Little growth seen for publishers

As publishers pray for a new children’s series to equal Harry Potter and await the next novel by “The Da Vinci Code� author Dan Brown, a report released Friday predicts a tight market for at least the next few years.

The Book Industry Study Group, a nonprofit organization supported by the publishing industry, projects a 3% to 4% growth through 2011, when revenue should top $43 billion. The BISG expects little change in the actual number of books sold.

“The hits will keep doing well, but other books will have troubles,� said BISG senior researcher Albert N. Greco, a professor of marketing at the Fordham University Graduate School of Business.