Thought.is

Plump is pleasing to publishers and independent authors this time of year, as they roll out their diet books to holiday-husky readers yearning to be skinny.

“Since the smashing success of the first Harry Potter novel—which was a No. 1 bestseller in Germany in its English version at one point—we have evidence of English, as a reading language, to be a global phenomenon.”

A new conference in London called Author Day is an event both for writers and publishing industry professionals—getting together to discuss divisive issues is the whole point.

In the fallout from the South By Southwest Interactive cancellation of panels about online harassment, a difficult and instructive conversation develops among professionals in the publishing industry.

Examined at Frankfurt Book Fair in the context of Pan Macmillan’s digital marketing effort, the YouTube-author phenomenon and ‘booktube’ review-recommendation world may hold clues to book fandom for publishing’s future.

On both sides of the Atlantic, the leading author-advocacy organizations are sharply criticizing payment practices of publishers and calling readers’ attention to how seldom their favorite authors may be paid—and without oversight or audit.

As many of us in publishing race across international borders for trade shows and conferences, our books can lag months behind us in “staggered” releases — a pattern rightly called into question.

In perhaps the most singularly powerful collaborative work of contemporary classical music so far this year, the 23-year-old Jodie Landau sings to “You Of All Things” with the benefit of wild Up, Graduale Nobili, and Bedroom Community’s best. A remarkable entry in #MusicForWriters.

As the digital tempest batters the publishing industry, a group of hardy navigators have taken up a call for “Manifestos For The Future Of The Book Business,” and their 500-word essays are beacons of potential in uncertain days.

No one at Nielsen’s Children’s Book Summit wanted to do anything but praise YA and learn more about the 80 percent of its readership that’s A (adult), not Y (young.) But the militant wing of the YA community ambushed the Twitter feed.