Show me the future, the data, and the money!  This column may lack a crystal ball, access to Amazon’s algorithms, and a six-figure deal, but it has prognostications and opinions from industry insiders, outside observers, and those with a foot in each camp.  You’ll also find advice on pitching, an interview with an RWA-WF member, [...]

This installment of Industry News tackles the Year of the Dragon thanks to social-media expert Kristen Lamb and her Kung Fu Writing post and dragon-beating tips. It’s never been easy to get a book published, but digital-book expert Mike Shatzkin argues that it used to be easier for publishers to turn a profit. Nowadays, more titles [...]

Happy New Year! I’ve organized this longer-than-usual post to optimize its usefulness. One section is dubbed “Last Year in Publishing,” another is “The Year Ahead,” and a third, in a shameless rip-off of Oprah, is “Your Best Writing Self.”  You’ll find information about traditional and  indie publishing, links to insiders and to those proud to call themselves [...]

Publishing-industry news accumulates as fast as snow in the Rockies. Some of it’s fresh powder, some is drizzle, and beware of black ice. The New York Times gave booksellers a reason to be merry with this article about brisker-than-expected sales during the run-up to Christmas. The Times piece made up for the lump of coal provided by [...]

Another week, another controversial move by Amazon.com.   Yesterday, December 10, Amazon rewarded shoppers with a five percent discount (up to $5) if they used its price-comparison app to scan an item in a brick-and-mortar store but bought the same item from Amazon. Although books were not included in the discount offer, book sellers lashed out [...]

Galley Cat reported on Amazon’s hardline reaction to Reader Views. Amazon banned the company, which is dedicated to reviewing books and author publicity, from posting reviews on Amazon that authors have paid for via Reader Views’ publicity services, and took down reviews already posted. In a follow up, Galley Cat queried reader reactions to paid reviews [...]

Penguin Group (USA), via its Book Country subsidiary, now offers a menu of services for writers planning to self-publish. For fees ranging from about $99 to about $549, plus a share of sales revenue, Book Country will convert files, create covers, and handle other tasks. Read more at  http://goo.gl/jWVun and at http://on.wsj.com/sKqzGn Danielle Poiesz, Book [...]

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and…my new book. Publisher’s Weekly reports on Random House Canada’s testing of a new book tour model: rolling a book purchase into the cost of an event admission for guaranteed sales. On Galley Cat, blogger and author Kristine Kathryn Rusch criticized this article, concerning author James Crawford‘s [...]

The debut of Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library caused a stir last week. The venture allows Amazon Prime members to check out up to one e-book a month for free with no due date. The first catch? The big six publishers aren’t participating in the program. Find the Wall Street Journal’s take here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204621904577014273003626952.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet Forbes also [...]

We live in interesting times for publishing, and this post could have been three times as long. Happy reading. A recent New York Times article depicted Amazon as poised to go mano a mano with traditional publishers for manuscripts from big-name or top-selling  authors. Amazon Publishing, a new imprint headed by Laurence Kirschbaum, reportedly paid $800,000 [...]