Independent bookstore Frog Hollow Books in downtown Halifax, Canada is closing shortly after 25 years in business. CBC In Germany, leading bookselling chain Thalia reported a same-store sales increase of 0.8 percent.PublishingPerspectives
Industry Statistics
VSS Sees Books Faring Better than Other Traditional Media
Private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson has released their annual media forecasts. They say that 2008 marks “the first time consumers spent more time with media they paid for, like books or cable television, than with primarily ad-supported media, like newspapers and magazines.” Among traditional media businesses, VSS sees book publishing holding on better than most: “newspapers, consumer magazines, TV and radio are shrinking and will not, in that period of time, get back to what they saw before,” evp James P. Rutherfurd tells the NYT. But John Suhler adds, “these businesses are going to be around for many, many […]
Kindle Krunching: Week 2
With a second week of data, we’re still looking for the impact (if any) of Kindle sales as reflected in the broader USA Today chart. As was the case last week, Kathryn Stockett does seems to be getting a big Kindle boost. Almost every other title on the Kindle Top 10 declined overall in the USA Today list, though. Daniel Silva and Jennifer Weiner had the top two hardcover fiction titles for the week, but Weiner did less well relatively with the Kindle audience. Here’s our chart, ranking the books according to their position on the Kindle bestseller list, with […]
Data Coup: USA Today Bestseller List to Include Kindle Sales Data
As of today’s list, USA Today’s weekly tabulation of bestselling books incorporates data on Amazon Kindle book sales as a component of their rankings. Significantly, it’s the first outside list to which Amazon has contributed Kindle sales data. Amazon’s Laura Porco says in the announcement: “We are thrilled to be contributing Kindle book sales information to USA Today for their comprehensive bestseller list for books customers. Given the great overlap of taste between Kindle customers and physical book buyers, the USA Today Best-Selling Books List is truly reflective of what customers are buying regardless of format.” Among the open questions […]
The Problem with Statistics: BISG's New Method Still Inflates the Unknown
It’s that time of year again, when we all try to reckon with a wave of imprecise measures of our increasingly complex and nuanced business. The need for true data seems to increase in direct proportion to the supply of inadequate evaluations. In recent weeks, we’ve looked a little bit at the confusingly broad distinctions in the Bowker counts of new titles published last year and tried to reckon with Amazon’s unsubstantiated glimpse into rising Kindle sales. Discerning readers already know that on a standing basis, we very consciously do not report periodic numbers from the AAP, Census Bureau, and […]
The Things that Are Having Trouble Selling Round-Up
The AP reports a variety of grim measures of decline in the audiobook market. The 14 publishers who report audio sales to the AAP cite a 47 percent drop in revenue so far in 2009, while those physical audiobook sales tracked via Nielsen BookScan (which does not include any downloadable audio) have declined 20 percent in units for the year to date.AP As for individuals, writer-filmmaker John Sayles’ sweeping new 1,000-page novel SOME TIME IN THE SUN has failed to find a publisher since first going on submission last fall. Agent Anothny Arnove tells the LAT, “When I went out […]