Bookseller blogs

With a little help from my friends

Simonkey — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:37:31 +0000

Short Description:

I'm starting a publishing company...

I’ve started this publishing company called Timeline Books. I know very little about how to publish books. Nevertheless this is what I’ve done.

Tue, 15/05/2012 - 16:30

The value of legacy

Philip Downer — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:48:37 +0000

Short Description:

Retail legacies must prove their future relevance.

Words change their meaning as the years roll by. You know all the familiar examples (you’re in the words business, after all), but I’ve been struck recently by the changing meaning of “legacy”. Not too long ago, a legacy was a handsome inheritance built up over a lifetime by an individual or an organisation; a proud and solid expression of personal or institutional achievement.

Mon, 14/05/2012 - 15:45

Setting the world to rights

Rachel Mills — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:15:22 +0000

Short Description:

Authors should have a relationship with all their publishers, not just those publishing in their own language.

“Well, the agent used to work in rights. . . " Accompanied with an exaggerated eye roll, I once heard this in an editorial meeting apparently to explain why an acquisition was proving complex and tedious. Why does "rights" sometimes get a bad press? I think it’s mostly to do with the name. To anyone outside publishing, mention your job title and they assume you have a law degree, while graduates think they want to do something more "creative".

Fri, 11/05/2012 - 12:08

Gold rush

PeterCox — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:59:49 +0000

Short Description:

The misconception that anyone is capable of writing a bestseller is not only damaging to aspiring writers, but bestselling ones too.

That old scoundrel Sam Brannan would have felt completely at home in today’s publishing business. Sam, you may recall, was the original promoter of California’s 1848 Gold Rush. After first cornering the market in picks, shovels and pans (paying a mere 20 cents each wholesale), Sam proceeded to run though the streets of San Francisco shouting at the top of his lungs: “Gold! Gold on the American River!”

Fri, 11/05/2012 - 11:56

Digital parity and you

neill.denny@bookseller.co.uk — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:04:08 +0000

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Is a “zombie” physical sector needed to aid discoverability?

Digital crossover is the biggest issue facing the book trade now, and will be for the rest of the decade. Guessing what the industry will look like by 2020 is a risky exercise, but the Publishing Association’s 2011 Yearbook, just out, provides some handy pointers.

Tue, 08/05/2012 - 10:57