Joanne Kaufman's piece in the Sunday Styles section (why the Style section and not the Book section?) of the New York Times , "Fought Over Any Good Books Lately", gives us a glimpse into the world of book clubs and the challenges they face in keeping everyone on the same page.Many of the issues she touches on are the same reasons why I haven't joined one.That is until now.Starting in January a bunch of us are going to begin reading Roberto Bolaño's highly acclaimed new book 2666. The posthumously published 900 page tome has made most of the Top Ten...
Sign of the Times : Publisher’s Sale Targets its Own Authors
click to enlargeJust how bad is it in the publishing world? Not only has this week given us Black Wednesday but now we get this piece of marketing madness from Palgrave Macmillan.Their target? Their own authors! Palgrave Macmillian send out the above to their authors offering them a "special discount" on their own books. Yes, act know and buy 25 or more copies of your own book and receive 55% off the list price.Wouldn't all this energy be better spent marketing your authors to world? And the way things are going, for many of the authors, if they wait long...
Death and the Mass-Markets
The New York Times Book Review's TBR: Inside the List notes this week that they received a number of reader comments relating to their Nov. 9 best seller list for mass-market paperback fiction. Many were wondering why 40% of the list was made up of 'dead" books.The answer: Charlaine Harris7 of the 8 "dead" books come from Harris's southern vampire series featuring Sookie Stackhouse, a "telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures."Here is the list:3. DEAD UNTIL DARK, by Charlaine Harris.7. LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS, by Charlaine Harris10. CLUB DEAD, by Charlaine Harris.12. DEAD...
Knock, Knock : The Subscription Book Business
click to enlargeIn nineteenth century America door-to-door bookselling was a big thing. As the country grew westward and new technologies provided cheaper production and transportation opportunities subscription bookselling became a major component of the publishing world. The book became a commodity. By some estimates by the end of the nineteenth century 70% of all books sold were sold by subscription.Agents Wanted : Subscription Publishing in America, an online exhibit at University of Pennsylvania, provides a great introduction to this part of publishing history. It features items from the seminal collection of canvassing books by Michael Zinman.From Lynne Farrington's introduction:Subscription publishers...
Costco the Bookseller
The current issue of Costco's in-house magazine The Costco Connection features a look at their highly successful book department.The Costco book buyers call it "The Table" - the two rows of real estate within Costco where the 200 or so hand-picked titles reside. And it is from the success of "The Table" that Costco has become one of the top five booksellers in the country.Jeff Rogart, HarperCollins vice-president of sales, says of the Costco book team:“This team knows what they are doing...Despite the limited selection of books [compared to industrial-size bookstores], Costco is consistently one of our top retailers for...