Statistics
The Lost Generation?
Andrew Grabois - Dec 31, 2007The day before the sixty-sixth anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pear Harbor, I came across the following tidbit in Cindy Adams’ gossip column in the New York Post: “The History Channel has nixed future WWII programming. They claim: Doesn’t fit our demographics. The History Channel!?” I was knocked for More
The Flip Side
Andrew Grabois - Dec 10, 2007In last week’s article, I compared the findings of two major studies – one national, the other international – that seemed to confirm that reading in the U.S. and other Western countries is in a dismal state. Time spent reading has declined precipitously, test scores have gone down, and many More
Poker
Andrew Grabois - Nov 26, 2007While in a downtown Manhattan Barnes & Noble bookstore the other day, I noticed that an entire book case was devoted to poker. Pretty good for a game that was — until recently — thought of as the pastime of middle-aged men desperate for a couple of hours away from More
And the Winner IS . . .
Yvonne DiVita - Nov 22, 2007“And the Winner Is…”–You (maybe) Those four words have become part of the American lexicon. Regardless of where you hear them, you immediately think of the Oscars, or the Emmys, or any game show you’ve ever watched. The sound of those four words creates an excitement that’s hard to More
bill stephens:
Andrew, Your articles in beneaththecover.com popped up on Google when I was... Read Entire Comment
Ms.G:
I’ve got to ask why you didn’t say more about the huge problem of “meeting... Read Entire Comment
marie dariotis:
Awesome article…..thanks. Read Entire Comment
Best One-Click Countries
Posted 3 months agoThe Guardian and BBC reported on a global survey of 26,000 people in 48 countries conducted by Nielsen Online that shows books are the most popular item purchased on the ... [Link]
The Ethics of Book Reviewing
Posted 4 months agoThis last month, December, I noted the appearance of a “Most Recommended” list from the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC). The idea was to replace lists of bestsellers with recommendations ... [Link]
American Gothic
Posted 5 months agoEver wonder what the editors, agents, marketers, and rights people who man the gates of the big New York trade houses are like? If you don’t, you should. Well, you’re ... [Link]
To Read or Not To Read
Posted 6 months agoThe National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the release of To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence, a 99-page analysis of American reading habits and ... [Link]
Guilty Pleasures
Posted 6 months agoA survey by Costa, the UK coffee chain, shows that 77% of readers in the UK are double and triple dippers. The survey was undertaken by the chain to mark ... [Link]
What the Pros Think
Posted 7 months agoFrom Michael Cader’s PublishersLunch comes a report that the organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair released the results of their survey of global publishing professionals. Over 1,300 publishers, retailers, literary ... [Link]
No Publisher Left Behind
Posted 7 months agoIn my article this week on El-Hi publishing, I noted that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 has done more than anything else in recent years to ... [Link]
Female Sleuths
Posted 9 months agoIn my article on the Mystery & Detective category, I noted that Janet Evanovich’s Lean Mean Thirteen, the latest Stephanie Plum mystery, appears on most national bestseller lists. Stephanie Plum ... [Link]
The Harry Potter Effect (II)
Posted 10 months agoThe other day, there was a lot of buzz about Motoka Rich’s article in the New York Times about the effect – or lack of it – that Harry Potter ... [Link]
Bestseller Ideas
In this week’s interview, Dean Rotbart and Michael Drew discuss the likelihood of a book idea becoming a publishing success. In their discussion, they reveal how to identify whether your idea is bestseller material. Do you really have a sure-fire idea for a bestseller? Hear what they have to say . . . .
The Lessons of Harry Potter: A Beneath the Cover Podcast
Michael R. Drew discusses what all authors - even those writing non-fiction - can learn from the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter Series. More
