The Irrational Allure of the Next Big Thing

Earlier this week, Random House shelled out more than $3.5 million for Lena Dunham’s first book, Not That Kind of Girl. She has an amazing résumé for anyone, let alone a 26-year-old, having directed two feature films and scored four Emmy nominations for her TV show, HBO’s Girls. But what makes the book advance so surprising is that Dunham doesn’t have a track record of selling a lot of books. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #big thing #lena dunham #emmy nominations #tv show #track record

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Irrational Allure of the Next Big Thing'


ABA Winter Institute 2016: Conversations with Keynoters: ‘Small Data,’ Big Impact, With Martin Lindstrom

“The way people buy books today is completely different from how they bought them five or 10 years ago,” Martin Lindstrom says. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big impact


The Big 5 Publishers Sat Out Deal-Making in 2015

The biggest deals in the publishing industry happened in the professional and education markets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #biggest deals


Amazon, EDC Drive Big Jump in Publishing Industry Stocks

The Publishers Weekly Stock Index jumped 59.2% in 2015 over 2014, propelled in part by a huge boost from Amazon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #huge boost


ABA Winter Institute 2016: Big Plans for April’s Independent Bookstore Day

Last year’s inaugural national Independent Bookstore Day, which coincided with Free Comic Book Day on May 2, was a huge success. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big plans #huge success


Postcapitalism, Tolkien and Harper Lee: the big books news of 2015

Our annual review of the site’s most popular book stories puts Paul Mason’s utopian futurology ahead of perenially popular authorsThe living room carpet is covered in needles, the potato salad covered in mould: as we heave ourselves up out of the year that’s gone and prepare to belly-flop our... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #festive season #novels written


Are small independent publishers doing the work for big publishers?

While the giant firms sink huge sums into fleeting fads, the commitment and passion of the smaller imprints leave a larger impression in the long termIndependent publishers pick the books they loved and wished they published in 2015Here’s an observation: it sometimes feels as though smaller... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #half-formed thing #eimear mcbride #galley beggar #deborah levy #numerous occasions #bother chasing


5 Things We Learned in 2015 From the Year in Media Deals

The desire to scale up and reach millennial readers drove many high-profile publishing deals in 2015. Here are five takeaways from all the activity. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


4 Big Developments That Show Why Snapchat Was 2015's Buzziest Platform

When Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel took the main stage at this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the crème de la crème of advertising conferences, his company's prominent place in the marketing world seemed solidified. But that was only one of the big moments in 2015 that... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vertical video


Big-Box Bookstores Don’t Have to Die

You could say I have a sentimental attachment to the chain bookstore. Growing up in an intellectually impoverished American suburb, I spent much of my free time in now-defunct locations of Borders and Barnes & Noble. I read garbage, mostly: popular history magazines, Star Trek novelizations,... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2015-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #naked women #building blocks


The big question: are books getting longer?

A new survey of bestsellers and critics’ picks has concluded that the average book is now 25% bigger than 15 years ago. But not everyone reads things this wayBooks are steadily increasing in size, according to a survey that has found the average number of pages has grown by 25% over the last 15... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #annual survey #big question #average book #average number


Keeping Things (A Little Too) Simple

"Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it," wrote renowned computer scientist Alan Perlis. Anyone who has examined the landscape of the advertising technology industry can appreciate this sentiment. While the computer scientists who create the code we... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #buy side #wider audience #innovative ways


Portico prize winner Benjamin Myers: 'Why bother chasing the big publishers?'

After being turned down by ‘every major publisher in London’ for his Portico winning novel Beastings, the author says landing the £10,000 prize ‘felt like a vindication’ Benjamin Myers, who has beaten Alan Garner to win the £10,000 Portico prize for literature for his novel Beastings, has spoken... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bother chasing #big publishers #major publisher #benjamin myers #book deal


Coloring Books Drive Big Holiday Sales at Independent Booksellers

The enduring popularity of coloring books for adults and a successful Small Business Saturday got the holiday season off to a strong start for independent booksellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent booksellers #coloring books #holiday season #strong start


Modest Start, Big Goals for Korean EduContent Fair

The first Incheon EduContent Fair attracted 74 exhibitors and about 15,000 attendees, but organizers have plans to make this a major event for global companies working in the educational technology fields. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #major event


Pearson’s Big Paydays Defy the Odds Against Print Media

It has been tough sledding for print media. More than 150 newspapers have closed or converted to digital-only offerings in the last two years. Recently the magazine giants Condé Nast and Time Inc. have both cut employees and closed magazin ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #print media


Viral site LittleThings is big on Facebook, but not Facebook video yet

Viral content site LittleThings, which specializes in uplifting and -- more recently -- how-to video content, has been averaging 80-120 million views per month since August. All of these views are occurring on LittleThings.com, as the publisher has focused on its website ahead of social... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook video #video content #website ahead #social platforms


Facebook's Virtual Reality-Style Ads Are Here With Big Brands on Board

If you were wondering what Facebook's $2 billion Oculus Rift might mean for advertisers, we may have just been given a sneak peek. Today, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company debuted the first virtual reality-style video ads for AT&T, Nestle, Mondelez and Samsung, among others. In... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #360-degree videos #small step #oculus rift #company revealed


Surface Book vs. Surface Pro 4: Picking the best came down to just one thing

We love the Surface Book. We love the Surface Pro 4. But what we haven’t told you yet is the question many of you are asking: Which one is better? And the answer is: the other one. For the last week, we’ve tossed the question back and forth: which one do you like? Why? We both agree that the... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #surface book #battery life #spent time


Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: Another Round of Big Deals

With the Frankfurt Book Fair now well underway, and still no big book in sight, there was another dizzying round of deal-making that has left fair-goers tracking an ever-growing list of books gaining buzz. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big deals #big book #ever-growing list


Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: Hachette's Nourry on Publishing's Big Questions

Arnaud Nourry, chairman and chief executive of Hachette Livre, answered questions on hot-button topics like self-publishing, agency pricing, and threats to copyright. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #arnaud nourry #hachette livre #big questions #agency pricing