Decline in the US print book market BRANDING AND LOGO CHANGES FOR FABER Joshua Farrington


Faber will be changing its visual identity, including slimming down the iconic “ff ” logo, as part of a new branding strategy. Will Atkinson, the company’s sales


and marketing director, described some of the changes during a talk about the importance of creating a brand at yesterday’s Frankfurt Book Fair. He said: “T e Faber logo has had to have a little diet as it didn’t look right online. It will be trimmed down as it just looked a little fat.” T e publisher will be making other


changes to its visual style, to ensure it can communicate its message directly with consumers. “Brand is a shorthand to meaning,” Atkinson said. “And our brand is about longevity and quality. For me, the brand is the residue of 83 years of publishing.” He described how the idea of creating


separate imprints at Faber was something he was strongly against, and that the overall Faber brand meant selecting books that fi t the brand, rather than working the other way round. “T ere are some books we do,


Atkinson


EROTICA SALES SURGE, BUT MARKETS CONTINUE TO FALL


Joshua Farrington


Fifty Shades of Grey has sold more than 28 million physical copies around the world, though print sales continue to suff er, according to figures released by Nielsen. In a talk yesterday at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Ann


Betts, Nielsen Book’s commercial


like crime novels, where we have to follow the rules of the market in terms of what you put on the cover. But for the things we are known for, our poetry, our fi lm, our music, our arts list, we will brand hard,” he said. Atkinson added that they could no


longer rely on retailers to be their “conduit” for consumers, and pointed out the biggest driver of sales for them was broadsheet reviews. He summed up: “In a time of uncertainties, brands will do very well.”


SECRET DEALS ACROSS THE GLOBE


Erotic novel S.E.C.R.E.T., written by E M Adeline, the pseudonym of a prominent Canadian TV producer and novelist, has been selling strongly at the fair, with Cooke International on the verge of a UK deal. T e book features a secret society


of women whose aim is to help other women to a sexual reawakening, giving them a 12-step programme to live out their fantasies. Rights are being handled by


Cooke International, repping on behalf of Doubleday Canada, with


Crown acquiring the title and one other in the US. Bompiani has also signed a two-


book deal in Italy, Presse de la Cite pre-empted two titles in France, and Dutch and UK auctions are ongoing.


SIX FIGURES FOR SELF-PUBLISHED NOVEL


Penguin has scooped the previously self-published title Natural Causes by James Oswald, with Michael Joseph publishing director Alex Clarke winning a four-round auction with three publishers left in at the fi nal stage, paying a “good” six- fi gure sum. Clarke bought UK and


Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in the book through Juliet Mushens at PFD. The title is described as a


thebookseller.com Mushens


thousands of copies as a self-published title. It was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award, and is the fi rst in the author’s Inspector McLean Mysteries. Mushens submitted the title in


supernatural thriller set in Scotland, and previously sold hundreds of


the UK last T ursday, turning down one pre-empt the following day, and a further two on Monday. T e book was pre-empted for six fi gures by Goldman Verlag in Germany, with off ers now in from Brazil and Italy.


director, explained the impact E L James’ books had had on the industry. In the UK, the romance market, which includes the Fifty Shades trilogy, has risen by 384% by volume in the fi rst 36 weeks of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. Erotica sales, following in the wake of Fifty Shades, have leapt up 192%.


However, despite the impact of


erotica, print book sales in the nine markets monitored by Nielsen have fallen in 2012 over the same period a year ago. New Zealand could claim to be


weathering the storm best, with a 2.7% decline in print volume sales, while the US saw the greatest decline (-13%). Children’s books fared slightly better than fi ction and non-fi ction across all markets. Betts said: “People still want to buy books for children. T e other issue is that there are fewer children’s books available digitally.” E-book sales have been rising, with


Betts estimating they now account for around 15% of all book sales, with a 366% rise in sales in the UK making them the greatest books growth product. Nielsen began monitoring India in


2011, and witnessed the sale of 12.6 million units throughout the year, with all areas in growth. Betts pointed out how successful locally published titles were, with 66 of the top 100 published in India, 31 from the UK and 3 from the USA. One of the quirks of the Indian


market is their entrepreneurial spirit, with 16% of all non-fi ction titles being business books. In the US, only 7% are business titles, while the UK lags behind with 3%.


12 OCTOBER 2012 | THE BOOKSELLER DAILY AT FRANKFURT 3


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