In Frankfurt, Germany, publishing CEO’s gathered at the Frankfurt Book Fair, billed as the world’s largest (and longest running) book expo, for a panel discussion on the future of global publishing. Market predictions are mixed, according to region, but overall prospects for book publishing, both digital and traditional, were positive. The bottom line: “We are living [...]

Three acquiring editors, including Jennifer Enderlin, editor-in-chief of St. Martin’s Press, tell consulting editor Alan Rinzler that traditional publishers offer writers certain benefits self-publishing can’t match. Find Rinzler’s Q&A with the editors at http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2011/10/07/getting-published-the-inside-scoop-from-3-top-editors/  A Publishing Trends article surveys a range of the epublishing business models literary agencies have adopted. Some agencies have their own publishing [...]

Espresso, anyone? I know I need a double this morning. In publishing industry news terms, however, espresso means the Espresso Book Machine (EBM), the nifty in-store machine that can whip you up a print-on-demand book while you wait. HarperCollins publishers—home of women’s fiction author Marisa De Los Santos (Falling Together) and romance icon Susan Elizabeth [...]

Industry News Banned Books Week began yesterday, so pick up a novel by Sue Monk Kidd, Jodi Picoult, or Laurie Halse Anderson—all authors whose books have faced censorship challenges in the past six years according to the National Council of Teachers of English. For a list of books challenged since 2004, go to http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Anti-Censorship/Titles%20Challenged%202004-2011.pdf At [...]

Heading out to DragonCon, Publisher’s Weekly’s Barbara Vey had an interesting conversation on the plane with a potential reader, which led her to ask the question: How do you get new readers? Read her answer, it’s maybe not what you would think. http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/beyondherbook/?p=4683 No new reporting on the agents-as-publishers controversy. Meanwhile, Chuck Sambuchino reports on a new [...]

I’m sending out this post a day early. Tomorrow,  our focus won’t be on the publishing industry but on  the people, pets, and things that comfort and uplift us.  Write all you want tomorrow, and save the angst over agents and editors,  book sales, marketing, and what have you until Monday.  GalleyCat, quoting figures supplied by the Association of American Publishers, reports that adult [...]

Writers who gravitate toward readers’ groups on social media often find themselves connecting with other writers. “We cannot mistake our professional network for our reader demographic,” says author-marketing expert Kristin Lamb. She advises writers to push out of their comfort zones to reach their real demographic, which she defines as  “Anyone in need of informing [...]

The publishing industry is supposed to be on summer lull right now, but the blogs have been active as late summer conferences wind down, and Apple and Amazon launch salvos in the ebook access and pricing wars. On Barbara Vey’s Beyond Her Book blog, guest blogger Maggie Mae Gallagher gives a rundown of reader-author event [...]

In the bad news/good news department, Writer’s Digest contributing editor Jane Friedman won’t add new content to There Are No Rules, the writing blog she launched in 2008 on WD’s website. (The blog’s contents will be archived at WD and at JaneFriedman.com.) Happily, Friedman has unveiled Being Human at Electric Speed, her new writer-centric blog.  There, she [...]

Sorry, I’m a little late with the post! My excuse is the lazy days of summer are upon us. Hope everyone is beating the heat. By far the biggest news in the industry last week was the liquidation of Borders Books. AP journalist Mae Anderson in this USA Today article presents some of the varying [...]