How do people learn about new books? What types of books are they buying? What formats are they selecting? Consumer insights play an important role in a publisher’s strategies, from acquisitions to pricing and marketing campaigns. During a recent industry event at Random House, Carl Kulo of Bowker Market Research shared highlights from their 2013 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics & Buying Behaviors Annual Review.
Penguin Random House takes the prospect of piracy of its books very seriously, and is committed to providing the most effective anti-piracy service to its authors. Every title published by Penguin Random House is covered globally under our agreement with Digimarc Guardian (formerly Attributor), a leading solution for disrupting the distribution of pirated content. (more…)
Perhaps you’ve heard of Klout, the website that assigns you a score based on your social media influence and awards perks to high-scoring influencers. Klout frequently makes headlines for its rewards, which most recently included VIP access to American Airlines airport lounges. Now you’re wondering whether you’ve got Klout, how much of it you have, and how to get more.
We’ve added three exciting new features to the Random House Author Portal! You can now easily download high-resolution images of your book covers, access a collection of review excerpts for your titles, and view the bestseller history for your books over the past ten years. Read on to find out how you can take advantage of these tools and tell us what you think! (more…)
BISAC codes are assigned to every title in the marketplace, and publishing teams work hard to assign the right codes—so, what exactly are BISACs and why do they matter? We demystify the process behind BISACs and take a look at some surprising marketplace trends they reveal.
With new social networks popping up faster than you can say Pinterest, it’s important to know which ones are worth your time and will give you maximum return on investment. By now, you’ve mastered the art of the tweet and figured out the new Facebook Timeline. However, just how much do you know about Google +, Vine, Reddit, and emerging platforms such as Medium and Whisper? Here’s the scoop on these networks, along with some pointers and things to take into consideration before joining the social media bandwagon.
This spring marks Random House’s third year participating in South by Southwest (SXSW), the country’s largest digital and interactive conference, which brings together influencers across all industries for nine high-spirited days of creative exchange. SXSW is the perfect venue for Random House to showcase the work of authors and company developments, while learning new and innovative ways to improve capabilities across divisions. The event also provides a unique opportunity to foster the creative and professional growth of our employees.
Random House is constantly working on new ways to bring together authors and readers. Whether it’s through social media, author engagements, or events such as South by Southwest, our divisions lead the charge in connecting with consumers and generating discussions about books around cultural trends.
In January, Facebook launched their new Graph Search experience, which works with information users themselves have put on Facebook to create more tailored and personal search results. We look at the impact on Facebook users and how to adapt your Page to take advantage of this new functionality.
Every year, Random House, Inc.’s imprints publish hundreds of new titles by authors who don’t yet have an established fan base or sales history. Every book is acquired with the expectation of bringing it to the widest audience.
While there is not a single recipe for doing this, we keep analyzing and learning from what has worked before, and finding new ways to apply the success factors to other books. (more…)