In 1878, Leypoldt sold The Publishers' Weekly to his friend Richard Rogers Bowker, in order to free up time for his other bibliographic endeavors.

Born April 12, 1879, in Malden, Massachusetts, Melcher began at age 16 in Boston's Estes & Lauriat Bookstore, where he developed an interest in children's books.

He applied to Richard Rogers Bowker for the job, was hired, and moved with his family to Montclair, New Jersey.

[7] While at Publishers Weekly, Melcher began creating space in the publication and a number of issues dedicated solely to books for children.

[11] Nelson began to modernize Publishers Weekly with new features and a makeover by illustrator and graphic designer Jean-Claude Suares.

[2] She also introduced the magazine's short-lived Quill Awards, with nominees in 19 categories selected by a nominating board of 6,000 booksellers and librarians.

Winners were determined by the reading public, who could vote at kiosks in Borders stores or online at the Quills site.

Publishers Weekly has enjoyed a near monopoly over the past decades, but now with vigorous competition from Internet sites, e-mail newsletters, and daily newspapers.

In January 2009, Sara Nelson was dismissed along with executive editor Daisy Maryles, who had been with PW for more than four decades.

It attempts to serve all involved in the creation, production, marketing and sale of the written word in book, audio, video and electronic formats.

[2] 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?]

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.

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.

[20] 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.

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.

The reviews are also carried by library database services such as Baker and Taylor, ProQuest, Bowker, Cengage, EBSCO, and others.