Derek Thompson unravels the mystery of Fifty Shades’ mega-salesThere are no doubt plenty of people - but probably not as many as read the book - who simply can’t fathom how EL James can have sold more than 125m copies of Fifty Shades of Grey. Derek Thompson is here to help. The reason, it transpires, is pretty straightforward: a winning combination of social connection, five-star ebook reviews, the fan-fiction community and, finally, marketing. That might sound banal, but in Hit Makers, Thompson does a really fascinating job of explaining how things become popular, drawing on a wide range of cultural phenomena, from Star Wars to the iPhone, Taylor Swift to Game of Thrones. Reading its countless interesting references, it quickly becomes clear that Hit Makers is less a how-to guide – Thomson believes success is often “semichaotic” – and more a how-come? conversation with an engaging popular culture expert. The conclusion? Mere imitation rarely begets a hit, but the elusive combination of familiarity, innovation and marketing stands a better chance.• Hit Makers: How Things Become Popular by Derek Thompson is published by Allen Lane (£20). To order a copy for £15 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99 Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Asda will begin selling the Kobo wireless e-reader for £67 this Friday (9th December). The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#begin selling
Although the staff at Melville House originally envisioned David Graebers new book as a short work on the economy, it just kept growing until Debt: The First 5,000 Years, a now 550-page comprehensive work on the impact of financial issues on people, was eventually published this past summer.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stoking the excitement, or the anger, of sports fans can be highly effective. Just ask FSG, which has a sleeper hit on its hands after reaching out to Michigan Wolverine football fans for its book about former head coach, Rich Rodriguez. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Doncaster campaigners are considering applying for judicial review over library closures,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Germanys Catholic Church has announced this week its intention to sell Weltbild, one of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The top three fiction titles in Germany were all debuts in October, led by In Times of Fading Light, which recently won the 2011 German Book Prize and is set for publication in the U.S. by Graywolf Press in fall 2013. Umberto Ecos newest book, The Prague Cemetery, which debuted at #3, is newly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Kindle Fire is really a distant relation of the handheld portable TV that was popular about 20 years ago--you can consume lots of things fairly effortlessly on the Fire--movies, music, magazines, some kinds of apps, and, more importantly for us, books; but the Fire's real innovation is how... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Matthew White, a self-described atrocitologist, at the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 04/11/2011 - 11:01 Headline has acquired the next book by Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling, with the Sky Sports football pundit moving with his editor Jonathan Taylor from HarperSport. Publishing director Taylor bought world... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 04/11/2011 - 15:11 Constable & Robinson is getting into the Dickens bicentennial spirit, publishing a novel re-examining the events of Bleak House. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 14:00 Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs sold 379,000 copies in the US in it first week on bookshops shelves, BookScan US data has revealed. The $35 publication, published by Simon & Schuster in the US,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 14:00 Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs sold 379,000 copies in the US in its first week on bookshop shelves, BookScan US data has revealed. The $35 publication, published by Simon & Schuster in the US,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 26/10/2011 - 09:04 Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet will be among the panel giving evidence to the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee next week on the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 21/10/2011 - 08:33 The News of the World phone hacking scandal has hit the book industry, with the revelation that private material relating to individuals within the trade has been discovered by police during "Operation Weeting". Both agent... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 15:50 Illustrated publisher New Holland has undergone its third round of redundancies in four years, with nearly half the companys UK staff leaving the publisher, including its managing director. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 15:01 Tim Godfray, chief executive of The Booksellers Association, has asked British Library c.e.o. Dame Lynne Brindley to review the Librarys relationship with Amazon as a matter of urgency, following the furore over links to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 07:15 HarperCollins is planning to release a Hello Kitty branded version of its Collins Dictionaries as part of a new deal with the global brand. Richard Haines, brand manager at HarperCollins Children's Books, signed the deal with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 10:14 Camden library campaigners have become the latest group to apply for judicial review over library closures. The Camden Public Library User Group has instructed solicitors Bindmans to lodge an application for judicial review,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 10/10/2011 - 08:43 Leading US publishers are looking forward to this week's Frankfurt Book Fair, with both Simon & Schuster and Hachette bringing more editors than they did last year. Hachette US chairman and c.e.o. David Young will be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I hate them. Its like making believe theres another kind of sex. There isnt another kind of sex. There isnt another kind of book! A book is a book is a book. Maurice Sendak, to Guardian reporter Emma Brockes, about how much he hates ebooks Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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