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International Bestsellers May 2012: Big Names Top The Charts
The top three titles on Sweden's fiction list in April were all in new positions, including Kristina Ohlsson's Hostage. Ohlsson published her first book in the U.S. in February 2012 with Atria—Unwanted, a mystery cited for "superior prose, plotting, and characterization" in its starred review from PW. Sweden's top title, Sacrifice to Moloch, is by Åsa Larsson, who has also published in the U.S., including 2008's The Black Path (Delta), which received a star from PW.
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Content Services 2012: Balancing Aesthetics and Subjectivity in Creative Services
Producing a biblical-themed illustrated English alphabet book is nothing new. But outsourcing its production to the largely Hindu India, where vendors are known for their prowess in the SSTM segment, is something else. It shows how much the Indian content services industry has expanded over the years, moving from the technical to the more creative side of the business.
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Meshcheryakov on Cooking and Children's Books: Publishing in Russia 2012
Cooking up a storm while chattering about children's books on TV may sound like a strange match. But Vadim Meshcheryakov, who loves to cook, thinks his "A Book Kitchen" idea makes perfect sense. "Cooking takes place in a convivial atmosphere, where friendly chats are most conducive. You can talk about anything—including books—while dishing up some good stuff to eat."
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Publishing in Russia 2012: Peter Mayer on Publishing and Promoting Russian Works
When it comes to publishing Russian translations, no one has done it longer—or more successfully—than Peter Mayer. During his tenure as chairman and CEO of Penguin, from 1978 to 1997, the publishing house launched a series of Russian classics that any budding bookworm should read from cover to cover or purchase for his or her library.
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Publishing in Russia 2012: The Debut Prize and Young Russian authors
Launched in 2000, the Debut Prize is an independent literary award for authors under 35 years of age. It is supported by the Pokolenie Foundation, founded in 1996 by politician and philanthropist Andrei Skoch. So far, 73 works have won from the 50,000-plus entries received each year.
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Content Services 2012: Journal Production Services: Changes, Trends and Future Directions
In the past 15 years, much has changed in journal production services, the first segment outsourced to India. New technology, publishing models, and workflows have created a demand for ever more automation and faster production. And for Bangalore-based MPS Limited, the pioneer in journal services, tracking the segment's shifts and trends is standard business.
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Publishing in Russia 2012: Piotrovsky and Bookselling in Perm and the Urals
Perm, Russia's 14th most populous city, with around one million people (called Permyaks), is home to the two-year-old Piotrovsky Book Store. Named after the city's first bookseller, Yuseff Yulianovitch Piotrovsky of the 19th century, the store was the brainchild of four friends: a historian (Denis Korneevsky, director of Perm's inaugural book fair last year), a philosopher (Dmitriy Vyatkin), a philologist (Mikhail Maltsev), and a poet (Sergey Panin).
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Vendor Selection 101: Content Services in India 2012
Onshore, offshore, hybrid, oh, my! Vendors are coming up with various collaborative methods to serve you better without shaking your comfort zone. But it is natural to feel jittery about outsourcing. After all, there is nothing simple about transferring your content (i.e., asset) to another person who is tens of thousands of miles away. So take a deep breath. Here are 12 practical steps to get you started on your vendor selection journey.
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PW Talks with Jan Barsnes: Content Services in India 2012
Most content services vendors are after the big game, aka the U.S. market, which usually brings in more than half of their business. This tends to be supplemented by several major accounts in continental Europe, mostly from Germany, where the STM and journal segments are established and mature. Only a few are tapping into the Scandinavian market, despite its reputation for having avid readers and prolific authors. PW talks to Jan Barsnes, co-owner of eBokNorden and Prograph in Norway, about the Scandinavian e-book industry and how he goes about outsourcing his projects.
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Ongoing Coverage of the Content Services Industry
In conjunction with the Content Services in India 2012 print report (published on April 23), PW will be adding new articles every other week on the state of the content services industry. Check back here regularly for interviews with content services vendors, product developers and publishers that will unveil new services, solutions and technologies.
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‘The Hundred Year Old Man’ Adds More Countries
Spain’s fiction list, which placed newcomers in the top three spots in March, saw Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours take the top position. The book, published in the U.S. by Atria, received a starred review from PW back in late 2010, stating the revelatory secrets in the book “will stun readers.” Spain’s #3 book, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, has also seen success in Germany, where it’s been in and out of the top spot since January. The book was first published by Piratförlaget in September 2009 in Sweden, where it was the bestselling book of 2010. A Swedish film adaptation is expected to begin in summer 2012, and Hyperion will publish the book in the U.S. in September.
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Product Showcase: Content Services in India 2012
Messy source files? Check. Short turnaround? Definitely. Complex work flow? That goes without saying. Multiple deliverables? Double-check. (And, really, do you need to ask?)
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Market Transformation Equals Challenges and Opportunities: Content Services in India 2012
In 2006, when PW released the first report on the content services industry in India, the topics centered on XML, PDF, and e-deliverables, and conversations revolved around print- vs. content-centric work flow.
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Publishing in Russia 2012: Vladimir Grigoriev on the Russian Book Market
Twelve years ago, Vladimir Grigoriev left Vagrius (the publishing house he founded in 1992) to join the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication, or FAPMC. Much has changed in the country's book market since then. PW catches up with the dynamic deputy director and indefatigable champion of the Russian publishing industry for some insights and news.
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Publishing In Russia 2012: Independent Children’s Book Publishers in Russia
Children’s book publishers in Russia come in different sizes and specializations. Rosman Group, publisher of Rowling, Pullman, Paolini, Funke, and Stine, is the biggest, ranked #7 in the Russian publishing industry. Meanwhile, small indie publishers, spurred by market demand for new authors, unusual topics and unique translations, have sprung up and are growing fast.
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Publishing in Russia 2012: The Agents’ Dozen
No one knows Russian authors better than literary agencies. After all, they have been poring over these homegrown talents’ works, promoting them, and negotiating and signing deals for them. So “PW” asks four agencies—Banke, Goumen & Smirnova; Elkost; FTM; and Galina Dursthoff (covered in “The Rights Side of Business”) to recommend 12 contemporary authors that might represent the new Russian voice, in alphabetical order.
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Publishing in Russia 2012: Charting the Bestsellers
Gauging reader preferences and taking the pulse of the market is on every book industry player’s must-do list. And this task of deciding what will work and what won’t often involves analyzing bestseller lists.
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Publishing in Russia 2012: The Rights Side of Business
The rights industry in Russia has grown much more professional in the past five years, according to Julia Goumen of Banke, Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency. “The interaction between publishers and agencies, as well as scouts, has improved tremendously as our publishing industry becomes better connected to the international book community. Previously, it could take up to a year for new trends, big titles, or major events to reach Russia. These days, Russian publishers are often among the first to acquire rights to major works of fiction.”
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Publishing in Russia 2012: Shifting Retail Landscape
Back in 1990, there were nearly 8,500 bookshops in Russia. By 2009, however, the number had plunged to no more than 2,500, according to the Russian Book Union. Even Top Kniga, Russia’s largest book chain, had shrunk from 700 to 450 stores, and is now teetering on the brink of bankruptcy yet again.
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Publishing In Russia 2012: Here Comes Pubmix.com
With Russia’s online book market growing about 30% annually, more households having Internet access, and consumers becoming increasingly comfortable purchasing and paying online, it is logical to see print on-demand coming into play.
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