In our first installment of blended statistics that combine standard industry measures with data slices from Authors Earnings and our own research and adjustments, we looked at the 2016 market for individually sold ebooks. In that paid download market, the one in which traditional publishers conduct nearly all of their business, publishers captured 80 percent of the dollar sales, but only about 53 percent of the unit sales. We also showed that, within Amazon’s US Kindle store on its own, 53 percent of the unit sales are “house sales,” distributed and/or published by Amazon. But the larger hole in the […]
Archives for June 2017
The Kenyon-Clare Legal Dispute Continues, with Trial Date for 2018
The Bookseller has an update on the long-running legal dispute between Sherrilyn Kenyon and Cassandra Clare, first filed by Kenyon in early 2016, though it seems to come from Clare’s attorney Jon Cahill. What Cahill focuses on is their motion filed Tuesday, pressing Kenyon to produce “evidence of her claims.” He argues that responses provided by Kenyon in May “remain deficient, because…they are little more than a rehash of the allegations in the Amended Complaint.” What the docket also shows, however, is that earlier this week Chief District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw set a jury trial date of September 11, […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Keith Wallman has joined Diversion Books as senior editor. He was most recently senior editor at Lyons Press. At Crown Publishing Group, Liz Wetzel has been promoted to publicity manager for Crown, Hogarth, Tim Duggan Books, and Broadway Books. Maya Lane moves up to associate publicist for Crown Archetype, Three Rivers Press, and Harmony. Director of English PEN Jo Glanville will step down as in July, moving on to an honorary visiting fellowship at the Giessen University in Germany. Author Alix Ohlin will become chair of the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program as of January 1, 2018. She has been […]
Harper and Kipnis Oppose Pseudonymous Lawsuit
Attorneys representing HarperCollins and author Laura Kipnis filed their first response to the Jane Doe lawsuit over the publication of Unwanted Advances, alleging public disclosure of private facts that “were not of legitimate public concern,” false light invasion of privacy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The defendants responded to a motion by the plaintiff to proceed under a pseudonym, asking the court to deny that request. Arguing “the bar is set quite high for a party to proceed pseudonymously,” the defendants note that the “plaintiff’s identity as the graduate student who filed a Title IX complaint against former […]
Blending Statistics to See the Whole Market, Part 1
Now that the AAP has provided the final piece of standard industry statistical measures for 2016, we’re ready to share some additional statistical models that try to provide a broader picture of the trade publishing landscape. As has been well covered in the past, all of the core publishing statistics are incomplete in various ways. The AAP’s direct data reports cover only approximately 1,200 publishers, in dollars, with no units; Bookscan measure print unit sales, through major retail outlets, with no dollars, and we don’t know the size of the part of the market they don’t reach; PubTrack Digital tabulates […]
People, Etc.
Nick Amphlett has been promoted to associate editor at William Morrow. Kendra Newton has been promoted to marketing director for Dey Street Books. Eugenia Pakalik has joined Chronicle Books as director of trade sales (she was director of sales and operations and distributions services for Norton). Becca Hunt has joined as senior editor of entertainment (she was a senior editor for Harper Design), and Marie Oishi has been promoted to managing editor for food and lifestyle. Michael Strother will join Little, Brown Children’s as editor on June 26. Most recently, he was an editor at Harlequin Teen. Giovanni Dutto will join Harper Italy as […]