People of the Book
A Blog about Book Publishing from a Catholic Perspective

Leaf is a new publisher in the UK that plans to sell individual short stories in book form. The books, about 4,000 words long and small enough to fit into a pocket, will be available “in coffee shops, tea rooms, cafes, hotel bars – in fact anywhere where people might be alone with five or ten minutes to spare.” The publishers want to stimulate new writing; they’ve launched a short story contest on their website. They plan to issue twelve Leaf books a month and they’ll launch in November.

The internet-fueled increase in used books sales is unquestionably good for consumers. Now some data is appearing that suggests that it might not be as harmful for publishers and booksellers as it may seem on the surface. Two studies reported in the New York Times, suggest that the rise of an active used book market seems to make some buyers more willing to buy new books because they know they can easily dispose of them later. The researchers also think that the active used book market seems to be stimulating the sales of all books. Read the Times report here.