Sales Slide Doesn’t Warrant Blame Game —Michelson

But, as any print professional can attest, the latest recessionary bug has been much harder to shake this time around. No print sectors, 
it appears, have gone unscathed. As a few examples, states facing budget shortfalls have curtailed new textbook edition adoptions. Magazine publishers have trimmed page counts and press runs due to advertising declines, and folded some titles outright. Catalogers have opted for personalized and more targeted catalogs to drive Internet-based purchases. Direct mailers have shifted from higher-volume, new customer acquisition mailings to trigger-based, customer retention and loyalty programs. That's the sobering feedback from leading book, publication, catalog and direct mail printers interviewed for this issue 
on just how tough it's been in the trenches this year—and their expectations for 2010.