Re: [ha-Safran] statistics on Jewish book publishing in US
[This post self-edited with fire-extinguisher, but there may be some hot spots. Beware] Between 17-18 of these titles would be unsuitable, unacceptable or offensive in any Jewish library. This is not counting Kabbalah center productions and some other fairly venal narishkeit. The list is updated hourly which means that it in no way indicates which books have legs and which are just having a brief or very brief moment in the sun. All of the data that Amazon presents is the product of data mining. Clearly from my comments above, and more that others could make, Amazon's data-mining is not tweaked to serve the informational needs of the Jewish library community. It probably could be, but it is not. I understand the curiosity about the issues of the demographics of Book publishing. However, JEWISH book publishing is something that Amazon is only marginally associated with. Much of the important work in Jewish publishing is being done well below the radar of Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the other large players in the book trade. The people who do that work operate in an environment where the issue is more likely to be how to keep the ball rolling (getting the next important book out) rather that how to make an enormous return on investment to satisfy the shareholders. Best Regards, Henry Hollander Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran] statistics on Jewish book publishing in US
Hi again, I did find the Jewish best sellers on Amazon. I first had to go to the best sellers list and then on the left was a list of categories. I started with religion and then clicked on Jewish to get to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/12540/ref=pd_ts_b_nav/103-5165967-4427011http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/12540/ref=pd_ts_b_nav/103-5165967-4427011 Dina Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran] statistics on Jewish book publishing in US
Here is an interesting point regarding sales of books with Jewish content. I know that Hadassah has a list of top books sold by Jewish content, and we found the list is different from the books that we sell at a Judaica store where I work in Seattle. We did contact someone, and we were told that lists such as these were compiled by sales at major chains or major book stores. I wonder how much that skews the results that you are looking for. I would think that the publishers would be a better source, but they actually only know how many books that they have shipped to book sellers. (Also, since Night by Weisel was an Oprah choice, sales jumped dramatically.) At one point, it was possible to see what the top ranked sellers were on Amazon. I just found the Jewish bestsellers there, but I could not find the rankings. I'm sure that web ordering has significantly changed the books that are sold too. Dina Tanners Seattle, WA Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran] statistics on Jewish book publishing in US
Jewish Book World has said that it reviews between 600-700 books anually, and more than 400 new titles are submitted each year as candidates for the National Jewish Book Awards. I, too, have been looking for statistics on Jewish book publishing, and I think I've posted requests on hasafran. Can anyone direct me to a list Moment Magazine once printed of the bestselling Jewish books of all time, and/or a source of statistics for the number of copies sold of books like Wiesel's NIGHT or other popular Jewish writers, such as Faye Kellerman? I came across a note about Lamm's Jewish Way in Death and Mourning which says it sold 320,000 copies and is one of the top sellers in Judaica, which I found very surprising... I would like information on these sorts of things and also about trends in the industry. Andrea Rapp Wise Temple, Cincinnati Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
