BTW News Briefs

Making Information Pay 2007

On May 10, in New York City, the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) will be holding its fourth annual Making Information Pay Conference. The half-day conference aims to provide practical guidance on how to evaluate and exploit technologies throughout the book industry's increasingly digital supply chain. VISTA International is sponsoring the event, with breakfast provided by Nielsen BookScan.

Titled Using Emerging Technology to Improve Your Bottom Line, Making Information Pay 2007 will offer more than 150 industry professionals useful direction on how to use emerging technologies to increase sales and profitability, decrease waste and returns, and remain relevant in an ever-evolving industry. Nicole Poindexter, vice president and director of strategic planning for Hachette Book Group, will provide the opening keynote, "Reaching a New Generation of Readers." A closing keynote, "Beyond the Book: Responding to a Changing Marketplace," will be delivered by Allen Noren, Director of Online Marketing for O'Reilly Media. (For the full agenda and conference registration information, visit the BISG conference website).

Making Information Pay 2007 will take place at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium, located at 1221 6th Avenue in New York City. Registration is $95 for BISG Members and $175 for Non-Members. Discounted hotel room rates are available to conference attendees. Making Information Pay is an event hosted annually by the Book Industry Study Group. Further details can be found on the web at www.bisg.org/conferences/mip4.html, or by emailing angela@bisg.org.

Publishing Sales Rise in February

Books sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers saw an increase for the month of February with net sales up by 12.6 percent for the month and 10.2 percent for the year. The Adult Hardcover category was up by 43.4 percent in February with sales of $111.9 million; sales were also up by 40.8 percent for the calendar year.

Adult Paperback sales also saw a gain of 3.2 percent for the month ($97.6 million); however, sales were down 4.9 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category declined by 11.2 percent for February with sales totaling $59.3 million; sales declined by 7.8 percent year-to-date. The Children's/YA Hardcover category grew by 43.4 percent for the month with sales of $37.4 million; sales year-to-date were also up by 31.7 percent. The Children's/YA Paperback category increased 5.7 percent in February with sales totaling $34.1 million; however, sales were down by 12.9 percent for the year.

Audio Book sales posted a small decrease of 0.5 percent for February compared to last year's figures with sales totaling $10.5 million; sales for the whole year were up by 9.5 percent. E-books sales rose by 44.7 percent for the month ($2.5 million); the category also posted an increase of 26.4 percent for the year. (E-book figures were compiled in cooperation with the International Digital Publishing Forum.) Religious Books posted an increase of 31.8 percent for February with sales of $39.5 million; sales were also up by 33.0 percent for the year.

Albert Murray Wins W.E.B. DuBois Medal

Ninety year-old novelist, cultural critic, and poet Albert Murray has been awarded the W.E.B. DuBois Medal by Harvard University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research. The announcement was made today by the institute's director, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in recognition of Mr. Murray's "contributions to the arts, culture, and to the life of the mind." The W.E.B. DuBois Institute is the nation's oldest research center dedicated to the study of the history, culture, and social institutions of Africans and African Americans.