‘The Wall Street Journal’ Drops Bestseller Lists (mediapost.com)

Let's be honest, although many attempt to do so, there is no way to find a positive spin to the data in this industry-wide report showing magazine ads down another 16%. As an industry, we have seen negative numbers every year for a decade. Were you expecting a change? Newsstand sales of magazines have plummeted at least 50%, and periodicals run through the USPS have dropped 55% and diminish each year. Meanwhile ad sales, as seen in this report, continue on their long decline seeking a yet undiscovered plateau. We have seen associations use sleight of hand to try to change the subject and use illusory metrics, like “likes” instead of real data that show magazine growth. Has that helped? We have seen pundits declare that all is well and that print will live and be prosperous forever. Neither of those are helpful as a solution nor a recognition of the situation at hand. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Print continues to be the preferred media for magazine and book readers, challenging conventional industry thinking that digital is dominant. There’s little doubt that the global media and publishing industries are putting a lot of effort into pushing readers online. Whether it’s books, magazines, newspapers or advertising, the vast majority of investment is being made into the virtual rather than the physical, with companies focusing solely on digital at the expense of print. But it seems that readers are pushing back against the rising swell of digital content, continuing to show love for the traditional format and its many benefits. This love has been demonstrated in a number of recent studies, which show the enduring popularity of print magazines around the world and record-breaking figures for print book sales.

Amazon Books opened its 11th store today, and its second in New York City. Located on 34th Street, the store sits sitting directly across the street from the Empire State Building. The new outlet has about 3,700 titles available for sale that range from bestsellers to "hidden gems" and are selected in part from reviews from Amazon customers. Books in 34th St. store, Amazon said, have received a total of 1.8 million 5-star reviews. There is also ample room given to Amazon's various digital devices including Kindle Echo, and Fire Tablet lines. Click Read More below for more of the story.