The Bookseller.com

1st December 2008

'Is this the end of book trade?', asks mag

15.09.08

"The book business as we know it will not be living happily ever after", writes Boris Kachka in the New York magazine in a detailed analysis of the publishing industry in the US.

With sales stagnating, c.e.o. heads rolling, big-name authors playing musical chairs, and Amazon looming as the new boogeyman, publishing might have to look for its future outside the corporate world, he writes.

The article looks at publishing's heyday, the sinking morale of editorial staffers and how sales people are dealing with Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon; it asks why c.e.os can't keep their bosses happy any more, will the Kindle be the iPod of books, and why publishers are struggling to keep hold of writers; and rounds up notorious flops of recent years, and this year's big publishing gambles. It also includes a group photo of former HarperCollins c.e.o. Jane Friedman's "non-retirement party", where guests donned Friedman masks.

New York magazine

US Media Books Global

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