We’ve already told you a little something about the outstanding line-up of speakers and sessions already coming together for our sixth Digital Book World Conference January 14 and 15 — and the return of our one-day Publishers Launch Kids event on January 13. (DBW keynoters include Russ Grandinetti, Brian Murray, Linda Zecher, Ken Auletta, Walter Isaacson, Seth Godin, and Hilary Mason — plus we’ve just added Judith Curr, NYT director of news analytics James Robinson, and education venture capitalist Matt Greenfield.) The simple point of today’s post is a reminder that the best, early pricing for the events expires October […]
Book Fairs
Dealmaking Is Strong and Steady Heading Into Frankfurt
Ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair next week, it’s time for our annual look at pre-fair dealmaking trends. As usual, this version covers domestic (US) deal reports for September 1 through September 30, and we’ll append a short update next week to factor in October 1 through October 7. A year ago deal volume was up considerably over prior years, but that has leveled off and this September is in line with 2013, up by less 2 percent: We reported 603 US deals during the month, compared to 593 deals the same month a year ago. US September Deal Volume […]
People
Julia Cheiffetz will return to HarperCollins as executive editor for Dey Street Books, starting October 6. She had been editorial director at Amazon Publishing until recently, prior to which she worked at Harper and Harper Studio. Another longtime Amazon executive announced plans to leave the company. Bill Carr, 47, has worked at Amazon for 15 years, and currently serves as head of digital music and video. He plans to leave at the end of the year. A spokesperson told the WSJ Carr wanted to spend time with family and “has other plans after that but not in the near term […]
Children’s Publishing Takes Center Stage
As last week’s AAP statistics confirmed, children’s and YA publishing continues to be the driver of growth in publishing. For three years we have packed ballrooms for the biggest trade conference on children’s publishing, and on January 13, 2015 Publishers Launch Kids returns, once again kicking off three days of the Digital Book World Conference and Expo. We’ll look at the booming world of young adult fandom; examine the growing, kids-specific subscription models for home and school use that are different from the better-publicized adult book subscription players; and update on the increasingly successful efforts at personalizing children’s stories. Pete […]
Rounding Out A Powerhouse of Keynoters
Two more additions have been announced to the best-ever line-up of keynote speakers to headline the sixth-annual Digital Book World. Data scientist in residence at tech venture capital firm Accel Partners Hilary Mason will speak on “Smart Data: A Look at Data—Big and Small—For Publishing,” bringing an expert’s perspective on using data to drive key publishing decisions and investments. And additional diversity will be provided by keynoter Joe Pulizzi, author and organizer of the biggest content marketing event in the world, Content Marketing World, explaining the extent to which book publishers can capitalize on — and learn from — the hot “content marketing” trend. Mason […]
Penguin Random House to Sponsor Next California Bookstore Day
After a successful launch, California Bookstore Day will return next year on May 2, 2015, with the help of a $15,000 sponsorship from Penguin Random House. The event is organized by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, and the inaugural event had support from author James Patterson. Penguin Random House president and coo Madeline McIntosh says in the announcement, “California Bookstore Day was a terrific event this year – our publishers and sales colleagues loved being part of it, and so did our authors. We want to help bring even bigger crowds into the bookstores next May.” CBD program director Samantha […]