Archive for January 16, 2008

Publishing Trends in 2008

{ January 16, 2008 @ 10:31 pm } · { publishing }
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15 Trends to Watch in 2008
Source: By Mike Shatzkin, Publishers Weekly, 1/7/2008

My favourite quote:

“The Internet will drive 21st-century publishing enterprises to be more like what professional publishing has always been: highly vertical and format-agnostic.”

And here are the top 15 highlights (more behind the link):

1. The popularity of e-books will increase.
2. Sales of books in electronic form to public libraries will continue to grow.
3. This will be the Year of the Author.
4. Publishers will start acquiring specialized Web sites to get content for their books and to target niche audiences.
5. Christmas 2008 will be the first one in which sales of customized books, enabled by the Internet and print-on-demand, will become substantial.
6. XML will no longer be considered optional.
7. Apple, seeing the growth in use of Kindle and Sony Reader, will move to turn the iPhone and iPod into e-book readers.
8. B&N will continue to leverage the book trade’s most sophisticated supply chain to lengthen its lead over Borders and all other bricks-and-mortar retailers.
9. The lack of a competitive supply-chain infrastructure will continue to handicap Borders, hurting both sales and profits.
10. Although overall sales will remain paltry, increased activity by publishers selling direct to consumers from their Web sites, particularly digital downloads, will lead to “read and listen” bundles of e-books and digital audio and other pricing experiments.
11. Literary agents will begin to experience the same kind of consolidation that has hit other parts of the book business.
12. Publishers will rethink the traditional sales conference and begin to move toward a continuous publishing model.
13. Some publishers will begin producing a hardcover edition of every paperback and a large-print edition of every title.
14. Publishers will push harder to publicize books through the Internet channels as print and broadcast media continue to lose audience to the Web.
15. In addition to being the Year of the Author, 2008 will be the Year of the Experiment.

Interesting list.

Wow… £7,000 for Harry Potter Books?

{ January 16, 2008 @ 8:49 pm } · { author, books }
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Source: The Press Association, January 16, 2008. 

A unique set of Harry Potter books have raised nearly £7,000 at an auction for a rugby club destroyed by fire.

The seven signed books were personally donated by JK Rowling to raise funds for Portobello Rugby Club in Edinburgh.

Auctioneer Lyon and Turnbull estimated that the books would fetch £3,000 but the set, which includes a typed statement by JK Rowling, sold for more than twice the amount at £6,960.

The set was bought by an unnamed buyer from Scotland who said he would be keeping the books as an investment.

The funds will be put towards rebuilding the rugby club, which lost precious archives when it was burned down by vandals last May.

Club president Iain Goodall said JK Rowling donated the books after hearing about the fire through a friend who is a member of the rugby club committee.

He said that the result was an “unexpected windfall” for the rugby club, which will now be able to rebuild itself.

He said: “We lost everything in the fire. All the memorabilia since the club was formed in 1930 was lost.

“We only had two photographs remaining – one from 1931 and one from 1967. Every trophy, every plaque we had is gone.”

Breaking News — Author facing suit over anti-Semitism book

{ January 16, 2008 @ 8:41 pm } · { Literature, author, books, publishing }
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Source: JTA Breaking News, January 16, 2008. 

Krakow’s public prosecutor is considering a libel suit against the American author of a book on Polish anti-Semitism.

“Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz,” by Jan Tomasz Gross, has engendered serious debate in Poland about the postwar climate for Jews. The Polish edition came out Jan. 11.

Polish law mandates a three-year jail term for anyone who publicly charges the Polish nation with responsibility for the crimes of communism or National Socialism.

The prosecutor in Krakow, where Gross’ Polish publisher is based, decided to investigate “Fear” after reading press reports that “suggested the book may have broken this law,” Boguslawa Marcinkowska, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor, told the Bloomberg press agency by phone Monday.

“If proceedings begin, we may summon the author for questioning,” she said. “A decision will probably be made this week.”

The book’s distributor in Poland said the book sold out a day after its Polish edition came out. The potential lawsuit was a good thing, the distributor said, since “nothing else could have given the book such good exposure.” The English edition came out in 2006.

Author Chat with Tamara Grant, Tonight!

{ January 16, 2008 @ 8:32 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Chat with Author Tamara Grant TONIGHT at 7:30 PM EST.  Tamara will be discussing her novel debut, Promises Made, Promises Kept.  You could be a lucky winner if you join us at www.freewebs.com/asanetwork for the entire chat.

To join in the chat, simply click, Enter My Chatroom, type in a username and hit Enter. (try it now to make sure you have Java downloaded onto your computer)
We look forward to chatting with all of you!
Want to read an excerpt or a review of the book prior to the chat?  Or perhaps you want to go ahead and order your copy.  Visit www.tamaragrant.com
Bring a friend!

George Michael telling it all?

{ January 16, 2008 @ 3:54 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Source: January 16, 2007, The Press Associaiton, 2 hours ago. 

 Singer George Michael has signed a multimillion-pound deal to pen a “no-holds-barred” autobiography, it has been announced.

HarperCollins said former Wham! star Michael, 44, would write the “access-all-areas” autobiography “entirely himself”.

Publishers said the deal is “one of the biggest ever concluded in UK publishing”, but would not divulge figures.

The book, dubbed “one of the hottest remaining untold celebrity memoirs”, will cover the pop star’s personal and professional life and will hit the shelves in autumn next year.

Michael’s manager Andy Stephens said: “George has promised HarperCollins a no-holds-barred biography, and it’s certain to be just that.

“People aren’t stupid, they’re beginning to notice that the truth is more interesting than the stories the press come up with.”

Belinda Budge, managing director and publisher of Harper NonFiction UK, said: “This is an incredibly exciting publishing event.

“George is one of the best known and best loved pop singers in the world, with an extraordinary story to tell. I am particularly thrilled by this deal, as I have long been a fan of George’s.

“Most importantly, this really will be a truly authentic book – and an exceptional one, as he’s going to be writing it entirely himself.”

The deal comes after Michael’s greatest hits tour celebrating more than 20 years in pop.