Authors Unlimited’s 3-hour event at New America warned that Amazon’s market position will cause “long-term effects on the global book trade.” Read More
Here’s to Publishing: Perspectives With Context
‘Consumers Do Not Need Help’ It will surprise few who know me that I mention wine in my opening commentary as Editor-in-Chief here at Publishing Perspectives. Ever fond of the grape, I was drawn to Catavino founder Ryan Opaz’s recent piece at Medium, On Wine. A Tragedy. The key message for wine makers, Opaz opines,… Read More
Are Book Prices Too Low?
‘A long summer absorbed in our colouring-in books’ My colleague Philip Jones at The Bookseller today is making the case today in his leader piece that Harper Lee’s endlessly watched Go Set a Watchman “is the latest big title to demonstrate how the trade’s pricing strategy remains too set on using discount to drive sales —… Read More
The Amazon Birthday Party
On the occasion of its 20th birthday, The Bookseller would like to wish Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos many happy returns. Amazon is a remarkable business led by a remarkable visionary. My colleague at The Bookseller, Philip Jones is right — party hats: on. In his leader piece for today’s edition of the magazine on… Read More
Hugh Howey Calls A Ceasefire
‘No Need To Come Out On Top’ It’s time to back off a bit on the arguments for self-publishing. In a classic example of “burying your lead” — along with a hatchet –the author-activist Hugh Howey quietly has signaled a stand-down to his supporters this week And he’s doing it with the note of generosity… Read More
Who Has Time For Publishing’s 'Long Tail'?
‘Sales Are Down For Most Authors’ Sales are down for most authors. You don’t see blog posts about it or tweets, but it’s a reality. And the reason is simple: there’s more content out there than ever before. That’s the self-publishing author-turned-publisher Bob Mayer in a blog post at Digital Book World (DBW), The Content… Read More
And If Authors Were All In The Same Boat?
Romancing the concept of working together What professional career authors need to do, more now than ever, is work together, learn together, brainstorm together. Don’t let what you write (or what they write) keep you from interacting with other writers. Because if you’re writing thrillers or science fiction or courtroom dramas or romances, we’re pretty… Read More
Douglas Preston: On Amazon, Hachette, and Indie Authors
“We’re not against Amazon. And we’re not for Hachette at all.” Douglas Preston’s new Gideon Crew novel with his longtime co-author Lincoln Child is titled The Lost Island. It’s to be released Tuesday — 5 August — in both the UK and the States. At Amazon.co.uk, you can pre-order the hardcover and audiobook for 5 August. You… Read More