Since the Booker Prize first started accepting nominations from beyond the Commonwealth in 2014, American authors have claimed a healthy portion of the annual longlist: Four slots in 2014, five in 2015 and 2016 (when Paul Beatty became the first American to win the prize); four in 2017; and 3 in 2018. When Crankstart took over from The Man Group as the prize sponsor earlier this year, there was renewed hope from the UK that they would get their prize back and not have to face competition from the US, though the Booker Foundation indicated there would be no changes. […]
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Holiday Book Sales Were Fine, But Not At Barnes & Noble; Chain Reduces Earnings Guidance
Unfortunately Barnes & Noble continues to underperform the book business as a whole, disclosing holiday sales in contrast to the industry trend. Sales for the nine weeks ending December 30 were $953 million, down 6.4 percent compared to the prior year, and down the same percentage on a same-store business. Book sales on their own were down 4.5 percent, consistent with the company’s report at the end of November that their non-book product was performing poorly and being curtailed. For the holiday period, “declines in the gift, music and DVD categories accounted for nearly half of the comparable store sales decrease.” […]
Fire and Fury Excerpt Lands with Impact (Trump Didn’t Want to be President, Didn’t Expect to Win)
Though the Guardian broke the embargo with a full copy of Michael Wolff’s forthcoming both Fire and Fury, they didn’t know how to read what they had: later Wednesday morning New York Magazine moved up their lengthy official excerpt in reaction, and the book quickly rose to the top of bestseller lists based on pre-orders. A second excerpt is now up at the Hollywood Reporter (where Wolff is a columnist). Originally it was being held for next week’s print issue, but then the magazine announced it would land online Thursday morning, with “lots of stuff still to be revealed.” NBC also acquired […]
Simon & Schuster Sets Free Clinton’s Chapter On Benghazi
Ahead of Hillary Clinton’s testimony before a House committee on Thursday regarding the attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, Simon & Schuster has put the 34-page chapter about the incident from Ms. Clinton’s 2014 book Hard Choices online for free. Publisher Jonathan Karp says in the announcement, “This chapter represents the fullest distillation of Secretary Clinton’s role in the events being investigated by the House. We believe that making it available to readers everywhere will enhance public understanding.”
AAP Press Release
U.S. Publishing Industry’s Annual Survey Reveals 28 Billion in Revenue in 2014 Trends this year included significant growth in the children & young adult category, ongoing growth of eBooks, and the growing popularity of audiobooks Subscription services for eBooks and audiobooks now tracked Washington, DC; June 10, 2015 — The U.S. book and journal publishing industry generated $27.98 billion in net revenue for 2014, representing 2.70 billion in units (volume), according to StatShot Annual, a yearly statistical survey of publishing’s estimated size and scope released today by the Association of American Publishers (AAP). This represents a slight revenue […]
DBW: Price Promotions, Direct-to-Consumer, Global Publishing
The evolution of ebooks into a mature market in the US was evident on the second day of DBW last Thursday, as the focus turned to nuanced questions of how to boost sales of titles in a crowded marketplace, as well as publisher experiments in selling direct to consumers or in international markets. On a price promotions panel Thursday afternoon, Rachel Chou, chief marketing officer at Open Road, described how the market has changed, saying that price used to be the primary tool a publisher had to drive ebook sales, and running a discounted price promotion on a title two […]