News Publisher-led communities to surge DIGITAL MARKETING


ONLINE COMMUNITIES TO DOUBLE Tom Tivnan


Publisher–generated online communities, such as HarperCollins’ InkPop, Gollancz’s SF Gateway and Hachette’s Pick a Poppy, are set to almost double over the next two years, according to research by Bowker which was unveiled at yesterday’s “T e Campaign Revolution: New Models for Reaching Reader Communities” seminar. T e report, presented by Jane Tappuni


(pictured), business development director at Publishing Technology, showed that two-thirds of UK and US publishers already host reader communities, and that fi gure is set to rise to more than 90% over the next two years. Trade publishers are currently more


provide publishers with a way of striking up a direct rapport with their audiences and, at a time when publishing business models are evolving to become more consumer-focused. It comes as no surprise that publishers are ramping up investment in this area.” Communities are not yet selling


engaged in this area than their academic counterparts, with 86% of respondents running an online community in some shape or form. T ere is a currently an average of 2.1 online communities per publisher; a quarter of respondents said they expect to have seven or more networks up and running by 2015. Tappuni said: “Online communities


books, however, with only 16% of publishers saying they viewed them as “viable direct sales channels”. However, Tappuni argued that was a good thing. “One of the things I think publishers should avoid at the moment is using these communities as a platform to sell things. T is is fi rst and foremost about engagement with your readers, and letting them in a way dictate what is on the sites. Getting the right tone, with the right content is crucial.”


CANONGATE PICKS UP GILLIAM’S ‘CAR BOOT OF GOODIES’


Canongate has bought world rights to an illustrated memoir from Monty Python star Terry Gilliam in a six-fi gure deal, following a major auction. Gilliam, a screenwriter, animator and director, is famous for his part in the cult TV comedy series “Monty Python”, and for his fi lms including “Time Bandits”, “Brazil” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. Publisher and m.d. Jamie Byng and editorial director Francis Bickmore signed the book from Jon Elek at AP Watt. Bickmore said: “This book will tell Gilliam’s life story through his words and art, showcasing his illustrations and artworks from the last 72 years, many of which have never before been published.” Gilliam said: “I thought it was time to lay everything out for inspection: exotic secrets and untold tales, plus all the well-known bits and pieces of my art that I managed to create along the way. A total clear out. A car boot of goodies.”


FAIR NEWS IPG TACKLES WI-FI PROBLEM


T e Independent Publishers Guild has provided exhibitors on its collective stand with portable internet devices in order to combat a persistent book fair scourge: intermittent wi-fi .


Twenty-five of the 80 IPG


exhibitors at LBF have rented the MyFi units, palm-size wi-fi routers that act as mini-hotspots, for what the IPG said is a “nominal” fee.


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Email: info@combook.co.uk “Larger publishers can have their


own wi-fi hubs, but that is not a viable alternative for smaller publishers,” said IPG executive director Bridget Shine. “And dodgy wi-fi is obviously a problem for all book fairs; it is diffi cult to get it to work properly with buildings like Earls Court. So we wanted to get a solution for our members.”


NEWS IN BRIEF


JARVIS DOES HIS FABER FIRST Faber editor-at-large and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker (above) has made his fi rst acquisition for the publisher. Cocker signed world rights for Singing from the Floor by J P Bean, an oral history of British folk clubs, in a deal done directly with the author. The title was recommended to Cocker by former Pulp guitarist and Mercury Prize-nominated musician Richard Hawley. Faber will publish the book as a £20 trade paperback in April 2014.


S&S PRE-EMPT FOR SALINGER BIO A “myth-busting” biography of J D Salinger, eight years in the making, has been acquired by Simon & Schuster UK. David Shields and Shane Salerno conducted interviews with more than 150 sources who either worked with or intimately knew the reclusive author to produce the biography and a documentary fi lm. S&S US acquired world rights to the book pre- emptively in a negotiation with Salerno, then subsequently agreed a deal for UK and Commonwealth rights with non-fi ction editorial director Mike Jones at S&S UK. The title will be published in September.


PILOT STANDARD KICK-STARTED BY THEMA Thema, the group which is developing international standards for book categorisation, has launched its pilot draft of the new categories standard. The standard is a beta version, and can be downloaded from www.panthema.org from 20th April. The organisation also announced a “sunrise date” for Thema implementation of 31st December.


4 THE BOOKSELLER DAILY AT LBF | 17 APRIL 2013


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