From Melbourne's The Age, Saturday 4 April.


The ups and downs of bestsellers
How publishing phenomena can deliver both a rise and a fall; how a good read goes a long way to calming you down; and how John Grogan didn't go to the dogs and Mitch Albom developed a little faith. Jason Steger explains.

WHAT a difference a global bestseller makes.

Two publishers who have benefited from the impact of publishing phenomena have reported differing financial results this week. In 2007 Bloomsbury published Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final in J. K. Rowling's series. But the Potter effect was missing in calendar year 2008 when the company reported a drop in revenue from £150.2 million ($A310 million) to £99.95 million and in pre-tax profit from £17.86 million to £11.63 million. (In the US, Bloomsbury turned a small profit after a loss the previous year of £1.5 million, but it doesn't publish Rowling there, she's with Scholastic.)



Meanwhile, Hachette Book Group in the US (part of Hachette Livre, which also owns Hachette here) has reported a jump in sales of 26 per cent to more than $US600 million ($A867 million) on the back of Stephenie Meyer's blitz of shops with her Twilight series. In the US alone, Meyer's books sold nearly 30 million copies.

Online free-for-all
YOU may hear more about http://www.scribd.com/ in the near future. It's been called a sort of YouTube for the printed word and you'll find all sorts of stuff there. There's been a fuss because it's been claimed that copyright material by the likes of Rowling has been put on the site. Which is technically correct as it's an upload site and anyone can put things up.
But the site makes the point that it has a copyright management system that on request removes such material and then prevents the material being downloaded or uploaded in the future.
Nevertheless, something such as Man Booker winner Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger is there for free download. More than 6750 people have looked at it and about 3500 downloaded it, which must have made an impact on his royalties. There are plenty of extracts and novels by the likes of Jane Austen, some thanks to deals with publishers, along with recipes and poems that no one in their right mind would want to read.

Relaxing reading
JUST in case you have ever wondered about the benefits of losing yourself in a book — good or bad — you can take some comfort in research that claims reading is one of the best and fastest ways to relax. At the University of Sussex they got a whole load of volunteers and increased their stress levels and heart rates. Then they got out some very traditional methods of calming them down. Apparently reading for as little as six minutes reduced stress by 68 per cent; listening to music reduced stress and heart rates by 61 per cent, having a cup of tea or coffee by 54 per cent and taking a walk by 42 per cent.

There is more from Jason Steger including his pieces on John Grogan and Mitch Albom.
Go to The Age online.