Our forthcoming Buzz Books 2025: Spring/Summer sampler will include, as usual, extensive seasonal preview listings of notable titles on the way. We compile these big roundups by looking at publisher catalogs; our own comprehensive monthly lists of significant forthcoming books; hints from our substantial flow of deal reports; aggregation of “anticipated books” lists from other publications; word-of-mouth within the industry; and more. If you have notable spring/summer titles you would like to have considered for the preview list — particularly ones you are concerned we might have missed from the regular signals, along with drop-ins and rescheduled releases — now is […]
Frankfurt Book Fair Week (Taylor’s Version)
As the trade portion of the Frankfurt Book Fair wraps up, we’re reminded (and remind you) that the biggest book news of the week had nothing to do with the trade show — and oddly has barely been mentioned in most outlets. We are speaking, of course, about Taylor Swift’s limited-edition book TAYLOR SWIFT: The Eras Tour Book, being sold exclusively at Target physical stores on November 29 (and likely to sell out before becoming available online). Everyone’s talking about it, though within the business we fear people are asking the wrong questions and/or coming to the wrong conclusions. Consider […]
People 10/18
Panelists Urge Rights Holders to License Content for AI
In one of the final industry events of the fair, a panel titled Let Licensing Bloom: The Root of Responsible AI, hosted by the Copyright Clearance Center, panelists discussed their concerns about AI technology and the value of licensing content in order to protect it. They acknowledged several issues about the technology, including the fears that courts will rule in favor of tech companies on their use of copyrighted content, the speed with which tech companies are moving, and the need for transparency about what data LLMs are trained on. Still, they agreed that licensing cannot be ignored. EVP, global […]
People 10/17
Third Quarter Sales Are Flat at Lagardere Publishing, As HBG “Grew Strongly”
Lagardere Publishing issued their brief third quarter trading update on Thursday afternoon, with third quarter sales of €765 million, just below €767 million for the same period a year ago. CEO Arnaud Lagardere said in the release, “Lagardère Publishing maintained a high level of revenue, lifted especially by a standout performance in the United States.” The announcement notes that in the US, “business grew strongly thanks to a publication schedule that included a new Malcolm Gladwell novel (Revenge of the Tipping Point) and strong backlist sales of Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid, together with rising digital sales and a solid performance in […]