July Wrap Up

Dear Publishing Associates,

We’ve closed the month of July and I am thrilled to report that business is UP at Cumberland House! We had a terrific month posting 5% growth ahead of where we were at this time last year.

Publishers Lunch reported today that Simon & Schuster sales for the second quarter are down seven percent from a year ago. It's the third straight quarterly decline for the publishing unit. At BookExpo in June the buzz was that “flat is the new up.” With current market conditions, I am thrilled with 5% growth. As Chris Bauerle, our vp of sales and marketing, relayed to the team today, “This performance comes from a combination of factors resulting from over-the-top performance and creativity in every single department. You all should be very, very proud.” We’re still in a very tough year, and we have a long way to go, but we are leaving everything on the field, and it is paying off.

My first month as a blogger is wrapped up now too. A special thanks to all of you who are reading and commenting. It has been an interesting experiment and I am enjoying it. I hope you are too. Again, I welcome your feedback and ideas to keep the discussion going.

I started the blog with “Ten Things Your Publisher Thinks You Already Know,” with the intent of expanding on each of the ten points. Well, it is taking longer than I thought but we’ve put a good dent in it.

Following is a list of the posts from July:
§ “And What About Backlist?"
§ More on Advances, Expenses, and Reserves (1 comment)
§ How Are You Using Your Advance?
§ Comp Title Research Will Help Sell Your Book (1 comment)
§ Meet Lisa Taylor
§ Author Tips from a Broadcast Pro
§ Eye Spy. . . Publicity
§ Social Media and Promoting Your Book Online
§ “Leverage the Damn Book”
§ Innovation Is a Social Process
§ Insight from 30-Year Bookseller Turned Author (1 comment)
§ Expert Publicity Advice for Authors
§ Marketing in the Digital Age (1 c0mment)
§ Meet Paige Lakin
§ "I Can't Find My Books at Barnes & Noble"
§ Some Realities of the Publishing Business (5 comments)
§ Turning Conventional Book Marketing On Its Head (2 comments)
§ "You've Got to Spend Money to Make Money" (1 comment)
§ A Great Ad
§ A Story Problem for Authors and Publishers (9 comments)
§ The Realities of Independent Publishing
§ Children's Book Documentary Wins Bronze Telly Award
§ The Book Proposal Is Your Business Plan
§ A New Vision of the Book Business
§ Ten Things Your Publisher Thinks You Already Know (3 comments)

Or, if you prefer to read by subject, here is a list of tags:
· about Cumberland House (5)
· advances (3)
· book marketing (12)
· book proposal (3)
· business partnership (5)
· business plan (2)
· independent publishing (3)
· innovation (3)
· market realities (8)
· meet the Cumberland House family (2)
· publicity (7)

I invite you to please comment on the posts, ask questions, share ideas, and stay in touch.

Best, Paul.