President of Disney Publishing Worldwide Russell Hampton opened the afternoon sessions at the Publishers Launch Conference Children’s Publishing Goes Digital on Monday, saying “The digital revolution is about giving readers choice and growing our collective business.” He added, “It is our challenge as publishers to make our offerings accessible to children so that they may read what what they want, when they want, how they want.” Citing a variety of signs of digital growth in Disney’s business lines, Hampton noted that 30 percent of the first week sales and 20 percent of all sales of Rick Riordan’s latest hardcover bestseller […]
Archives for January 2012
Nook Kids Asks for More Audio and “Boy Content”
Nook Kids director of business development/content acquisition Kevin O’Connor shared a variety of observations on what’s working well in the Nook Kids store at Monday’s Publishers Launch Conference Children’s Publishing Goes Digital event. “I beg you, beg you, beg you beg you to create audio for your ebooks. It’s so essential for it to sell. The vast majority of what we sell is either interactive or has audio in it. It’s naturally going to sell better.” O’Connor, who was previously in the music business, cited singer/performer Laurie Berkner’s PARTY DAY as among their stronger ebook sellers. “Boy content [is] overperforming” […]
PLC: Understanding the Children’s Digital Book Market
As part of our Children’s Publishing Goes Digital Conference, Bowker vp publishing services Kelly Gallagher presented new data on the state of the children’s digital book market and signs of increasing digital adoption.The survey of 2,000 parents & guardians of children ages 0-12 and 1,000 teens aged 13-17 was largely conducted in between October 7 and November 2, 2011, before the release of the Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet, and the Kobo Vox, but additional data was fielded “as recently as last week,” taking into account the likely significant impact those devices have had on the children’s digital market. While […]
eNews: Pew Says Device Ownership Doubled Over Holidays; Kindle Is UK’s Most Unused Present; And More
Two separate surveys of more than 2000 Americans conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in December and January found that the share of adults who owned tablet computers increased to 19 percent from 10 percent, with the same increase for adults who owned e-readers. (Women bought ereaders more than men, with the reverse being true for tablets.) In addition, the number of Americans owning at least one device, either a tablet or an e-reader, rose from 18 percent in December to 29 percent in January. The jump was particularly significant according to Pew because ownership of tablets […]
Bookselling: Idlewild Adds Brooklyn Store; BYU Bookstore Lays Off 29; And More
Idlewild Books, the four-year-old travel guide and literature store that opened on 18th Street in Manhattan, has now added a second location (in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood) which will concentrate on foreign-language books, and specifically literature in French, Spanish, and Italian. “We love the neighborhood–with its strong Italian roots and growing reputation as New York’s Little France–and our neighbors have already made us feel welcome,” the store wrote in an e-mail to customers. 25 full-time employees and 4 part-timers were laid off from the Brigham Young University Bookstore on Friday. “As with bookstores across the country, in recent years, the […]
NBC News Forms Digital Publishing Unit
In an indication of the extent to which digital publishing can empower new entrants from other parts of the media world, NBC News announced today that it is forming NBC Publishing. Based in New York, the unit is run by general manager Michael Fabiano, and they have hired Brian Perrin (who was at Rodale) as director of digital development, and Peter Costanzo (who was at F+W Media) as creative director. Fabiano reports to svp of NBC News Cheryl Gould, who is the “executive in charge” of NBC Publishing. She says in the announcement “this business enables NBC to use video, […]