Book Reviews Book Publishing in Europe, Javnost-- The Public: Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Cul- ture. Volume 11, Number 4. Edited by Miha Kova/~ and Kelvin Smith. Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. 2004. 108 pp. Softcover, index of annual articles, ISSN 1318-3222. Javnost--The Public is a quarterly jour- nal, based at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, devoted to rather highbrow, at times densely detailed, discussion on com- munications and media in Europe and be- yond. Accordingly, it accepts submissions in English and Slovene and provides ab- stracts in Slovene on the articles included, at the end of the joumal. This particular volume, containing seven substantial ar- ticles, addresses the vast subject of book publishing in Europe. From broad topics, such as book prizes in Europe and gov- ernmental support for the various links of the book chain, it narrows down to a coun- try profile of publishing in Croatia and zooms right in to the challenges of pub- lishing (Slovak) poetry in translation in the UK. The authors are a mix of aca- demics/lecturers and researchers in pub- lishing studies and related disciplines, from the Slovene Ministry of Culture and the European Booksellers Federation. "Free or Fixed Prices of Books: Pat- terns of Book Pricing in Europe" addresses the quagmire of fixed or Retail Price Maintenance (RPM) versus free book pric- ing in the EU (both old and new member countries), in the context of a general EU preference for free competition. The ar- ticle provides commentary on factors that interfere with fixed pricing, including cross-border transactions, internet sales, neighboring countries sharing the same language, relationships between Member States and those circumstances which al- low for circumvention. The author tables the situation of VAT on books across Eu- rope and providing a data-rich case study of fastidious Finland, which shifted from fixed to free pricing and ultimately dropped the VAT on books from 22% to 8%, showcasing how diverse factors in- fluence the success of a country's book industry and a statistical comparison of one country versus another, disregarding the complexities of each, can provide somewhat meaningless results. In contrast to the statistically sound Fin- land, "Book Publishing in Croatia Today" provides an engaging case study of the book industry in a country beset with com- plexities, where the author urges, there is a keen need to introduce data collecting and research methods for the future of the book industry. Factors mentioned include post-war changes, Croatia's own geogra- phy (with financial, intellectual and infrastructural centralization in Zagreb), a shift from a socialist to market economy, insufficient cohesion between Croatian publishers, emerging Croatian book fairs, rising support from the Ministry of Cul- ture, and the dropping of VAT on books from 22% to zero within two years. In "Patterns and Trends in European Book Production and Consumption: Some Initial Observations", the author comments on how late book data and publishing stud- ies emerged, in comparison to those of library science and media studies. For ex- ample, most academic publishing study programs were only established from the 1980s on, whereas a century earlier,
Transcript
Book Reviews
Book Publishing in Europe, Javnost-- The Public: Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Cul- ture. Volume 11, Number 4. Edited by Miha Kova/~ and Kelvin Smith. Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. 2004. 108 pp. Softcover, index of annual articles, ISSN 1318-3222.
Javnost--The Public is a quarterly jour- nal, based at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, devoted to rather highbrow, at times densely detailed, discussion on com- munications and media in Europe and be- yond. Accordingly, it accepts submissions in English and Slovene and provides ab- stracts in Slovene on the articles included, at the end of the joumal. This particular volume, containing seven substantial ar- ticles, addresses the vast subject of book publishing in Europe. From broad topics, such as book prizes in Europe and gov- ernmental support for the various links of the book chain, it narrows down to a coun- try profile of publishing in Croatia and zooms right in to the challenges of pub- lishing (Slovak) poetry in translation in the UK. The authors are a mix of aca- demics/lecturers and researchers in pub- lishing studies and related disciplines, from the Slovene Ministry of Culture and the European Booksellers Federation.
"Free or Fixed Prices of Books: Pat- terns of Book Pricing in Europe" addresses the quagmire of fixed or Retail Price Maintenance (RPM) versus free book pric- ing in the EU (both old and new member countries), in the context of a general EU preference for free competition. The ar- ticle provides commentary on factors that interfere with fixed pricing, including
cross-border transactions, internet sales, neighboring countries sharing the same language, relationships between Member States and those circumstances which al- low for circumvention. The author tables the situation of VAT on books across Eu- rope and providing a data-rich case study of fastidious Finland, which shifted from fixed to free pricing and ultimately dropped the VAT on books from 22% to 8%, showcasing how diverse factors in- fluence the success of a country's book industry and a statistical comparison of one country versus another, disregarding the complexities of each, can provide somewhat meaningless results.
In contrast to the statistically sound Fin- land, "Book Publishing in Croatia Today" provides an engaging case study of the book industry in a country beset with com- plexities, where the author urges, there is a keen need to introduce data collecting and research methods for the future of the book industry. Factors mentioned include post-war changes, Croatia's own geogra- phy (with financial, intellectual and infrastructural centralization in Zagreb), a shift from a socialist to market economy, insufficient cohesion between Croatian publishers, emerging Croatian book fairs, rising support from the Ministry of Cul- ture, and the dropping of VAT on books from 22% to zero within two years.
In "Patterns and Trends in European Book Production and Consumption: Some Initial Observations", the author comments on how late book data and publishing stud- ies emerged, in comparison to those of library science and media studies. For ex- ample, most academic publishing study programs were only established from the 1980s on, whereas a century earlier,
Book Reviews
Book Publishing in Europe, Javnost-- The Public: Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Cul- ture. Volume 11, Number 4. Edited by Miha Kova/~ and Kelvin Smith. Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. 2004. 108 pp. Softcover, index of annual articles, ISSN 1318-3222.
Javnost--The Public is a quarterly jour- nal, based at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, devoted to rather highbrow, at times densely detailed, discussion on com- munications and media in Europe and be- yond. Accordingly, it accepts submissions in English and Slovene and provides ab- stracts in Slovene on the articles included, at the end of the joumal. This particular volume, containing seven substantial ar- ticles, addresses the vast subject of book publishing in Europe. From broad topics, such as book prizes in Europe and gov- ernmental support for the various links of the book chain, it narrows down to a coun- try profile of publishing in Croatia and zooms right in to the challenges of pub- lishing (Slovak) poetry in translation in the UK. The authors are a mix of aca- demics/lecturers and researchers in pub- lishing studies and related disciplines, from the Slovene Ministry of Culture and the European Booksellers Federation.
"Free or Fixed Prices of Books: Pat- terns of Book Pricing in Europe" addresses the quagmire of fixed or Retail Price Maintenance (RPM) versus free book pric- ing in the EU (both old and new member countries), in the context of a general EU preference for free competition. The ar- ticle provides commentary on factors that interfere with fixed pricing, including
cross-border transactions, internet sales, neighboring countries sharing the same language, relationships between Member States and those circumstances which al- low for circumvention. The author tables the situation of VAT on books across Eu- rope and providing a data-rich case study of fastidious Finland, which shifted from fixed to free pricing and ultimately dropped the VAT on books from 22% to 8%, showcasing how diverse factors in- fluence the success of a country's book industry and a statistical comparison of one country versus another, disregarding the complexities of each, can provide somewhat meaningless results.
In contrast to the statistically sound Fin- land, "Book Publishing in Croatia Today" provides an engaging case study of the book industry in a country beset with com- plexities, where the author urges, there is a keen need to introduce data collecting and research methods for the future of the book industry. Factors mentioned include post-war changes, Croatia's own geogra- phy (with financial, intellectual and infrastructural centralization in Zagreb), a shift from a socialist to market economy, insufficient cohesion between Croatian publishers, emerging Croatian book fairs, rising support from the Ministry of Cul- ture, and the dropping of VAT on books from 22% to zero within two years.
In "Patterns and Trends in European Book Production and Consumption: Some Initial Observations", the author comments on how late book data and publishing stud- ies emerged, in comparison to those of library science and media studies. For ex- ample, most academic publishing study programs were only established from the 1980s on, whereas a century earlier,
Book Reviews 79
myth." Many authors, she writes, "think that if they get on Oprah---or reviewed in the New York Times Book Review--they'll be sitting next to Grisham on the bestseller list. The fact is, not every Oprah appear- ance generates massive sales." Turning this comment into a positive, she makes the point that the pursuit of single big- ticket media hits like Oprah is not a real- istic goal for novice authors. Rather, ef- fective publicity is a building process-- one that requires a confluence of numer- ous reviews, interviews, and features to generate sales. "People need to see your book all over the place before they'll buy it," she says.
Two of the more important chapters in The Savvy Author's Guide to Book Pub- licity are found near the beginning: Work- ing with Your Publicist and The Author/ Publicist Dynamic. Warren encourages an effective relationship that provides the au- thor with plenty of legwork (working per- sonal contacts, researching niche media, providing input on press materials, writ- ing op-eds), while at the same time keep- ing hands-off on certain aspects of pub- licity (calling the media, re-writing press materials, pestering the publicist about specific follow-up).
In these chapters, I found some of my first disagreements with Warren. Although I agree with her on many, if not most, of her ideas about working with the media, there are a number of times that I found her pronouncements debatable:
Press releases should be kept to one page-- two at the most. In my experi- ence with weighty non-fiction titles, I 've found that journalists appreciate a more comprehensive approach. The pitch should be kept to a minimum, I agree, but the press release can be a
tool used by journalists and producers once they have decided to go ahead with an interview. We should guide them through the complexity of such a book---even if it requires additional pages.
�9 Op-Ed editors--"frown upon submis- sions from publicists." Some of my best contacts are on the op-ed page, and like other media contacts, they'd much rather hear from an experienced publicist who speaks their language.
�9 "Q&As or questions are an absolute must if you want to get some book- ings." I 'm on the fence about this one. With the increasing importance of Internet outlets, Q&As provide mate- rial that can easily be picked up. On the other hand, I still know a number of joumal is ts and producers who find them insulting.
�9 "I prefer to schedule my authors at in- dependent bookstores rather than the chains. It has been my experience that the indies put more effort behind event promotion." I hope she's not planning to call Barnes & Noble or Borders any time soon. On this one, she's dead wrong.
�9 Autographed books cannot be returned. Sadly, while this was true 10-15 years ago, it's no longer the case. She's right to encourage authors to sign as many books as possible in that it can increase display. Booksellers caught on to this ploy a long time ago, though, and signed books now get returned in droves.
Throughout the book, Warren provides answers to just about any question an au- thor could have about publicity. Indeed, she is careful to place publicity in the con- text of the entire publication process.
80 Publishing Research Quarterly/Summer 2005
Publicists are often the author's lifeline at a crucial time in that process, and it's therefore important to understand the boundaries of their endeavors, as well as how their work fits into the big picture.
The Savvy Author 's Guide to Book Pub- licity ends with a helpful appendix that provides sample pitch letters (she does well with non-fiction but her fiction let- ters sound more like puffy flap copy), press releases, Q&As, author bios, quiz-
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zes (yes, a great gimmick for attracting attention), tour schedules, and quote sheets.
Written in an entertaining yet no-non- sense style, this book belongs on the book- shelf of every would-be published author, and in the hands of every publishing ex- ecutive concerned with the care and feed- ing of publicists.
Scott Manning Scott Manning & Associates
"An indispensable reference tool."
--KIM HAWLEY, President, The Chicago Book Clinic
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