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News
The number of UK audiobook downloads increased by 17% between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Publishers Association (PA).
Revenue from audiobooks rose 24% across the same period to £206m in 2023, reflecting an increase in the number of audiobook downloads from 50m to 59m, the trade body said.
Over five years, UK audiobook revenue has more than doubled. “It’s fair to say that audio is now a really serious part of the publishing portfolio,” said the PA’s chief executive, Dan Conway. “Audiobooks have established themselves as a major route to market for consumers of books in this country”.
These figures reflect the way the audiobook market has evolved. Spotify made audiobooks available to its Premium subscribers in October, while Audible has expanded from single-narrator audiobooks to those with large, starry casts and sound effects. Sam Mendes-produced audiobooks of David Copperfield and Oliver Twist featuring Ncuti Gatwa, Helena Bonham Carter and Nicola Coughlan were released in the past two years, and there are plans to release new audiobooks of all seven Harry Potter titles, voiced by a cast of more than 100 performers.
Rizzoli International Publications, the New York City-based subsidiary of Italian publishing house Mondadori Group, will acquire Chelsea Green Publishing, the 40-year-old White River Junction company known for its titles on the politics and practice of sustainable living.
Mondadori announced on April 15 that Rizzoli will pay $5 million for the Vermont company and its London subsidiary, Chelsea Green Publishing UK Ltd. The deal is expected to close by June 30.
"This partnership aligns perfectly with our vision of promoting meaningful content that resonates with global audiences while addressing crucial issues related to sustainability and eco-friendly living," Rizzoli's CEO and president Stefano Peccatori said. Rizzoli International publishes illustrated books about fashion, interior design, art, architecture, photography, travel, sports and food. The company began in 1964 as a New York City bookstore, which still operates.
On the heels of Simon & Schuster's recent revival of Summit Books, headed up by former Little, Brown editor-in-chief Judy Clain, Simon & Schuster UK has announced it will relaunch the imprint in the U.K., tapping Picador editor-in-chief Ravi Mirchandani as publisher.
Mirchandani has helmed Picador in the U.K. since 2019, and has spent the past decade at the Pan Macmillan imprint. There, his authors include Patrick Radden Keefe, Douglas Stuart, and Hanya Yanagihara. His publishing career has spanned nearly 40 years, and prior to Picador, he served as editor-in-chief of Atlantic Books, publishing director of William Heinemann, and editorial director at Penguin Books. At Summit Books UK, Mirchandani will report to Suzanne Baboneau, managing director of Simon & Schuster UK’s adult publishing division, effective September 2.
A notable shift towards shorter children’s books is being reported by publishers, agents and librarians, with many welcoming what they see as a challenge to the idea of length as “a marker of merit”, particularly in relation to middle-grade titles. The development is also seen as a way of getting reluctant readers “back into reading” following the pandemic and its impact on comprehension and enjoyment levels.
Discussions at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair around declining reading levels, exacerbated by the pandemic, were accompanied by discussions about book length, difficulty level, and what some see as “unrealistic expectations” around middle-grade titles. One attendee told the Bookseller that “there is a real feeling that books are too long and need to be shortened as attention spans and comprehension decline".
Articles
Not so long ago, writing and publishing your own book was just a pipe dream for many of us.
It wasn’t so much getting the words down on paper which was putting us off.
It was more the expense of either finding an agent and a publisher or paying through the nose to print dozens of copies yourself which might have ended up unsold and gathering dust in the garage.
But that is resoundingly no longer the case. Digital publishing and online booksellers such as Amazon have been an absolute game-changer.
Signing a contract with even a brand-name traditional book publisher initially feels like a ticket to Nirvana. You may expect, for example, your new publisher to set you up with a big fat advance, a multi-city promotional tour, your very own personal PR rep and multiple copies of your book on every bookshelf in the nation (and Canada) for as long as you and your book shall live.
But to understand how book publishers really work, study this list of what I call the four great “myths” of traditional book publishing. Then, by all means, proceed to seek out a publisher if that’s your goal but do so with your eyes wide open. Your relationship with your publisher will run much smoother if you recognize its pitfalls as well as its glories.
Several years ago, as an aspiring novelist with stardust in my eyes, I used to spend most of my waking hours in Yahoo’s Books and Literature chatroom in the company of fellow aspiring writers. I clearly remember how one of the main topics of conversations used to be the number of rejection slips one had received on that particular day (or the previous week), agents/publishers who had requested a synopsis or proposal, and those who had just not bothered to respond. All of us were united by the looming sense of uncertainty, suspense, and the palpable realisation that the odds were firmly stacked against us.
Today, having spent more than seven years on the other side, first as a consultant and then an agent, I think many writers have wrong notions about rejections. While most books are rejected because of poor quality and incompetence (as they should be), there are several other factors that play a role in publishing decisions. And these affect “good” books too.
In April 2011, Marion Grace Woolley found her first publisher through firstwriter.com's database of publishers. A year later, she has published three books with two different publishers, both from our listings.
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