Schedule and Location

Our group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Nokomis Fire Station. From Sarasota or North, proceed a few blocks south of Albee Road on US 41 (past Matthews-Currie Ford) to Pavonia Road. Turn right (West, toward the bay) at the Fire Station's flashing yellow caution traffic light. From the south on US 41, we are two blocks north of Dona Bay. Turn left onto Pavonia Road at the flashing yellow caution light. At the Fire Station, drive to the fire hall's far end or west side; PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DOORS! We gather in the training room at the far end of the complex for a meet and greet at 6:00 pm but call the Meeting to order at 6:30 pm and take a Ten-minute break at around 7:50 pm. Meeting Adjourns: 9:00 pm

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Mind-boggling Publishing Statistics

The Dan Poynter newsletter recently had a blurb about publishing statistics and referred the reader to the website: http://bookstatistics.com. Here are just a few of the stats. There are literally dozens of amazing statistics that can generate both enthusiasm and depression, depending upon the stat and also upon your current writing/publishing situation. Here are just a few examples.

A new book is published every 30 seconds.

78% of the titles come from small/self-publishers.

80% of the book sales are controlled by five conglomerates: Bertelsmann (Random House), Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Time-Warner, Disney, and Viacom/CBS.

Lightning Source grew from 3 employees in 1997 to more than 500 today; the company digitally scans about 2,000 books a week and prints 1.2 million books a month. "It took us 7 years to print 10 million books," says Lightning Source VIP Kirby Best. "This year we published 10 million books in the first 11 months."

Contributed by Russ Heitz
www.russheitz.com