Most industries have their masthead stars that are recognizable immediately by their initials:  The NFL had LT, The NBA had MJ, and we in books have

JK, JRR and Hunter S.  Publishing also has another initialed star that’s 135 years old, and was almost TPASWTC.  Luckily for us, they shortened it to PW.

Publishers Weekly, as we know it as now, was originally called The Publishers’ and Stationers’ Weekly Trade Circular when it was first published in 1872.  And as V-P and Publisher David Nudo tells it, citing that first issue’s cover ad for James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, “the publication has been getting the word out about important books from day one,”   

Getting the word out about books is one of the most important things that PW does.  As the readership includes book readers, booksellers and librarians—among others—advertisements and reviews in PW are “the best forecast reviews so that [these people] can make better ordering choices and the numbers of books available [will] grow.”  Nudo summarizes PW’s place in the publishing world as a “record of the industry,” and “a source of more information to help those in the book trade move forward in making better business choices and work more efficiently.”

Being a record and a source for such a niche industry presents a lot of opportunities for publishers hoping to reach their targets.  Many publishers are unsure of how to use PW as a resource—a problem that Nudo is quick to clear up: “PW maintains its position as the important voice for publishers, both editorially and promotionally, to establish a real presence in the marketplace through review opportunities, publicity and advertising.”  PW lends to other opportunities as well.  “[PW’s] reviews are licensed to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, R.R. Bowker and the like.”  PW is also touching other outlets, such as Gather.com, AARP, and other specialized areas, making it a resource beyond its printed page for readers, and an even more logical venue to which publishers should advertise and submit review copies.

“PW is an institution and has been around nearly 136 years,” Nudo says.  “As a business-to-business publication, it has a very specific niche,” and one, I think we can all agree, that it fills rather well.  From readers to booksellers, librarians to teachers, and especially for publishers, PW is “a resource for the industry as a whole.”

To learn more about, or subscribe to Publishers Weekly, visit their website at www.publishersweekly.com.  For review submission guidelines for the publication, click here.

“Harnessing the Power of Visual Literature” was the topic of the latest in a series of breakfast panels hosted by Publishers Weekly.  While the breakfast itself was a bit bland, the panel was far from it.  With a group of graphic novel heavy hitters, including representatives from DC Comics, Marvel, Pantheon Books, Yen Press and Diamond Book Distributors, the audience—which mostly included those from the general book-publishing world—was treated to 90 minutes of comic industry info from those that knew the most. 

Where 10 years ago there were no comic buyers at general bookstores, the popularity of the format has changed so much that, according to Rich Johnson of Yen Press, “we might be facing a new golden age of comics.”  From a business perspective, a “Golden Age” might be characterized as high sales, high popularity, and a strong presence in the marketplace.  DC Comics’ V-P of marketing, John Cunningham, noted that the format’s most significant effect on the world of publishing is the amount of space stores are giving to the format:  as it grows in popularity, it gets more space, and that means something else loses.  Market growth, and physical growth, all lend to—if not a “Golden Age”—then certainly a boom.

As the format grows in popularity, growth expands beyond the bookstore and library shelves.  As Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada and DC’s Cunningham note, citing releases, such as the graphic novel version of The 9/11 Report, and Stephen Kings’ Dark Tower series, the graphic novel is a format, NOT a genre.  As this belief becomes more widely accepted, growth lies in the different genres that the format can reach.  With this in mind, the shelving within the library and bookstore will expand, and allow growth in the market, and with the expansion into new genres, Pantheon Books’ Dan Frank points out, graphic novels have and will become a larger part of the educational market.

Even though these new markets are exciting and perhaps uncharted territories, the format has seen a steady increase in sales at its traditional venue:  the specialty comic book store.  While Manga and collective volumes have steamrolled the formats success in traditional bookstores and chains, it has also, according to Diamond Book Distributor V-P of Purchasing, Bill Schanes, led to increased sales at the specialty stores (which are the direct market venues).  Schanes further explained that the specialty stores play host to the “ubber” fans:  the fans that arrive each week for the new releases, and are the most willing to try new books.  These stores, Schanes says, are venues to be explored by traditional book publishers because they don’t return books, they have an incredible wealth of knowledge to help breed new fans, and they stock more backlist than traditional bookstores.

For the traditional book publishers in the crowd, this information was priceless.  With the idea that graphic novels are a format, and not a genre, its reach becomes endless; reaching beyond traditional bookselling outlets can lead to newer, and a very loyal readership; and, there are many opportunities to get involved with this latest boom.  Keeping this in mind, the bagels didn’t seem so bad.