Publish and be branded: the new threat to literature's laboratory

Increasingly fixated on the stars of today, such as Hilary Mantel and JK Rowling, publishers are neglecting the experimenters who could save their industry tomorrow: the mid-list writersThe tickets sold out months ago. Long before the admiring reviews of the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies hit the press at the end of last week, theatre-goers were in no doubt they wanted to see six hours of blazing Tudor intrigue.A £7m BBC adaptation beckons, with the actor Mark Rylance teaming up with Peter Kosminsky, director of The Government Inspector.The runaway success of Mantel's story could be seen as a heartwarming tale for the book industry, but it comes at a time when many insiders worry such a tale will become increasingly rare as talented authors find it ever harder break through.Authors with middling sales – like Mantel, before she led Thomas Cromwell up the bestseller list – are getting less care and attention from large publishers, with readers ever-more fixated on fantasy blockbusters, it is said.For HarperCollins, the publishing giant behind 4th Estate, the imprint that publishes Mantel, bestselling authors have become more important than ever. Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of HarperCollins, recently described Mantel as one of several writers, along with Michael Morpurgo and JK Rowling, "who have transcended being an author and are brands in their own right".He added: "In a digital world, they are going to create a huge... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From "Most Effective Digital Mag Brands" to "7 Magazine Web Sites That Suck"

Media research firm Affinity LLC has issued its latest American Magazine Study, which ranks 170 digital magazine brands on attributes ranging from "Most Trusted" to "Most "Useful" and "Most Entertaining." Rankings are based on the percent of a magazine's digital audience that cites the brand as... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital audience


Publishers need to "stand firm" against digital giants

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 08/08/2011 - 16:08 Literary agent Andrew Wylie has said publishers need to "stand firm" in the face of digital companies like Amazon and Apple or risk being locked into an insupportable business model that is unable to reward writers. In an... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Phonics rules "hurting publishers"

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 14:16 Companies that publish phonics material have warned overseas sales are being lost as a result of a government listing of ‘approved’ phonics programmes. Last month the Department for Education published a new, slimmed-down list... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #smaller publishers


Facebook buys innovative ebook publisher Push Pop Press

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 03/08/2011 - 09:14 Facebook has bought the innovative ebook publisher Push Pop Press but will not use the company to publish ebooks. The giant social networking website will instead use PPP's platform and technology to give "people even richer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Half of Wakefield's libraries under threat

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 28/07/2011 - 08:41 Twelve of 25 libraries in the Wakefield district will cease to be funded by the authority after councillors gave their backing to a new proposal. The libraries under threat include those in Kettlethorpe, South Kirkby and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wakefield district


Schofield Brands, Employees In Limbo Following Shutdown

Former Schofield Media employees are still wondering if there is a chance that select brands may be revived after the company shut down last week as a result of lender Wells Fargo pulling financing. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yahoo Ad Network Rolling Out Publisher-Friendly Features

Even though ad exchanges and networks were created to lubricate the buying and selling of digital ad inventory, the system is still far from slippery. One lingering issue is that of transparency: when online publishers can’t sell all their inventory directly to advertisers (often at a premium),... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #long term #ad platform


Paperback Publishers Quicken Their Pace

A new-releases display at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle contains both paperbacks and hardcovers. Now publishers often don't wait the traditional year before bringing out paperbacks. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Revenue Slips 3.2 Percent for MSLO in Second Quarter

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. reported revenue of $54.9 million for the second quarter of 2011 compared to $55.3 million during the same period last year. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie publishers ready digital editions and reprints after Booker fillip

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 09:10 The smaller publishers whose titles have been selected for the Man Booker longlist, including Seren Books, Sandstone Press and Oneworld, are preparing to reprint the titles and release digital versions to meet the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #smaller publishers #sandstone press


Leather to be published by Amazon Encore

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 08:50 Stephen Leather's bestselling ebooks The Basement and Once Bitten are to be republished under Amazon.co.uk's Encore programme. He will join other indie writers such as Joe Konrath who have been picked by the initiative, which... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon encore #bestselling ebooks #published books #indie writers #reader reviews #hodder stoughton


Indigo fires Canadian publishers' anger over changing terms

Written By: M J Deschamps in Ottawa Publication Date: Fri, 22/07/2011 - 15:02 Canadian publishers have attacked the decision by Indigo Books & Music, the country's biggest bookshop chain, to stock fewer books and evaluate returns on a shorter time frame. They claim it is putting extra... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing industry #digital technology #canadian publishers #blockbuster titles #policy change


Orion to publish Where's Asterix?

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 22/07/2011 - 14:05 Asterix the Gaul is the latest character to get Where's Wally?-style treatment, with the publication of Where's Asterix? (hb, £8.99) coming from Orion, the series' UK licensor, in September. The book has already been... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #much-loved characters #comic novels


Conde Nast, Other Publishers Look to Standardize Audience Metrics In Digital Editions

Digital editions, the oft-dubbed “Wild West” of the publishing world, may be charted in the near future. Many publishers are investing large amounts of time and resources to navigating user behavior in tablet editions of magazines, and this data is being used in a variety of ways. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #conde nast #digital editions #publishing world #tablet editions


Natmag poaches Grazia publisher Ella Dolphin for Cosmo

Ella Dolphin, the publisher of Bauer Media title Grazia, is to join Cosmopolitan as publishing director. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Association plans second digital survey

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 19/07/2011 - 17:41 The Publishers Association is launching its second digital survey this year and could introduce a quarterly digital survey by 2012. The trade body said the survey came in response to the "significant growth" in digital sales,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers association #trade body #significant growth #digital sales #ebook sales #urged publishers


Children's publishing "haemorrhaging talent"

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 15/07/2011 - 08:46 The industry is "haemorrhaging talent" as authors and illustrators are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living in the children's sector. Agent Caroline Sheldon said that she estimated that fewer than half of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #increasingly difficult #big things


E-textbooks are destroying the old publishing business model

By Tim Conneally, Betanews The business model behind textbooks is completely out of step with what the market today wants, according to the head of Nature Publishing's digital textbook initiatives. Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebury to publish Armistice poetry collection

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 15/07/2011 - 14:29 Ebury is hoping to have unearthed the talents of a new generation of war poets as it publishes a collection of verses, selected by a panel including poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, to coincide with Armistice Day. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers and E-Commerce: Perfect Together

E-commerce is a big opportunity for publishers. “If you talk to the people at Net-A-Porter or the people at Gilt, they say they’re increasingly commerce companies moving into content and I think what you’re going to find is content companies are going to move into commerce,” Hearst Magazines... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #content companies #big opportunity