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Like so many others, I am bemused by some of the coverage of the Tools of Change Frankfurt conference (bemused=not sure people interviewed were at same conference I attended)*. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but when your industry is undergoing what can generously be described as upheaval, it is imperative that you listen to […]

Okay, so Sarah Palin finished writing her 400-page book in four months*. That’s some hard working. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, took one look at the manuscript and pushed the release date to November 17, 2009. As with Ted Kennedy’s memoir, initial print run will be 1.5 million copies. Fine. All well and good so […]

As you might imagine, I am still dissecting the past few months, and today I want to focus on business model. Some of this might seem antithetical to how publishing does business (I actually don’t think so, not if you think about it). It will definitely make some people uncomfortable because it links the actual […]

Welcome back from whatever you did this summer. Me, I spent my time building a digital publishing company. It went mostly okay, though, in the end, there was no company to show for it. That has nothing to do with the work and talent of the people involved. Talk about amazing, smart, and creative. Four […]

If you are a regular reader of Shelf Awareness (and if you’re not, you should be!), you know about the steady drumbeat of bookstores closing. You also know about the rising chorus from booksellers who are changing, adapting, growing, and understanding their place in the larger community. I am really lucky: I have two branches […]

I posed a question last week and received no response. I didn’t expect one because it addresses issues great and small, depending on how you approach it. I was looking at it from a narrow perspective, but you know how it goes: the more you think about something, the bigger it becomes. So here goes. […]

Hot on the heels of the Amazon/1984 news came word that Barnes & Noble is entering the ebook retail space. Oh sure, they were already there with their purchase of Fictionwise, but now they’ve planted a giant flag in the sand. They have proclaimed we are here, we are serious, we are formidable. Sort of. […]

I am honored to bring you the following post from Dominique Raccah, Publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks. The other day, I wrote an article in response to Sourcebooks’ decision to delay the ebook release of their upcoming title Bran Hambric. Behind the scenes, there was much debate on this topic, and Dominique offered her thoughts […]

This week’s publishing industry debate started when the Wall Street Journal covered Sourcebooks’ release strategy for Bran Hambric: The Fairfield Curse. The article contained some blunt discussion about why the publisher chose to delay the ebook and why others are doing the same. This peek behind the curtain didn’t sit will with readers, exposing tensions […]

We’ve got a time: 8:30 AM And a date: July 16 And a Room: The Harding Room Digital issues — from ebooks to territorial rights — are the hottest topics in publishing today. Throughout the publishing industry, changes to business-as-usual have a direct impact on authors. Traditional publishers are experimenting with formats, business models, clever […]