Media

Commentary on various aspects of publishing and marketing, primarily focused on books, magazines, and social media.

A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

BEA 2010: Maybe it’s just me?

Don't believe the Devil, don't beLIEve his book by Celeste

BEA is North America’s largest gathering of book trade professionals, typically attracting between 20,000 – 30,000 people. Book industry professionals who attend BEA include: booksellers (independent, specialty, and chain); book distributors; marketing and publicity professionals; editors, agents; scouts.  BEA is also attended by assorted film and TV professionals and is covered widely by the media for the attention it brings to upcoming books as well as for the notable authors it attracts to the event itself.

BEA Show Overview

Book Expo America represents a bizarre conundrum for me. Maybe I’m just burned out on publishing conferences, and since I’m not buying or selling books and have never cared about free galleys, it feels less relevant to me personally than some of the other conferences I’ve attended this year.

I don’t know if it’s just too big for me to get a firm grip on, or maybe it’s trying to be too many things to too many people?

This will be my third time attending BEA, and the first time I’m attending more than one day, and by all rights it should feel like Book Nerd Nirvana, akin to how I felt about the first NY Comic-Con (was that REALLY back in 2006?!?!), but in reality, it just feels like three really long days of extra work standing between me and the holiday weekend. (more…)

Continue ReadingBEA 2010: Maybe it’s just me?
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

The iPad, Transmedia, and the Future of Publishers

49/365 (Android pesadilla) by Jesus Belzunce

Over 25 years, Apple has earned the privilege of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to their tribe. They can get the word out about a new product without a lot of money because one by one, they’ve signed people up. They didn’t sell 300,000 iPads in one day, they sold them over a few decades.

—“Secrets of the biggest selling launch ever”, Seth Godin

The iPad reviews are in, and whether positive, negative or on the fence loaded with caveats, the most common underlying thread is that Apple has created a device that could eventually change the way we acquire, consume and interact with digital content.

This potential change is important to publishers of all kinds, but particularly to those of books as the eBook experience on the iPad is arguably one of its weakest features.

While iBooks, Kindle and Kobo (the three eBook apps I tested) are all solid readers with varying appeal, replicating the reading experience of a print book via static EPUB files (on a device that weigts twice as much an average book!) is like driving a Porsche to the corner store for a six-pack of Old Milwaukee. While test-driving eBooks on the iPad, I limited myself to free books, samples, and in the case of Kindle, ebooks my wife and I have already purchased for her Gen 1 device (which she loves, BTW, despite the limited inventory of books she actually wants to read), and I wasn’t terribly impressed by any of them.

(more…)

Continue ReadingThe iPad, Transmedia, and the Future of Publishers
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Collaboration is the Killer App – #DIYdays

For a writer, it's an amazing opportunity to leverage the full depth of their creations through a truly collaborative process -- ideally starting after the first draft is written, IMO -- instead of parceling out chunks of rights for a licensing fee and complete loss of control.

Continue ReadingCollaboration is the Killer App – #DIYdays
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

The Future of Publishing is Bright

Six months ago, Digital Book World didn't exist. And yet, 48 hours ago I had the honor of giving the closing remarks at the end of our first annual Digital Book World Conference. Simultaneously exhilarated and exhausted, I communicated most of what I'd hoped to say, but I wanted to reiterate and expand upon it here (and share my slides) because it was a message not just for those in attendance, but for everyone working in this industry that I'm so passionate and optimistic about.

Continue ReadingThe Future of Publishing is Bright
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Five Highlights from SXSW Interactive

Today is the last day of the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX, but it wrapped up for me last night, and while I'm still digesting everything I took in, a few highlights have already become clear. Overall, the festival has been a chaotic mix of truly inspired presentations, thinly veiled sales pitches, over-the-top demagoguery and/or self-promotion, filtered through an incredibly diverse range of creative disciplines and strategic philosophies. The program was an eclectic buffet that wasn't always easy to navigate with the Austin Convention Center's awkward layout that makes it difficult to go between the 3rd to 4th floors,…

Continue ReadingFive Highlights from SXSW Interactive
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

New Think for Old Publishers: SXSWi for the Bookish

This will be my first year attending, and while a few presentations immediately jumped out at me as must-sees (eg: You Are Not a Gadget author Jaron Lanier), I decided to ask other people in publishing why they are going and what/who they are most looking forward to seeing.

Continue ReadingNew Think for Old Publishers: SXSWi for the Bookish

No more posts to load

Newer Posts
Older Posts