By Olivia Snaije PARIS: “It’s all about de-materialization,” says Clément Apap, co-founder of Sens Critique (Critical Sense), a new virtual library for books, films, TV series, graphic novels and music –- which launched in December and has already attracted 85,000 users. Users can join Sens Critique for free or simply adopt the site as something akin to a cultural magazine. …
Back to the Future: In Brazil, Door-to-door Book Sales are Booming
By Ricardo Costa and Maria Fernanda, PublishNews Imagine a single country spreading across 50% of South America. A country with 27 states where there are 190 million people living in different conditions. Some of them are very poor while others are far too rich. This is Brazil. And a nation with such enormous magnitude offers serious opportunities -– the book …
Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu…Who Knew?: Words Without Borders’ Surprise Hit
By Chip Rossetti Last fall marked the release of Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, an anthology of modern Middle Eastern literature in translation that has had a surprising success in the American market. Tablet & Pen represents a fruitful collaboration between the literature-in-translation online magazine Words Without Borders and anthology editor Reza Aslan, author of …
For Digital Publishers and Device Manufacturers, CES 2011 Was All About the Deal
By Hannah Johnson LAS VEGAS: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) concluded on Saturday with over 140,000 total visitors and 2,700 exhibitors representing a huge range of products and companies, from the largest technology giants like Microsoft and Sony to small startups — and now, media companies. Since its debut in 1967, the focus of CES has been on hardware. Well-known …
21st Century Brand Management: How the UK’s Chorion and Coolabi Cash In on Author’s Creations
By Sarah Weinman An author’s career trajectory generally goes something like this: he or she writes books which are represented by literary agents who sell various rights to publishers. That arrangement can change over time if the author switches agents or publishers (as happens a lot, especially these days) or opts for non-traditional routes to reach an audience, but in …
With 150,000 Daily Print Subscribers, France’s Children’s Newspapers Remain Popular Despite “Digital Distractions”
By Olivia Snaije At least French kids are reading newspapers. There is always a business model that works against the odds. France’s book publisher Play Bac presse, which also publishes three newspapers for children, is simultaneously celebrating its 25th anniversary, and its founding paper, Mon Quotidien’s (My Daily) 15th birthday. At a time when newspapers worldwide are struggling, and in …
Inside The Ministry of Stories, London’s Most Unusual New Literary Institution
By Roger Tagholm LONDON: A little girl grins as the man on the sidewalk wearing the wolf mask stops her and asks: “Have you been to a ‘monster supply shop’ before?” It’s not the sort of question you get asked every day, but it works and, looking a bit sheepish (never a good idea when a wolf is around), the …
Best of Publishing Perspectives 2010: Middle East and China
Markets like China and others in the Middle East have shown that they have huge capacity for growth and can offer opportunities to Western publishing companies. In order for you to get to know these markets better, here are our top articles on China and the Middle East from 2010. China The E-reader Market in China (And Its Unique Business …
Best of Publishing Perspectives 2010: Digital
There is no doubt that most of the innovation in publishing in 2010 was related to digital issues and developments. This year, we saw a number of changes related to technology that have altered the way we think about and approach the business of publishing. Looking back, here are the best and most popular articles about digital topics from 2010: …
Best of Publishing Perspectives 2010: Europe
Publishing Perspectives aims to bring you new and important stories from the international publishing community, stories that don’t always get reported in English. Today, we present our list of this year’s best stories from Europe that represent the major issues and developments there over the last 12 months. France France’s Fnac Introduces FnacBook, E-Reader War Heats Up Read the article …