No Happy Holidays For Publishing (npr.org)

Halo · 12-20-2008, 12:52 PM

Here's a short NPR news story where they end up talking about ebooks. Summary:

Quote:

Big publishing companies such as Random House are in the midst of cost-cutting, layoffs, and corporate restructuring. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has stopped acquiring manuscripts for the rest of this year.

Host Scott Simon speaks to Charlotte Abbott, contributing editor for Publishers Weekly, about the woes of the book industry in the the thick of the holiday-shopping season.

DaleDe · 12-20-2008, 02:21 PM

Interesting interview. She did say eBooks were up 300% but they were still less than 1% of the market and were only used by commuters and business men with disposable income. I don't think she understands yet.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 12-22-2008, 02:49 PM

The article linked to the same page was also interesting. It's clear that the sagging economy is finally forcing the pub industry into the actions they needed to take years ago, in terms of reworking their business model to account for a digital economy, reworking the wasteful book return system, and dealing with the reality of recently-empowered small publishers encroaching on their turf.

lilac_jive · 12-22-2008, 02:57 PM

I wonder what has been the catalyst for the "demise" of the publishing industry. I don't think it could be a massive drop in sales. I don't see people spending less on books, up until recently (and apparantly its been going down the drain for a while).

Steven Lyle Jordan · 12-23-2008, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I wonder what has been the catalyst for the "demise" of the publishing industry. I don't think it could be a massive drop in sales. I don't see people spending less on books, up until recently (and apparantly its been going down the drain for a while).

Well, the sales numbers are down significantly from this time last year... I'm sure that's enough to set off a panic, and finally spur publishers to do things they've been putting off as inconvenient for far too long.

pilotbob · 12-23-2008, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Well, the sales numbers are down significantly from this time last year... I'm sure that's enough to set off a panic, and finally spur publishers to do things they've been putting off as inconvenient for far too long.

But sales of everything are down this year. It's called recession.. I think that's the big word they used on the TV.

BOb

Steven Lyle Jordan · 12-23-2008, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

But sales of everything are down this year. It's called recession.. I think that's the big word they used on the TV.

Sure. But the numbers are never significant, until they're your own.

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12-20-2008, 02:21 PM	#2
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	Interesting interview. She did say eBooks were up 300% but they were still less than 1% of the market and were only used by commuters and business men with disposable income. I don't think she understands yet.

12-22-2008, 02:49 PM	#3
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	The article linked to the same page was also interesting. It's clear that the sagging economy is finally forcing the pub industry into the actions they needed to take years ago, in terms of reworking their business model to account for a digital economy, reworking the wasteful book return system, and dealing with the reality of recently-empowered small publishers encroaching on their turf.

12-22-2008, 02:57 PM	#4
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I wonder what has been the catalyst for the "demise" of the publishing industry. I don't think it could be a massive drop in sales. I don't see people spending less on books, up until recently (and apparantly its been going down the drain for a while).