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This is just another reason I'm skipping the standard route to being published. I gleaned this little tidbit of info from another struggling author.  Dawn
Link to her Myspace account If you get a chance, read her blogs. And now on with the terrible figures... Major presses:
Less than 1% of publishers (6 Sisters-Bertelsmann, von Holtzbrink, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner, and Hyperion) control more than half of all North American trade publishing. The other 99% is made up of 300-400 medium-size publishers, and 53,000 small presses and self-publishers ~Michael Larsen-Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents (2005 figures)
These companies control more than half of all mystery publishing:
Berkeley Prime Crime, Avon Crime, Hyperion, St. Martins/Minotaur, Penguin Pocket, and Warner. 2005 figures
In 2004 Penguin Group, was reported to be in trouble. Sales dropped 6.4%, to 786 million pounds ($1.44 billion), Operating profit down 41%, to 54 million pounds ($99 million). Excluding the impact of the weak dollar, sales for the group were flat, and earnings fell 24%. ~Publishers Weekly, March 2005
Small presses
[Sharon's note: the definition of small press differs, depending on who is talking, so it's hard to get a count. It's the old comparing apples and oranges thing, but here are some figures quoted by different sources.]
Small presses can be divided into sub-groups by what their annual revenue is each years:
63,000 small presses have an annual revenue of less than $50 million, and combined, these 63,000 presses generated sales of $14.2 billion.
3,600 small presses have annual revenue of between $1 million to $49.9 million, and combined, these 3,600 presses generated sales of $11.5 billion.
594,000 small presses have annual revenue of about $5,000 per year, and combined, these 594,000 presses generated revenue of about $2.7 billion. [Sharon's note: many of these small presses may be publishing one title a year, such as a church group that publishes a cookbook.] Book Industry Study Group, 2005
More than 7,000 new publishers come into being every year. ~Publishers Weekly, 2005
50,000 is a conservative estimate of the small independent publishing houses across the country. ~Small Press Center for Independent Publishing, 2005
A small press: less than $50 million in business every year. ~Laura Newpoff, The Business Journal of Phoenix, Nov 2005
$1 million in business a year is very, very small by the traditional definition of a small press. We publish 40 books a year, and after costs, make $2 per copy sold. Typical for most small presses.
~Poison Pen Press, 2005 Global figures
172,000 new titles and editions were published in North America in 2005.
The number of small house titles declined 7%
The number of medium house titles declined 10%
The number of large house titles declined 15%
New titles from the largest houses fell 4.7%, to 23,017, while new titles from university press rose 1.8%.
Every broad non-fiction category, except legal, had significant declines. Children's books down by double-digits. Sports and rec up by 22%. Adult fiction up by 6.9%.
With costs increasing, publishers are being cautious about the number of titles they will publish in 2006.
~2005 figures, Gary Aielo, COO of R.R. Bowker
[Sharon's Note: 2004 is the last year for which Bowker has finished (or is close to finishing) actually counting books published, and the numbers are disputed to several people who responded to the article. Most people who responded felt that the numbers reported for books being published were too low. "Adult fiction" means all fiction regardless of genre.]
In 2004:
There were about 1,500 very large publishers other than Random, Simon, Harper, Penguin and Holtzbrinck who are publishing adult fiction.
7,000 to 8,000 "very respectable mid-size publishers who publish adult fiction."
The 12 largest New York trade houses published 5,125 works of adult fiction.
University presses published 295 works of adult fiction.
Major book review organs reviewed 7,752 works of adult fiction.
~Bowker, ISBN and data base provider
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