Publishing Perspectives is a web-content and magazine publisher located in New York and led by a team including Hannah Johnson, Porter Anderson, and Erin L. Cox. This team, responsible for a substantial social presence and a multitude of informative articles, has its finger on the pulse of the publishing world. The content on this site is excellent for those of us in publishing, seeking to be published, or involved in translation rights for our own, or our clients', works. The information provided by Publishing Perspectives is exactly the kind of nitty-gritty detail that publishing executives, literary agents, and international rights specialists need to make informed decisions regarding the rights to their work, and the market landscape in publishing. So, without further adieu, what does this site, and the team behind it, have to offer?
Long-ranging perspective
Looking into the site archives, it is easy to establish the long-running credentials of the publishers and editors behind Publishing Perspectives. Dating back to 2009, the compelling featured articles published daily by the site deal with cultural issues, changing landscapes in copyright law, and upcoming events in the publishing world. Looking way back in the site's archives, it's easy to see the international reach of Publishing Perspective's journalism, through articles focused on Scandinavia, to America, to Britain. Their earliest articles deal with Muslim voices in art and literature, African literature in America, and the debate around the inheritance of Stieg Larsson's estate, the late author of the Millennium trilogy (which began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Past articles approaching these hot-topic issues demonstrate how in-touch Publishing Perspectives has always been with the literary world, and foretell the quality of contemporary features on the site.
Up-to-date reporting
The articles at Publishing Perspectives are current and frequent. Each day, new articles are posted featuring interviews with authors and providing marketplace insight. For those of us belonging to the tech savvy social-networking generation, Publishing Perspectives offers an excellent social media presence with links prominently displayed in the top right of their site. These assets are also worth considering when choosing Publishing Perspectives as a platform to market your own work. For the less tech-savvy of us, there is a mailing list, which will keep subscribers up to date on daily articles via e-mail.
Speaking of daily articles: content at Publishing Perspectives is written by a standing pool of professional journalists stationed in various parts of the world and offers a wide variety of viewpoints and intersectional publishing advice and news. Indeed, it is perhaps the newspaper style of Publishing Perspectives that makes their offerings so valuable. Rather than opinion pieces, the featured articles tend to focus on interviews, upcoming or current events, and coverage of important changes in the publishing arena. Current featured articles range from an interview with Canadian Author Patrick deWitt addressing the changes made to his novel in the motion picture adaptation; to speculation about the upcoming Frankfurt Bookfair and International Publishing Conference; and the movement of several children's titles published by Kids Can Press, to television.
Regional and international developments
Beyond these featured articles are any number of past articles from a variety of authors and journalists. However, where this website really shines is in their consistent and organized tagging method, allowing a user to track down the exact type of content they need. In the features section of the website, along the right-hand side, are a number of useful tags for retrieving exactly the information required from an archive containing hundreds of articles. Country and region tags help users narrow down the articles so that they can stay up to date on news that affects them directly; and popular topic tags allow users to quickly find all articles associated with a certain keyword. To offer a quick example, choosing the keywords Digital Publishing turns up nearly 800 articles, the most recent of which was published only eight days previous. Topics range from an interview of Liying Lin (director of the Beijing Book Fair) on China's book market, to discussion of an up-and-coming book marketing platform in the UK called The Pigeonhole. All articles posted on Publishing Perspectives are well written, and well edited, and most of them provide a host of links to outside sources and citations when financials become involved, or context is necessary.
Major news
In addition to the general articles and features that are prominently displayed on the home page of Publishing Perspectives, there is a section of the site set aside for major news stories. These are the announcements regarding publishing, authors, and digital developments, which no one in the writing or publishing world should miss out on. Curated here is the most necessary information, including financials and other major news updates that have the potential to change the publishing landscape significantly, or to have an immediate impact on the publishing and writing world. The most recent article here addresses the change in CFO at Penguin Random House publishing, and the 2020 World Book Capital. By reading a quick-hitting Industry Notes article, a Publishing Perspectives user can quickly become up-to-date with the hottest revelations in the industry, and thus, better speculate on the impact of those changes on themselves, and their business concerns.
Print magazine
In addition to their online articles, the team at Publishing Perspectives offers a physical publication in circulation at the Frankfurt Book Fair. This publication reaches every booth at the fair and is highly visible at the event. Within its pages are paid promotions (available through applications on their magazine webpage) and articles of the same news-worthiness present in their online offerings. The magazine is designed to boost the visibility of events, titles, and services during the Frankfurt Book Fair and can be an asset to any individual or group looking to make their mark at that event.
Bonus: The hot sheet
We've mentioned the Chief Editor at Publishing Perspectives: Porter Anderson. A man of many talents, Mr. Anderson co-publishes a writing resource called The Hot Sheet, with Jane Friedman. He is a journalist, speaker, consultant, and the former Associate Editor for The Bookseller's The FutureBook in London. Friedman, by contrast, is a writer and professor with over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry and previously the editorial director at Writer's Digest. Yes, that Writer's Digest. Together, they have more than forty years of experience in publishing and journalism, and The Hot Sheet is a publication meant to bring the benefit of this experience to their subscribers.
The Hot Sheet can act as a complimentary resource for users of the main site described here, and may appeal more to the amateur and indie writers in the crowd. Bringing his experience with Publishing Perspectives to bear on this pay-to-play publication, he and his co-publisher Jane Friedman provide a differently focused approach to describing the publishing world.
Unlike the articles of Publishing Perspectives, which focus their content on an audience of literary agents, publishers and international rights specialists: The Hot Sheet considers independent authors, writers and small publishers their most prominent audience. So, what does this publication offer? In their own words: We point out the most relevant trends and news items for authors, in plain English, with bottom-line takeaways—often trends and news that are not covered by the major industry publications.
Of course, such a resource can be a welcome asset to independent authors who would otherwise need to scour several different websites to glean the same information; or to writers who would rather focus their attention on their novel, than on the investigative journalism required to make sense of the digital publishing arena. It comes with a monthly $5 subscription fee and interested parties can preview The Hot Sheet for thirty days, for free. This is an offer that shouldn't be passed up.
Last words
Whether you are a publishing executive, literary agent, writer, aspiring author or international rights specialist, Publishing Perspectives and the team behind it have a lot to offer you. The main site described here offers a treasure trove of articles that are relevant to industry leaders, independent authors, amateur writers and self-publishers alike. Since the services are all provided for free, there is no harm in checking out the site and reading some articles for yourself. Then, if the quality writing and high-value content grab you, follow the team on social media, or sign up for the free newsletter. If you are impressed by offerings on the main site, consider checking out the free trial of The Hot Sheet (or if you are an aspiring writer, and less concerned with the ins-and-outs of the publishing world, consider starting at The Hot Sheet, and checking out Publishing Perspectives afterwards). Then, after all of this free content: if it blows you away, consider supporting the publication with an annual subscription, or by choosing Publishing Perspectives as a part of your marketing platform.