Amid historic disruption in the publishing industry, big questions are-rightfully-being asked. Here, experts weigh in on how books (and the ways we discover them) are going to change.
The private equity firm KKR has completed its $1.62 billion acquisition of Simon & Schuster. KKR emerged as the winning bidder in early August after Penguin Random House's acquisition for S&S was blocked by the government in late 2022. Not many new details were disclosed about how S&S will operate that were not already revealed when the purchase was first announced. Read more
The rich have got richer as the top 10 global publishing groups saw a collective double-digit jump in sales in 2022. Yet those just outside the highest echelon stuttered, with revenue flat or falling for the next tiers of international conglomerates, as post-pandemic and cost-of-living crisis slowdowns took a toll.
We're living in a new age of discovery. One in which readers are more quickly and organically discovering new books and authors. And yes, I'm talking about how TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and social media in general have emerged as the premier way for readers to build/join communities, and for authors to connect with their fans. Read more
In a move that some in the industry will welcome as putting at least a temporary stop to industry consolidation, the private investment firm KKR has reached an agreement with Paramount Global to acquire Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion in an all cash transaction.
Just after 4p.m. on Monday afternoon in New York, Simon & Schuster c.e.o. Jonathan Karp announced in a letter to his staff that the company's owner, Paramount Global, had agreed to sell S&S to KKR (Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co), one of the world's largest investment firms. Read more
Robert Gottlieb, the great American editor who died last month at the age of ninety-two, often said that there were two ways of being a publisher: to follow, i.e., give the people what they knew they wanted; or lead: show them what you knew they ought to want. Bob was brilliant at both. Read more
Do we need to care for authors better, rethink staff workloads and pay more attention to each book? Yes. But the short answer to "can we publish less, but better?" is: not necessarily.
One of the perennial tensions in my time at Macmillan was that many of the board directors were always calling for greater strategic focus. They would query why we had publishing interests in Zimbabwe or three offices in Namibia or so many different education companies. But actually, the strength of a large publishing company is often in this very diversity. Read more
'When I started writing in about 1990, publishers were very keen on the teenage market. They knew kids were spending money on music and that there were films for kids that age, but books somehow weren't quite happening. The fuss when Junk came out was because it really was a book for teenagers.
You only have to look at the extent of the global reach of the winner the day after to see what a big deal the prize has become internationally. Coverage from right round the world, all the big American media outlets, but also from across the Continent, the Far East, the southern hemisphere, the Middle East.
A Harry Potter first edition found in a Highland bookshop's bargain bucket could be worth £60,000, according to auctioneers selling it.
The hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the first book in JK Rowling's stories about a boy wizard - was published in 1997. Read more
How do booksellers keep up with the latest trends in a fast-changing world? It used to be simple: just read the newspaper, watch TV, or listen to the radio. But now, with the rise of social media, blogs and podcasts, booksellers need to be more alert and adaptable than ever.
In recognition of the one year anniversary of BookTok being announced as Person of the Year at The Bookseller's FutureBook conference 2022, creators reflected on another year on the platform and look ahead to 2024.
Publishing attracts people who love books, reading, and ideas. But for many Black professionals in publishing, there's a disconnect between the love of the medium and their work experiences, which can be rife with isolation, exclusion, and stalled routes to leadership.
The UK books market's volume sales this autumn have slid 8% compared with 2022 with value down a shallower 1%, as almost all the big brands including Jamie Oliver, David Walliams and even Richard Osman have been suffering a contraction in their Christmas run-in hardback releases.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote to the Royal Society of London: "I have already made this paper too long, for which I must crave pardon, not having now time to make it shorter." Read more
"I was in the gym when the email from my editor telling me I'd won the award popped up on my phone, and I can still clearly remember how amazed and thrilled I felt. My books are now published in nine languages, but to discover that one of them has sold over a quarter of a million copies in the UK alone is just so special. Read more
In her Reith lecture of 2017, recently published for the first time in a posthumous collection of nonfiction, A Memoir of My Former Self, Hilary Mantel recalled the beginnings of her career as a novelist. It was the 1970s. "In those days historical fiction wasn't respectable or respected," she recalled. "It meant historical romance. Read more