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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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 15:21 Canongate has sold its controlling stake in Australian publisher Text Publishing to Maureen and Tony Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, generates a "sizeable" amount of cash to invest into... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Summit Business Media has sold Highline Data--its insurance information services unit--to SNL Financial LC. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Fri, 23/09/2011 - 08:10 Sales of the six novels in contention for the 2011 Man Booker Prize have totalled 37,500 copies across all print editions since the shortlist was announced, making it the most popular Booker shortlist since records began. Sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page, Felicity Wood and Philip Stone Publication Date: Fri, 23/09/2011 - 10:15 A squeeze on consumer spending in supermarkets and the migration to digital are being blamed for the spectacular falls in sales suffered by many of the UKs biggest commercial womens novelists... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#jodi picoult
#veronica henry
#maeve binchy
#harriet evans
#jill mansell
#lesley pearse
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 12:30 Campaigners against library closures in Somerset have reached its initial target in fundraising for the forthcoming legal review. Earlier this year, 11 closures in the region were announced with six to shut in October and five... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 16/09/2011 - 08:31 Waterstones proposed higher discount, flat rate terms for publishers, put forward in exchange for scrapping promotion fees, could hit author royalties, according to agents and the Society of Authors. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 15:40 UK sales for Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry series have hit 17m, Orion has announced. The figure includes Commonwealth sales and sales through channels including school book clubs. Nielsen BookScan figures, which started four... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Moscow-based optical character recognition specialist ABBYY has released a major new update of its renowned OCR application. ABBYY FineReader 11 Professional Edition, which allows users to convert images or scanned documents into editable text, boasts improved processing speeds of up to 45 per... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 08:55 Hachette UK parent company Lagardère has continued to be hit by the decline of sales in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, with sales in its publishing arm down 6% and profits slump 29.6% to 71m. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 23/08/2011 - 15:22 David Nicholls' One Day (Hodder), the adaptation of which hits cinemas later this week, was comfortably the bestselling book at UK booksellers last week. The novel, first published in 2009, sold 60,410 copies across all printed... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 08:45 Around 10,000 people have signed up to Scholastic's Horrible Histories virtual world since its official launch last week and the beta testing period over the summer. Publisher Scholastic intends to develop further "Horribles"... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC Worldwide, a UK-based publisher, has sold its magazine business to Exponent, a private equity firm. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 15:45 Sainsburys has signed an exclusive deal with independent publisher Constable & Robinson to sell Joan Collins new book. Publishing director at C&R Andreas Campomar said the company hoped to reach a wider audience for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 15:15 Fantasy author Trudi Canavan has become the latest writer to top the landmark figure of one million print book sales through UK Nielsen BookScan. Total sales through Nielsen BookScan to the week ending 6th August 2011 are... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 10/08/2011 - 15:07 Granta Publications has put its books onto the iBookstore, with all digitised titles from Granta Books and Portobello now made available. Marketing and digital development director Iain Chapple said: "We are committed to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of the Washington Post, sent a memo to his staff announcing, among other changes, that the book reviewers will now be report to the editors of the their respective sections. Brauchli told PW that these moves will not affect the paper's coverage of books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Tue, 09/08/2011 - 09:05 Egmont has won the publishing contract for the latest preschool series to run on CBeebies, Baby Jake, which launched in July and which is expected to be the next big childrens hit. Baby Jake was developed by Darrall Macqueen... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When you deal with a lot of people, along with the brilliant stuff comes very dumb stuff as well. Inexperienced voices should be forgiven but when the big and powerful make appalling statements you have to ask yourself how they ever got their jobs.Here are some of the ones that have left me most... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 08:40 The government's lack of coherent support for school libraries is one of a number of factors contributing to the fall in children's literacy, according to a report by an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education. The report... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 04/08/2011 - 15:50 Spending on physical books in July slumped to its lowest level in seven years as ebooks continue to encroach onto traditional bookseller territory. According to Nielsen BookScan data, £111.5m was spent on printed books in the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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