My editor extraordinaire at Jossey-Bass, Sheryl Fullerton, pointed me to a depressing post from Chip McGregor (a well-known literary agent) on the Black Friday (December 3) in the publishing industry.
Some of the lowlights:
- Simon & Schuster cut 35 people (2% of its workforce).
- Thomas Nelson cut 54 people (10% of its workforce).
- Random House axed some of its top people and announced it is restructuring — and will disband the Doubleday Publishing Group.
- It has been reported that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has let go of
several employees (the company doesn’t comment on personnel matters).
Becky Saletan, the publisher, has been let go. - And Borders’ stock price fell under one dollar. That’s a very bad
thing — if their stock price stays under $1 for ninety days, they have
to do a consolidation of stock (the opposite of a stock split).
posted December 4, 2008 at 10:26 am
ug.
posted December 4, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Depressing. I work in the commercial-printing industry, which is definitely feeling the pain.
:
But all is not bad [chuckles sarcastically] Rick Warren will start a new publication
Warren is partnering with the Reader’s Digest Association to publish a purpose drive life magazine.
They are also creating a Christian membership organization, The Purpose Driven Connection; paying members will receive the quarterly magazine, edited by Warren. The magazine will include DVDs and pull-out study guides in each issue, along with access to a social networking site.
http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2008/11/24/purpose-driven-magazine-a-reality/
posted December 4, 2008 at 2:02 pm
new life from old things passing away
the current publishing model is long past its expiration date
helping midwife new models – that is the point, right ?
posted December 4, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Online publishing is definitely the only way to go. The problem is finding a model that can actually make money.
posted December 4, 2008 at 9:47 pm
3 things….
1. have you seen the Prop 8 The Musical at Be Funny Or Die. It might add some humor to your same sex marriage conversation.
2. I have a friend that works at Jossey Bass. Small world.
3. I believe this is my first time posting (though I have followed for a while).
posted December 4, 2008 at 10:49 pm
What’s so bad about losing such folks? We could use less lame books on the market, and fewer places like Borders, who sell such tripe.
posted December 5, 2008 at 12:30 am
oddly enough, it was a decent weekend for the CBA (which is a surprise, actually). most were up over last year. i’m not sure how to explain that!
posted December 5, 2008 at 10:07 am
see…this is why you start your own and self-publish, like I did
-jeremy