Editing Publishers Weekly (section)

==Features==
===Writers and readers===
In 2008, the magazine's circulation was 25,000. In 2004, the breakdown of those 25,000 readers was given as 6000 publishers; 5500 public libraries and public library systems; 3800 booksellers; 1600 authors and writers; 1500 college and university libraries; 950 print, film and broad media; and 750 literary and rights agents, among others.

Subject areas covered by ''Publishers Weekly'' include publishing, bookselling, marketing, merchandising and trade news, along with author interviews and regular columns on rights, people in publishing, and bestsellers. It attempts to serve all involved in the creation, production, marketing and sale of the written word in book, audio, video and electronic formats. The magazine increases the page count considerably for four annual special issues: Spring Adult Announcements, Fall Adult Announcements, Spring Children's Announcements, and Fall Children's Announcements.<ref name=pw/>

===Book reviews===
The book review section of ''Publishers Weekly'' was added in the early 1940s and grew in importance during the 20th century and through the present day.{{when|date=July 2022}} It currently offers prepublication reviews of 9,000 new trade books each year, in a comprehensive range of genres and including [[audiobook]]s and [[ebook]]s, with a digitized archive of 200,000 reviews. Reviews appear two to four months prior to the publication date of a book, and until 2014, when ''PW'' launched BookLife.com, a website for self-published books, books already in print were seldom reviewed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BookLife – Resources and tools for book publishers and writers|url=http://booklife.com/|access-date=August 21, 2020|website=booklife.com}}</ref>

These anonymous reviews are short, averaging 200–250 words, and it is not unusual for the review section to run as long as 40 pages, filling the second half of the magazine. In the past, a book review editorial staff of eight editors assigned books to more than 100 freelance reviewers. Some are published authors, and others are experts in specific genres or subjects. Although it might take a week or more to read and analyze some books, reviewers were paid $45 per review until June 2008, when the magazine introduced a reduction in payment to $25 a review. In a further policy change that month, reviewers received credit as contributors in issues carrying their reviews. Currently, there are nine reviews editors listed in the masthead.
 
Now titled "Reviews", the review section began life as "Forecasts". For several years, that title was taken literally; reviews were followed with italicized comments that attempted to predict a book's sales success. Genevieve Stuttaford, who greatly expanded the number of reviews during her tenure as the nonfiction "Forecasts" editor, joined the ''PW'' staff in 1975. Previously, she was a ''[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review]]'' associate editor, reviewer for ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' and for 12 years on the staff of the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. During the 23 years Stuttaford was with ''Publishers Weekly'', book reviewing was increased from an average of 3,800 titles a year in the 1970s to well over 6,500 titles in 1997. She retired in 1998.<ref name=pw/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19980713/38002-pw-stuttaford-retires-from-pw.html|title=PW: Stuttaford Retires From 'PW'|magazine=Publishers Weekly|volume=244 |issue=28|date=July 13, 1998|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013122936/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19980713/38002-pw-stuttaford-retires-from-pw.html|archive-date=October 13, 2016}}</ref>

Several notable ''PW'' editors stand out for making their mark on the magazine. Barbara Bannon was the head fiction reviewer during the 1970s and early 1980s, becoming the magazine's executive editor during that time and retiring in 1983. She was, notably, the first reviewer to insist that her name be appended to any [[blurb]] of her reviews, thus drawing attention to herself, to the review and to the influence of the magazine in predicting a book's popularity and salability.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/05/obituaries/barbara-a-bannon-editor-67.html|title=Barbara A. Bannon; Editor, 67|date= April 5, 1991|newspaper=The New York Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305002932/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/05/obituaries/barbara-a-bannon-editor-67.html|archive-date= March 5, 2017}}</ref>

Sybil Steinberg came to ''Publishers Weekly'' in the mid-1970s and served as a reviews editor for 30 years, taking over after Barbara Bannon retired. Under Steinberg, ''PW'' instituted the starred review, a first in the industry, to indicate books of exceptional merit. She also called out particular books of merit by starting the practice of boxed reviews, a precursor to the ''PW'' "signature reviews", boxed reviews that are attributed to the reviewer. The "Best Books" lists were also Steinberg's brainchild, and these lists are still published annually, usually in November ahead of "Best Books" lists from ''[[The New York Times]]'' and other prominent review venues. Steinberg edited the magazine's author interviews, and beginning in 1992 put together four anthologies of them in book form, published by the [[Pushcart Press]].
 
Formerly of ''[[InStyle]]'' magazine, novelist Louisa Ermelino took the reins of the ''PW'' review section in 2005. Under her watch, the number of reviews grew once again, to nearly 9,000 per year from 6,500.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

In a sea change for the magazine, Ermelino oversaw the integration of self-published book reviews into the main review section of the magazine. Review editors vet and assign self-published books for review, which reviews are then published alongside the reviews of traditionally published books each week in the magazine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://booklife.com/about-us/reviews-faqs.html|title=Reviews FAQs|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619120401/http://booklife.com/about-us/reviews-faqs.html|archive-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref>
 
''Publishers Weekly'' does charge for self-published book reviews following the trend within the industry led by ''Kirkus Reviews'' and ''Foreword''{{'}}s Clarion fee-for-review service, both of which offer independent book reviews in exchange for fees in the hundreds of dollars.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/how-it-works/|title=Kirkus Indie Reviews|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919054625/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/how-it-works/|archive-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://booklife.com/about-us/how-to-submit-your-book-to-booklife-reviews-and-publishers-weekly.html|title=How to Submit Your Book to BookLife Reviews and Publishers Weekly}} from  booklife.com on December 6, 2024.</ref> 


''Publishers Weekly'' does syndicate its reviews to a variety of online retail venues such as [[Amazon.com|Amazon]], [[Apple Books]], Powell's Books, [[Books-a-Million]], and others. The reviews are also carried by library database services such as [[Baker & Taylor|Baker and Taylor]], [[ProQuest]], [[Bowker]], [[Cengage]], [[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]], and others.