Personal

Guy stuff.

NOLA Water Meter Cap

Thinking About New Orleans #mojogce

Group creativity experiment: 1 - "Litanie des Saints," Dr. John I've always felt a personal connection to New Orleans. My mother's family lived in Baton Rouge for a long time, and I spent a few summers down there as a kid. I remember one summer coming back home with a slight accent that never fully disappeared and slips through whenever I've had a couple of drinks too many. The Big Easy is still one of my favorite movies, long after I got over my Ellen Barkin crush, and it was also the name of the first restaurant I worked at…

Continue ReadingThinking About New Orleans #mojogce
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

On DBW, SXSWi, Upcoming Gigs and Steampunk

The Passage of Time by ToniVC

You’re losing control of your own destiny. Authors, distributors and readers are getting closer to each other.

–Shiv Singh, Engaging Readers in the Digital Age

Three weeks ago, when I last posted something here, I was on the verge of completely disappearing into Digital Book World, both the conference and the community that spun out of it, the latter now representing my day [and night, and some weekends] job.

So I’ve been pretty busy.

Thankfully, it’s been a good busy, and the next couple of months are going to be very exciting.

Digital Book World

The conference was a huge success by pretty much any measure — I had the extreme honor of giving the closing remarks, “The Future of Publishing is Bright” — and the community platform is quickly coming together, starting with a series of free WEBcasts; in-person seminars (Digitize Your Career); and more to be announced.

(more…)

Continue ReadingOn DBW, SXSWi, Upcoming Gigs and Steampunk
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Generalization Fail

When you’re ranting about the evils of “Big Publishing”, it helps to remember that for every My Life Outside the Ring, there’s also Boneshaker, and The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, and the entire First Second catalog! All of those happen to fall under the Macmillan umbrella. I’m not saying publishing isn’t all screwed up right now, because it damn sure is, but it’s also full of people who really do give a shit about good books and I know and work with a lot of them. We may not be running the companies from the top, but we’re sure as…

Continue ReadingGeneralization Fail
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Shout-Outs: Lanier, Wendig and the Robots

"The combination of hive mind and advertising has resulted in a new kind of social contract. The basic idea of this contract is that authors, journalists, musicians, and artists are encouraged to treat the fruits of their intellects and imaginations as fragments to be given without pay to the hive mind. Reciprocity takes the form of self-promotion. Culture is to become precisely nothing but advertising." Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget I'm knee-deep in final preparations for Digital Book World next week (look for the new website to relaunch by Tuesday, built by me!), but I wanted to give…

Continue ReadingShout-Outs: Lanier, Wendig and the Robots
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

It’s Hard Out Here for a Pragmatic Optimist

Sanctum Sanctorum, 01/10 by glecharles
Sanctum Sanctorum, 01/10 by glecharles

“Publishing was never a business based on Wharton standards. It was a rich boy’s hobby.”

–Steve Wasserman (Kneerim & Williams)

Working in publishing isn’t for the meek. Neither is writing for that matter. They’re two things I’m really passionate about, though, and I’ve always counted myself lucky to work in the publishing industry, despite the ever-present danger of familiarity breeding contempt.

Over the past couple of years, though, it’s been particularly tough; like playing on a solid defense for a football team that has a terrible offense, constantly watching the QB get sacked, the RB get stuffed, WRs getting manhandled… and running on fumes by the 4th quarter as a result.

I consider myself a pragmatic idealist with an optimistic lean, but when you see colleagues and friends losing their jobs due to reasons beyond their control and underlying problems they didn’t create, it can be tough to feel good about the good things you’re involved in.

(more…)

Continue ReadingIt’s Hard Out Here for a Pragmatic Optimist
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

New Year’s Publishing Predictions, Resolutions

#32 be the change by the8rgrl
#32 be the change by the8rgrl

I’m not usually one for making predictions — the only thing I hate more than gurus and pundits are self-proclaimed futurists! — but I couldn’t pass up offering my two cents to Folio: for their 2010 round-up of magazine and media predictions:

Consolidation and debt restructuring will continue apace. More niche brands will focus on ‘communitizing’, with magazines becoming part of a larger ecosystem that will include virtual events and books, both print and electronic. Advertising will finally stabilize, but “growth” will mainly come from search and custom initiatives, including some ill-conceived “conversational marketing” programs that imagine Twitter as a viable hub. Digital magazines and mobile apps will be a bust for all but a few brands as the ROI fails to materialize. The Apple Tablet will be more horse than unicorn, becoming a major player in portable gaming but with minimal impact on publishing.

New Year’s resolutions have never been my thing, either, but in light of all of the negativity and DOOM! surrounding the “future of publishing”, I thought it would be fun to make a few public resolutions, if for no other reason than to see which ones I can stick with, and how long before I break the others.

(more…)

Continue ReadingNew Year’s Publishing Predictions, Resolutions
Newer Posts
Older Posts