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 ]
Pandora's propensity for litigation is pretty storied by this point, but it seems like the internet-radio outfit's luck has run out. A New York judge has ruled that Pandora must raise its payout rates to Taylor Swift's music publishing house BMI, fro... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles is planning a "Summer of Fun" children’s festival, featuring events with favourite characters such as Alice in Wonderland, Star Wars and Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep. The festival will take place during 25th July-30th August at Foyles stores across London and Bristol. Themes of art,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Women buy two-thirds of books sold but magazine reviews are centred on male authors and critics – though picture is beginning to changeThe continuing bias towards men in the British and American literary establishment has been confirmed by a study released on Tuesday.Vida, a US organisation... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oprah, it's time to step up your book club game.Each December, our eyeballs glaze over amid the onslaught of annual "best-of" listicles coming at us from every corner of the Internet. The best Vines! The silliest texts! The most inspiring life advice uttered by Taylor Swift!Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Everything about this is perfect—even the weird new lightsaber.There are a huge number of things that make Star Wars unique in terms of how movies are marketed—but one that doesn't get discussed much is the fact that the series' posters and one-sheets, rather than being photoshopped assemblages... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan has acquired actor Brian Blessed’s autobiography. Editorial director Ingrid Connell bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Tim Bates at Pollinger Ltd. Blessed has been acting for more than 50 years and has appeared in more than 200 films and TV programmes, including "Star Wars:... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weka owns more than 20 companies throughout Europe offering a wide range of business services in the B2B and B2C markets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CANNES, France—From magazines to TV, radio to newspapers, every medium has come to embrace native advertising. If Yahoo can leave its past behind, then surely advertisers can too. That was, more or less, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's advice to brands and advertisers attending the Cannes Lions... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OverDrive added more than 2,100 libraries to its global network in the first four months of the year, gains that mark its effort to add a wide range of direct-to-consumer services to its offerings. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Specs Who Albert Tsai Age 9 Accomplishments Stars as Bert on ABC’s Trophy Wife (Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c) Base Los Angeles I’ve read that you take all of your classes online. What’s that like? Yeah, I’m homeschooled. When I’m on set, there’s a studio teacher who helps me with my work. I like it,... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SXSW Interactive (March 7-11), the annual tech festival, opens today in Austin, Tex. and expect to see a wide range of publishers and publishing-related events. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The books on the shortlist for the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize 2014 cover a wide range of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thrill to the sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker raising a toast in honor of Sir Alec Guiness's birthday!Today in vaguely surreal photographs: Peter Mayhew, the 7'3" actor and mainstay of the traveling sci-fi/comic book convention circuit whose claim to fame is being the man inside the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Founded in 2002, Paizo Publishing specializes in publishing tabletop role-playing games, or RPGs, in particular its flagship Pathfinder Role Playing Game, as well as magazines, books and a wide range of gaming accessories all designed for the fantasy game-playing marketplace. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blueprints for the Death Star battle station that featured in the Star Wars films have been published by maintenance book publishers Haynes. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Line, the popular messaging platform based in Japan, is challenging ebook vendors like Amazon and Rakuten with a new service to download and view manga, or Japanese comic books. The company has launched "Line Manga," a mobile app for Android and iOS phones. Line's initial offering consists of... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The newest 'Star Wars' novel, 'Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse,' holds the No. 8 slot on the New York Times bestseller list. Success has become the norm for the books. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dark Horse Comics has penciled a contract with Barnes & Noble (it'll be sent off to be inked and colored next week*) to get the former's content onto the latter's Tablet and Color e-readers. Available in the Nook Comic store, you'll be able to pick up a mix of the publisher's licensed titles... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Getting into the app space can be a daunting prospect for publishers, but a wide range of developers have sprung up to help houses steer through what is still an uncertain new frontier for book interactivity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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