Having already offered a sneak peek at some of the results, CUNY professor Dana Beth Weinberg presented some additional data and analysis of the Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest author survey, which focused on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional publishing and self-publishing. While the survey pointed to some obvious conclusions — namely that “authors in general do not seem overly pleased with their publishing experiences, whether with traditional publishing or self-publishing — it offered up some interesting data points about preference, such as 24.1 percent of traditionally published surveyed authors being “very satisfied” with the pricing of their […]
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The “Bezosologists” At DBW
Bloomberg BusinessWeek reporter and author of The Everything Store Brad Stone opened Wednesday morning’s Digital Book World sessions focused on Amazon. “In a way, this is a room full of Bezosologists; we all have to be.” Stone spoke in particular to the company’s vast ambition and persistence: “The one constant is Amazon’s 20-year history is that it does not give up…and can be fairly ruthless and self-absorbed in how it constantly tries to disrupt the existing order.” He referred to “the notorious one-star review of my book that was heard round the world,” in which “MacKenzie Bezos took issue with […]
Trade Sales Show A Lift In Fall, But eBooks Remain Down Slightly for 2013
The AAP reported monthly sales data for September and October of 2013, showing modest gains versus a year ago when you combine the two months. Total sales first showed year-over-year gains in August, after 10 consecutive months of flat or declining numbers. September trade sales gained 7.5 percent, up $47.5 million, with increases in nearly all tracked sub-categories, to $665 million for the month. In part, however, fall titles shipped earlier in 2013 without the presidential election to steer around. Which may be why the October numbers show a slight decline, down 1.5 percent (or $11 million) at $664.5 million […]
Soft Holiday Sales for Barnes & Noble Are Still An “Improvement” As Digital Content Falls Again
Barnes & Noble followed up their weak second quarter sales report with some improvement over the following 9-week holiday sales period (through December 28): Same-store sales at the BN superstores and BN.com declined 6.6 percent overall, and 5.5 percent on a comparable-sales basis, at $1.1 billion. But nearly all of the retail decline was due to weaker sales of Nook devices and accessories; “core” store sales were “essentially flat”, down 0.2 percent compared to last year. General book sales probably declined more, since the company points to “strong increases in our juvenile, gift and toys & games categories.” But the […]
Zola Books Acquires Bookish.com
After a number of months of quiet shopping, Bookish.com has been acquired by Zola Books, in a cash deal for a sum that is not being disclosed. Zola founder Joe Regal says, “we still had to pay what for us is an awful lot of cash, bearing in mind we are still a startup” (which has itself raised $5.1 million so far). Approximately half of the Bookish staff (9 to 12 people) will be retained by Zola, though that integration has not been finalized, and Bookish ceo Ardy Khazaei “will not be joining the integrated team” though Zola “hopes he’ll […]
Some Numbers
Smashwords reported via their blog that their sales rose by a third last year, to $20 million. Revenues rose less than title volume, which grew 45 percent. eBook data deniers should take careful note, including founder Mark Coker’s warning to authors that “2014 could be the first year where ebook sales, measured in dollars, decrease.” It’s a great business to build from scratch but still very modest in scale. While Smashwords added about 86,000 new titles in 2013, Amazon said recently that “more than 200,000 exclusive books were added to the Kindle store in 2013.” Amazon-owned Goodreads posted their own […]