The big fifth annual Digital Book World Conference has officially opened for registration, convening at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City January 13 – 15, 2014. DBW now stands alone as largest book publishing conference focused on the digital transition worldwide. Back with a broader view than ever, DBW 2014 will expand to incorporate new tracks on change management; marketing and discover; new business models, startups and technology; and academic and scholarly publishing; while continuing to examine digital change in children’s publishing as part of the partnership with Publishers Launch Conferences. DBW 2014 will feature more executives and thought-leaders […]
Archives for September 2013
Mixed News for National Book Festival
Another successful weekend National Book Festival in Washington, DC began with a report that the event is in for a big change. There were indications that festival will have to leave the Mall and will be held instead at the less-appealing Washington Convention Center in 2014. Project manager of the Library of Congress National Book Festival Jennifer Gavin told the Washington Post, “We have become aware that the Park Service has plans to make changes on the Mall. What they are proposing would probably change the festival as it is currently presented.” Gavin said, “We are still exploring our options.” […]
Briefs: On Aiken, Black, and More
The Authors Guild announced that longtime executive director Paul Aiken, 54, was diagnosed with early-stage ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Aiken is currently in remission of symptoms due to steroid therapy, and promises to start posting his medical records for those who are interested in this treatment regimen. “He admits he has no way of knowing whether his remission will continue or whether he has some odd strain of ALS, so his treatment might not apply to others. He’s hoping to use the blog to help find out.” Authors Guild president Scott Turow says,”It’s business as usual at the Authors Guild. […]
Indies Pick Spring Debuts
The ABA has announced the 20 titles for their Spring 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices program. The list includes new NBF 5-Under-35 honoree Molly Antopol. Adult Fiction The Un-Americans, by Molly Antopol (Norton) The Kept, by James Scott (Harper) The Wives of Los Alamos, by Tarashea Nesbit (Bloomsbury) Shotgun Lovesongs, by Nickolas Butler (Thomas Dunne Books) Point of Direction, by Rachel Weaver (IG Publishing) Faces in the Crowd, by Valeria Luiselli (Coffee House Press) Adult Nonfiction If Only You People Could Follow Directions, by Jessica Hendry Nelson (Counterpoint) Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West, by […]
eBook Sales Fall Three Months In A Row As Overall Trade Declines Continue
The AAP issued a belated double batch of sales statistics for May and June from their approximately 1,200 reporting publishers, along with sub-totals for the first half of the year. Just as remarkable sales for The Hunger Games and then Fifty Shades lifted results in 2012, the absence of monster hits since then continues to weigh on industry-wide stats. The two big numerical trends continued: After flattening last fall, overall trade sales have declined for 8 consecutive months. And ebook sales, which had been growing — albeit slowly — have now declined for 3 straight months. May trade sales of $525 […]
Finally, the National Book Awards Fiction Longlist
The last of the four NBA longlists, for fiction, was announced Thursday morning. Evenly divided between men and women, it includes two previous NBA winners (Alice McDermott and Thomas Pynchon, though the latter declined to accept his 1974 award for Gravity’s Rainbow) and a few previous nominees. There is only one debut novelist (Anthony Marra), two story collections (Saunders and Silber), and most of the nominees come from four big houses. As people are discussing the newly announced changes in Booker candidates for 2014, under the existing rules Jhumpa Lahiri is a contender for both prizes: Pacific, Tom Drury (Grove) […]