MORE DETAILS ON THE MONITOR’S DECISION TO BECOME

THE FIRST MAJOR PAPER TO CONVERT FROM PRINT TO DIGITAL 

The Christian Science Monitor, a widely respected daily newspaper delivered principally by postal mail, has announced a dual distribution platform beginning on the first of April, 2009. Daily content in print will end and an online format called CSMonitor.com will launch.  

The daily news content will be delivered as a multi-page PDF that is easy to download. It will be subscription-based and updated continuously throughout the day. The goal is to “deliver the Monitor’s journalism more quickly, to improve timeliness and relevance and to increase revenue and reduce costs,” according to Judy Wolff, chair of the Board of Trustees of the paper’s sponsoring Society. 

A weekly summary edition will be available in print for subscribers. The lead article will be an in-depth analysis of a major global issue or trend. Dispatches from its correspondents around the globe and from Washington, as well as a number of features and photographs, will round out the weekly publication.  

These innovations come in the 100^th anniversary year of this outstanding newspaper. The actual birthday is later in November. Over those years, the Monitor has captured seven Pulitzers and a variety of other accolades. Three of its editors have served as presidents of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. 

When a paper that is so highly respected and so highly honored pioneers this dramatic move, can it be a harbinger of things to come? Concerned journalists are watching with bated breath, although the Monitor states that very few jobs will be lost under this conversion. We’ll see.  

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A FASCINATING STUDY REVEALS THE IMPACT

LOCAL INDIE STORES HAVE ON A COMMUNITY’S ECONOMY 

With the American Booksellers Association (ABA) heavily promoting the importance to their communities of local independent book stores, a study by Local First of Grand Rapids, Michigan, takes the guesswork out of the benefits. 

The study concluded that just a 10 % move in market share from chain stores to local indies would have an enormous impact on the West Michigan economy. A total of 1,600 new jobs would be created, generating $53 million in wages. The total impact was estimated at $137 million.  

Last month the new IndieBound Community of bookstores was launched online. It offers readers a central location to share thoughts on books, on favorite indie book sellers and a variety of other interesting topics with fellow indie bookstore devotees. ABA has been dispatching staffers around the country to visit indie stores and stimulate greater interest in its IndieBound program.   

Authors and publishers can take advantage of the growing importance of these indie retailers. Just last week, I included a blurb on the “Creative Alerts” program that allows participants to alert 2,500 bookstores from coast to coast to new promotions they are offering. Take advantage. The result will be well worth the modest effort.

THE MAGAZINE OUTLOOK CONTINUES

TO LOOK BLEAK FOR FREELANCERS

The Wooden Horse, Meg Weaver’s always informative weekly report on the periodicals industry reveals that even inflight magazines have succumbed to the advertising downturn just as stalwarts like O The Oprah Magazine and Every Day with Rachael Ray have. Two inflights, Hemispheres and US Airways, are produced by Pace Communications, which is down by 12% in ad pages according to MediaPost.com.

The list of publications with ad slippage is quite disturbing. Industry leaders like Conde Nast (down 7.8%), Time Inc (down 9.3%), Hearst (down 4.5%) and Meredith (down 15.9%) are an example of the way even the “top ten” of the industry have slipped.

It’s a trend that has affected many of the lower tier publications that are at the top of their niches as well, MediaPost reports. Forbes’ ad count is down 20.1%,  Frommer’s Budget Travel is off by 19.4% and USNews & World Report has slipped by 33.6%.

Pretty good reason for those of us who depend on freelance articles for survival to pull in the belt and keep an eye open for supplemental possibilities like perhaps copyediting (almost always in demand at publications), writing for paid Internet sites and the possibilities of commercial writing for corporate PR departments.

A BIT OF GOOD NEWS FOR

FREELANCERS SERVING THE JUVENILE MARKET

Despite the upsetting news we reported above, National Geographic has had the courage to launch a new publication, this one designed for 3 to 6-year olds.  Only the web site accepts advertising right now, not the print edition.

National Geographic Little Kids is all about science, nature and animals. It presents its info in a variety of forms including puzzles and games. There are also articles for parents offering teaching tips to help develop curiosity and a desire to explore in their kids, as well as improved pre-reading and reading skills. Check your favorite search engine for more information.

DIGITAL PUBLISHING SAVES THE DAY

FOR SCOTT MCCLELLAN’S WHITE HOUSE EXPOSE 

Scot McClellan’s  problem was very different from Ron Suskind’s. According to an interesting article in Book Business Magazine, the memoir of his White House experiences sold so well that Perseus could not fill orders.  

By chance Perseus Publisher Peter Osnos bumped into John Ingram of the Ingram Book Group at Book Expo, and talked of his dilemma. Ingram immediately suggested he turn the file over to his Lightning Source division for a rush digital printing.  

The file arrived on the Monday morning following Expo, and was on press by the afternoon. Several thousand orders of this hardback, jacketed book were saved and filled within 48 hours. 

Lightning Source is a publishing on demand (POD) house that has grown in popularity because of its relationship to parent company Ingram. It is trying to expand its reach into other areas of publishing. Digital printing, however, now represents only 2 to 3% of total book volume, according to market research firm Interquest. 

AAP’s NEW PROGRAM WILL HELP YOU

KEEP TRACK OF FOREIGN SALES TRENDS 

One category of publishing data that never received due attention is now on the agenda at AAP (Association of American Publishers). The industry group announced that it is launching a pilot program “to obtain and process aggregate net sales in Europe by U.S. publishers.” 

AAP has been a leader in providing accurate sales data for books here in the States, and promises to tailor its overseas program similarly.  The data will be collected and kept confidential by Management Practice Inc, and outside consulting firm. 

Publishers who want to participate can find the questionnaire to complete on the web site

www.publishers.org/main/IndustryStats/indStats_01_01.htm. For more information, contact Tina Jordan at tjordan@publishers.org.

PUT THIS IN YOUR APPOINTMENT BOOK FOR NOVEMBER

PBS WILL AIR A FASCINATING PIECE ON BOOKSTORES 

With all the attention being paid to indie bookstores these days, make sure you don’t miss the new documentary Paperback Dreams that will run on PBS stations starting in November. Book retailers viewed a special presentation of the film during Book Expo when the new PR program for independent local bookstores was unveiled. 

The film chronicles two renowned California bookstores, Kepler’s Books and Magazines and Cody’s Books to demonstrate the changing dynamics of the indie retail market over the past 50 years.  
 

Filmmaker Alex Beckstead, who conceived of the documentary and is a devoted supporter of indies, summarizes their ills, “The thing is, there are very few, if any, people who dislike an independent bookstore. But they don’t do a good job of getting their own story out. If anything, I hope this film makes people take a little more interest in the stores in their communities.”   

TOP SELLING CHILDRENS BOOKS

CHART THE GENRE’S PATH FOR A PRODUCTIVE YEAR 

With sales of 32 million (Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer) and 2.5 million (Brisingr by Christopher Paolini) leading the way, sales for children’s titles will hopefully take off this year. Year-to-date figures for paper backs are up almost 4%, but unfortunately hardcover hasn’t kept pace, posting a drop of more than 10% for the year. 

According to Publishers Weekly, there’s been active pre-publication buzz surrounding “The 39 Clues” series, the trilogy “The Hunger Games” and the novel “The Graveyard Book.”  New sequels by some top writers will launch in the fall, and a number of exciting new picture books are ready for release. 

PW just posted a comprehensive list of fall arrivals, as well as a sneak preview of spring, 2009, releases. Combined with PW’s story that 24 children’s-only retail bookstores have survived for more than 20 years, the impressive list offers reassurance for the future of children’s titles despite the modest 2008 sales thus far.  

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY STUDY FINDS

OP-ED PAGE ARTICLES OFTEN AGREE WITH EDITORIALS 

Although newspapers tout their op-ed pages as a public forum for opinion, a study by Rutgers University professors finds a distinct tilt toward agreement with the opinions expressed in the papers’ own editorial columns, especially in op-eds written by academics.. 90 to 95% of the articles at each paper included in the study mirrored the position taken by the paper. 

The study also spotted a heavy bias toward male authors, with anywhere from 78 to 97% of the pieces submitted by academics were from men, a fact the Rutgers researchers called “astonishing.” It also found that a heavy leaning toward academics from a very limited number of prestigious universities like Stanford and Harvard. 

Perhaps we writers are not performing the civic duty for which we are most qualified. We ought to be filling those public pages with thoughts from every segment of the political, social and cultural world. It’s time we helped to create a better balance on the pages.  

The wake-up call from Rutgers should be heard not only by writers, but by the op-ed page editors who seem to make public recognition of the author a key factor in their decisions as they sift through the hundreds of submissions each day.   

GROWTH IN POD PUBLISHING

FAR OUTPACES TRADITIONAL INCREASES 

While the 276,600 books produced by traditional publishers last year is far greater that the POD output of 134,700, the growth rate of POD production far outstrips that of traditional book publishing. In 2007, traditionals increased a modest 1%, according to reports from R.R. Bowker, while POD reached its 134,700 level climbing from just 21,936 in 2006. 

That growth motivates the big question: Is this just a momentary quirk or does it forecast a powerful trend that threatens to change the face of publishing radically?  

Continuing on the subject of publishing stats, The Association of American Publishers reports that year-to-date figure for 2008 show an overall increase of 1.3%. The latest report from AAP covers the first quarter of the year.  

Adult hardcover slipped badly in March, bringing sales down to 17.9% for the year. Adult paperback continued their rise, reaching 23.1%YTD, with adult mass market increasing by a modest 0.9%.  

The children/young adult’s market paralleled adult results. Hard cover YTD sales dropped 4.8%, while paperbacks grew by 12.8% 

Not a very rosy picture overall for the industry.