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Doubly interesting as China is starting to be recognised as a major book buying country. At ASPG we have been saying this for the last 4 years, and is the reason we have a stand at the Beijing Book fair, and the only Australian company to do this. With Nielsen's bookdata using Openbook makes our job a bit easier, and heaps more opportunity for our authors. "A new agreement between Nielsen and Openbook aims to bring the portraits of global book markets into sharper focus. Openbook, a leading book sales tracking service in China, [read more...]

Here is a great article on selling books into India, especially as ASPG has two new India distributors. When we attend the London book fair in April we already have Indian companies lined up to meet. "The first major trade book fair of any new year marks an important date in most publishers' calendars. The fairs allow publishers to generate business, cement existing relationships and explore new markets. Things get rolling this year in New Delhi. The New Delhi World Book Fair gets underway this weekend, running from February [read more...]

A LOOK AHEAD Although this article talks about the big 5 publishers, it is still great news for the self-publishing author. If an author gets their book out there, they have a great chance of competing with the big guys? Which is exactly what we have told authors many times, eBooks are a must nowadays, not an add on. “The large will become larger in 2015, as global competition drives more mergers and acquisitions in the publishing game. "Publishers are realizing that publishing physical books is, in a sense, only one aspect of [read more...]

It has been reported lately that in Canada the growth of eBooks has skyrocketed with Canadian publishers, 90% of them now produce eBooks with their print version. As Canada is similar to us in Australia, authors here should follow their lead. eBooks are big business now around the world with 10% of all revenue derived from them. 10% may not sound much but when the large publishers are making many millions of dollars a year from selling books: this is huge. So where are these sales coming from? 93% of major publishers say they [read more...]

What happens at a book fair? Book fairs come in all shapes and sizes, attracting a variety of publics and serving different purposes. Most book fairs in developing countries and many major fairs in developed countries are mainly consumer events. A major function of professional books fairs is to be a market place for trade professionals. Book rights are bought and sold, and agents pitch new titles to publishers. Generally, the people selling book rights at book fairs are located either on publishers’ stands or in a special [read more...]

Many readers were concerned that when the VAT increased on e-Books in Europe they would to have to pay more. This was not the case as retailers and publishers have helped cushion the increase in price, so little has changed. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo all based their European headquarters in Luxembourg where the VAT was only 3%. This allowed these companies to sell digital books all over the continent at reduced prices. The VAT structure changed on January 1st 2015 where the amount of tax people pay is now defendant on the [read more...]

If you are wondering why it is now so hard to be picked up by a major publishing house, you just have to look at what is happening in the book industry. Here is an article from one of our partner companies. “The year (2014) was highlighted by HarperCollins’s $455 million acquisition of Harlequin, which was completed on August 1. While that acquisition was being finalised, a second major deal that had been in the works fell apart for HarperCollins. The maturation of the digital book market led two companies to make multiple [read more...]

One of the things lacking in Australia is the reluctance of Australians to support our own Authors. With the advent of all the cheap books being sold in the Malls around the place for $5, even Post offices are doing the same thing: is it any wonder that Australian authors are having a bad time. What most Australian book buyers do not realise is 99% of these books are dumped here and are produced in the USA or UK, to the detriment of our home grown authors. Here is a report from one of our partner companies and what is starting [read more...]

A massive pickup in book sales in the USA is a great opportunity for Australian writers. With our new USA partner companies, Trajectory and Overdrive we are well placed to take advantage of the rise in book sales. It also seems like many buyers are abandoning Amazon for other booksellers in the USA, as many become disillusioned by some bad publicity. A report by PW news that book buyer Deborah Johnson at Barston-s Child’s Play – which has four stores in the greater Washington, D.C. area – notes, “People do say, ‘I don’t want [read more...]