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 February edition of Novel Rocket's industry news. Grab a mug of Joe, put your feet up, and relax while you get caught up on what's happing in the publishing world. 

• The Newbery, Caldecott, Printz award winners.  
• Interesting. A demand for more TV programming opens Hollywood doors to novelists. For more info . . .  
• What men read, what women read. For more info . . . 
• Books-A-Million executive chairman Clyde Anderson and family are trying to buy the company. For more info . . .  
• Simon & Schuster launches, Scout Press, a new literary fiction imprint. For more info . . . 
• I love good marketing efforts, don’t you? This month Powell’s Books (Portland, OR) and HarperCollins imprint Avon are testing a new marketing program. For more info . . . 
• Another great marketing idea—fast-food chain Chipotle rolls out Cultivating Thought, an author series on its bags and cups. For more info . . . 
• Truth about the $$ in the average writer’s life.  
• Here’s a good problem to have. The South Dakota Historical Society Press struggles to keep up with demand for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiography. For more more info . . .  
• Like lists? 
• PositiveWriter.com’s Top 50 writing blogs for2015. 
• TheWriteLife.com’s The 100 Best Websites for Writers in2015. 
• Literary Agent Chip MacGregor’s Ten Publishing Predictions for 2015.
• TheWriteLife.com's 12 Facebook Groups for Writers You Don’t Want to Miss.
• Proof freedom of the press is a powerful principle. First Charlie Hebdo issue since Paris attacks sells out in NY. For more info . . . 
• Adult trade books up, and other October’s sales statistics. For more info . . . 
• But November bookstore sales down. 
• Holiday sales a boon for Books-A-Million. For more info . . . 
• And for Barnes & Noble. For more info . . .
• Not exactly a surprise. Study finds reading to kids encourages them to read on their own. For more info . . . 
• One Million Users Now Sign Up for iBooks Every Week. For more info . . . 
• You’ve got to love a good idea. New York’s Uni Project increases access to books with pop-up open-air reading rooms in the city’s public spaces. For more info . . . 
• The National Book Foundation’s 2015 Innovations in Reading Prize will award $10,000 for Developing an “innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.” For more info . . . 
• Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins launch direct-to-consumer marketing programs. For more info . . . 
• Eye candy for book lovers. Fifteen little free libraries. 
• Remember last June when I told you Ray Bradbury’s house wason the market? Well, it’s been sold, and now it’s being torn down. Guess the buyer wasn’t a bibliophile.
• Macmillan offers 1,000 titles through e-book subscription services Oyster and Scribd. For more info . . . 
• For the fun of it, check out this comparison between US vs. UK covers of the same book. 
• Movie tie-ins were huge for bestsellers in 2014. For more info . . . 
• 2014 was a good year for independent bookstores. For more info . . . 
• YA and adult fiction publisher, Spencer Hill Press, acquired by Kampmann & Company. For more info . . . 
• Audiobook publisher Recorded Books buys Tantor Media. For more info . . . 

Have a great month, friends!