Industry News

Megan DiMaria is Novel Rocket’s industry news columnist. An author and speaker, she enjoys cheering on writers and loves to encourage others as they journey through life’s demands and delights. Megan is the author of two women’s fiction novels, Searching for Spice and Out of Her Hands. 

 Welcome to the May edition of Industry News. I hope you’re enjoying the beauty and fragrance of springtime. I already spent my first afternoon working in my outdoor office AKA my patio. 

Stuff's happening, so let's get to the news:

• Print book sales down in Canada in 2014. For more info . . . 
• U.S. library groups are joining a coalition to promote “balanced copyright laws.” For more info . . . 
• Simon & Schuster to launch new imprint, Caitlyn Dlough Books. For more info . . . 
• Anyone want to buy a 51-year-old bookstore in Maine? For more info . . . 
• Publishers Weekly unveiled their Best Summer Books of 2015 list. 
• Although sales rose at Amazon, they still had a first-quarter net loss. For more info . . . 
• Books-A-Million launches a DIY website for authors to create, edit, and publish. For more info . . . 
• Christian self-publisher, CrossBooks, has closed. For more info . . . 
• There’s so much excitement surrounding Harper Lee’s  Go Set a Watchman. Word now that Reese Witherspoon will narrate the audio version. For more info . . .  
• Mountainview Books to publish winners of The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild’s annual Operation First Novel contest. For more info . . . 
• The 2015 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year awards have been announced. For more info . . . 
• And the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction is awarded to Anthony Doerr. For more info . . .
• The first bookstore exclusively for self-published authors opens in Florida. For more info . . . 
• Family Christian Bookstores face questions over proposed sale. For more info . . . 
• No surprise—“Huge inequality” in writer earnings. For more info . . . 
• According to Nielsen BookScan, unit sales of print books rose 3% in the quarter ended April 5, 2015, compared to the first quarter of 2014. For more info . . . 
• The American Booksellers Association (ABA) announces the 2015 Indies Choice and E.B. White award winners. For more info . . . 
• Subscription book service, Scribd, adds Penguin Random House to its inventory. For more info . . . 
• Book lovers to create a Colorado haven for readers. For more info . . . 
• In last month’s column we told you about “shedquarters” for the perfect writing space—now check out these gorgeous “shesheds” for female authors.
• Bookstore sales dropped in February. For more info. . . 
• HarperCollins becomes the latest publisher to reach an agreement with Amazon over terms. For more info . . . 
• The 2014 Reviewers' Choice and Career AchievementWinners have been announced. 
• Shortlist for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction announced. 
• 2015 Thriller Award finalists revealed. 
• BuzzFeed announces its Emerging Writers Fellowship to “give writers of great promise  the support, mentorship, and experience necessary to take a transformative step forward in their careers. For more info. . . 
• The Ernest Hemingway Foundation offers a “free one-year residency at the historic Queen Anne house in Oak Park, IL where Hemingway was born and the place where the author wrote many of his epic works.” For more info . . . 
• Religious fiction sales plunge while non-fiction soars. For more info . . . 
• E-book subscription service Oyster is adding a retail option to its services. For more info . . . 
• Loiacono Literary Agency has added two new literary agents to their team, Melissa Carrigee and Johnnie Bernhard. 
• Because it makes my heart flutter, 51 of the most beautiful sentences in literature. 

Have a great month friends. Write on!