In case any of us were wondering how bad things really are in the print publication universe, this sad news came across the wires today.
| Quote: |
| The country’s largest trade publisher, Random House Inc., has frozen the pensions of its current employees and eliminated them for future hires, the latest cuts in an industry hit by declining sales and anticipating, at best, a difficult 2009. |
Most likely this was in response to this disturbing information:
| Quote: |
| Earlier Thursday, Barnes & Noble Inc. reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss. The superstore chain reduced its full-year sales and earnings forecasts, sending its shares down sharply, and said it would cut the number of new stores opening in 2009.
Sales for B&N stores 15 months or older, a key indicator of a retailer’s health, fell 7.4 percent from last year. |
and
| Quote: |
| Two other leading publishers, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, have reported low earnings in recent weeks, citing an especially weak market for older, "backlist" books.
"What I think is happening is that you would have somebody who would go into a store and buy a front list title, and then … buy a second book. And now they aren’t buying that second book," says Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy. |
What this means is even less diversity of books and authors from the mainstream publishers. Fewer new authors or original ideas. Just rehashing of the same old shit.. over and over again. Also, fewer overall titles. This presents an even bleaker outlook than previously thought for the foreseeable future in the book world.