@MikeShatzkinIn the Media
On this page are links to articles and interviews featuring Mike Shatzkin and his parents, Leonard and Eleanor. Links to some publications require paid subscriptions to view the content.
E-Books Top Hardcovers at Amazon
By Claire Cain Miller | Published July 19, 2010
Book lovers mourning the demise of hardcover books with their heft and their musty smell need a reality check, said Mike Shatzkin, founder and chief executive of the Idea Logical Company, which advises book publishers on digital change. “This was a day that was going to come, a day that had to come,” he said. He predicts that within a decade, fewer than 25 percent of all books sold will be print versions.
By Geoffrey A. Fowler & Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg| Published June 3, 2010
Fueling the shift is the growing popularity of electronic books, which few people were willing to read even three years ago. Apple Inc.’ s iPad and e-reading devices such as Amazon’s Kindle have made buying and reading digital books easy. U.S. book sales fell 1.8% last year to $23.9 billion, but e-book sales tripled to $313 million, according to the Association of American Publishers. E-book sales could reach as high as 20% to 25% of the total book market by 2012, according to Mike Shatzkin, a publishing consultant, up from an estimated 5% to 10% today.
Amazon to Sell Its E-Reader at Target
By Julie Bosman | Published June 2, 2010
Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of Idea Logical, which helps publishers develop digital strategies, said he thought that Amazon was feeling vulnerable. “They’re trying to spread their wings and reach people they haven’t reached through Amazon,” Mr. Shatzkin said. “Once Kindle started, they pretty much were alone. And in the last three to six months, that’s changing.”
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg| Published May 21, 2010
“By the end of 2012, digital books will be 20% to 25% of unit sales, and that’s on the conservative side,” predicts Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of the Idea Logical Co., publishing consultants. “Add in another 25% of units sold online, and roughly half of all unit sales will be on the Internet.”
BISG Conference Message: Change or Die
In Publishers Weekly | Published May 07, 2010
The morning was officially kicked off by predictions by one of the conference organizers, Michael Shatzkin, that painted a frightening picture for traditional players in the book field. By the end of 2012, 25% of new narrative titles will be bought as e-books and with traditional bookstores predicted to close stores at a rapid rate, more books will be bought online than through brick-and-mortar stores, Shatzkin said.
Peering Into the Digital Future with Mike Shatzkin
Interview with the Audio Publishers Association | April 30, 2010
From time to time, the Audio Publishers Association hosts informative conference calls for the benefit of its members. April’s call was especially lively, featuring as it did Mike Shatzkin, long-time book industry insider, founder and CEO of consulting agency The Idea Logical Company, and outspoken prognosticator of the digital age.
Amazon Threatens Publishers as Apple Looms
By Motoko Rich & Brad Stone | Published March 17, 2010
But if Amazon tries to enforce its demands by removing “buy” buttons from some pages again, some believe it could harm its reputation in the eyes of customers and the publishing industry. “They cannot remove the ‘buy’ buttons from two major publishers’ lists without doing serious long-term damage to their own brand,” said Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of Idea Logical, a company that advises book publishers on e-books.
Math of Publishing Meets the E-Book
By Motoko Rich | Published February 28, 2010
“If you want bookstores to stay alive, then you want to slow down this movement to e-books,” said Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of the Idea Logical Company, a consultant to publishers. “The simplest way to slow down e-books is not to make them too cheap.”
BTB #153: From the Frontlines of the E-book Wars
Beyond the Book podcast (with full transcript) | February 10, 2010
Recorded live with a national online audience and caller participation, this special report covers breaking news from the front lines and battlefields of the e-book wars. Chris Kenneally interviewed the leading journalists and analysts who are covering this first break-out story of the year in publishing, including Andrew Albanese, features editor at Publishers Weekly; Sara Nelson, Books Editor, “O” Magazine; Brian O’Leary, Founder & Principal, Magellan Media Partners; Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO, The Idea Logical Company, Inc.
Publisher Wins Fight With Amazon Over E-Books
By Motoko Rich & Brad Stone | Published January 31, 2010
Analysts say Amazon, which accounts for 15 to 20 percent of domestic book sales, probably realized it could not compete with Apple if it wasn’t offering the same range of content. “Amazon figured out pretty quickly that this was a battle they could not win,” said Mike Shatzkin, the chief of the Idea Logical Company, a consultant to publishers.
Apple Courts Publishers, While Kindle Adds Apps
By Brad Stone & Motoko Rich | Published January 20, 2010
“The more companies that control consumer transactions, the more important the publishers’ role will be,” said Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of Idealog, which helps publishers develop digital strategies. “If Apple enters this market, and in three months Google follows, we may be looking at a completely different e-book world in the next year.”
BTB #146: At Digital Book World, A is for ‘Audience’
Beyond the Book podcast (with full transcript) | January 17, 2010
Next week, the two-day Digital Book World conference gets underway in New York City at a moment when – for better or for worse – the digital tide may become a tsunami for the book publishing world. Ahead of the first-time conference, Chris Kenneally spoke with Conference Chair and industry pundit Mike Shatzkin, of the Idea Logical Company, and his DBW colleague Guy LeCharles Gonzalez for a special preview.
Report Finds 9 Million Illegal Downloads of E-Books
By Motoko Rich | January 14, 2010
“There’s a problem that Attributor is automatically suspect because they make a living helping publishers fight piracy,” said Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of Idea Logical Company, a book industry consultant, said many people who might illegally download an e-book would never have bought it in the first place.
Top Author Shifts E-Book Rights to Amazon.com
By Brad Stone & Motoko Rich | Published December 14, 2009
Mike Shatzkin, the chief executive of Idea Logical, which advises publishers on digital strategy, said that publishers were trying to minimize Amazon’s outsize influence in the book business and preserve their own. “Publishers are trying to herd Amazon back into their corner and keep it there,” he said. “But I think that this is going to be a very difficult situation for the big publishers to control.”
Barnes & Noble Plans e-Book Reader
By Geoffrey A. Fowler | Published October 9, 2009
Barnes & Noble Inc. plans to announce its own brand of digital-book reader that it could start selling as soon as next month, setting the stage for a holiday showdown with Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Corp. in the burgeoning market for electronic reading devices.
BTB #94: Publishing Has A Future? Yes!, Says ‘Round Table’ Panel
Beyond the Book podcast (with full transcript) | April 27, 2009
The audience were treated to crystal ball readings and insights on technology, marketing and business models from Paul Biba, Laura Dawson, Jeff Rivera, and Mike Shatzkin. Make no mistake: It is an earthquake you feel, but the re-shuffled landscape now emerging will uncover fertile ground.
Westchester Opinion: Working For an Unknown, Arif Nasr
By Joan Vos MacDonald | Published December 31, 1989
Eleanor and Len Shatzkin, who are both 70, have been supporters of Amnesty, but this is the first local group they have joined. In their travels for Mr. Shatzkin’s work as publishing consultant, they have noted firsthand the effectiveness of Amnesty International’s work in Hungary and Poland. … Mr. Shatzkin doesn’t find Arif’s case discouraging. “Just opening the newspaper these days is discouraging,” he said. “The fact that we are working to change things is encouraging. If you are new to human rights work you may expect quick results. If you’ve spent your life at it you learn to brace yourself for disappointment and delay. You know that changes come slowly.”… “In a world of immediate gratification,” Mrs. Shatzkin added, “this kind of work teaches another lesson.”
Publishing: Who Says Most Books Are Losers?
By Edwin McDowell | Published December 30, 1983
Leonard Shatzkin ruffled some feathers in the publishing industry last year with his book “In Cold Type: Overcoming the Book Crisis,” in which, among other suggestions, he recommended that publishers take over the responsibility of stocking bookstores rather than simply filling orders from booksellers. He is likely to ruffle even more feathers with his latest iconoclastic notion – namely, that it simply is not true that the majority of general-interest (“trade”) books lose money.
By Herbert Mitgang | Published August 10, 1982
So a book that comes along called “In Cold Type: Overcoming the Book Crisis” is most welcome. Its author, Leonard Shatzkin, is worth listening to because he has been around with several major houses and is a specialist in marketing books. He is also on the side of the angels – readers and authors and publishers struggling to survive and all the little elfs who labor in the woodshops and bookstores to produce and sell books.
