BookMachine | The June 2017 Publishing News Wrap

Did I hear someone ask for some publishing news? Look no further, because it’s time once again for my monthly publishing news wrap over on BookMachine! Follow the link here and at the end of the excerpt for full hyperlinks and article.

This month in publishing, there has been much news from across the pond as BookExpo took place, with tweaks promised for 2018 to try to find the right balance between Expo and Con. The big books of the BookExpo show have been slightly overshadowed, however, by the continuing fuss over the size of advances being paid to American politicians for their books, including $795k for Bernie Sanders and former FBI Director James Comey is looking at a rumoured $10m bidding war.

In bookselling, once again author James Patterson has partnered with the American Booksellers Alliance for his Holiday Bookseller Bonus program, which this year will give even more ‘bonuses’ to individual bookshops in America. For one bookshop, however, no bonus is needed, as they just sold a first edition James Bond book for a whopping $22,500!

Paris, too, has dominated news in June, with Emma Watson hiding copies of Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale in various locations around Paris, and one French entrepreneur handing out children’s books to help change poor young people’s lives for the better.

In digital, it’s become clear that the Mexican ebook market is slow to grow, not because of a lack of enthusiasm on the readers’ part, but because of risk aversion on the publishers’. Meanwhile, the longevity of Amazon’s bubble of success is once again questioned (this time by Seeking Alpha), YouTube has also partnered with the Readalong campaign, to help encourage young people to read more, and audiobooks have gained market share once again… [READ MORE]