The WSJ uses Book Expo to remind their readership that publishers are forever worried about the future of Barnes & Noble: “Permeating the industry is a sense of foreboding about struggling bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc., a sentiment that was palpable in recent days at the annual book show in New York…. The retailer’s continuing sharp decline raises fundamental questions for the book business, publishing executives say, including whether it will become increasingly difficult to introduce new writers and make their books visible to consumers.” BN chairman Len Riggio’s opening speech teed up that lede, as he spoke to the […]
Book Fairs
CEO Lessons: “You Can’t Say, ‘Go Fish, Mr. President'”
Macmillan ceo John Sargent provided some color to the Thursday morning ceo panel at Book Expo in reviewing his process when Macmillan was threatened with legal action by President Trump just prior to the publication of Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury. When told about the letter from the Trump’s attorney Charles Harder, “My first reaction was, Holy Cow, we are going to sell a sh–load of books.” Then, in explaining the house’s position, he wanted “to use the moment to make sure that the people at Macmillan understood the importance of free speech. I came up with this idea of writing […]
Riggio Opens Book Expo, “Reimagined” As A Show About Physical Booksellers
I imagine that if you spend much time at Book Expo over the next three days, you’re going to get pretty tired of hearing the word “reimagined” as that theme is repeated everywhere possible. Today’s reimagined mini-show floor, billed as focused on business to business exhibits, pretty much feels like Ingram Day (and remainders). Ingram’s sprawling business lines, both their B2B services but also their many distribution groups, comprise a significant portion of part of the show floor which is open today. But less than a third of the full show floor — like last year, much smaller than what […]
A Simplified Book Expo Schedule
As usual, for people who like a simple Book Expo Schedule that puts all of the main events, education sessions, and stage appearances in one place, we have you covered. Just visit publun.ch/BookExSched2018 to view our consolidated spreadsheet.
People, Etc.
At WaterBrook and Multnomah, Laura Barker has been promoted to vice president, editor in chief; Shannon Marchese moves up to executive editor; and Susan Tjaden becomes senior editor. Sarah Begley joins Medium as senior editor, books, on May 7, editing book excerpts, author essays, and other book-related projects, and reporting to vp, editorial Siobhan O’Connor. Begley was most recently books editor at Time magazine. Awards Annie Proulx won the 2018 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction recognizing an experienced writer whose work “told us something new about the American experience.” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement: “Proulx has given us monumental sagas and keen-eyed, skillfully […]
London Book Fair Deal Trends: Market Swings Hard to Nonfiction
It’s that time again. We leave behind the luminous, rapturous accounts of heated snapping up of a few projects in advance of an upbeat rights fair to give you a look at the actual data on the marketplace for new book projects over the past five weeks, starting March 5. As usual, today we provide a preliminary look at the breakdowns — from which the trends are already quite clear — and we will follow up Tuesday morning, when the London Book Fair formally opens, with the final totals. Coming off a year in which some of the biggest names […]