Good Books » New York Times

Science Fiction/Fantasy Books Expected to Grow 3.4% in 2011

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:22:00 +0000

Representing just 6% of the total trade book market, the science fiction/fantasy segment will grow 3.4% in 2011, reaching $578.6 million, despite the overall market’s expected 5.2% decline. According to a report published by media and publishing forecast firm Simba Information, the science fiction and fantasy categories experienced double-digit increases in title output, along with stronger ratings on the consolidated bestseller list in 2010.

According to the report, the science fiction/fantasy segment is gaining market share, adding half a percent in 2011 compared to 2010, as it more than triples its 1% growth rate from the past two years.

“The sci-fi/fantasy segment has been a stable growth segment for the past few years,” notes Michael Norris, Simba Information’s senior trade analyst. “Since the book market took a big hit in 2007, it has been inching closer to its previous high-point.”

Title output for fantasy rose sharply to 6,389 titles, growing 14.6%, followed by science fiction with 3,714 titles, growing 10.1% in 2010. Simba’s report, which uses a consolidated bestseller list comprised of ratings from USA Today, The New York Times and Publisher’s Weekly, finds science fiction performed strongly on the list with 76 titles by 58 authors, while fantasy held 321 titles by 192 authors, although its success was led by the Twilight Saga.

“Even though a lot of titles are hit or miss with audiences, both as books and as media tie-ins, there will continue to be a thirst for this segment of fiction for the foreseeable future,” added Norris.

Simba’s report, Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2011, details the overall market for trade books, segmented by 18 major categories including health & fitness, romance, self-help, science fiction/fantasy and others. It includes demographic and psychographic information on the average book buyer, along with company profiles of the leading publishers including Penguin Group, Macmillan and Random House.

Hannover House Sets New E-Book Royalty Standards and Initial Releases

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:25:00 +0000

In the wake of continuing debate between publishers and authors regarding the establishment of fair and reasonable royalty rates for the emerging E-Book platforms, Hannover House (http://hannoverhouse.com/index.php ) has announced a new standard rate of thirty percent of E-Book net revenues for authors. This new rate for all Hannover House authors surpasses the current industry standard of twenty-five percent E-Book royalties being offered by most major publishers.

Initial E-Book releases from Hannover House will launch in June, and include two non-fiction titles from author Barr McClellan, and two fiction thrillers from author Vivian Schilling. McClellan’s “Made in the USA” was published in hardcover format in March of 2010, and his New York Times Bestseller, “Blood, Money and Power: How LBJ Killed JFK,” was originally published in September 2003. Schilling’s acclaimed thriller “Quietus” was originally released in hardcover format in January 2002, and her debut thriller “Sacred Prey” was originally published in September 1994. Both “Blood, Money and Power” and “Quietus” have sold more than 100,000 units each in various print formats, and are expected to be significant sellers again once released on the various E-Book platforms.

“It was important for Hannover House to make a statement that we stand with our authors in support of fair and reasonable royalties for new media formats,” said Eric Parkinson, C.E.O. of Hannover House. “E-Books provide publishers with greater efficiencies and lower costs of production, freight and storage, so it only makes sense that the author’s share should increase, not decrease as other publishers have claimed. If we don’t compensate the authors fairly for these emerging formats, the publishing industry will jeopardize the supply of quality material by removing the financial incentives for authors.”

The launch of Hannover’s initial E-Book titles will be promoted with ads in the New York Times Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly and multiple internet sites targeted to reach avid readers.

“These royalty rates will not jeopardize the profitability of our publishing division,” said Parkinson. “We believe that paying a fair royalty will build author loyalty as well as encourage other, established authors to consider Hannover House for their future publishing needs.”

In other news, Hannover House announced the creation of the new position of “Publisher – Editor” to administer all acquisition and release activities for the company’s book division. A search for qualified candidates has commenced, with the goal of having this key managerial post in place prior to the Book Expo America convention in late May. Hannover House book titles are available through most major book retailers, including Barnes and Noble, Borders Group, Hudson Group, Books-A-Million, Hastings and all major internet book selling sites.

Christian Writer Cecil B. Murphey Supports New Authors Again

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Christian writer and New York Times’ bestselling author Cec Murphey will for the second year sponsor ten writers with full scholarships to the OC Christian Writers Conference. In addition he is sponsoring two writers with scholarships to the intensive pre-conference workshops. The conference will be held on April 29 & 30, 2011 in Irvine, California. Find out more at www.occwf.org.

Who is Cec?

Cecil B. Murphey is best known for writing 90 Minutes in Heaven (with Don Piper), which has sold more than five million copies and has been on the New York Times best seller list since October 2006, but has actually been in the top-selling 150 books for 15 years, according to USA Today. In fact, plans are in the works for a full-length feature film. For more on his books and work go to www.cecilmurphey.com.

But that’s not all he wrote.

Cecil has authored or co-written more than one hundred books that have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold millions of copies. No doubt he has encouraged and touched the lives of millions of readers with hope and inspiration. What has he done with all the fame and prosperity? Cecil says that he can’t think of any better investment in the kingdom than to mentor and support other writers, especially Christian writers.

Cecil understands our unique branch of artistry for God. Prior to launching his career as a full-time writer and speaker, Cecil served as pastor of Riverdale Presbyterian Church in Metro Atlanta. He was also a volunteer hospital chaplain for ten years and a missionary in Kenya for six.

He holds bachelor’s degrees in education and religious education, as well as master’s degrees in education and theology. In addition to all of that, Cecil was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from The Richmond Virginia Seminary for his contributions to the writing field. A pastor, a writer, an educator, a philanthropist and a mentor. Cecil B. Murphey is all of this and more. The OC Christian Writers Fellowship and our aspiring writers for God thank you, Mr. Murphey, for your encouragement and generous support.

The OC Christian Writers Conference held on April 29 & 30, 2011 in Irvine, California, is one of the longest running one-day conferences in California. This year’s keynote speakers are Simon Tolkien, grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, and Vinita Hampton Wright. With 27 writing workshops, four writing contests, four acquisition editors, three literary agents, and authors and writers in almost every genre, this is a place to get instructed, get connected, and get published. Find more about the scholarships at www.occwf.org.

New York Times Bestselling Author Launches Website For Writers

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:18:00 +0000

TheBookPatch.com uses state of the art technology to build a unique and free platform for writers to create, edit, publish and sell their books in one seamless process.

The new website offers members (membership is free) a complete set of tools letting writers log on to their book from any computer in the world with an internet connection and write. The built in word processor compliments writing alone, collaboration or co-authoring regardless of geographical boundaries. The program supports multiple story lines and exclusive applications for creating a cast of characters, storing author’s notes and chapter outlines and more.

The website has a built in social network, forums and, professional assistance.

Once a book is ready for print, TheBookPatch.com provides a built in cover design wizard and printing at a push of a button directly from the site. There are no set up fees or royalty sharing. The author retains 100% copyright and can order as little as a single copy. TheBookPatch printing price is unparalleled and declines with every additional copy even if ordered one at a time. Authors can update and make changes to their books with no additional charges and retain the previous editions discounts. An average book price for a

200 page book with a full color cover will run between $5.50 and $16 on the average. TheBookPatch also offers an online book store where authors can sell their books and collect the profit while TheBookPatch retains only the printing cost.

“By making the website free to use I want to encourage educators to take advantage of this great tool for their students in this time of economic crunch.” – Victor Ostrovsky CEO TheBookPatch.com

More information is available on http://www.thebookpatch.com

The New York Times to Launch eBook Best-Seller Lists

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:46:00 +0000

The New York Times will publish eBook fiction and nonfiction Best-Seller Lists beginning early 2011.

Since 1935, The New York Times Best-Seller Lists have been the definitive metric that book publishers and authors have used to judge success. The Times’s eBook Best-Seller Lists are a natural extension of this important franchise as the proliferation of portable devices grows.

“The vibrant growth of digital publishing has created a need for an impartial, reliable source for tracking and reporting the top-selling eBooks across the country,” said Janet Elder, editor of News Surveys for The New York Times. “The Times is a trusted brand within the book publishing industry and with consumers. As with all The Times’s rankings, these additional lists will benefit from corroborative sourcing and we will watch for trends in the industry.”

“The best-seller list is an essential part of the Book Review, and we’re excited we’ll be able to give readers newer and more complete information,” said Sam Tanenhaus, editor of The New York Times Book Review.

The rankings will reflect sales aggregated from a growing number of online service providers who sell eBooks to consumers. To further secure the integrity of the rankings, The Times is aggressively developing a means of processing and displaying the information necessary, and of verifying the data provided.

The Times has entered into a relationship with an independent third party, RoyaltyShare, Inc., whose unique, Web-based software platform will be used by the staff of The New York Times Best Seller Lists to help validate eBooks sales data received from various sources.

As new devices continue to captivate readers, the eBook category has seen tremendous growth. The Association of American Publishers recently reported that eBook sales for the first eight months of the year were up more than 190 percent, generating nine percent of total consumer book sales.

The lists will appear in The New York Times Book Review both in print and online editions. Rankings will reflect sales for the week at many venues where a wide range of general interest eBooks are sold nationwide. These include independent book retailers; national, regional and local chains; and online and multimedia entertainment retailers.

Free Download on WOWIO Reminiscent of Classic Stephen King Style

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:55:00 +0000

WOWIO, Inc., an established market leader with an online destination (http://www.wowio.com/) that provides access to rich digital media content and eBooks, is offering free PDF downloads of The Painted Darkness, by Brian James Freeman, for the month of October. The book has received praise from New York Times bestselling authors such as Stewart O’Nan, author of The Night Country and A Prayer for the Dying, who said, “The tone and building dread reminds me of classic Stephen King. Great velocity and impact, and super creepy.” David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of The Shimmer and creator of Rambo, said, “Freeman’s evocative tale about the dark corners of an artist’s imagination is elegant and haunting.”

Each month WOWIO chooses one title to be the “Book of the Month.” This program enables publishers and authors to get their titles into the hands of thousands of readers who might not have come across their books otherwise. With approximately 300,000 new titles published annually in the US alone, obscurity is the biggest challenge authors and publishers face. “Our goal at WOWIO is to help publishers stand out by selling their titles on our site. From time to time we are also able to offer them for free to our readers via our sponsorship program where publishers get paid for every free download. What sets us apart is that we work hard promoting them virally through various channels such as social media sites and our own web channel, Pop Galaxy,” Kristin Ellison, Editorial Director of WOWIO explains.

“With The Painted Darkness in the horror genre, we knew it would be a fantastic fit for our October Book of the Month. When there’s an opportunity to play on a theme, in this case Halloween, it makes the promotion that much more fun for our readers and for fans of this genre,” Ellison said.

“This really is a wonderful program because it allows WOWIO to provide a platform for a small press, such as Cemetery Dance, to further their reach to new audiences while our customers get exposure to one of our new publishing partners,” said Brian Altounian, CEO and President of WOWIO. “The Book of the Month is a great way to build a relationship between publishers and readers, and we love being able to provide the tools to do so.”

Altounian continued, “The publishing market’s rapid transformation into the digital realm has opened up countless opportunities both to promote and merge various types of media relating to a particular title. At WOWIO, we see authors as brands and want to deliver to our readers who follow them all manner of related content including audio, video, other titles, links to their blogs etc. thus creating a richer experience. In this WOWIO-exclusive edition of The Painted Darkness, we’ve embedded an audio file of Mark Justice of Horrorworld.org reading the first chapter. This is just the beginning of these types of initiatives and in the coming months, readers can expect to see our content library and eBooks deepen across the board.”

WOWIO is continually looking to work with new publishers producing titles across all categories. To learn more, please contact editorial director Kristin Ellison at editorial@wowio.com.

Why Do I Have to Market My Book? I Just Want to Write a Book

admin — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:05:00 +0000

Today’s authors need to be expert marketers.

At one time, authors were coddled and cosseted (a very, very long time ago). Today’s authors need to consider how they’re going to get that book sold, often long before the book is written.

Anyone who goes the route of self-publishing knows that they are responsible for getting the word out about their book, but many authors don’t realize that even the larger publishing houses have cut their marketing divisions down to such an extent that unless you’re a regular name on the New York Times Bestseller List, you’re not going to qualify for a marketing slush fund.

What does this mean for you?

If you have any intention of writing a book that will reach the audience you want to reach, you are going to have to do all the marketing for your book.

Even before you write the first word, you need to consider the following points:

Who your audience is
What they want to know
Why they need your book
How your book is going to help them better than anyone else’s book out there

I admire anyone who has the desire to write a book, especially a nonfiction book that is designed to share information that the author has and I don’t. When I talk to authors, however, many of them don’t look much beyond their desire to write a book. They fail to take into consideration their future audience, their future readers. They want to roam and ramble through their topic, much like taking a wandering stroll through the woods without a map or a compass. What is likely to happen is that hiker is going to get lost.

So will your reader.

This is a big mistake. You don’t want your reader getting lost or confused when they pick up your book.

In order for a book to be any sort of a success, it must absolutely take the reader into account. It must answer the four points above in great detail. Before your reader even reads the first page of your book, they want to know that you understand their problem and are going to solve it for them.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Simple. My identifying your reader’s major problem and showing how it can be solved with your book, you’ve taken the first step toward marketing your own book. You’ve identified a need and with your book, you have a solution.

That’s not only going to make your book a better book. It’s good business sense to write a book that people will pay money to read.

About the Author:

Kathleen Birmingham is a ghostwriter of hundreds of articles, lesson plans, newsletters, and books. Currently she is partnering with Russ Stevenson creating a book coaching writing system to help numerous people get their ideas out of their heads and down on paper. For more insight into her philosophies on the business of writing, visit her at:

http://americasauthormaker.blogspot.com/

http://kdbwriting.blogspot.com/

Boston Publisher Celebrates Publication of 100th Title, All Written by Children

admin — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:18:00 +0000

KidPub Press, publisher of books written by children, has released its 100th title. Established in 2008, KidPub Press helps kids ages 8 to 18 understand the publishing process by giving them a chance to publish their own book. The young authors work with an editor to get their manuscript into shape, then with a designer who helps them create a cover. The completed books are sold on Amazon.com, at the KidPub Press bookstore, and through affiliated online bookstores. The kids receive quarterly royalty payments for sales of their books.

“This is the same process that an adult author would go through,” remarked Publisher Perry Donham, “and we keep the kids involved in every step, to help them get a good feel for how the book business works. Many of us go into a bookstore and see thousands of titles on the shelves but have no idea how they got there; our authors understand the incredible amount of work it takes to get a book published.”

While there’s no expectation that an 8-year-old’s book will reach the New York Times Bestseller List, many KidPub Press authors sell hundreds of copies and hold successful book signing events at their school, local bookstores, churches, and other venues. “More importantly,” said Donham, “the kids are like rock stars when they walk into school with copies of their book. The confidence and pride that this gives these kids is something that sets them up to be successful college students and young adults.”

KidPub Press books are typically 100 to 150 pages long, though some have topped the 300-page mark. It is an international endeavor with authors from Canada, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe having participated. The company also has a school program that produces compilation books written by middle-school classrooms.

“There’s always a moment of confusion when we describe the business,” explained Donham. “Everyone is familiar with children’s books, but books -by- children? That’s a different story. The expectation is that kids can’t possibly write ‘real’ books, but having read every one of the hundred we’ve published, I can tell you that these kids really do have a talent for writing. I’m proud that my company can give these young authors an outlet and market for their creativity.”

With 100 titles behind them, Donham and the KidPub Press team are looking forward to hitting the 500-title mark, and to expanding the market for this genre of book, both in print and electronically. “The first hundred are always the hardest,” quipped Donham, “and we’re well on our way to that next big milestone.”

KidPub Press is headquartered in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Visit KidPub Press for more information. Books are also available at Amazon.com.

Author & Pastor Max Lucado Reaches 100 Million Products in Print

admin — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:58:00 +0000

Author and Pastor Max Lucado has 100 million products in print since his first book was published 25 years ago. Lucado’s writings have been published in a wide variety of formats including trade books, gift books, children’s books, study Bibles, devotionals, commentaries, animated children’s videos, calendars, greeting cards, teaching curriculum and licensed gift products.

Of the 100 million products in print, 80 million are books. Lucado’s first book, On the Anvil, was released in 1985. His latest book, Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference, releases tomorrow from Thomas Nelson. Currently his books have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Lucado’s books have appeared on every major best-seller list including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and the Christian Booksellers Association. Lucado has been featured on many national media programs through the years, including “Fox & Friends,” “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America” in the last year alone.

Thomas Nelson has been Lucado’s long-term publisher and executives salute this significant achievement. Says David Moberg, senior vice president and group publisher for Non-Fiction at Thomas Nelson: “It is both stunning and humbling to consider 100 million products in print for Max. His writing has shaped millions—almost a generation–in their beliefs on grace, forgiveness and God’s love.”

Adds Lucado: “God has blessed me with such a great team. Editors, management, creative thinkers…they are the best. I’m especially thankful for the management skills of Steve Green who has overseen my publishing for over two decades. He has built a team that exceeds expectations.”

Max Lucado and his wife Denalyn live in San Antonio, Texas, where he is the Minister of Preaching at Oak Hills Church. More on Max Lucado, can be found at http://www.maxlucado.com/.

Attorney General Investigates Potentially Anticompetitive E-Book Deals with Amazon and Apple

admin — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:07:00 +0000

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is investigating agreements between the country’s largest e-book publishers and two of the largest sellers – Amazon.com, Inc. and Apple, Inc. — that may block competitors from offering cheaper e-book prices.

Both Amazon and Apple have reached agreements with the largest e-book publishers that ensure both will receive the best prices for e-books over any competitors — contract provisions known as “most favored nation” ( MFN ) clauses.

In letters to Amazon.Com and Apple, Blumenthal is calling on the companies to meet with his office to address these concerns. Publishers that have reached such agreements with Amazon and Apple include Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Penguin.

These agreements appear to deter certain publishers from offering discounts to Amazon and Apple’s competitors — because they must offer the same to Amazon and Apple. This restriction blocks cheaper and competitive prices for consumers.

After a preliminary review, Blumenthal’s office has already found that e-book prices offered by Amazon, Apple, Borders and Barnes & Noble for several New York Times Bestseller books were identical among all four sellers.

“These agreements among publishers, Amazon and Apple appear to have already resulted in uniform prices for many of the most popular e-books — potentially depriving consumers of competitive prices,” Blumenthal said. “The e-book market is set to explode — with analysts predicting that e-book readers will be among the holiday season’s biggest electronic gifts — warranting prompt review of the potential anti-consumer impacts.

“Amazon and Apple combined will likely command the greatest share of the retail e-book market, allowing their most-favored-nation clauses to effectively set the floor prices for the most popular e-books. Such agreements — especially when offered to two of the largest e-book retail competitors in the United States — threaten to encourage coordinated pricing and discourage discounting.”