PI 400 -- Books - Judging a Book

According to Edward Lane, president of Book Publishing Services for R.R. Donnelley & Sons, higher book unit inventories in the trade and college segments at the end of 2000 created a slow first half of the year for book printers, primarily impacting reprint orders. In addition, not as many blockbuster titles materialized this year—no Tom Clancy yarns or a new Harry Potter book to keep the presses rolling. The overall effect, Lane points out, is a market that is flat to slightly down in comparison to 2000.