The Dangers of the Big Book Economy

There have been alot of articles of late about whether publishing needs to re invent itself as an industry (yes, I say) rather than rely on the big book theory of financial success.  The big book theory was articulated most recently by Elberse in a Harvard publication (go look at my Sunday article if you want the link now or come back when I edit the post) as publishers focusing on bestsellers to drive the bus. One example of this going very wrong is Scholastic who, without Harry Potter, posted a revenue loss of 46% in the first quarter ending August 31 and a net loss of $44.7 million.  Looks like Scholastic needs a bailout.

<blockquote> Scholastic continues to keep its focus on cutting costs and has implemented a hiring freeze and voluntary retirement program.</blockquote>