ACMA Promotes Paul Miller to EVP/Managing Director

Lee Enterprises is on course with its digital transformation, judging by its Q4 and fiscal 2022 results. The publisher, which now bills itself as a digital-first subscription platform, reported total digital revenue of $65 million in Q4, a 31% increase YoY. In contrast, overall revenue was flat at $194 million. The results were similar for fiscal 2022: Total operating revenue was $781 million, down 2% from the prior year. But digital revenue grew by 27% to $240 million.

Readers purchased 825 million copies of print books in the U.S. in 2021—the best-selling year for print books, NPD Bookscan says, since it began tracking data in 2004—and analysts believe young people posting about books on social media played a serious role in those big numbers. The U.S. print book market was up 9% compared to 2020, according to NPD Bookscan, finishing 67 million copies ahead of 2020, and selling 125 million more copies than in 2019. Kristen McLean, executive director and industry analyst at NPD Bookscan, said social media—particularly TikTok users who post about books, known collectively as BookTok—has “definitely been a factor” in surging book sales, along with the pandemic in general, with many of the sales gains coming in Q1 and Q2 before the Covid-19 vaccines were widely available.

Meredith Corporation's PARENTS magazine's August "Raise a Reader" issue, available now, debuts its first-ever list of 100 Books to Inspire Your Kids covering a wide range of titles to help turn children of all ages into readers. To create the list, PARENTS asked celebrated authors to share the book that opened their or their children's eyes to the joy of reading. The issue's cover story features NBC's TODAY co-host Jenna Bush Hager, who shares how literacy has touched her life. Other features include tips on how to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read and the announcement of Raising the Future Book Club that will launch August 7. The Raising the Future Book Club launches with its first selection, Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, Ph.D., who will lead a discussion of the book on PARENTS' Instagram on August 7 at 3:00 P.M.(ET). For details, visit http://parents.com/bookclub.