GalleyCat - The First Word On the Book Publishing Industry

Bookselling

Glenn Beck Thrills Publishers

0511book.jpgOver the last year, author and conservative commentator Glenn Beck has interviewed 40 thriller writers, from David Baldacci to James Patterson, becoming a coveted new stop on the book tour trail for publishers.

In a NY Times article about this phenomenon, thriller author Brad Thor quipped: "He's our Oprah ... God love him, we're very fortunate." According to the article, Beck reaches 9 million radio listeners every week and 2.7 million television viewers every day. On the Morning Media Menu today, we pondered why the thriller appeals so strongly to Beck's audience.

Former GalleyCat reporter Sarah Weinman wrote about the gender politics underlying these figures: "Beck definitely has a line into what his viewers--especially the 800,000-odd people in the coveted 25-54 demographic--might be interested in reading. Chances are they are not avid book buyers, lucky to put a couple of hundred bucks' total into publishers' coffers. Beck's viewership also skews predominately towards white males, and at the risk of gross overgeneralization, fall into the stereotypical category of those who shy away from reading books outside their own gender (or ethnic and cultural worldview.)"

Book Stock Watch: Barnes & Noble Boost

barnes-noble-logo.jpgIn bookselling news, eWeek analyzed five ways Barnes & Noble (BKS) could beat Amazon.com (AMZN) at the e-reader business. Here's a sample: "the right leveraging of its retail space could give Barnes & Noble a broad venue through which to push its product--particularly if they allow features such as in-store Wi-Fi browsing of text. Unless Amazon.com signs a deal with a big-box store such as Best Buy, it's restricted to online."

GalleyCat has been tracking the stock performance of the major companies that influence the bookselling business. We created this chart with eight publicly-traded publishing stocks hand-picked by our readers--including company name, symbol, current stock price, and price increase or decrease at week's close.

-Name- -Symbol- -Last price- -Change-
The McGraw-Hill Co. MHP 28.78 -1.31
Books-A-Million, Inc. BAMM 8.66 -1.18
Borders Group, Inc. BGP 1.94 -0.25
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 118.81 -3.77
Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS 16.61 -0.18
Wiley John & Sons Inc. JW.A 35.22 -0.41
Scholastic Corporation SCHL 24.88 -1.13
News Corporation NWS 13.6 -0.44
Google Inc. GOOG 536.12 -14.93
Apple Inc. AAPL 188.5 -7.85
Sony Corporation SNE 29.39 -1.15

Some European Publishers Avoid Pricing Battles

wmlogo.gifAs American stores battle to have the lowest price for new books, some European publishers are, for better or for worse, exempt from fighting these pricing squabbles.

A few weeks ago, Walmart (WMT) slashed book prices online, reducing the "10 pre-selling books on its website" to $10 apiece--sweetening the deal with free shipping. This move touched off a book discounting war in between Amazon.com (AMZN), Walmart, and finally, Target (TGT). According to the Wall Street Journal, many countries in Europe are protected from these price wars through fixed price system--illustrating how stores in France and Germany must sell books at the publisher's price point.

Here's more from the article, outlining the scope of two different countries: "The system protects independent booksellers and smaller publishers from giant rivals that could discount their way to more market share. Along with some 7,000 bookshops, nearly 14,000 German publishers remain in business.Together, German companies published more than 96,000 new titles last year. In the nearly four-times-as-large U.S., 275,000 titles were published." (Via Publishers Weekly)

August Book Sales on the Upswing, Just Barely

The Association of American Publishers reports that the book sales it tracked for August 2009 were up 0.9 percent compared to last year—and that the tentative prognosis looks like another year of "stable but modest growth" as the first eight months of '09 show a 2 percent increase in sales over the January-to-August range in 2008.

Adult hardcovers and paperbacks showed increases for the month but are still down overall for the year-to-date. Children's and YA hardcovers dropped in August, but have built up a sufficient lead to still be up 14 percent for the year; paperbacks in this category only dipped 0.2 percent for August and are still up 1.7 percent for the year so far. Religious books... does anybody know what's going on with religious books? They're down 13.8 percent for the month and 9.2 percent for the year, and it seems like they've been going south for a while now. And yet this seems like a time of no small religious fervor, right?

Amazon/Wal-Mart Price War Now a Battle Royale; Target, Sears Enter the Steel Cage

price-wars-logos.jpgIt all started last week when Wal-Mart slashed ten not-yet-published books to $10, as much as two-thirds off the cover price in some cases. Amazon.com matched Wal-Mart at $10, so Wal-Mart went to $9; Amazon matched them again, and the next move was $8.99.

At that point, as the Wall Street Journal reports, Target entered the fray, which prompted Wal-Mart to shave another penny off, bringing us to $8.98—and maybe lower a little later. ""It remains to be seen if we will go lower if the competition slashes prices further," says a Target spokesperson. "At the moment we are only matching what others are doing, but we're watching closely. We want to remain competitive."

So now Sears steps in and says it's not cutting prices on any of those books (beyond its usual discounts, we suppose), but as part of its new "Keep America Reading" promotion, you can show them your receipt for any of those cheap hardcovers from the other three stores, and Sears will give you up to $9 in store credit.

Wal-Mart Slashes Book Prices

wmlogo.gifWal-Mart Stores (WMT) has slashed book prices online, reducing the "10 pre-selling books on its website" to $10 apiece--sweetening the deal with free shipping.

Here's some perspective on that price point, from Reuters: "The $10 price represent a 66 percent cut on the $28.99 listing price for Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue: An American Life", or a 64 percent cut on the $27.99 price for Michael Crichton's 'Pirate Latitudes.' The titles will not ship until November, but eager consumers can now place orders for the books online -- representing 'pre-sales.'"

In addition, the article also explains how site will also launch a new feature called "America's Reading List," where they will list the 200 bestsellers and cut the list price in half for these books. (Via Publishers Weekly)

Amazon's Direct Attack Against Bookstores?

amazon_crave.jpg

The New York Times reported this morning that Amazon.com is now offering same-day delivery service. If you order a book by 10 a.m. (in select cities) you can have it on your door that same day for an additional $15.

For readers who prefer traditional books to ebooks, this service could be the new ideal, as it fuels our society of instant gratification. Yet, could this be a direct assault against already struggling brick-and-mortar stores, especially the independents?

continued...

If You Love Your Book...

If you love your book, set it free. Frustrated by the old advance copy review system, author Stephen Elliott broke one of the old rules of book publicity--giving advance copies of his book to anyone who asked.

Elliott mailed a copy of his new book, "The Adderall Diaries: A Memoir of Moods, Masochism, and Murder," to one interested reader, and let that reader mail the advance copy to the next reader. As he explains in this exclusive video interview, this informal "lending library" had some unexpected community-building results.

Here's an excerpt from the interview: "It used to be only the media elite would get advance copies of books. But now, I think anybody that wants to read the book, you should give them an advance copy. It used to be you would send out five galley copies to media professionals and maybe one of them would read it. With my lending library, I would send out one copy and five people would read it. So it's a lot more efficient."

Adam Penenberg's Frank Facebook Facts

viralloopcov.jpgMany contemporary authors are worried about having a Facebook page, but most writers don't reveal how the bookselling strategy worked.

Today Publishers Weekly launched a special "viral edition" of the publishing magazine, looking at how literary types can leverage the networking possibilities of the Internet, from Facebook widgets to good old fashioned blogs. The cover story was an essay by journalist Adam Penenberg entitled, "The Viral Loop." The essay contained a frank look at how a Facebook application worked for his new book, "Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves."

Here's an excerpt from the article: "So far, a small percentage of users have clicked on the 'buy the book' tab to order it pre-pub. Thousands more, however, are being made aware of it. As the old publishing saying goes, if seven people hear the title of a book, they are more likely to buy it. As the widget spreads--we are on pace to amass 10,000 users within two months of launch--we hope to 'own' the term 'viral loop.'"

Judge Denies Amazon's Motion to Dismiss BookLocker Lawsuit

booklocker.jpgThis week a federal judge denied Amazon.com's (AMZN) request to dismiss an anti-trust lawsuit filed by the print-on-demand company, BookLocker. According to MaineBiz, the suit argues that "Amazon's demand that publishing companies use a specific printer in order to sell their books in the Amazon marketplace" violates federal antitrust laws.

GalleyCat has been tracking the stock performance of the major companies that influence the bookselling business. We created this chart with eight publicly-traded publishing stocks hand-picked by our readers--including company name, symbol, current stock price, and price increase or decrease at week's close.

-Name- -Symbol- -Last price- -Change-
The McGraw-Hill Co. MHP 24.62 -0.76
Books-A-Million, Inc. BAMM 10.67 -0.71
Borders Group, Inc. BGP 2.93 -0.02
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 89.85 -1.19
Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS 21.65 0.04
Wiley John & Sons Inc. JW.A 34.16 -0.42
Scholastic Corporation SCHL 23.49 -0.58
News Corporation NWS 13.24 -0.05
Google Inc. GOOG 484.58 -2.62
Apple Inc. AAPL 184.88 4.02
Sony Corporation SNE 27.16 -0.86

Previously

Granta Tops Dan Brown in Chicago

Amazon Settles Orwellian Lawsuit for $150,000

Tarcher's $1000 Gift to NYC Book Buyers

Barnes & Noble: We Don't Extort Referral Links

Gothenburg Book Fair Dispatch

Give Us Links Or We Won't Sell Your Books: Really?

Will Lynne McTaggart Get the Dan Brown Bump?

Amazon Forces Changes at LibraryThing

Dan Brown Breaks Sales Records at Barnes & Noble

Ravenous Dips Toes in Print, Cable TV

Smashwords Inks Distribution Deal with Barnes & Noble

A Bookstore Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Book Stock Watch: Sony's Stand

Barnes & Noble, Inc. to Acquire Barnes & Noble College Booksellers

Julia Roberts at Brooklyn Bookstore

Book Stock Watch: Quarterly Qualms

Book Stock Watch: Student's Amazon Suit

Barnes & Noble, Inc. to Offer Free Wi-Fi in Stores

UnBeige: Prairie Ave Bookshop No More?

Book Stock Watch: Amazon Dips

Jeff Bezos Apologizes for Kindle Mistake

Is This the Bookstore of Tomorrow?

B&N Tops Amazon in App Store

Book Stock Watch: Barnes & Noble Inc. Restructures

Harvard UP to Sell 1,000 Books on Scribd

Management Buyout at Borders UK

Amazon.com, Inc. Sued by Kindle Customers

Book Stock Watch: Comics Biz

Drinking a Beer with Readers

Tokyo International Book Fair Rides Digital Wave

A Moment of Appreciation for SIBA's Jewell

Book Stock Watch Adds Apple

Indie Books Top Oprah Winfrey's Summer List

Barnes & Noble Follows Amazon's E-Book Pricing Model

Shaman Drum Bookstore Closes on Twitter

Amazon Ends Affiliate Program in Rhode Island and North Carolina

B&N Faces Amazon in App Store

Amazon's Warning: Book Stock Watch

Amazon.com, Inc. May End Affiliate Program in North Carolina

Tor Launches Publisher Agnostic Online Store

Book Stock Watch: Amazon's Aims

From the Apple Store to Barnes & Noble

Ann Arbor's Shaman Drum Bookshop to Close

Book Stock Watch: Google Gains

Blogger Signs Brooklyn Bookstore Lease

How to Build a Literary iPhone App

BEA 2009: Bloggers Speak Out

Amazon.com, Inc. Rumors

1Q Sales Fall 12 Percent at Borders Group, Inc.

Books-A-Million Inc. Q1 Sales Up 2%

Starbucks to Sell Norman Ollestad Memoir

Bookstore Survival Strategies from Rainy Day Books

Bookstore Sales Dipped 4.2 Percent in Q1 of 2009

Agency Withdraws Credit Rating for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Richard & Judy Fell from 3 Million Viewers to 8,000

Book Stock Watch: Amazon Unveils Kindle DX

Revenue Dips Nearly 20 Percent at Simon & Schuster

HarperCollins' Revenue Decreased Nearly 20 Percent Last Quarter

Publisher Launches 8,000-Page, 24-Volume Urdu Translation

Amazon CEO Sold $63 Million in Stock

Penguin Reports 6.7 Percent Worldwide Revenue Increase

100 Indie Bookstores in a Single Tour

Korean Book Sales Skyrocket

International Buy Indie Day Has Commenced

2010 Christian Book Expo Canceled

The Art of Local Book Promotion

Celebrity Book Sales Decline in England

Book Stock Watch: Borders Executive Pay

Amazon's Net Income Up 28 Percent in Q1

The Oprah Diss-Effect?

Inaugural Self-Publishing Book Expo Scheduled

The Hugo Chavez Book Club

Alyson Books Publisher on Amazon Error

Book Sales Slide 10.8 Percent in February

Amazon Worker Details Company's Error

Amazon Admits "Ham-Fisted Cataloging Error"

#Amazonfail: A Personal Perspective

Book Stock Watch: Noble Rumors

Stephenie Meyer Sold 16 Percent of all Books Last Quarter

Barnes & Noble Launches Local Initiative

Scholastic Book Fair Sales Hold Steady

Borders Clarifies about Waldenbooks Closures

Borders May Close Hundreds of Waldenbooks Stores

Borders Total Sales Fell Nearly 13 Percent Last Quarter

NY Times Lost Early Amazon Opportunity

Authors Lead NYC Indie Bookstore Tour

Barron's Declares Amazon "The World's Best Retailer"

Amazon CEO to Work in Kentucky Warehouse

Amazon Shutters Three U.S. Distribution Centers

Countryman Press Puts Book Catalog on Twitter

How to Crack the Amazon Bestseller List for $359-an-Hour

CEO Ponders Christian Book Expo Turnout

Picador Launches 140-Character Book Club

Random House Reports 6.3 Percent Revenue Drop

Arabic Print Runs Dwarfed by Demand

HarperCollins Stops Mailing and Printing Catalogs

Books-A-Million Reports Drop in Sales

Bloomsbury Publicity Director Responds to SXSW Critics

Gloomy Forecast at Barnes & Noble

Book Stock Watch: Amazon Tweets

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