There’s hope, at least, for the second half of the year. Next week, Michael Wolff’s “Siege,” the follow-up to his “Fire & Fury” bestseller, lands in bookstores.
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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In a pause from reporting from the trade show floor at BookExpo this week, Publishers Weekly senior writer Andrew Albanese, reflected on the contradiction of his own experience there.
“Even when the attendance seemed lower in the halls, the discussion panels were packed,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “I’m not sure what the final attendance number will look like, but this feels like the usual BookExpo to me.”
Elsewhere, media reports covered the increasingly “non-book” focus of the show, raising concerns for what that may foreshadow for book fairs and the book business. On Thursday, David Walter, executive director, client development for NPD Books, told BookExpo attendees that growth in print sales is trending down, with 2019 showing a decline so far.
“We’ve seen six straight years of growing print sales, but that is showing signs of slowing down,” Albanese reports. “There are a number of possible reasons for this – in 2019, we didn’t have a Fire & Fury to jumpstart the year.”
There’s hope, at least, for the second half of the year. Next week, Michael Wolff’s Siege, the follow-up to his Fire & Fury bestseller, lands in bookstores.
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
