Sinking Into The Pubslush Years into publishing’s encounter with the digital dynamic, it’s not as if anything is holding still, is it? A kind of heaving grace is about the best you can find on some days in this deeply shaken, tech-swept industry. Every other week, my colleague Jane Friedman and I find ourselves looking… Read More
#MusicForWriters: Jodie Landau In Iceland, Romancing ‘You’
you of all things by Jodie Landau and wild Up ‘You’re The Choice I Make’ Let me offer you some artful goosebumps. This is a man at 23 speaking to you about what happens when he sings his music: All of my pieces are from the “I” perspective sung to “you.” And while it is… Read More
Nielsen's #KidsBookSummit: Nobody Said YA Books Aren’t For Teens
When The Medium’s Message Gets Rough It was an odd turnabout in the annual Nielsen Children’s Conference. Led by Kristen McLean—among the most respected people in the business of quantifying and evaluating the young person’s reading scene—the conference was a crackling success. Smartly produced at New York’s pristine Convene Center in Lower Manhattan on a… Read More
Now booking seats: FutureBook's #AuthorDay
‘Respective strengths’ To look at some of the major news about authors last week, you’d think we might have titled our new conference “Show Me The Money.” Between the US Authors Guild’s release of its first survey since 2009 of author income, “The Wages of Writing,” and Hugh Howey and Data Guy’s delivery of the latest AuthorEarnings… Read More
Is this the triumph of print?
‘Digital is now as big a part of this industry as print’ There is a belief (and relief) now among some booksellers that the ebook “threat” is over. I have heard similar talk from senior buyers at supermarkets, who tell me that they have seen e-reader buyers switching to print books. So writes my good colleague… Read More
Age, Surveys, And Income: The Authors Guild’s View
‘Only One Piece Of The Puzzle’ Subsequent to our report on the Authors Guild’s release of results from its 2015 Member Survey, I’ve invited the Guild to provide some interpretation of how it sees the release of its “The Wages of Writing” survey results. In response, I have this explanation of the survey exercise, and I want to… Read More
The Authors Guild Survey’s Self-Selected Sample: More Fuel On The Fire?
First, The Bad News While some parts of the Authors Guild’s survey of writers’ income had been released earlier, the writer-advocacy organization has now produced its full report. The news, while not shocking to anyone near the publishing business, is nevertheless troubling. Some initial results, and then a bit of discussion follows. Writing-related income of… Read More
AuthorEarnings: Brought To You By Us, Your Breathless Media
My Hype Is Better Than Your Hype Sometimes it seems that almost no one in the publishing industry can deliver a message without a sticky gloss of agenda-laden hype on it. The latest AuthorEarnings report, prepared by the author Hugh Howey and his technologist colleague known as “Data Guy,” is a good case in point. Rather than opening… Read More
Looking for Truth in Time of Hype
‘There’s Never Been a Better Time To Be A Writer’ You’ve read that line, of course, we all have. Sometimes here at Writer Unboxed. I’ve seen this mantra frequently over the past few years in blog posts, conference reports and news items. And I don’t disagree there’s been a lot to celebrate. This is… Read More
This Week’s Nielsen’s Children’s Book Summit: Research Over Guesswork
When Your Reader Is Not Your Customer Most kids aren’t choosing and buying their own books. Parents are the ones at the cash register, right? Of course right. But think about the marketing challenge: are you trying to reach the kid? Or the parent? Don’t be too quick to think you know the answer. As publishing… Read More