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Baby Name Books – Post-Covid19 Boom?

05.14.2020, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

It’s been two months since most people started staying-at-home and self-quarantine. A big question is what type of book(s) will be selling better after this is over. One possibility is baby name books. Will there be a mini-baby boom starting in December 2020 and last through the early months of 2021?

Traditionally there is not that big of a seasonal spike in baby name books. The biggest months for birthdays historically are July-October. My contention is that will shift and interest, and therefore sales of baby name books will spike due to a Covid-19 Baby Boom.

Almost every media outlet from NBC and the New York Times to Fox News is saying that there will not be a baby boom. It is too unanimous – so my inclination is to buck the trend and the groupthink and be a contrarian.

Doing a quick search on Amazon with “baby name book,” 328 titles come up. Type in “baby name” and over 1,000 entries come up. So there are plenty of titles being published but few are being promoted on Amazon. Independently published The Baby Name Wizard: The Complete Book of Baby Names for Girls and Boys, 2020 Edition – Meaning, Origin, and Uniqueness by Larry Johnson comes up first (as a sponsored title). I was surprised to not see any Callisto Media titles.

One of the most popular titles is Bruce Lansky’s 100,000+ Baby Names: The most helpful, complete, & up-to-date name book from DaCapo (Hachette). Going with the “more is better” theory and claiming to offer the most names possible. The book is full of lists of various names. This is one of the classics in this category.The sub-title claims to have the most helpful and up-to-date lists.

Other best-sellers include The Baby Name Wizard, 2019 Revised 4th Edition: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby by Lauren Wattenberg from Harmony (Penguin Random House) that offers a system to review the names. Plus a handy selection per name. This one offers a magical method. An example of the interior is listed at the right.

Another book is The Complete Book of Baby Names: The Most Names (100,001+), Most Unique Names, Most Idea-Generating Lists (600+) and the Most Help to Find the Perfect Name by Leslie Bolton (Sourcebooks). This book one ups the market leader Lansky by claiming 100,001 names and over 600 lists. It uses the word “most” seven times on the front cover.

The next one that comes up on Amazon is The Name Book: Over 10,000 Names – Their Meanings, Origins, and Spiritual Significance by Dorothy Astroia. This book is from Christian publisher Bethany House and trends in “Christian Family” categories. It doesn’t try to have the most names, but is focused on a niche within the overall huge category. In a category with so much competition, aiming for a specific reader is a smart way of differentiation.

There are so many books on names that it does come down to metadata and search. This is a bit of a “commodity-driven” category and although there are definite leaders in the sub-category, there appears to also be room to enter and compete. Ths is about quality of the book, but it is also a metadata play and SEO game.

I do not have an opinion on the best book and contend that many to-be parents buy more than one book — and also do search online. This is also a great gift for the expecting parents. Even if they have a name selected, knowing the backstory is cool.

A Google search comes up with the same top titles. But it also includes old editions of the top sellers. This would be easier to shop if Google applied some filters to focus on new titles and de-cluttered the search.

 

 

 

A few websites have reviews. WhatToExpect.com, VeryWellfamily.com, and my favorite, the Social Security Administration site that records names in America since 1879. The top names in 1880 compared to the top names in 2018:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. William, James, and Emma are the only names that are on both lists.
  2. John and Mary were tops in 1880.
  3. Liam and Emma were tops in 2018. Interesting inb. that Liam is the irish version of William (#3 in 2018 and #2 in 1880).

You can also look up the ups and downs of the popularity of any name over the past century. Some names have fallen off the cliff and never return; some remain popular throughout history; and others have resurgence. Check out the SSA site. It is fun to play with.

Will baby name books start to take off later this year? Will baby books in general have a spike? I say yes, that the quarantine will create a mini-baby boom and that trend will filter into books that address the new normal. Time will tell.

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Post-Covid19 world – 10 Possible Trends

05.04.2020, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

Book publishing and book selling will survive and thrive in a post-COVID19 world. It will adapt depending on reader preferences. Buying patterns emerge. Below are some general thoughts of 10 potential areas of growth.

What types of books will benefit: 

  1. Children’s learning books — this group has had the immediate upside as parents were forced to homeschool . It should continue but will drop off in summer. Callisto’s Rockridge Press has taken advantage of this better than any publisher and dominates the Bookscan Top sellers in “children’s non-fiction” titles. The numbers remain strong.
  2. Digital — now is the time to experiment with more titles. Subscription? Different types of digital. Look at Amazon alternatives. Companies like EPIC! and ckbk.com have seen huge increases. Each has a unique selling model.
  3. Journals — we are living in historic times, it is being documented. Guided journals and blank journals will help people cope with this crisis too. This is an area that is easier for self-published books. Corporate publishers are here too. BURN AFTER WRITING (Perigee – an imprint of PRH) is an example of a guided journal that has been selling in Amazon’s top 100 for weeks.
  4. Organization — clean out your clutter / put your life in order. Now is the time to do it. Get rid of that crap you have been looking at for a decade. This trend started in earnest prior with the Marie Kondo phenomenon.
  5. Entrepreneurship — with millions out of work, people will be forced to figure out what to do. After the 2008 recession, many new businesses were created including such unicorns as Uber, Venmo, Groupon, Instagram, Pinterest, and Square. 
  6. Self-help/reflection — profound changes have many looking inward. People are seeking help and answers. The lock-down and forced stay-at-home rules have created much more “alone time” for everyone. This has created much more inner reflection. Some turn to religion, others more secular. These books had been on an upward trend prior to the lock-down and should continue to sell.
  7. Less expensive gift books — recession is coming and people will be tightening their spending. A $50 gift book will have less appeal than a $30 one as millions are budget conscious as we enter a recession. What type of discounts will retailers be selling books at too is a factor.
  8. Big brands — in times of distress, people will move back to brands that make them happy.  An established brand is a push back to normalcy. Brands spend million building and in times of strife, readers will return to their old favorites. Brands (and authors as brands) will continue to thrive. Would be a good time to push back-list and create deals for name-brand authors.
  9. Self sustainability – do it and grow it yourself. Although You Tube and videos have severely dampened book sales, there still is an opportunity. With supply chains challenged, there is a move to growing your own food, repairing things yourself, and relying less on the system and more on oneself. I would include basic cookbooks as potentials in this group too.
  10. Adult activity books – from coloring books to puzzles, people are seeking amusement. There are millions of titles and some have pushed into Amazon best-sellers of late. The titles that are trending now are more “escapist” or “humorous.” Books by Jade Summer have been in Amazon’s top sellers of late.

 

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Gonzo – Hunter S. Thompson

04.27.2020, Comments Off on Gonzo – Hunter S. Thompson, Books, by .

I met Hunter S. Thompson in 1997. It was in New York CIty at a book party for the publication of a compilation of his writings, titled THE PROUD HIGHWAY. I was working for Random House, and the book was published by its Villard imprint. The party was at The Players NYC in Gramercy Park. The place bills itself as “as a certain type of private social club.” I just remember it being the right place to host this party. Or was the party at The Lotus Club? There are reports of a party in NYC for Thompson and the publication of the Modern Library HC edition of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. I think I attended both…

Invite to the party

I don’t recall a lot from the party (it was over two decades ago). There was a lot of drinking so it seems. The party was set for 8pm-midnight. I showed up early and stayed late. I even stayed an hour later. Thompson didn’t show until later (11PM?) and was true to form. I just got in a few words, but that was fine. I believe William J. Kennedy attended too. I remember the two of them stumbling/dancing down the staircase.

I attended many book parties back in the day. This was memorable for many reasons. Part of it is the physical invite and the physical ARC. Sure, we do everything via e-invites and digital galleys today. And that is efficient. But it also makes the events more of a “throwaway.” I remember this because I have these items. I neglected to get anything signed or a photo (back then we didn’t have cell phones).

I left at 1AM. The party lasted all night. I should have stayed, Mick Jagger and Johnny Depp showed up. The lesson? Stay until the end, you never know who might show. Memory is selective…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Amazon – 6 of the top 85 have F*CK in the title

04.22.2020, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

What are some emerging trends at Amazon that are not children’s titles? Books with F*CK in the title. Type “fuck” into the Amazon search bar for books and over 50,000 hits come up and over 2,000 hits for titles from the last 30 days. This does not mean the word is in every title, but something in the metadata has tagged it as such.

Currently there are six in the top 85.

#27 – WHERE’S THE FUCKING TOILET PAPER? – John T – a self-published adult coloring book. Plays off the question of why TP was the item that Americans felt the need to hoard once the coronavirus forced us all to stay home. $4.99 paperback.

#37 – CALM THE F*CK DOWN – Sasha O’Hara – this self-published title has been in the top 100 for over a month. This book originally came out in 2016 and has over 4,000 reviews. She has nine other books – check out her site, sashaohara.com.

#63 – YOU ARE FUCKING AWESOME – Charla Bond – another self-published title. This one doesn’t put a “* in place of the U” and just spells it out. This is also a coloring book and has been in print since 2016 too. It is a “motivating swear word coloring book” – I love it!

#70 – ZEN AS F*CK – Monica Sweeny – this is part of the guided journal series ZEN AS F*CK from Castle Point Books (Macmillan). Great subtitle, “Practicing the Mindful Art of Not Giving a Sh*t.” $14.99 but being sold at $9.99 on Amazon. I bet journals are trending. Many of us are keeping “corona-accounts.”

#80 – THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK – Mark Manson – one of the “classics” of the using the F-bomb in the title. This #1 NYT bestseller is a self-help title that has sold millions of copies. It isn’t a journal or coloring book. Maybe the publisher, HarperCollins, should create one?  Still in hardcover with paperback due in 2021.

#85 – FUCKING ADORABLE – CUTE CRITTERS WITH FOUL MOUTHS – Heather Land – another self-published title. This one is unique in that it combines the F-word with animals. This title is also from 2016 (when I guess this trend started) and is $4.99.

What was not in the top 85, but in the top 500, is the book that started it all back in 2001. GO THE F**K TO SLEEP, written by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés – a classic and to add to its greatness, Samuel L. Jackson’s reading of the story. 

In the late 1990’s, Jessie Sheidlower wrote the definitive book on the usage of the word fuck in language. The book is titled THE F-WORD and published originally by Random House Reference. It has been updated twice and the most recent version is published by Oxford University Press (yes, respectable) has a forward by Lewis Black (brilliant). I recommend this one.

 

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Kickstarter Gold – A Look Back at The Rebel Girls

04.17.2020, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

The world is changing. Going outside is prohibited. Customers are being forced to shop online for physical books. Amazon has deprioritized books. Now is the time that online book buying has a chance to break out of the Amazon dominance? Amazon is still going to be the market leader, but there is an opening for competitors.

New online stores like Bookshop.org and established mass merch like Walmart.com and Target.com are vying for the online bookstore. But even with their growth, are still a small percentage of Amazon’s dominance. Ingram is making a play with Aerio.com and some publishers are selling direct from their own site. There are many options and more being created every day. What about crowdfunding?

More publishers should look to Kickstarter and Indiegogo as an option, By crowdsourcing the project, hundreds or even thousands of copies are presold. The market has shifted and publishers are increasingly picking up more inventory risk. With the accounts buying small and JIT systems to reorder, the publisher has to hold more.

All of this lead me to look to crowdsourcing and more specifically Kickstarter as an online avenue to sell books. It works different than traditional publishing in that the pre-sold is what funds the printing and expenses.

In May of 2016, Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli started a Kickstarter campaign to launch their new project – a book titled GOODNIGHT STORIES FOR REBEL GIRLS. Their goal was $40,000 to print 1,000 books. From the opening video to the interior shots to why this was an important project, these two women delivered. It was the most successful book campaign on Kickstarter.

They raised over $600,000 for the book  Then took the campaign to Indiegogo and doubled the funds to over $1.2-million. It has now sold over 1-million copies worldwide and translated into 30 languages.  A few years later they raised over $800,000 for a second book and over $200,000 for a journal.

Their company Timbuktu Labs is on the verge of being a powerhouse.  They have branched out into merch, notecards, posters, podcast, and have started a deeper publishing program. Earlier this year, they signed a distribution deal with Simon & Schuster to get expanded book distribution.

The reach is beyond just their company though as numerous publishers (including new imprints from corporate publishers) have created imprints or lines of books that feature strong women from diverse backgrounds. Michelle King in Forbes has an excellent feature on the founders and how their success helped usher in an entire genre of publishing. Trend-setters.

Some numbers regarding the various levels. The bulk of the sales came from a simple purchase of the HC book ($35 pledge) and 2 copies ($67 pledge). At the lower levels,they offered ebooks and a 12-page coloring book. Both items of value but not expensive to create. At the top end, a workshop in the schools with the founders.

Kickstarter has been active in crowdfunding book projects and have hundreds of success stories. Although Art and Children’s book generally are the best sellers (visual works better on the platform plus posters from it can be used as swag), publishers could sell most any book. Success stories range from THE BOOK OF CULTURES raising over $120,000 to Headstamp Publishing’s title THORNEYCROFT TO SA-80, a book on British firearms that has raised almost $400,000.

There are also hundreds/thousands of projects that have raised $5,000-$10,000. That would cover a HC limited edition and then the “regular” edition would be published in paperback and ebook. This would eliminate upfront inventory risk and increase hard-cover profits. For a good look inside Kickstarter, check out Vera Lovici’s blog post about a visit to their hq as an student in the NYU MS in publishing.

Kickstarter is not the solution to publishing – but it could be for certain publishers. There are a lot of success stories. As the risk with HC books rise, there will remain a audience for a quality hardcover book. Kickstarter is an option and as the publishing paradigm shifts,so do creative ways to sell books.

A publishing model:

  • Hardcover is crowdfunded – kickstarter, indiegogo, others? – print what you have ordered. Add value with deluxe and signed. Retail is too volatile and wasteful with the publisher absorbing more risk. Would have account/retail option on site.
  • Trade PB simultaneous – the best format for bookstores. I love trade paperbacks. The format is perfect. Keep inventory lean with mix of offset, short-run and pto (as appropriate – some 4-color short run may not meet standards of an art book).
  • ebook at the same time and in all the file formats needed for accounts to be able to move quickly. With subscription sites and more ways to view content. having files ready for all major formats is key to capitalizing on the market.

 

 

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Amazon Top 50 book list as a Bellwether (Part 2)

03.23.2020, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

Last week I took a quick look at what was trending on Amazon. It is, of course to drive up sales, important to be at the top of Amazon’s best-sellers. But it is as important how long the titles are at the top. Being there a day is fleeting, but sustaining weeks will result in thousands of sales. I checked Bookscan and most of the children’s learning titles listed in the last post were up 4x-10x in sales over the previous week.

Similar titles dominate the list again, but a few micro-trends are emerging – expanding to the top 100:

  1. The big grade workbooks continue to sell, but the rankings are not as high as they were last week.
  2. Coloring and how-to-draw books are trending higher. There are almost a dozen books here (led by Workman’s PAINT BY STICKER series). Adult coloring books are popping into the top 100 too. Not only do children need activities, but so do adults.
  3. Callisto Media has three of the top eight titles (Learn to Write; Coloring Book; and a Joke book). Impressive number of titles in the elite 10. Sales throughout the list are high, but getting into the top 10 is huge.
  4. Summer Bridge books from BrainQuest (#21, #31, and #47) have all made it into the list. To date, only the BrainQuest summer titles are trending. Are parents looking at summer already? As schools extend the stay-at-home, the school year may all be done by distance learning. Many colleges have cancelled in-person classes for the rest of the semester. Will K-12 follow? Plus, if a parent has finished a K-workbook, then time to start a new grade. Also, these summer books are made for teaching during an extended period of time outside of the classroom. Watch these books (Carson Dellosa, Highlights) start to rise.
  5. Modern Kid Press has made leaps from last week with five titles in the top 50 (#5, #11, #19, #24, #41). They had two titles last week. Their Amazon page states the company is a “husband + wife publishing company.” I was not able to find a lot of information about them. I am impressed by their sales/rankings on Amazon. Their covers are great too.
  6. Self-published learning titles are in on the action too – with three in the top 50. The best selling one is a 109-page handwriting tracing book for $6.65.
  7. Flashcards are trending with three in the top 50 and eight in the top 100. These are dominated by SchoolZone with a few from Carson Dellosa. These are being sold as individual decks and inexpensively. I would think a great add on to a book. I wonder when the sets of cards will start to trend. Other non-book items like board games are probably trending well too although I do not have expertise in that area. Jenga, Guess Who?, and Connect 4 are at the top three sellers in “toys and games.”
  8. Easter books for children are selling with three titles in the top 50 and seven in the top 100. A sign of returning to normal. Easter is on April 12th.
  9. The top two books are, in part, due to Reese Witherspoon – with WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING (#1) and LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE (#2). Granted these titles have been selling at a high rate for over a year. They are trending at the top now.

As the stay at home continues, the demand for various books will shift. Will be interesting to see what happens next.

Two additional titles that caught my eye.

#50 – CALM THE F*CK DOWN : AN IRREVERENT ADULT COLORING BOOK — a 2006 book from Sasha O’hara, a self-published author.

#62 – BUSHCRAFT: A FIELD GUIDE TO THE ART OF WILDERNESS SURVIVAL — makes sense to me. This is published by Adams Media.

Stay calm, stay safe, and use this time wisely.

 

 

 

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Amazon Top 50 book list as a Bellwether

03.16.2020, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

As the world braces to self-contain and experience social distancing, more schools are closing and parents are faced with homeschooling and/or keeping up with activities. Amazon’s book sales are an insight to the zeitgeist of the country.

Q: What is driving the Amazon top 50?

A: Children’s Learning titles.

Thirty-eight of the top fifty books overall (76%) are in subjects to help children learn — and to help parents occupy but still teach their young children.

The current #1 seller is MY FIRST LEARN TO WRITE WORKBOOK – from Rockridge Press.  Rockridge is an imprint of Callisto Media. Callisto is an Emeryville, CA based publisher that scrapes Amazon data to find niches. They have created an entire line of learning titles for children. Rockridge has four (4) titles of 38 from the top 50. The others are FIRST TODDLER COLORING BOOK (#9); AWESOME SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS (#12); and THE HUMAN BODY ACTIVITY BOOKS FOR KIDS (#15).
publisher that has the most titles on the list is School Zone with eight (8) titles trending in the top 50. Dominating the top 10 with titles at #4; #5; and #6. School Zone’s best selling titles are in the “BIG” series of workbooks, with books covering pre-school; kindergarten, first grade, and second grade all trending. School Zone titles generally are the top sellers (accd. to Bookscan) and have rising accordingly.

Workman has seven (7) titles in the top 50 and is driven by their BRAIN QUEST series of workbooks. This series is unique compared to the others in that there are titles for older kids (the competition generally stops around 2nd-3rd grade). The BQ titles for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade are trending. The Workman titles are at #7; #11; #13; #19; #27; #36; and #37.

Scholastic has three (3) titles on the list. Their biggest one is a “wipe clean” format with an erasable marker. The lead title is one that traditionally is a bestseller and it has risen as the entire group of books in this sub-genre have gone up. Scholastic has a long list of learning titles and this is a small sampling of their offerings.

Highlights Learning is another publisher with more than one title trending. Highlights has three (3) books in the top 50. All general grade-related workbooks that cover pre-school; kindergarten; and first grade. Highlights workbooks are at #14; #23; and #29.

We are in unprecedented times and never before have so many children’s learning titles dominated the Amazon list. This is an indicator of what is on people’s minds. This was not the case before Wednesday night – as Amazon’s top 50 looked as it traditionally does with the Oprah picks, new novels from best-selling authors, Trump books (pro and con), and a spattering of other in-the-news titles. The tipping point was after the President’s speech that tanked the markets and schools started to announce closings. Major league baseball also delayed opening day.

Given many of these searches are probably general in nature (as opposed to a specific title) and driven by category, it is a good time to invest heavily in buying the keywords like “workbook”, “kindergarten books” etc. Parents are searching and wanting to buy. They just don’t know specifically which titles. Owning the SEO with this increased demand will pay off in sales. The other important factor is to stay in stock and ensure Amazon reorders. Most of the titles are discounted already, but pushing for lower prices would help spur sales too. I realize that goes against basic supply-demand rules, but my contention is lowering prices will create multiple sales. Plus in a time of a national emergency, helping people out with lower pricing is the right thing to do. To see what is the wrong thing to do, check out this article on a guy in Tennessee who stockpiled 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer only to be kicked off of Amazon for price gouging.

Amazon’s top 50 is updated hourly, and this is what was listed as of this posting, it will be different soon. My sense is the run on children’s activity books will slow down in a few weeks but will settle on a number that will be higher than what was selling pre-social distancing. But as schools start to close across the country, parents will be searching for books that will help their children keep up with their studies.

Be resilient everyone and stay safe.

 

 

 

 

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ACID FOR THE CHILDREN – by Flea – his 10 essential reads

11.25.2019, No Comments, Music, by .

I just received Flea’s memoir. This is the first volume (a teaser for volume two in the book) before co-founding The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Looking forward to reading about his formative years and what shaped him into one of the best rock’s top bassists. At the back of the book, Flea lists 10 books that changed him. It is quite an eclectic list and I am sure informs his writing.

 

BOOKS THAT BLEW MY MIND LIKE WHEN YOU

MAKE TWO HOLES IN EITHER END OF AN EGG

TO BLOW ALL THE INSIDES OUT OF IT

 

THE MASTER AND THE MARGARITA – Mikhail Bulgakov

OF HUMAN BONDAGE – W. Somerset Maugham

JANE EYRE – Charlotte Bronte

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS – Arundhati Roy

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

THE SLAVE – Isaac Bashevis Singer

AGAINST OUR WILL: MEN, WOMEN, AND RAPE – Susan Brownmiller

JAZZ – Toni Morrison

COMING THROUGH SLAUGHTER – Michael Ondaatje

TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG – Peter Carey

“There’s just too many damn books so I gotta stop but those ones really had an impact.”

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Anonymous, Wimpy Kid, and Don Jr.

11.06.2019, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

Amazon is a bellwether of what is happening in the nation. The country is enthralled with politics and everything Trump.

Above is a snapshot of the top selling Amazon titles.

  1. A WARNING – Anonymous — the writer of the infamous NYT piece that was an early indicator of what was to come.
  2. DIARY OF WIMPY KID – Jeff Kinney — great kids lit. I think adults should read too. Good to get away from it all.
  3. TRIGGERED – DJT2 — a book by someone that is as close to the President as anyone.

Seems right. in between the two polar opposites, is the latest in a tremendous book series that unites us.

Then a few hours later, I was delivered this package from Amulet (division of Abrams). It was a promotional copy of the new WIMPY KID! Thank you. I love the shiny. silver packaging. It makes a statement.

Oh by the way, WIMPY KID is now #1 on Amazon.

Also – both Anonymous’ book and Don Jr’s book are published by imprints at the same corporation, Hachette Books.

 

 

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Publishers for Sale

06.17.2019, No Comments, Uncategorized, by .

Penguin Random House made two acquisition announcements over the past few weeks, they purchased 45% of independent publisher Sourcebooks, and they also bought the assets (2,000 titles) of bankrupt publisher F+W Media. These purchases are not unusual, as over the past five years, more than 150 publishers have been absorbed by other publishers. The majority have been bought by the corporate giants (PRH, S&S, HarperCollins, Hachette), but smaller publishers are buying others and even investment firms like Trustbridge are picking up publishers.

Why is this happening In an industry that is flat and distribution to the market continues to consolidate? What is the value of a publisher?

Intellectual property — as the saying goes, “content is king.” That is true to a degree, because that is ultimately what the consumer wants. There is a mentality to acquire as many titles as possible. Take the best and keep selling them, look for the underserved gems to repackage, and clean out the titles that no longer have an audience. Not all content has value. Some of the content is junk and needs to be sorted through. The 80-20 rule applies to publishers also — in that 80% of the sales come from 20% of the titles.

Vertical integration and ownership — dominance in a category leads to power. By “cornering the market” on a specific genre, the publisher can control the message and own the community. The publisher can have a more direct relationship with the consumer, control the distribution and message, and use as leverage against Amazon dominance. Many formally independent publishers were successful by focusing on an area. Now those publishers are being scooped up by the corporate ones.

Economies of scale — big publishers have a lot of overhead expenses. By adding hundreds (or thousands) of titles at once, the publisher can chip away at their costs. This is especially the case in the warehouse, sales, finance, systems, production, shipping, and any other area that is not specifically tied to the creation of the content. PRH and S&S have expanded warehouse space over the past few years and the closer to capacity they are running, the more they can make.

Founders getting older — successful independent publishers were/are created by powerful personalities who were able to transform their vision into reality. These publishers are driven by the leader. But after 25+ years, many of these entrepreneurs are ready to cash in. Publishing is a low margin business with constant threats from Amazon’s power and B&N’s decline. Generally there is unlocked value in the assets of a publisher that has been ready to sell for a few years. These founders are (well-deservingly) ready to cash in. Corporate publishers are ready to oblige. A “win-win.”

This consolidation is nothing new. Publishers have been combining and buying one another for a decades. Bennett Cerf started Random House in 1927, two years after he and Donald Klopfer acquired the Modern Library imprint that became the foundation for the new publishing venture. Today, that company is part of Penguin Random House and is made up of at least 250 formally independent publishers.

Will it continue? Sure.

Consolidation of publishers is the wave of the past, present, and the future.

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