Imprimatur Publishing Consultants

15/03/2024

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/94590-more-challenges-arise-at-barnes-noble-education.html

Barnes & Noble Education reported higher sales and lower losses in the quarter ended January 27, 2024, but those results were overshadowed by news that the company continues to struggle to find ways to shore up its financial position.

15/03/2024

London Book Fair closes; 30,000 attendees

The administration of the 2024 London Book Fair is reporting some 30,000 visitors for its three-day industry trade show, just closed…

14/03/2024

"Findings showed that as students moved between locations, they also transited across devices, platforms, and formats, making use of different print and digital resources for varied ways of reading. Their ability to ‘style-shift’ flexibly across the boundaries of school and personal spaces, various devices and platforms allowed them to independently optimise reading as a resource for their everyday leisure, information seeking, and learning purposes."

Juggling formats of print vs. digital for books, have developers simply given up on whether there's room to improve navigation and design?

14/03/2024

These Chef de Cuisine interviews have some really nice takeaways

Robert Harington talks to Dr. Amy Brand of MIT Press, in this series of perspectives from some of Publishing’s leaders across the non-profit and for-profit sectors of our industry.

14/03/2024

Mx3 Barcelona, a gathering of high-profile media-curious delegates, was an off-the-record event on 12 and 13 March. This format allows media leaders to

14/03/2024

London Book Fair, Day One

The 2024 industry-facing London Book Fair opened on March 12 with busy, boisterous trade-meeting energy and a new emphasis on programming…

04/03/2024

Support our indie bookstores!

Monstera's Books will open tomorrow, March 5, in the old Wyldewood Cellars building at 7930 Floyd St. in downtown Overland Park, Kan. In an

04/03/2024

Robert Harington talks to Niko Pfund of Oxford University Press, in this series of perspectives from some of Publishing’s leaders across the non-profit and for- profit sectors of our industry.

04/03/2024

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1234226098/in-georgia-a-bill-to-cut-all-ties-with-the-american-library-association-is-advan

Several other states have made moves to disassociate from the nation's oldest library professional association. But Georgia's bill, the first of its kind in the nation, goes further than the others.

16/02/2024

For book business lovers! An exceptional, pencil-signed etching by Albert Geudens, of the original book printing press of the Christophe Plantin printing house in Antwerp, Belgium, home to the two oldest book printing presses in the world. Plantin (c. 1520-89) was arguably the most highly regarded printer and publisher of his time, and his family successfully continued his printing business for several generations. The Plantin-Moretus printing establishment in Antwerp, Belgium, became a museum and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Measuring 11.5" x 9" sight and 17.5" x 15" in a simple, aged, wood frame, matte, and behind glass, it is in very good condition for a work well over 100 years old. Note the water stains (see attached photos) in three corners of the matte, none of which impact the integrity of the work or the author signature.

Albert Geudens (January 3, 1869 in Mechelen–March 28, 1949 in Schaerbeek) was a Belgian portrait and genre painter, etcher, watercolorist, pastelist and draughtsman. He was born to painter Jean François Geudens and Anne-Maria-Ludwina (née Polspoel) Geudens.

Geudens was a student of Willem Geets at the Mechelen Academy of Fine Arts from 1890-1891. He continued his studies at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen with Albrecht De Vriendt. Geudens mainly painted views of Mechelen and interiors of churches and béguinages (architectural complexes for lay religious communities), as well as bourgeois salons and portraits. He repeated the same themes in his etchings. He exhibited at art salons in Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Barcelona and Venice. Geudens married Fernande Jeanne (née Warnie) Geudens on October 31, 1908 in Brussels, Belgium. He died on March 28, 1949 in Schaerbeek (Brussels), Belgium.

Though multiple works by Geudens have come to auction since the late 90s, almost all are oil on canvas. None are etchings, making this an unique and rare work. His oils and other paintings have hammered for prices to $3,556 and average $5.76 per sq. inch.

Color: Black, White
Genre: Modern European Art
Media: Etching
Style: Realism
Theme: Historical
Width: 15" (38 cm)
Height: 17.5" (44 cm)
Origin: Belgium • Belgian
Age: Early 20th Century
Item type: Antique

Price: US$225

https://www.rubylane.com/item/2183617-IFA-000363/16th-century-printshop-Plantin-Belgium-pencil?search=1&t=047a2396

10/02/2024

A push to emphasize the Sciences of Reading statewide in NY

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she will push for schools to reemphasize phonics in literacy education programs, a potential overhaul that comes as many states are revamping curriculums amid low reading scores

08/02/2024

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/94265-independent-publishers-group-finds-some-new-directions.html

The biggest independent distributor in the U.S. sees opportunity in 2024 both here and in the U.K., where it has finally stabilized its United International Distribution arm—and hopes to fill an Amazon-size hole in the market.

08/02/2024

We'll emphasize once again - have you looked into Spotify Premium audiobooks?

The streaming company says its payout model is competitive, but the Society of Authors has raised doubts about whether authors ultimately benefit

08/02/2024

The last five words of the article title are worth noting. The digital sales also drove down returns, helping them reach the 4% number.

HarperCollins global revenues grew 4% to $550m (£436m) in the three months to 31st December 2023, compared to the same period last year. 

08/02/2024

Really thought-provoking read, especially in light of the recent SAGE Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology journal issues around mifepristone research integrity and the wholly agenda-driven US District Judge Kacsmaryk.

How can we optimize the peer review process, and what role should AI play?

08/02/2024

"Back in the summer of ’23, of course, Spotify was still a sideshow in the UK and US audiobook sector, having dipped its toes in the water, but with nothing of substance to offer.

But...." with its 45M US audience and 220M global audience - and now Spotify Premium fully baked and featured...have you looked into Spotify Premium for your audiobooks?

08/02/2024

Frankfurt, London, Bologna? Consider adding these international book rights fairs - Bangladesh's Amar Ekushey Boi Mela holds the top spot with around 6 million visitors, but over the course of the entire month of February. The Cairo Internat'l Book Fair clocked 3.5 million in its first nine days, so is expected to easily beat it’s 3.6-3.7 million visitor record of 2023. Madrid Book Fair took in 3 million visitors in 2023. Kolkata International Book Fair this past year clocked 2.9 million visitors. New Delhi World Book Fair, Sharjah, Algiers, and Teheran all check in around 2 million visitors. Chennai saw 0nly 900,000 last year due to rains, but is expected to sets records in 2024.

2024 is looking likely to break book fair records around the globe.

08/02/2024

Quality read from Mark Williams. Anxious to learn more about Guadalajara Book Fair, as we've been singing the praises of Sharjah for some time now.

Both events were, from conception, fatally flawed - book fairs run for profit by outsiders, for an industry the organisers never fully understood or cared about.

30/12/2023

YTD through September 2023 (over prior):

- Ebook revenues were down 1.2% as compared to the first nine months of 2022, for a total $749.9 million

- The digital audio format was up 14.5%, at $628.3 million in revenue

- Higher education course materials were up 3.6 percent, at $2.6 billion

- Professional book revenues down 2.1 percent, at $368.5 million (though up 1.2% in September 2023)

- Religious press revenues were up 7.5 percent, reaching $583.8 million (despite ebook revenues being down 4.5%)

US trade revenue was down 0.1 percent year-to-date, and down 0.4 percent for the month of September YTD, in the AAP's StatShot report…

30/12/2023

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/15/reading-print-improves-comprehension-far-more-than-looking-at-digital-text-say-researchers

A study from the University of Valencia found that print reading could boost skills by six to eight times more than digital reading

30/12/2023

The holiday sales period ended on a high note with unit sales of print books increasing 5.8% over the week ended December 24, 2022

Print book sales increased 5.8% over the week ended December 24, 2022 at outlets that report to Circana BookScan.

07/12/2023

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93898-aap-calls-big-tech-s-pro-ai-arguments-nonsense-in-comments-to-copyright-office.html

In comments submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office this week, the Association of American Publishers slammed assertions by the tech industry that fair use permits AI developers to use copyrighted works to train their systems without permission or compensation.

07/12/2023

As part of our Collectif, in which we feature the work of our partners (see more here), the team from The Data Business examine the

30/11/2023

Seven Stories in Shawnee, Kans., has moved from its original home to a larger location at 11109 Johnson Drive, KCUR reported.Founder Halley

30/11/2023

Sparrow Books, a general-interest bookstore with titles for all ages, has opened in Clarion, Pa., the Courier Express reported.Owner Sarah Cummings

30/11/2023

30/11/2023

Always important to promote independent bookstores opening! Congrats Wyrd Bookstore and Edgewater, MD

Wyrd, a bookstore in Edgewater, Md., that held its soft opening last month, will host a grand opening celebration this Saturday, December 2.

30/11/2023

A selection of questions and answers from Copyright Clearance Center's response to the United States Copyright Office “Artificial Intelligence and Copyright" request for comment.

03/11/2023

02/11/2023

What plagiarism software are you using? Are you using plagiarism software?

The shadow chancellor’s new book has come under scrutiny for lifting passages of text from other sources without acknowledgment. Academic writers explore how this can happen