Things are looking up for the publishing industry: In 2010, publishers reported a net revenue of $27.9 billion, or a 5.6 percent increase over 2008, when the industry’s obituary was written over and over with dismal sales numbers and projections. The number of books sold also increased by more than 4 percent since 2008 — crucially, that statistic includes books in all formats. E-books and readers were the major force behind the growth, it seems, and a growing market for young-adult fiction also buoyed publishing. Zombie industry comes crawling back from the dead, recaptures society by infiltrating tiny computers we all carry around with us everywhere — we’re writing up the book proposal right now. Maybe Robert Pattinson can play the president of the American Association of Publishers in the movie version.
