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This illustration was sent in by Michelle Kogan to help get us in the festive mood for the New Year. Michelle teaches art, and in the summers spends a good amount of time painting plien air in gardens and nature venues in the Chicago area, including the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. http://www.michellekogan.com

As reported by Publishers Marketplace: Trade book sales as measured by the AAP turned significantly negative for the first time all year in September, ratifying concerns that the lack of new breakout hits might weigh on consumer traffic and sales during the most important months of the year. Total trade sales of $618 million were down $44 million (or 7 percent), compared to $662 million a year.

Adult sales, which have been soft all year, accounted for all of the decline and then some, down $58.5 million (or 12 percent). Once again, hardcover sales — or weak frontlist — fell the most, down $41.3 million. Children’s and YA sales continued to gain though less so than in previous months, up $15 million (or 9 percent), to $183 million. (Those gains will likely be moderate for the rest of the year, as comparisons will get more difficult versus Veronica Roth’s breakout in late 2013.)

eBook sales also followed their pattern from previous months: Adult ebook revenues were flat at $106 million, as children’s ebook sales gained $3.7 million, to $17 million.

Trade sales are still in positive territory for the year, up 3 percent, though current indications point towards finishing 2014 flat or down slightly.

Here is our cumulative comparison chart for the year so far:

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

This high flying chick was sent in by illustrator Barbara DiLorenzo. Barbara was featured on Illustrator Saturday April 14th 2012. Click here to see her artwork and interview.

Publishers Marketplace Reveals the Top 35 Self-Published Books

1. The Fixed Trilogy, by Laurelin Paige  (Laurelin Paige; ISBN: 9780991379644)

2. The Will, by Kristen Ashley  (BNID: 2940045582384)

3. Reasonable Doubt, by Whitney G. Williams  (ISBN: 9780990317005)

4. Mud Vein, by Tarryn Fisher  (BNID: 2940149516117)

5. Ask More, Get More, by Michael Alden  (ISBN: 9781937110611)

6. 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse, by JJ Smith  (Adiva Publishing; ISBN: 9780982301821)

7. Agnes Barton Senior Sleuth Mysteries (Books 1-3), by Madison Johns  (BNID: 2940148574064)

8. Dangerous Dozen, by Charity Pineiro, Tina Wainscott, Maureen Child, Paige Tyler, Tawny Weber, Nina Bruhns, Virna DePaul, Karen Fenech, Kristin Miller, Gennita Low, Joyce Lamb, Maureen A Miller  (ISBN: 9780615971216)

9. Chances, by Jackie Collins  (BNID: 2940014780711)

10. Tempting Fate, by Vi Keeland, S.E. Lund, Penelope Ward, J.L. Mac, Julie Richman, Kahlen Aymes  (BNID: 2940149456109)

11. Rebelonging, by Sabrina Stark  (BNID: 2940149195107)

12. Unbelonging, by Sabrina Stark  (BNID: 2940148275213)

13. Lost In Me, by Lexi Ryan  (ISBN: 9781940832920)

14. Obsessed, by Deborah Bladon  (ISBN: 9780993721601)

15. Obsessed: Part Three, by Deborah Bladon  (ISBN: 9780993721625)

16. Obsessed: Part Two, by Deborah Bladon  (ISBN: 9780993721618)

17. All Roar and No Bite, by Celia Kyle  (ISBN: 9781311031419)

18. After the Ex Games, by J. S. Cooper, Helen Cooper  (ISBN: 9781940218175)

19. 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse, by JJ Smith  (ASIN: B00I6W7O5S)

20. Rook and Ronin, by JA Huss (ISBN: 9781936413393)

21. Out of the Shallows, by Samantha Young  (BNID: 2940149401222)

22. The Billionaire’s Obsession, by J. S. Scott  (J.S. Scott; ISBN: 9781939962010)

23. When I Break, by Kendall Ryan  (BNID: 2940148290902)

24. Lucky 7 Bad Boys, by Charity Pineiro, Sophia Knightly, Tawny Weber, Nina Bruhns, Susan Hatler, Virna DePaul, Kristin Miller  (Lucky Romance Authors; ISBN: 9780615955032)

25. The Nelson Touch, by Christopher G. Nuttall  (ASIN: B00J6DKWSM)

26. Plain Jane, by Carolyn McCray  (CreateSpace; ISBN: 9781452854342)

27. Fated Mates, by Adriana Hunter, Liliana Rhodes, Lynn Red, A.T. Mitchell, Michelle Fox, Eve Langlais, Skye Eagleday, Tabitha Conall, Alexis Dare, Molly Prince, Georgette St. Clair, A.E. Grace  (Excessica; ISBN: 9781609827885)

28. Mystery Spring Fling, by Gemma Halliday, Sibel Hodge, Kathleen Bacus, Christina A. Burke, Leslie Langtry, Aimee Gilchrist, Jennifer Fischetto, T. Sue VerSteeg, Maria Grazia Swan, Traci Andrighetti  (BNID: 2940045768450)

29. Ultimate SEAL Collection, by Sharon Hamilton  (BNID: 2940149309016)

30. Love and Danger, by Amy Gamet  (ISBN: 9780988218253)

31. Dare to Desire, by Carly Phillips  (BNID: 2940149343454)

32. The Virtuous Life of a Christ-Centered Wife, by Darlene Schacht  (ASIN: B00HZFSVLI)

33. Knox: Volume 1, by Cassia Leo  (BNID: 2940149395767)

34. Hardwired, by Meredith Wild  (ISBN: 9780989768429)

35. Alphas After Dark, by Vivian Arend, Deanna Chase, Marie Hall, Crista McHugh, M. Malone, SM Reine, Roxie Rivera, Kit Rocha, Mimi Strong  (Bayou Moon; ISBN: 9781940299136)

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

This January illustration was sent in by Dow Phumiruk who is a pediatrician with a passion for art. www.artbydow.blogspot.com

Using Nielsen BookScan dara, Publishers’s Marketplace takes their annual look at the top sellers in multiple categories. (Nielsen tracks print book sales only, at the point of sale.)

Total print book sales for 2012 as recorded by BookScan were 591 million units, down 9.3 percent compared to 2011 (and those sales were down 9.25 percent from 2010). The 2012 data reflects both the absence of Borders from the marketplace, as well as the harder-to-quantify increase in ebook sales. Year-to-year comparisons are tricky, since the 2011 data included the deeply discounted inventory from the Borders sell-off (Nielsen BookScan tracks unit sales, but not dollar expenditures)–and next year’s comparison will also be difficult since Nielsen is growing the data pool significantly for 2013 with the addition of WalMart data.

Trade paperback sales declined more in 2012 than in 2011, down 8.6 percent. Hardcover sales fell 5.7 percent and mass market paperbacks were down 20.5 percent.

EL James’s Fifty Shades books sold over 14.4 million prints units, and Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books sold over 9.6 million print books. Collins’ 2012 total is only slightly lower than  all the top 15 children’s books in 2011,which sold roughly 10.2 million books altogether.

On the children’s list, Collins taking 6 places left fewer slots for Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, who occupies 3 places this time around, compared to 6 books on the 2011 list. and 2 for Rick Riordan.

2012′s Top 15: Juvenile

1. THE HUNGER GAMES*, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; trade paperback 9780439023528) 2,810,000
2. CATCHING FIRE*, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; hardcover 9780439023498) 2,612,000
3. MOCKINGJAY*, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; hardcover 9780439023511) 2,302,000
4. THE THIRD WHEEL, Jeff Kinney (Amulet; hardcover 9781419705847) 1,402,000
5. THE MARK OF ATHENA, Rick Riordan (Hyperion; hardcover 9781423140603) 705,000
6. THE HUNGER GAMES*, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; hardcover 9780439023481) 652,000
7. THE HUNGER GAMES*, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; trade paperback 9780545425117) 631,000
8. THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY*, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; hardcover 9780545265355) 599,000
9. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID # 6: CABIN FEVER*, Jeff Kinney (Amulet; hardcover 9781419702235) 584,000
10. ELF ON THE SHELF, Carol Aebersold (CCA&B; hardcover; 9780976990703) 467,000
11. THE WIMPY KID DO-IT-YOURSELF BOOK*, Jeff Kinney (Amulet; hardcover 9780810989955) 446,000
12. THE SERPENT’S SHADOW, Rick Riordan (Hyperion; hardcover 9781423140573) 440,000
13. THE LORAX, Dr. Seuss (Random House; hardcover 9780394823379) 368,000
14. OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!, Dr. Seuss (Random House; hardcover 9780679805274) 359,000
15. GREEN EGGS AND HAM, Dr. Seuss (Random House; 9780394800165) 348,000

*These editions were first published prior to 2011; underscored books appeared on the 2011 list in the same edition +Means the title was on the 2011 list in a different edition.

2012′s Top 4: Adult Fiction -

1. FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, EL James (Vintage; trade paperback 9780345803481) 6,345,000
2. FIFTY SHADES DARKER, EL James (Vintage; trade paperback 9780345803498) 3,834,000
3. FIFTY SHADES FREED, EL James (Vintage; trade paperback 9780345803504) 3,441,000
4. FIFTY SHADES TRILOGY, EL James (Vintage; trade paperback 9780345804044) 787,000
5. GONE GIRL, Gillian Flynn (Crown; hardcover 9780307588364) 701,000
6. THE CASUAL VACANCY, JK Rowling (Little, Brown; hardcover 9780316228534) 590,000
7. THE RACKETEER, John Grisham (Doubleday; hardcover 9780385535144) 553,000
8. BARED TO YOU, Sylvia Day (Berkley; trade paperback 9780425263907) 506,000
9. THE LAST BOYFRIEND, Nora Roberts (Berkley; trade paperback 9780425246030) 319,000
10. THE LUCKY ONE*, Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central; mass market 9781455508976) 317,000
11. WINTER OF THE WORLD, Ken Follett (Dutton; hardcover 97805259529232) 315,000
12. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST*, Stieg Larsson (Vintage; trade paperback 9780307454560) 309,000
13. CALICO JOE, John Grisham (Doubleday; hardcover 9780385536073) 308,000
14. THE GREAT GATSBY*, F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner; trade paperback 9780743273565) 301,000
15. NOTORIOUS NINETEEN, Janet Evanovich (Bantam; hardcover 9780345527745) 290,000

2012′s Top 15: Adult Nonfiction

1. NO EASY DAY, Mark Owen (Dutton; hardcover 9780525953722) 908,000
2. KILLING KENNEDY, Bill O’Reilly (Holt; hardcover 9780805096668) 861,000
3. KILLING LINCOLN*, Bill O’Reilly (Holt; hardcover 9780805093070) 781,000

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Guys.

GUYS. I AM HAVING AN UGLY CRY ABOUT POSTING THIS AND I AM STILL IN SHOCK AND I CAN’T STOP SHOUTING IN RANDOM CAPS-LOCKY WAY BECAUSE…

My agent sold my debut. Our first book deal. 

(C’mon. I know you want to sing along with me.)

I can’t believe this is happening. And if you are my twitter friend, or my IRL friend, or my I-haven’t-met-you-yet friend, you may or may not know how daunting and scary and wonderful my writing journey has been so far. Whatever the case, thank you for sharing this moment with me. I love you for it. I would hug you very tightly right now, if you were here. I would ugly cry on your shoulder, and you would get impatient and tell me to stop being so maudlin and so silly, and I would listen to you. But just for a minute. Then I would start acting like a sentimental nincompoop again because…

One of my childhood dreams is coming true. I WRITE BOOKS AND SOMEONE BELIEVES IN THEM AND SOMEONE WANTS TO PUT THEM OUT INTO THE WORLD. I AM A PENGUIN.

I am so incredibly happy and lucky to be able to write that. I have so many people to thank (My family! My fabulous agent, Sara! My dream editor, Heather!). I have presents to give. I have (not very) gory details to share. But that is another post, one I’ll be writing soon. For now, thank you for reading this and being my any kind of friend. It means a lot to me.

TODAY

TOMORROW

Yesterday Publisher’s Marketplace released a detailed report on Industry books sales collected by BookStats.  Below are the things I thought you would be interested in reading:

Children’s and YA adult books comprised the “fastest-growing category” in 2011. Sales of $2.78 billion were up 12 percent from $2.48 billion in 2010, reflecting in part the boost from the success of The Hunger Games.

eBooks vaulted to the largest-selling format for adult fiction, comprising 31 percent of dollar sales. Adult fiction ebooks went from $585 million in 2010 to $1.27 billion in 2011.

Brick-and-mortar bookstores remain the single largest retail channel, though these sales fell 12.6 percent following the bankruptcy of Borders.

“Trade” Books (with Religion)
2011                                       2010
Overall $13.97 billion   $13.9 billion
Print $11.1 billion
eBooks $2.074 billion  $878 million
Other $796 million

Trade Books (without Religion)
2011                                        2010
Overall $12.517 billion $12.59 billion
eBooks $1.97 billion $838 million

Adult Fiction

Overall: $4.11 billion
eBooks: $1.27 billion
Print books: $2.84 billion
Children’s/YA Books
2011: $2.78 billion
2010: $2.48 billion

All Publishing
Sales
2011: $27.2 billion
2010: $27.9 billion

Channel Breakouts

Brick-and-mortar bookstores: $8.59 billion (-12.6%)
Institutional sales (libraries, schools, business, government, etc.): $5.39 billion
Online retail: $5.04 billion (+35%)
Wholesale/jobbers: $5.04 billion
Direct-to-consumer: $1.11 billion

A full report and/or a complete electronic dashboard, can be purchased from the BookStats site www.bookstats.org/ for release shortly.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

There's long been a cell phone novel craze in Japan, and I've been rather fascinated by them. These are books written on cell phones, meant to be read on cell phones. Not even big iPhone or DROID screens, but on those little phone screens. Now, I know I'm the guy who loves gadgets and ebooks and all that, but this is one of those things I've never understood. And, I never thought they'd come to the English-speaking world. But lo and behold, I see an annoucement on Publisher's Marketplace the other day: "Joseph Nassise and Jon Merz's THE CERBERUS PROTOCOL - Book One in the HELLstalkers series, claiming to be the first English thriller series written exclusively for mobile phones..."

Is this the future of the novel? I don't know. From the partnership agreement with Vodaphone, this doesn't seem like something that'll be in the US straight off the bat. I wonder how it'll be distributed and how money will be made, and I wonder how large the audience will be. I'll be watching this one closely!

What do you think? Would you read some sort of serialized novel on a small screen? Would you pay for it? Or would you sign with a particular carrier to get such exclusives? Anyone want to try writing such a thing?


-Michael

STATUS: Working very late to finish up a contract.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LINUS & LUCY by Vince Guaraldi Trio

Firings at HMH. Layoffs at Simon & Schuster yesterday, layoffs at Scholastic a month or so ago, huge structural changes at Random House announced yesterday, HarperCollins delaying pay raises until next summer, and Macmillan CEO outlining that not everyone might have a job going forward

And yet, Michael Cader at Publishers Marketplace had this to say:

“Meanwhile, despite all the attention for the books HMH isn't buying, our deal reports continue to show steady activity in the marketplace. (Over 90 deals in the past three days; 700 reports since November 1; 1375 since October 1.”

I like that ray of light!