Trends

What was on Your Bestseller List?

By Steve Laubeon January 11, 2011

What was the bestselling novel or non-fiction book the week you were born? Follow this link to a delightful search engine on Biblioz, an Australian company. Make sure you type the date first (not the month).

It is a bit startling to see how fleeting the popularity of books can be. They were the most popular in the country at the time! But I have to admit that I don’t recognize most of the novelists.

My #1 novel was Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver.

My #1 non-fiction was Masters of Deceit by J. Edgar Hoover.

What was the bestselling book on your birth date?

Now check out the titles for your children’s birth dates. Here are the #1’s for our kids:

Fiction:
The Man from St. Petersburg – Ken Follet
If Tomorrow Never Comes – Sydney Sheldon
Zoya – Danielle Steel

Non-fiction:
Living, Loving, and Learning – Leo Buscaglia
Iacocca: An Autobiography – Lee Iacocca
Moonwalk – Michael Jackson

HT: GalleyCat

All About E

By Steve Laubeon December 17, 2010

This was the year of the E word. "E-Books." The topic replaced the other "e" word...the Economy...as the number one topic among authors, editors, publishers and agents. And the news media reported every nuance with breathless excitement. The iPad, the iPhone4, the Droid, the avalanche of tablets, the Kindle, the Nook, and a deluge of e-reading devices, all commanded our time and attention.

But …

Category: Book Business, E-Books, Get Published, TrendsTag: Book Business, Digital Books, E-Books, Get Published, Trends

E-Book Buyers Buy More Books

By Steve Laubeon November 18, 2010

New research by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has made some interesting discoveries.

E-book consumers say they are buying more books overall, but fewer in print, and are decreasing their total dollars spent
More than 40% of e-book readers have reduced the number and dollars spent on hardcovers and paperbacks.
Retailers are becoming more important than publishers as a source of …

Category: Book Business, E-Books, TrendsTag: Book Business, E-Books, Trends

Harris Poll Surprises Authors

By Steve Laubeon October 7, 2010

Today the Harris Poll released the results of a survey of America's Reading Habits. Every writer should read the article and think about the big picture.

The Harris Poll Article

I normally eschew poll results. The sampling is always so small to proclaim far reaching pronouncements about whatever topic is at hand. In this case there were only 2,775 participants.

Regardless, I found it …

Category: Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: Authors, Publishing A-Z, readers, Trends

E-Books Redux: Behind the Stats

By Steve Laubeon July 21, 2010

I had hoped to let yesterday's post put much of my thoughts to rest on the issue of e-books...at least for a while.

But today I came across this article "What Amazon Didn't Say About E-Books" by David Carnoy for CNET. In the article he makes some very strong statements regarding Amazon's claim of reaching a "tipping point" with regard to Kindle sales and its impact on e-book sales.

Do …

Category: E-Books, Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: Digital Books, E-Books, Trends

More E-Book News: Behind the Stats

By Steve Laubeon July 20, 2010

Today's Wall Street Journal online quotes Amazon.com as saying that ebooks have outsold hardcover books over the last three months.

Additional statistics from that article include: "Amazon sought to suggest that Amazon remains the leading retailer for e-books. The company said that of the 1.14 million James Patterson e-books sold as of July 6, nearly 868,000 were from Amazon." Also, …

Category: E-Books, Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: E-Books, Trends

E-Book Sales: Behind the Stats

By Steve Laubeon July 19, 2010

There is mixed news with regard to book sales in May of this year. Store sales were down 2.6% but publisher sales were up by 9.8%. Read all the various stats here. Remember these are simply comparison of 2010 monthly numbers with 2009.

The biggest area of growth, percentage-wise, is in e-books (up 162.8%).

But lets look at actual dollars, not percentages.

Publisher sales (according to the …

Category: E-Books, Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: Bookselling, E-Books, Get Published, Trends

What’s up with Christian Retail?

By Steve Laubeon May 10, 2010

Twice in the last 30 days I have been interviewed about the "state of the industry." The journalist's questions were insightful and thought I would share some of them with you. My answers have been expanded beyond the original ones since I have more space to work with here.

1. What do you believe to be the most important trend in Christian publishing and why?

This can be a complex …

Category: Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: Bookselling, Editors, Get Published, Proposals, Rejection, Writing Craft

A Volatile Industry

By Steve Laubeon March 17, 2010

Yesterday's blog linked you to some fascinating articles about the publishing industry. One friend wrote an insightful comment on the blog and cited the article where Boris Kachka proclaimed “The End” on September 14, 2008 in New York Magazine.

To illustrate how volatile this industry is, let's look at two of the people featured in the article. Jane Friedman is no longer the CEO of …

Category: Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: Editors, Get Published, publishing

Is This the End of Publishing?

By Steve Laubeon March 16, 2010

You owe it to yourself to read the following links and then watch the embedded video. We are all quite aware that the book publishing industry is in the throes of considerable change. Sales channels are shifting and marketing channels have splintered.

Some folks are dismayed by this, and others see it as opportunity. But, as usual, a middle ground can be found. And that middle ground is …

Category: Publishing A-Z, TrendsTag: Digital Books, Get Published