 |
Book Reviews,
Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers |
| Home / Jim Cox Reports / Jim Cox Report: April 2025 |
Jim Cox Report: April 2025
Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:
Here's one of the reasons I'm still (at the ripe old age of 82) at the helm of the Midwest Book Review and slaving away for 2 or 3 hours every morning in my office:
Hi Jim,
Your lightning-speed answer is proof that your name in the industry is legendary for a reason.
Thank you for giving me a hand.
Enjoy your day,
Marin
https://fontreal.com
And now with that bit of ego boost aside --
As I've often mentioned, one of the perks of being in charge of the Midwest Book Review is having my attention brought to interesting information and resources for writers and independent publishers on the internet. That is how I came to learn from Kyle about a Grand Canyon University (Maricopa County, Arizona) study on reading demographics in the U.S.
Hi James,
Being forced to read a book can take the fun out of the adventure, but a new study from Grand Canyon University unveils the books students love the most.
To identify the most popular required school reading books, GCU analyzed common college reading books, according to Goodreads. Then, they collected the average star rating out of a possible 5 and the number of reviewers for each title, ultimately ranking the titles according to the star ratings of readers. Here's what they found:
The oldest book on the list, "Pride and Prejudice," is over 200 years old (published in 1813).
The newest book on the list, "A Thousand Splendid Suns," was published just 17 years ago in 2007.
8 of the 10 books have been adapted into movies, including the three Lord of the Rings books and most recently, Dune.
You can find more information on the study, including each state's favorite required reading book, right here.
I think this would be an interesting piece for your audience. What are your thoughts on these books? Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to use this graphic!
Thanks, -- Kyle
Here are some links to other Reading Habits studies and information resources:
An Analysis of Study Habits, According to Students Across the U.S.
https://www.gcu.edu/blog/gcu-experience/analysis-study-habits-according-students-across-us
Reading Habits in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts
https://www.statista.com/topics/3928/reading-habits-in-the-us
Do More Than Half of Americans Read Below 6th-Grade Level?
https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/02/us-literacy-rate
77+ US Reading Statistics
https://www.thinkimpact.com/reading-statistics
Adult Literacy in the United States
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp
I received via an email PR another item of interest to writers, publishers, and most of all -- independent bookstore owners: It's from Grace Hagen (Interim Executive Director of the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association) about one of their major projects.
Midwest Independent Booksellers Association
https://www.midwestbooksellers.org
There are sections devoted to Bestseller List, Find a Bookstore, Calendar, and Subscribe -- and a great deal more.
Of special note is the information provided about MIBA's Spring Road Trip: May 12th and 13th in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. The MIBA Spring Road Trip is a unique opportunity to network between booksellers, industry staff, independent publishers, freelance book publicists, and authors in an intimate setting while enjoying the uniqueness of Mineral Point. Attendees will experience author talks, rep picks, idea-sharing, education sessions, inspiration, and peer-to-peer support for booksellers and for industry professionals.
You can register on the MIBA link for their Spring Road Trip:
https://www.midwestbooksellers.org/spring-road-trip-2025
Quote of the Month
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss
Websites of the Month
Literacy Statistics 2024- 2025 (Where we are now)
https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/post/literacy-statistics-2024-2025-where-we-are-now
I'm a big fan of comedian John Ohliger and his weekly TV show "Last Week Tonight"
https://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver
I'm also one of those who has despised what has happened to such social media sources ad Twitter (X), Facebook, and the rest of them. Instead of sources for intelligent conversation and debate, they have (in my 82 year old opinion) cesspool sources of deliberate misinformation, disinformation, misrepresentation, lies, bullying, and emotional abuse. So when Ohliger created a website showing anyone who feels like I do and is in need of a way to disentangle themselves from such sources I thought I'd pass the link along to you:
How to change your settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta
https://johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com
Now here are reviews of books that have a particular interest or value to authors and publishers:
The Profitable Author
Sharon Woodhouse
Everything Goes Media, LLC
www.conspirecreative.com
9781734145274, $24.95, PB, 508pp
https://www.amazon.com/Profitable-Author-Build-Business-Around/dp/1734145277
Synopsis: The message from Sharon Woodhouse in "The Profitable Author: 1,001 Ways to Build a Business You Love Around Your Books" is to stop dreaming about making it as an author and start building a sustainable business you love from the books you write.
It's critically important reading for aspiring and practicing authors who are tired of earning meager royalties or Amazon deposits. For authors who want to turn their passion for writing into a profitable business. In the pages of "The Profitable Author", successful publishing veteran Woodhouse reveals her insider secrets to creating a multi-faceted author career that goes beyond book sales.
Drawing on over 25 years of experience as an independent publisher, Woodhouse provides a practical framework for building a sustainable and rewarding author life. This isn't about chasing bestsellers or landing a movie deal (though those are nice when they happen). It's about understanding the business of being an author, implementing proven DIY strategies (over 1,001!) to generate multiple streams of income from your books, expertise, and experience, and empowering you to take charge of your author journey.
"The Profitable Author" guides writers step-by-step through:
Identifying 15 different author income streams, from ebook sales and events to services, merch, and rights sales.
Designing a customized author business model that aligns with your goals, values, and lifestyle.
Unlocking creative financing hacks to fund your dreams.
Finessing author events (and getting paid!).
Unleashing your inner entrepreneur and monetizing your expertise.
Embracing the power of non-bookstore and volume sales.
Mastering essential business skills (without losing your creative spark), including marketing, sales, negotiating, networking, and mindset.
Crafting a fabulous sales and marketing plan tailored to YOU and your books, whether you're a fiction writer, a nonfiction expert, a cookbook queen, or a children's book hero.
Cultivating a network of support to help you thrive as an authorpreneur.
Packed from cover to cover with real-world examples, actionable advice, and inspiring insights, "The Profitable Author" is an essential guide to creating the author life and revenue generating business you deserve. Stop waiting for success to find you -- take charge and build the profitable author business you love with "The Profitable Author".
Critique: Far more than just another 'how to get published and sell a lot of books' instructional guide, "The Profitable Author: 1,001 Ways to Build a Business You Love Around Your Books" is a compendium of practical, proven, DIY actions and activities that you can use from a business perspective on what you write and the audiences you write for. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "The Profitable Author" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Writing/Publishing instructional reference collections and workshops, it should be noted that this paperback edition from Everything Goes Media, LLC is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Sharon Woodhouse (www.conspirecreative.com/sharon-woodhouse) is an author, former indie book publisher, and current owner of Conspire Creative -- a book business agency that offers coaching, consulting, project management, and business support services for authors and indie publishers. She writes about all aspects of creating holistic, income-generating author businesses you love and finding your place in the vibrant ecosystem of books. She has helped tens of thousands of other authors and publishers through her teaching, group coaching, and writing.
In 1994, Woodhouse founded her first publishing company and created with a small staff the beloved Chicago brand of Lake Claremont Press. LCP published over 500,000 books of 80 different titles in its 25 years and won 30 small press awards. In 2011, she started Everything Goes Media, LLC, to encompass her growing range of book industry activities, including consulting, coaching, mediation, print brokering, private publishing, and project management, adding the Conspire Creative name in 2015.
How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals: 3rd Edition
David J. Ketchen Jr., Timothy Clark, Mike Wright, editors
Edward Elgar Publishing
www.e-elgar.com
9781035322428, $170.77, HC, 400pp
https://www.amazon.com/How-Published-Best-Management-Journals/dp/1035322420
This newly revised and extended third edition of "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" is collaboratively compiled and co-edited by the team of David J. Ketchen Jr., Timothy Clark, and the late Mike Wright. It draws on a wealth of knowledge and 'real world' expertise from leading scholars and journal editors to showcase the latest advice in securing publication in the world's top management journals.
The contributors expand on the impact of research, explain how to attract and retain co-authors and provide guidance for positioning research papers for publication within journals of various disciplines within the management field. They also delve into the intersection of management journal publishing and psychology, the ethics and integrity in the industry, and explore the nuances of special issues and open access publications.
Of special note are the chapters offering guidance on effectively developing the front end of your research paper, constructing a successful research portfolio and pipeline, and managing a career in business research which have been added to this latest edition of "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals".
Critique: Comprised of 40 informative articles deftly organized into three major sections (The Publishing Process; Resolving Practical Key Issues, Publishing Across Disciplinary Boundaries), this third edition of "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" is informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with a ten page listing of the contributors and their credentials, a one page Preface, and a sixteen page Index. Impressively comprehensive and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals: 3rd Edition" from Edward Elgar Publishing is an ideal for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Business & Academic Writing collections, and supplemental MBA & Creative Writing Composition studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: David J. Ketchen, Jr. is a Harbert Eminent Scholar and Professor of Management, Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University, USA, (https://harbert.auburn.edu/directory/dave-ketchen.html)
Editorial Note #2: Timothy Clark, Provost and Professor, Singapore Management University, Singapore. (https://www.smu.edu.sg/about/smu-leadership/provosts-profile)
Editorial Note #3: Mike Wright (1952 - 25 November 2019) was Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director, Centre for Management Buyout Research, Imperial College Business School, London, UK (www.imperial.ac.uk/news/194251/business-school-honours-life-work-professor/)
Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview
Joanne McCall
www.joannemccall.com
The Wright Publishing House
9781736095010, $24.95, HC, 196pp
https://www.amazon.com/Media-Darling-Shine-Through-Interview/dp/1736095013
Synopsis: With the publication of "Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview", media insider, publicist, PR coach, and trainer Joanne McCall, shares her advice and insider secrets for building your audience and networks, and delivering impactful interviews on top-tier media outlets.
With so many channels and media opportunities available, NOT getting media trained can really hurt you, but sticker shock is real. "Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview" packs on the actionable advice you need, and is the next best thing to expensive training.
"Media Darling" is a step-by-step DIY guide to becoming a Media Darling and contains the tools needed for success. This is about coming across as the amazing influencer you know you are (or could be) and doing it in such a way that those watching you know you are too.
In the pages of "Media Darling" you will learn how to:
Master getting noticed in an incredibly noisy world
Determine effective media messages that show your expertise
Know your key messages and why that is absolutely essential
Launch an interview so that the audience sticks around for the entire show
How to elegantly handle surprises while being interviewed
The top media No-Nos
Tips for on-camera interviews
Master the Inner and Outer games of media
And more...
Critique: "Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview" should be considered required reading for authors, speakers, consultants, coaches, entrepreneurs, influencers, and thought leaders who want to look confident, poised, focused, and skilled anytime they are on-camera doing a media interview, creating a video, or doing their next "live" appearance on radio, television, or zoom interview. Comprehensive, reader friendly in organization and presentation, and an unreservedly recommended pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library DIY Promotion/Publicity collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists and writer/business workshop curriculums that this hardcover edition of "Media Darling" from The Wright Publishing House is also readily available in paperback (9781736095003, $16.950) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).
Editorial Note: Joanne McCall (www.joannemccall.com) is a true media insider and a veteran publicist who for the past 20+ years has operated on a first-name basis with hundreds of top-tier producers, editors, and writers at such outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Today, CNN, NBC, PBS, NPR, Readers Digest, Guideposts, Sun Media, and many others. Through online programs and consultations, she trains entrepreneurs, coaches, and consultants on how to attract media, work with them once they land the interview, and finally helps them to deliver a fantastic interview. She also pitches and books her clients for countless media opportunities. McCall has a communications degree with a certificate in conflict resolution and business.
"The Midwest Book Review Postage Stamp Hall Of Fame & Appreciation" is a monthly roster of well-wishers and supporters. These are the generous folk who decided to say 'thank you' and 'support the cause' that is the Midwest Book Review by donating to our postage stamp fund.
Jane Byrne
Willem Els
Harold Bashor
Enrique Guardado
Michael Tidemann -- "Coteu"
Gin Coleman -- "Desert Brave"
Brigitte Gawenda -- "Play Smart"
Richard-Hubert Clarke -- "Equation"
Cheryl Arko -- "Touch of the Elegrian"
Shireen Jeejeebhoy -- "The Soul's Awakening"
Victoria Barbosa -- "The Ring of the Dark Elves"
Dana Farrell -- "If It Wasn't for the Orange Grove"
Brian O'Riordan -- "Prepare to Tack: Lessons for Managing a Growing Business"
LiquidMind
Book Award Pro
CS Results Marketing
Paramount Market Publishing
Elizabeth Frazier -- Waldmania! PR
In lieu of (or in addition to!) postage stamp donations, we also accept PayPal gifts of support to our postage stamp fund for what we try to accomplish in behalf of the small press community.
Simply log onto your PayPal account and direct your kindness (in any amount and at your discretion) to the Midwest Book Review at: SupportMBR [at] aol.com (The @ is replaced by "[at]" in the above email address, in an attempt to avoid email-harvesting spambots.)
If you have postage stamps to donate, or if you have a book you'd like considered for review, then send those postage stamps (always appreciated, never required), or a published copy of that book (no galleys, uncorrected proofs, or Advance Reading Copies), accompanied by a cover letter and some form of publicity release to my attention at the address below.
All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review website at www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/jimcox.htm. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to be signed up for it.
So until next time -- goodbye, good luck, and good reading!
Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
www.midwestbookreview.com
James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
www.midwestbookreview.com
Copyright ©2001
Site design by Williams Writing, Editing &
Design