University presses take up titles that the Big Five, as the publishing conglomerates are called collectively, often won’t touch — not just works of scholarship but also small-market books for general readers: poetry, short stories and essays; memoirs and biographies; field guides and natural history; art and photography; local and regional history, among many others. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Publishing has long been a low paying industry with long hours for its entry and midlevel employees, and it is based in New York, a very expensive city. It is also an overwhelmingly white industry, and many in the industry feel the low pay is part of what makes diversifying the industry difficult. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
The government’s case blocked the merger of two of the United States’ largest publishers and reflected a more aggressive approach to curbing consolidation. It was closely watched by the publishing industry. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Fitzcarraldo Editions is not yet 10 years old and has only six full-time staff members. Already, three of its authors have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
In 2021, trade sales jumped again, but so did sales in the other segments, resulting in a 12.3% increase in total sales, to $29.33 billion, according to the Association of American Publishers’ final statistics for the year. The final figure marks a major improvement over numbers from the previous four years, when sales ranged between $25 billion and $26 billion. In 2021, sales in all segments except professional books topped their 2019 numbers, which have become a measuring stick many companies use given the volatility of the past two years. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Joshua Bodwell is glad he doesn’t have to personally deal with Charles Bukowski. Or Wanda Coleman. Or Paul Bowles. Or, for that matter, any of the late, legendary writers synonymous with Black Sparrow Press — the avant-garde publishing house established by John and Barbara Martin in 1966, in Los Angeles, and shuttered in 2002, in Santa Rosa. Bringing the long-dormant Californian imprint back to life is already more than enough pressure.
“It would be a lot of anxiety if one were tending to some of those legacy authors,” admits Bodwell, who, after being appointed editorial director of Boston-based publisher Godine in the winter of 2019, began working that July to relaunch the imprint under its umbrella. Starting with the spring 2020 publication of Coleman’s Wicked Enchantment, he’s tried to quietly oversee the release of 10 new additions to Black Sparrow’s 600-plus-title catalog. He’s held off on making a big announcement about the press’s rebirth, choosing to build up a body of work he could be proud of first. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
“Godine at Fifty,” showcasing some 300 of David Godine’s favorite books from his career, is an autobiography of sorts and an elegy for a kind of publishing. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Social-media fandom can help authors score book deals and bigger advances, but does it translate to how a new title will sell? Publishers are increasingly skeptical. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Vermont publisher Chelsea Green has filed a federal civil lawsuit claiming that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stifled free speech when she called on Amazon to curb the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and cited one of Chelsea Green’s books as a source of “dangerous conspiracies.” Read more
The Biden administration on Tuesday sued to stop Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the United States, from acquiring its rival Simon & Schuster, as part of a new drive in Washington against corporate consolidation. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
