By Ricardo Costa and Maria Fernanda, PublishNews Imagine a single country spreading across 50% of South America. A country with 27 states where there are 190 million people living in different conditions. Some of them are very poor while others are far too rich. This is Brazil. And a nation with such enormous magnitude offers serious opportunities -– the book …
Could Door-to-door Book Sales Be Revived in the US?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story looks at the success of door-to-door book sales in Brazil. It wasn’t that long ago when it wasn’t uncommon to see an encyclopedia salesperson walking the streets of your neighborhood going door-to-door with his or her sample case. Of course, that sales channel has disappeared in the US . . . whether whether this is …
A Little Bit of Brazil in Frankfurt
By Ricardo Costa In 2013, Brazil will be the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and it’s not too early to consider what the country has to offer. With 220 million people and $2.5 billion in book sales for 2009, Brazil, has a book industry that is booming, one producing more titles –- with more efficiency –- and …
How I Accidentally Became a Book Scout
• Todd Sattersten, a business book author became a scout by accident: a Twitter exchange led to a relationship with Spain’s Grupo Planeta. • Now preparing for his first Frankfurt Book Fair, he describes his journey into this mysterious profession and offers tips on selling books abroad. By Todd Sattersten “Really?” That’s what most people say when I tell them I …
São Paulo Book Biennial Begins This Week
By Hannah Johnson The International Book Biennial in São Paulo, Brazil begins this Thursday. The Biennial is organized by the Brazilian Book Chamber in partnership with Reed Exhibitions Alcantara Machado. The organizers of this ten-day book fair (August 12-21) predict over 700,000 visitors. With only one exclusively professional day on August 12, most of these visitors are from the general …
Brazil as Guest of Honor at Frankfurt 2013
By Helen Gregg The Frankfurt Book Fair announced today that Brazil will be the fair’s Guest of Honor in 2013. The Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest publishing trade show in the world, selects a Guest of Honor for each year’s fair to bring worldwide attention to publishing in that country. About the selection, Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book …
Should Publishers Consider a Return to Door-to-door Sales?
By Edward Nawotka Publishers seem to know precious little about their customers. But as discussed in our lead story today, there is one way to get to know them: meet them face to face. It’s labor intensive, has low returns, but done in a limited fashion might offer dividends in the long run. And, it’s not as outrageous as an …
Amazonian: Brazilian Booksellers, Publishers Begin Big Digital Push
By Maria Fernanda Rodrigues and Ricardo Costa of PublishNews.com.br SAO PAOLO: For the past several years Brazilian booksellers and publishers have watched and waited, content to let their colleagues abroad debate the positives and negatives of digital publishing. But two events in 2009 changed things. First was the Jornada de Nacional de Literatura de Passo Fundo (National Literature Journey of …
Bye Bye Twitter, Hello Bubbly
By Erin L. Cox Just when you think you’ve mastered Twitter, there’s a new social media network that’s gaining ground, Bubbly. Started by the Silicon Valley and Singapore-based company, Bubble Motion — a global provider of mobile messaging and social media applications, Bubbly is said to act like Twitter, where you can follow your favorite voices using your cellphone. For book …
So Many Book Conferences, So Little Time
By Edward Nawotka This week, while my colleagues were at O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing conference in New York, I was doing something more prosaic: serving jury duty in Houston. As it turns out, you’re not allowed to drive a drag racer on US federal highways. Who knew? The one thing about jury duty is that even though you …