The Bookseller has redesigned its printed magazine bringing books and authors to the front of the weekly edition for the first time. The issue opens with an interview with Natasha Brown, author of the bestselling Assembly, talking about her forthcoming new book Universality, before its regular Paperback, and Children’s Previews. The relaunch issue also includes for the first time a ranking of editors, based on the sales success of their books, as well as prize wins.
The redesign was orchestrated by The Bookseller’s head of design Danny Arter, and led by The Bookseller’s editor Philip Jones, books editor Alice O’Keeffe and managing editor Tom Tivnan. It follows research into how booksellers and other subscribers used the weekly edition. It found that the book previews were particularly well regarded, used to select stock and make key decisions around ordering, with trade book buyers also using the material to figure out how a new title might land, with jackets a key indicator of positioning and expected publisher support.
A rethink as to where the printed magazine adds value, informed the redesign and meant a reshuffle of the order of the content, said Jones. “For most of its 166 years, The Bookseller has existed in just one format, either as a monthly or weekly publication. But today we manifest in many ways: from our website, to our show dailies, to our social media, to our events.”
That, he added, created an opportunity for the magazine to further carve out a specific space for itself, aligned with the wider family of products but different. “To thrive and retain its place, the printed magazine has to be distinct, equipped to use the virtues and advantages that print still offers around display and layout to present this books and market content in the most effective way.”
The research also found that The Bookseller’s audience wanted more information around how the market was behaving, how the trade was changing and what was selling through bookshops. Hence a revamped features section in the heart of the magazine, as well as an expanded charts and data area at the back – written and compiled, as if by design, by independent bookseller Alex Call.
