Thursday, May 09, 2019

MediaWeek (Vol 12, No 2): Baker & Taylor, Wiley, Comics, Translations


In a blow to competition, although not without cause, Baker&Taylor announced they were calling it quits on the retail distribution market.  Independent booksellers in particular will feel the hit from this action which appears to have been in the works for a while but implemented by B&T without contingency planning.  Many independent retailers have been left scrambling to find alternatives not named Ingram.   (ABA)

Springtime for Hitler at the Turin Bookfair where anger is growing (surely it's reached full gestation) against the publisher (Altaforte) of neo-facist content.  As the photo shows, these white lovers are brazen.  From the Guardian.

Woody Allen may have to consider self-publishing (Vox) but it Angelica Houston he may have one buyer at least (NYMag)

John Wiley has acquired the assets of Knewton which was at one time a high flying web-based education start-up which also apparently took in over $180mm in investor capital.  The purchase price was a lot less than that (Chronicle)

An interesting article on comic book publishing.  It's not all Marvel and DC Comics.  There's some adaptation and consolidation going on here as well.  The NYTimes takes a look and shows some of the smaller players are taking the lead of those larger companies by setting up studio deals and other distribution methods.

Vulture challenges the way publishers approach the translation market and suggests at a minimum the English language market is missing out on at least 1000 titles per year from around the world.   It suggests cultural isolationism.

At the recent BISG annual meeting during a q/a on the international rights market one of the speakers lamented the state of the Brazilian book market.  Here from the Brazilian report a review of what they describe as a bleak market.  Since 2009, sales have been downward with 2018 being the worst in 30 years despite significant growth in religious books.

Read more articles on my flipboard magazine:

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Michael Cairns is a business strategy consultant and executive.  He can be reached at michael.cairns@infomediapartners.com or (908) 938 4889 for project work or executive roles.

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