Th Bologna Book Fair plans to scale back the 2010 edition to three days (March 23-25) and that has children’s book publishers very unhappy. The Bookseller reports that a group of up to ten publishers are refusing to confirm their booking or make payment until the fair organisers agree to extend the fair back to four days or to reduce the exhibitor’s fees by 25%. A meeting will take place next week between the PA and the Bologna fair organisers to try to resolve the situation.The Bookseller
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Speakers Bureaus Beef Up Publishers' Profit
Just five years ago it was almost unheard of for a publisher to have an in-house speakers bureau. Now all of the Big Six houses – Hachette was the last holdout, but they partnered with the Greater Talent Network to form a speakers bureau in May. And Publishing Perspectives discovers they are “turning out to be surprisingly recession-resilient” what with publishers and authors splitting speaking fees between $5000 and $20,000. “representing a welcome source of found money,” even in the midst of an economic downturn. Ellis Trevor, who runs Macmillan Speakers, looks beyond the fees and points to bureaus acting […]
President Obama's Summer Reading Choices
As reported widely, President Obama has taken the following books on his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard: The Way Home by George Pelecanos Lush Life by Richard Price Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tom Friedman John Adams by David McCulloughPlainsong by Kent HarufLAT
Bloomsbury Earnings Preview: Earnings Bump Predicted
Bloomsbury will release its interim annual results on Thursday, and with upcoming fall releases from authors including John Irving, Margaret Atwood, William Boyd, Heston Blumenthal and Ben Schott, as well as the company’s recent acquisition of law, tax and accountancy publisher Tottel for £10 million, analysts are predicting an uptick in earnings later this year. Malcolm Morgan, of KBC Peel Hunt, said: “Specialist publishing is seen as having more fundamental attractions compared with trade publishing. Demand is more predictable, the origination cost is more controllable and the content more suitable to delivery across multiple media.”Scotsman
Canadian Publishers Express Alarm at High Indigo Returns
After a report in Quill & Quire earlier this month about “higher than normal” returns by Indigo Books & Music this summer, The Bookseller follows up with more information on what one publisher deems a “catastrophic” situation. Carolyn Wood, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), confirmed that some members had mentioned they were having a hard time with Indigo returns. “I would say it varies between our membership. Some have mentioned it’s been a heavy summer, but others are OK.” She explained that the biggest problem publishers faced was the sudden loss of sales. “It has quite […]
Julia Child's Climb to the Top of the Bestseller List, 48 Years Later
When a book reaches #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List almost 50 years after its initial publication, as Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking did with the August 30 list, naturally news outlets – especially the NYT – are going to take notice and figure out why this would be so, and especially why it would be selling more than 22,000 copies in a given week, more copies than were sold in any full year since the book’s appearance, as per Knopf. “In a month, I’ve sold almost seven times what I sell, typically, in a […]