Founded in 1872, Publishers Weekly is the world's leading publication serving all segments involved in the creation, production, marketing and sale of the written word in book, audio, video and electronic formats.
Whether you're a writer or just interested in books, Publishers Weekly is the ideal source for everything you need to know about the industry. Each issue keeps readers informed with the latest book reviews, bestseller lists, and news and information about publishing.
Founded in 1885
Founded in 1885, Publishers Weekly is a weekly news magazine that covers the book publishing industry. It is targeted at publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors and the media, and publishes bestsellers lists, industry statistics, feature articles, book reviews and author interviews.
While the publication is best known for its pre-publication book reviews, it also offers an annual self-publishing supplement called BookLife Reviews. The supplement includes news and features about the self-publishing industry, including a selection of titles to review that are selected from a pool of submissions from authors and book publishers. The reviews are syndicated to more than 35 newspapers, magazines and trade journals worldwide.
In addition to its monthly print edition, Publishers Weekly produces a digital version of the magazine. This online edition is accessed via a subscription or a pay-per-use model.
PW's digital archive is a comprehensive resource for scholars and researchers, with more than 7,700 past issues available to search. The collection includes full page-level digitization and original graphics, making it an exemplary source of historical research on publishing.
The publication is edited by Jonathan Segura, and it regularly reviews more than 9,000 books a year in a dozen categories, ranging from children's books to adult fiction. The reviews are a vital part of the book trade, stimulating interest in new titles and influencing consumer media coverage. They also act as an early warning system for television, radio and movie producers.
Several key players have been involved in the publication's history, including Mildred Smith, who joined in 1920 just out of college and served as editorial director for more than 40 years. She was a strong advocate of clear, concise writing and persuaded many industry figures to write for the magazine.
Another key figure was Frederic G. Melcher, a polymath who served as secretary of the American Booksellers Association and helped establish the National Association of Publishers. He launched such important book awards as the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal for children's books and the Carey-Thomas Awards for distinguished publishing.
For much of the twentieth century, PW was owned by Bowker, then Xerox. In 1985, it was sold to Britain's Reed International as part of its Cahners trade magazine division. Later, it was rebranded as Reed Business Information.
Founded by Arnold Ehrlich
Founder Arnold Ehrlich (1848-1919) was an accomplished scholar who was known in his time for his brilliant interpretation of the Bible. He is best remembered for his three-volume work Mikra ki-Pheschuto, or "The Bible Literally."
He was born in Volodovka, now part of the Polish city of Brest-Litovsk, and studied Talmud in his youth. He migrated to Germany and began studying Hebrew there with Franz Delitzsch, a German Lutheran theologian who was known for his translation of the New Testament into Hebrew.
In the early twenties, he assisted Delitzsch in revising his translation of the Bible into modern Hebrew, which was then used for the conversion of Jewish converts to Christianity. It was at this point that Ehrlich realized that he could no longer tolerate the strictures of his religious community in Poland and wanted to find a more open-minded place where he might study more widely.
His family was opposed to his decision, but he was determined to find a way to make a living as a student. He worked as a private tutor, and taught at the Hebrew Preparatory School of Temple Emanu-El in New York City.
But he had not yet gained the recognition of the Jewish communities in Berlin or New York, and he was not considered for a professorship at either of the major rabbinical seminaries. He also was not invited to teach in the Union Prayer Book, which he felt had not gone far enough in its reform of the liturgy.
Eventually, after years of hard work and dedication, he established Publishers Weekly, which was to become one of the world’s leading publications in its field. The magazine became the central platform for news, features, and reviews of books across the full range of publishing activities.
After his death in 1919, PW continued under the leadership of his son Richard J.H. *Gottheil, who also served as a senior editor at the magazine until his retirement in 2006. As publisher and CEO, he expanded the PW brand with an annual conference called Global Kids Connect and PubTech Connect, both of which were hosted in association with Bologna Children's Book Fair, and with publishing trade shows.
Founded by Sybil Steinberg
Publishers Weekly, often referred to in the book industry as PW and “the bible of the book business,” is a weekly news magazine focused on the international book publishing business. It is targeted at publishers, booksellers, librarians, literary agents, authors, and the media. It offers feature articles and news on all aspects of the book business, bestsellers lists in a number of categories, and industry statistics. It also publishes a highly popular service of pre-publication book reviews, which average some 9,000 per year.
For many years, Sybil Steinberg was a senior editor at Publishers Weekly. She served as the magazine’s book review section editor and contributed to the publication’s writers’ roundtables and author interviews. She has published several books about writing, including Writers and Their Craft: Interviews from Publishers Weekly (2003).
While at Publishers Weekly, she was honored with the prestigious Paula Modersohn Award for Excellence in Book Reviewing. She is also a past president of the National Book Critics’ Circle.
The publisher’s website and social media platforms serve an avid audience of publishing professionals and devoted consumers worldwide. Its coverage includes book reviews and features, editorial columns, book lists, industry statistics, and an extensive series of events. Its print circulation is 68,000.
In 2010, after a period of rumors of a pending sale, the magazine was acquired by Reed Publishing CEO Steve Slowik and President Bob Turner. Under their leadership, the staff at PW embraced technology to expand its reach to new audiences and to improve its print magazine. In addition, the business group grew revenue and strengthened its sales team.
Under their guidance, the company launched a book industry event in partnership with BolognaFiere in 2018 and launched an online literary journal called The Millions in 2019. The website now serves more than 1.2 million unique visitors monthly and its advertising co-op program provides authors and publishers with cost-effective means of promoting their work to over 80,000 booksellers, publishers, public and academic librarians, wholesalers, distributors, and agents.
The Publishers Weekly website and social media platforms continue to expand to serve an avid audience of publishing professionals and a devoted consumer base worldwide. Its coverage includes book reviews and feature stories, editorial columns, book lists, industry statistics, author interviews, and an extensive series of events.
Founded by Barbara Bannon
Publishers Weekly (PW) has been a leading publishing industry news publication for over 150 years. The magazine offers coverage of the book trade with news, reviews and bestseller lists to readers worldwide. It has a print readership of 68,000 and is the most trusted and influential brand in the book business with an audience that includes publishers, booksellers, public and academic librarians, wholesalers, distributors, agents, writers and other professionals involved in all aspects of the book business.
PW is published by Reed Publishing. Its publications include the PW Tip Sheet, a newsletter that keeps library and booksellers up-to-date on book publishing and rights information; Publishers Weekly International, which provides news of the global book business; Children's Bookshelf, a twice-weekly look at children's book publishing news and reviews; and The Slush Pile, an original comic strip. It also publishes Publishers Weekly En Espanol, a Spanish-language edition that is distributed in select countries and in the U.S.
Bannon was born in Stamford, Connecticut on January 3, 1939, and graduated from Trinity College and earned a master's degree in speech and drama from Catholic University in Washington, DC. She later taught English at Regina High School in Hyattsville, Maryland and was a longtime member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA).
She was a strong supporter of young theatre artists and enjoyed writing reviews of plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and other local companies as well as community theater productions in Salt Lake City. Her reviews often focused not so much on whether an actor delivered his lines correctly but on the emotions he evoked in his performance.
During her many years of reviewing, Bannon became an avid supporter of the Francesca Primus Prize, an annual award that awards $10,000 to an emerging female playwright. She was also an active member of the ATCA executive committee, serving as secretary for many years and a key figure in her organization's leadership.
Under her stewardship, the magazine developed a series of new features to broaden its range of coverage. For instance, she expanded its Best Books list to include more than a few titles and reorganized its review pages to place the most prominent reviews on the front cover. She also created a paid review service for self-published authors, and she increased PW's international profile by founding the Arabic edition of Publishers Weekly. In addition, she created PubMatch, a title database and set of tools for selling international book rights.