An intertesting post from the Boston Globe reporting from Bowker, the publisher of Books in Print, that the number of book titles printed last year by American publishers was 276,649, a slight increase from 274,416 the year before. This includes discrete titles; that is, books with separate ISBN numbers. Bowker further notes that if you include public domain titles and print on demand titles that number grows to 411,422.
And the death of books is when? There was talk of this more than 10 years ago with the introduction of the e-book and it still hasn't happened. But there is always new technologies and ways to try to interest the public to publisher's offerings.
From the LA Times an article about new publisher tactics in getting the word out in new formats:
"At Random House, publishers produced four "webisodes" telling an original, live-action story that bridges the time from the end of one Dean Koontz "Odd Thomas" book to the next. More such videos are planned, possibly for other, less well-known authors."
"Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest book chain, has created an online "studio" with more than 1,000 author videos, making it one of the largest such online sites. The goal is to link the ambience of a bookstore -- including author appearances, musical performances and other events -- with desktops and mobile devices."
Innovation is always important in any industry but I can't imagine getting the "ambience of a bookstore" through my desktop. It just doesn't compare to visiting any of the local bookstores near you.
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