiction Publicist, Bethany House and Chosen at Baker Publishing Group. Formerly, he was Community Development Manager at Fortress Press.

Amanda Diehl is now Publicity Manager at David R. Godine. Previously, she was Publicity Intern at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Pamela Sandstrom is now Reference Editor at Choice, the publishing unit of the Association of College & Research Libraries.

Rebekah Anderson is now Director of Marketing at Sasquatch Books. She previously was Supervisor of Customer Engagement at Puget Sound Energy.

Leon Wieseltier joined The Atlantic as Contributing Editor and Critic. He was previously Literary Editor at The New Republic.

Posted in Book View • Tagged 15th Annual Chicago Latino Book & Family Festival, 29th Geneva Book and Press Fair, Aaron Pattrapy, ABA Winter Institute, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, ALA 2015 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibitions, Alyse Diamond, Amanda Diehl, Andrea Tompa, Anita Eerdmans, ASCI/AAP Joint Meeting, Association of College & Research Libraries, AWP Conference, Baker Publishing Group, Basic Books, Bethany House, Bill Eerdmans, Bloomsbury, Blue Rider Press, Bob Spizer, Bologna Children's Book Fair, Book Expo America, Book World Prague, BookCon, Booknet Canada Technology Forum Conference, Brant Rumble, Brian Ulicky, Brussels Book Fair, caa 103rd annual conference, CAMEX 2015, Candlewick Press, Charlotte Kelly, Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Choice, Chosen, Ciana -2015 January Remainder and Promotional Book Fair, Clay Smith, Cristi Navarro, Crown, Crown Archetype, Dan Gerstle, David R. Godine, Digital Book World, digital innovators' summit, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Eliza Rosenberry, Elsevier, Emily Bell, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Festival Neue Literatur, Fortress Press, Free Comic Book Day, Geoff Shandler, Gillian Levinson, Great American Bargain Book Show (GABBS), Harmony, HarperCollins, Hilary Teeman, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Howcast Media, Ingram Content Group, Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo, International Home and Housewares Show, International Kolkata Book Fair, International Publishers Association, Jerusalem International Book Fair, John Siciliano, Kara Sargent, Kate Burke, Kate Fletcher, Kate Tuttle, Katherine Powers, Key West Literary Seminar, Kristin Kiser, Leah Miller, Leigh Newman, Leon Wieseltier, Lifelong Books, Little Brown, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Liz Bicknell, Liz Taylor, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Lucas Hunt, Marco Palmieri, Mark Rotella, Mary Ann Naples, Mary Lee Donovan, Melissa Frain, Michael Miller, Michael Petranek, Michele Filgate, MIPTV 2015, Miriam Weinberg, MLA Annual Convention, Museum Store Association Retail Conference & Expo, Nan Vermylen Thornton, National Book Critics Circle, National Stationary Show, New Delhi World Book Fair, New York University Advanced Digital Publishing Institute, Nick Cizek, Norwegian Festival of Literature, OpenSky, Orchard Literary, Orchard Strategies, Other Press, Pamela Sandstrom, PaperCutz, Pearson Education, Penguin Books, Penguin Classics, Penguin Random House, Perseus, Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency, Playcon, psp 2015 annual conference, Publishing Triangle Awards, Puget Sound Energy, Random House Books for Young Adults, Random House Children's, Razorbill, Rebekah Anderson, Recorded Books, Richard Charkin, Riverhead, Rodale, Sarah Stein, Sasquatch Books, SCBWI Annual Conference, Scholastic, Scribner, Shaun Tabatt, Shawn Morin, Simon & Schuster Children's, Society for Scholarly Publishing Annual Meeting, Solothurn Literature Festival, Sourcebooks, St. Martin's Press, State of Maryland International Reading Council (SoMIRAC) Conference, Steve Geck, SXSW Interactive, Taipei international Book Exhibition, Tantor Media, The Atlantic, The Experiment, The London Book Fair, The New Republic, TJ Kelleher, Tor/Forge, toy fair, Turin International Book Fair, Vilnius Book Fair, Virginia Festival of the Book, Virginia Quarterly Review, W. Ralph Eubanks, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, William Morrow, Xiomara Nieves, YS Chi, Zachary Shuster Harsmworth Agency

Listen Up! The Audiobook Revolution

By Jen Donovan

January 7, 2015

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With audiobook sales numbers on the rise over the past two years, retailers have been searching for new ways to appeal to wider audiences. So far, the most common trends have been straight-to-audio publications, library digital downloads, abridged audiobooks, and an increase in subscription services. However, speculation has begun to spread as to whether publishers should repackage audiobooks to be more similar to podcasts, given the format’s latest successes.

At the end of November, Audible published The Starling Project by thriller writer Jeffery Deaver. This publication differs from other audiobooks in one major way: it has never appeared in print. In The New York Times, Alexandra Alter wrote that the book will “test the appetite for an emerging art form that blends the immersive charm of old-time radio drama with digital technology” and points out that this initiative shows that audiobooks are “coming into their own as a creative medium” in the publishing industry.

Deaver, who has no plans to authorize publication in print or digitally, is the most recognizable name in Audible’s content creating program, which has produced 30 other audio-exclusive original works.

Audible is not alone. According to the same New York Times article, audiobook producer GraphicAudio is planning on releasing two of its own original series in 2015.

These new audio-first programs aren’t surprising given the surge of popularity for audiobooks in the last two years. According to The Digital Reader, the American Association of Publishers (AAP) released a new report in October that stated downloadable audiobooks are the fastest growing format with a +26.2% growth in 2013. In 2014, the AAP reported that sales were up 28%. Meanwhile, ebooks are the second fastest growing with +7.5% growth in 2013 and 6% in 2014.

Posted in Featured Articles • Tagged Alexandra Alter, Amazon, American Association of Publishers, Audible, audio, audiobooks, Audiobooks.com, Blinkist, Downpour.com, Google, Google Play, GraphicAudio, HighBridge, iTunes, jeffery deaver, Kindle Unlimited, Kobo, Nook, NPR, OneClickdigital, Penguin Random House Audio, porter anderson, Recorded Books, Rich Freese, Scribd, Serial, Skybrite, Tantor Media, The Bookseller, The Digital Reader, The New York Times, The Starling Project, This American Life, Volumes

Top 5 Publishing 2014 Reflections and 2015 Predictions

By PT Editors

December 26, 2014

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Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. As we near the end of the year, we thought we would change things up and instead post 5 links to articles with predictions for the publishing industry in 2015.

Digiday outlined what we learned about publishing this year, focusing primarily on web and magazine publishing.

Publishers Weekly offers some ways we might improve diversity in book publishing like watching other industries and collaborating.

Publishing Perspectives asked publishing executives to contemplate the future of book pricing internationally while taking countries’ varying book cultures into consideration.

Harvard Magazine discussed some of the problems in academic publishing today and some possible solutions that should be explored.

Future of Publishing Founder Thad McIlroy compiled the Top 11 Trends and Opportunities for Digital Publishers in 2015 for the upcoming DBW 2015 conference. The complete compilation is only available for download from Digital Book World by submitting an email address.

Posted in 5 Links • Tagged academic publishing, DBW 2015, Digiday, digital, Digital Book World, diversity, future of publishing, Harvard Magazine, international, pricing, Publishers Weekly, Publishing Perspectives, Thad McIlroy, trends

International Bestsellers, December 2014

By Samantha Howard

December 23, 2014

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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: Brazil and Taiwan. (Admittedly, the translation for the Taiwan list is very rough, but we still felt it was worth sharing.) 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.

Posted in International • Tagged 13 to Table!, A Tear Turquise, Adrien Bosc, Alessandro Baricco, Alessandro D'Avenia, And the Mountains Echoed, Andrea Camilleri, Andrea Vitali, Anger, Antonio Munoz Molina, As the Shadow to Be, Augusto Cury, Ballad of the Desert Trilogy, Brazil, Captivated by You, Century: At the Gates of Eternity Vol. 3, Charlotte, charlotte link, Cheat Death, Cheer, chiara gamberale, Chico Buarque, Constellation, Cross Empty, death at sea and other investigations of young montalbano, Don Quixote, Donghwasa, Doug Dorst, Emmanuel Carrere, France, Frost for Inglorious Pizzofalcone, Gayle Forman, Germany, Gianrico Carolfiglio, gillian flynn, gone girl, Haruki Murakami, He is Back, Heir to the Empire, Hou Wen Yong, I Will Take care of You, If I Stay, In the Cafe of Lost Youth, Integral Blacksad, Italy, Javier Marías, JJ Abrams, Joel Dicker, John Green, Jorge Zepeda Patterson, Juan, Juan Diaz Canales, Juanjo Guarnido, Keigo Higashino, Ken Follett, Khaled Hosseini, Lamel Dauod, Liu Zi Jie, Luciana Littizzetto, Lucinda, Lydia Salvayre, Maria Dolores Redondo, markus zusak, Maryse Riviere, Massimo Gramellini, Maurizio de Giovanni, mauro corona, Maximum Tranqility, Meet, Men without Women, Mersault Against Survey, Miguel de Cervantes, Milena Femur or the most Beautiful World, Miss, Mr. Mercedes, My Favorite Color is Verte, Not the Other Party, Offering the Storm, paper towns, patrick modiano, Patrick Rothfuss, Perfect, Pilar Eyre, Rachel Joyce, Riley, Roberto Vecchioni, s, Smith and Wesson, So You Do Not Get Lost in the Neighborhood, Spain, Stephen King, Stolen Happiness, Sylvia Day, Taiwan, The Angel Tree, the book thief, the edge of eternity, The Fault in Our Stars, The German Brother, The Incredible Ukra, The Kingdom, The Last Track, The Marco Effect, The Merchant of Night, The Music of Silence, The Rule of Balance, The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, thus bad begins, Ticket, Timur Vermes, To Cry, What Hell is Not, Where she Went, Yoshida Shichi

People Round-Up, Mid-December 2014

By PT Editors

December 17, 2014

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PEOPLE

Meredith Greenhouse will join Perseus Book Group as VP, International Sales and Marketing. She was Senior Director of International Sales at HarperCollins.

Susan Reich will retire as President of Publishers Group West in March 2015. She has been president of the company for seven years. Perseus President and CEO David Steinberger said of her “Susan has done an exemplary job leading PGW for the last seven years. She has a well-deserved reputation as a professional of high integrity and excellent judgment who guides PGW with an endearing combination of directness and wit.”

Kelly Leonard was named Director of Digital Marketing at Regan Arts. She was previously VP, Web Strategies at Hachette Book Group. Tracy Brickman will also join Regan Arts as Publicist. She was previously Associate Publicist at Hachette.

Mark Smith has been named CEO of Bonnier Publishing Fiction in London, merging his company Zaffre Publishing with Bonnier. Previously, he was Founder and CEO of Quercus.

Simon & Schuster VP and Associate Publisher Suzanne Donahue will be leaving the company after 27 years. She can be reached at tylerhillgirl@yahoo.com.

Christopher Cosgrove is now National Account Manager, Adult and Audio at Simon & Schuster. He was previously Assistant Manager, Online Sales & Marketing at Penguin Random House.

Steve Bevis joined Bookmasters as Director of Information Technology. He was most recently Owner and Chief Consultant at Almond Group Technologies.

In children’s publishing, Andrew Karre will join Dutton Children’s as Executive Editor. Previously, he was Editorial Director at Lerner Publishing Group. . . Mary McCue joined Random House Children’s as Assistant Director of Publicity. She was most recently Senior Publicity Manager at Simon & Schuster/Gallery/Threshold. . . Rex Ogle joined Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as Senior Editor of Brand, Licensed, and Media Tie-In publishing. He was most recently Senior Editor at Scholastic.

At literary agencies, Stephen Barbara is moving to Inkwell Management from Foundry Literary + Media, bringing his 50 clients with him. . . Cindy Whittemore rejoined Alive Literary Agency as Contracts Director. She was Senior Director, Contracts at Harper Christian. . . Marietta B. Zacker was promoted to Senior Agent at Nancy Gallt Literary Agency.

Susan Murphy will join Harper Wave as Editor. Previously, she was Associate Editor at Little, Brown.

Barbara Casey is now Partner at Strategic Media Books, where she will oversee acquisitions, company operations, and book production. She will continue as President of the Barbara Casey Agency.

Kathryn Schulz will join the New Yorker as Staff Writer. She will write book reviews, web pieces, and features. Previously, she was Book Critic at New York Magazine.

Kristi Marchbanks is now Senior VP, Global Sales, Marketing, and Customer Experience at ProQuest.

Irv Myers will step down as President and CEO of New Leaf at the end of the year. He will be opening Myers Associates, a consulting business. He can be reached at irvmyers@hotmail.com.

Yelba Quinn joined Brookings Institution Press as Marketing Manager. She was previously Associate Director of Books and Electronic Products, Sales and Marketing at American Pharmacists Association.

In religious publishing, Lori Cloud joined HarperCollins Christian Publishing as VP of Marketing for W. Publishing. She was previously Executive Director of Client Services at G7 Entertainment. . . . Andrew Stoddard joined WaterBrook Multnomah as Editor. He was previously Acquisitions Editor at David C. Cook.

Darren Gillgrass joined Copyright Clearance Center as Director, Product Management, Rightsholder Products and Services. He was formerly founder of publishing consulting company Healthcare Consulting Limited.

Molly Quinn will joining Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in January as Director of Public Programming. Previously, she was Production Coordinator for Literary Programs at Symphony Space.

Posted in Book View • Tagged 15th Annual Chicago Latino Book & Family Festival, 29th Geneva Book and Press Fair, 47th North, A Content + eCommerce Company, ABA Winter Institute, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, ALA 2015 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibitions, Alive Literary Agency, Almond Group Technologies, Amazon, American Pharmacists Association, Andrew Karre, Andrew Stoddard, Anna Mintz, ASCI/AAP Joint Meeting, AWP Conference, Barbara Casey, Barbara Casey Agency, Bastei Entertainment, Bologna Children's Book Fair, Bonnier Publishing, Book Expo America, Book World Prague 2015, BookCon, BookMasters, Booknet Canada Technology Forum Conference, Brad Rose, Brookings Institutional Press, Brussels Book Fair, caa 103rd annual conference, CAMEX, Carly Gorga, Chelsea Vaughn, Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Christopher Cosgrove, Ciana -2015 January Remainder and Promotional Book Fair, Cindy Whittemore, Clarkson Potter, Copyright Clearance Center, Crown Archetype, Crown Publishing Group, Daphne Durham, Darren Gillgrass, David Blum, david c. cook, David Steinberger, Digital Book World, digital innovators' summit, Donald Maass Literary Agency, Dreamscape Media, Dutton Children's, Ellie Hirschhorn, F&W, Festival Neue Literatur, Foundry Literary & Media, Frankfurt Book Fair, Free Comic Book Day, G7 Entertainment, Gallery, Great American Bargain Book Show (GABBS), Hachette Book Group, Harmony Books, Harper Christian, Harper Wave, HarperCollins, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Healthcare Consulting Limited, Hoopla Digital, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, InkWell Management, Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo, International Home and Housewares Show, International Kolkata Book Fair, Irv Myers, Jackie Dinas, Janet Goldstein, Jason Kaufman, Jerusalem International Book Fair, Jet City Comics, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Jodi Watson, Julie Cepler, Kate Tyler, Kathryn Schulz, Katie Shea Boutillier, Kelly Leonard, Kensington, Key West Literary Seminar, Kindle Singles, Kirk Bleemer, Kristi Marchbanks, Lake Union, Lerner Publishing Group, Lisa Thomas, Little A, Little Brown, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Liz Perl, Lori Cloud, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Lyrical Press, Maaza Mengiste, Marietta B. Zacker, Mark Smith, Mary McCue, Melissa Danaczko, Meredith Greenhouse, Michelle Forde, Midwest Tape, Mikyla Bruder, MIPTV 2015, MLA Annual Convention, Molly Quinn, Molly Templeton, Montlake Romance, Museum Store Association Retail Conference & Expo, Myers Associates, MysteriousPress.com, Nancy Gallt Literary, National Geographic Books, National Stationary Show, New Delhi World Book Fair, New Leaf, New York Magazine, New Yorker, North Atlantic Books, Norwegian Festival of Literature, Patty King, Penguin Random House, Perseus Book Group, Playcon, ProQuest, psp 2015 annual conference, Publishers Group West, Publishing Triangle Awards, Quercus, Random House Children's, Regan Arts, Rex Ogle, Robert Bloom, SCBWI Annual Winter Conference, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Skyscape, Society for Scholarly Publishing Annual Meeting, Solothurn Literature Festival, State of Maryland International Reading Council (SoMIRAC) Conference, Stephen Barbara, Steve Bevis, Strategic Media Books, Sue Driskill, Sue Malone-Barber, Susan Murphy, Susan Reich, Suzanne Donahue, SXSW Interactive, Taipei International Book Fair, Tammy Faxel, The London Book Fair, Thomas & Mercer, Three Rivers Press, Threshold, Tim McKee, Tin House Books, toy fair, tracy brickman, Turin International Book Fair, Two Lions, Vilnius Book Fair, Virginia Festival of the Book, W. Publishing, W. W. Norton, Waterbrook Multnomah, Wolverine Worldwide, Word Bookstores, Words Without Borders, World Cookbook Fair, Yelba Quinn, Zaffre Publishing

Nielsen’s Children’s Book Summit

By Lorraine Shanley

December 15, 2014

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Nielsen’s first Children’s Book Summit took place at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium on December 12, and attendees claimed it a great success. The emphasis, not surprisingly, was on media consumption data, but unlike in the past, when Nielsen kept its tracking of media very discrete, this conference brought together information on how children – and parents with children – consume television, books, ebooks, games, movies and even radio. The focus was primarily on children 6-17, with special attention to the YA market.

Nielsen Book President Jonathan Nowell (who is also presenting at LaunchKids/DBW on January 13^th in New York) talked about trends in the children’s segment of the $151 billion global book market (nonfiction sales are growing), followed by Jonathan Stolper, SVP at Nielsen Book America, who covered the US market. Kristen McLean, editor of Nielsen’s Children’s Books in the Digital World study, also spoke. To the audience’s delight, 2014 will be a banner sales year for kids’ books, and teens’ purchase of book is the only place in the media landscape where spending is increasing, though the amount of time devoted to reading averages only 5% of their leisure consumption.

Much of the day was spent looking at children’s and teens’ (usually divided into 6-12 and 13-17 year olds) media habits, and how one influences the other. Kids who read books that have movie tie-ins influence their peers to see the movie; parents and kids watch a lot of tv together, and nonfiction tv (like cooking and other talent shows; nature shows etc.) seems to be at least one factor in the increase in nonfiction leisure reading. Despite the mobilization of media into smartphones and tablets, books are curiously immune to digitization; only 21% of children’s books purchased are ebooks, and teens’ preference for print is increasing yearly. (The explanation here is that library books are free, and it is easier to share print books.)

Using focus group techniques, two panels attempted to show parents with their children, and teens, talking about media. The individuals came on stage and were asked about their media consumption habits by a moderator from the research company, Smarty Pants. As they were primarily from NYC, it’s hard to consider them a representative sampling but the teen (mostly 17 year-olds) panel agreed that they did not like the term YA, though they were intrigued by “New Adult.” They all seemed to gravitate to print, and said they read ebooks because it’s convenient and many – especially classics – are free.

The takeaway from the day was that books have a place in children’s media consumption landscape and, in some ways, their role is increasingly important, because they provide downtime and an escape. Interestingly, so do bookstores. Let’s hear it for retro.

Posted in Events • Tagged Children's Book Summit, Jonathan Nowell, Jonathan Stopler, Kristen McLean, LaunchKids/DBW, Nielson, Smarty Pants

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 1/5-1/9

People Round-Up, Early January 2015

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People Round-Up, Mid-December 2014

PEOPLE

Nielsen’s Children’s Book Summit

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