Yes, It Is Hard to Sell a Book
In last week’s Soapbox (“Small Business Saturday”), an independent publisher recounted the underwhelming experience of setting up a stall in a shopping mall on Small Business Saturday and only selling five books. Our readers welcomed him to the challenging world of bookselling, and one offered some hard-won wisdom:
“As a long-time bookseller, I welcome you to our world. It is going to sound harsh to say this, but every author/publisher thinks it is easy to sell a book. How hard can it be? Right? Well, it takes time to establish yourself, build trust, and to have those repeat customers. Book buyers are a fussy lot. ‘Why should I trust you and spend my hard earned money on someone I don’t know?’ You need to sell them on the idea even before they get in your store.”—Chris Jager
From the Newsletters
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Wendy Doniger, author of Redeeming the Kamasutra (Oxford Univ.), writes about why the Kama Sutra still matters today.
Wimpy Kid #11 is coming in November, and publisher Abrams is planning a one-day laydown in 20 countries. Just don’t ask what the title is (it’s a secret).
Corinna Nicolaou, author of A None’s Story (Columbia Univ.), discusses her tour of faiths, from an awkward breakfast meditation to visiting the Pentagon Memorial Chapel.
Blogs
A children’s bookseller on the problem of showrooming: “Customers who use bricks-and-mortar stores as a showroom for Amazon are doing a disservice to everyone.”
Podcasts
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese on the end of the road for Apple’s e-book price-fixing case, what comes next for the e-book business, and when consumers might expect their $400 million in Apple refunds.
Glen Weldon, NPR books and comics reviewer and a panelist on the NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, discusses his new book, The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture (Simon & Schuster).
Author Elizabeth MacLeod discusses her book, Vanished: True Tales of Mysterious Disappearances (Annick), about six unsolved mysteries from the worlds of exploration, art, history, and crime.
Dominic Smith talks about The Last Painting of Sara De Vos (FSG/Crichton), his novel centering on an enigmatic 17th-century artwork by the first woman admitted as a master painter to Holland’s legendary Guild of St. Luke.
An interview from the PW Radio archives: Ron Stodghill discusses his book Where Everybody Looks like Me: At the Crossroads of America’s Black Colleges and Culture (Amistad). Plus, PW news director Rachel Deahl goes in depth on this week’s feature on the diversity in publishing.
The most-read review last week on publishersweekly.com was Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Vol. 1 by Yoshiki Tanaka, trans. from the Japanese by Daniel Huddleston (Viz/Haikasoru).
PW Star Watch 2016 Is Open for Nominations
We’re looking for the next generation of publishing-industry leaders. Do you work with someone who is going to make a big impact on the business? Nominate that person for PW Star Watch, or you can nominate yourself. A panel of judges including members of PW, the Frankfurt Book Fair, and noted industry leaders will pick 50 up-and-coming stars and select five top honorees and a Superstar who will get an all-expense-paid trip to the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair. Find out more.
