Five new publishers have signed on for sales and distribution through Consortium. Beginning immediately are the National Council of Teachers of English and Do Book Company, beginning November 1 is Pinter & Martin, and beginning January 3 are the Association of Talent Development and Skinner House Books.
Pen America Addresses Complexities of Diversity Initiatives, Offers Recommendations
Last week Pen America released Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing, a report on racial and ethnic diversity in the industry—”acute and urgent, if not the sole, areas of under-representation”—compiled from publicly-available data, information from publishers, and interviews with more than 60 authors and publishing professionals. The report explains the complexities in the movement for greater diversity and addresses what makes publishing both the same as and different from other industries. It touches on the gold rush of publishers looking for books by Black authors in the wake of 2020’s protests, why comps aren’t sufficient to determine […]
Pearson Reaffirms Expectations for the Year
Pearson released brief results for the third quarter in their 9-month trading update, with sales and operating profit on track to meet expectations for the year. “Underlying” (currency-neutral) sales grew 7 percent in the quarter. Higher Education sales continued their longstanding steady decline — falling 4 percent overall, and 4 percent in the US, “consistent with expectations.” Ever-chipper in the face of this erosion of what once was their core business, the company reports, “Pearson+ is performing well with robust growth versus prior year Fall semester.” The company’s biggest gains were in English Language Learning as borders reopen—up 36 percent—and […]
PW Best Books of the Year
Publishers Weekly released their best books of 2022.
Book Critics Build Careers, But Can’t Make a Living
For this first in a series looking at compensation in different corners of the book business, we found that pay for book critics varies widely by publication and type of piece—but none of it is enough to live on. The financial struggle of being a book reviewer has real influence on the way books are seen, and the publishing industry as a whole. Reviews—whether they’re positive or negative, and whether they exist at all—can influence sales, and subsequently what books are published and how they’re marketed. Many sources we spoke to for this article—more than a dozen emerging and established […]
Events: Doubleday 125th Anniversary
Doubleday will host a paid event to celebrate the imprint’s 125th anniversary, in-person in New York and via livestream. “This remarkable milestone spans the publications of DRACULA in 1897 to this year’s phenomenon LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY,” publisher and editor-in-chief Bill Thomas said. Six current Doubleday authors – Helen Ellis, David Grann, Kevin Kwan, Jane Mayer, Colson Whitehead and Hanya Yanagihara – will each read from a classic Doubleday title and discuss their respective publishing careers at Symphony Space. (Due to “scheduling conflicts,” Dan Brown and John Grisham — originally on the schedule — will not appear at the event.)