'Two weeks to save the book trade'?
13.07.09 The Bookseller
"Two weeks to save Britain's book trade," is how the Independent reports on the "string of books by big-name authors released in one rush" this autumn. The piece notes: "As the recession finally begins to bite in an industry which has previously found itself largely impervious to economic downturns, publishers are set to bombard bookshops and supermarket shelves in the opening days of September with an unprecedented flood of works by their strongest names.
"September is even at the best of times a crucial month as publishers pit their best novelists against each other in the search for bumper end-of-year sales, with a scattering of new hardbacks by heavyweight authors. Little wonder that this year it is being eyed by senior managers with a certain amount of apprehension, if not dread.
'"In the words of one fearful executive, it will 'mean the difference between caviar or cat food for Christmas dinner'."
Independent