100 sites for fiction writers: #14 - Publishers Weekly

This is an ongoing series looking at websites that can be of help to fiction writers with their craft and career.

Publishers Weekly

This trade magazine about book publishing and book selling has been around for more than a century. In all that time it has provided book reviews and industry news not only to publishers and editors, but also to writers, librarians, literary agents, book store employees and anyone else with interests in publishing.

Publishers Weekly covers everything having to do with books, including publishing, marketing, and ... well, everything. For nearly two decades now, the magazine's website had provided much the same information and news to online readers.

News and reviews are probably what this site and magazine are mostly known for, but the website offers plenty more. For example, if you like to keep up with what new books are coming out, you might want to check Publishers Weekly's New Titles section. You can also keep track of the latest bestseller lists. There is even aChildren's section in case you have a child, or a bunch of children, at home clamoring for you to read to them.

As for the news, you can keep track of Book News and/or Industry News. In keeping with the modern world, there is even a Digital section for news pertaining to e-books and digital publishing. For those looking for something different, they might consider the International section of the site.

For further news and entertainment, there is the Blogs section, which has opinion pieces, editorials, columns and blog-related news and posts.

There are even author profiles and a section on comics, as well as sections about cooking, religion and audio books.

There is so much information to be found at the Publishers Weekly site, it's likely you could spend weeks if not months trying to read it all. The site even archives its reviews going back a decade.

What Publishers Weekly does for fiction writers is it provides all kinds of news related to publishing, information which writers should want to be abreast of. No, you can't always know every single piece of news, but you can at least keep track of major trends, new big-name authors, new books being published, etc. It can pay for a writer to know their field.

Now, admittedly, there are some who feel Publishers Weekly is a bit too old school. In the age of digital publishing there is a division going on in the book publishing world between those who are embracing e-books and those who are taking things a little slower concerning e-books. Publishers Weekly, as a publication, sometimes faces accusations of not embracing digital publishing technology. I'm not suggesting I agree or disagree with that assessment; I'm just pointing out it's an accusation I've read and heard more than once. I will say that I feel Publishers Weekly is coming along, though probably not fast enough for some folks. Personally, I think Publishers Weekly will get there. Just give them time. The magazine has been part of the book publishing industry since 1872, and it that time it has faced all kinds of changes, so I'm guessing the magazine will continue to work at dealing with today's technological and economic climate.