On DBW, SXSWi, Upcoming Gigs and Steampunk
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
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
It’s Hard Out Here for a Pragmatic Optimist
“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
New Year’s Publishing Predictions, Resolutions
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
Reflections on, Takeaways from #eBookSummit
“I suppose we could sum up this entire two-day conference under the headline ‘too early to tell.’” –Steve Wasserman (Kneerim & Williams) I attended MediaBistro’s eBook Summit this week and Wasserman’s summation is perfect; consumer book publishing is smack in the middle of the digital transition, and solid answers about how it will all play
5 Things Books Should Learn From Magazines
Like my favorite writers, the magazines I truly value introduce me to new things, or show me new angles on the familiar, that I’d not have come across on my own. In my own series of posts for Folio: a few months back, I made the point that content + context = value, declaring that magazines that nail the equation will survive. That same math is also valid in the conversation about the future of books.
Indie Bookstores. So What?
I’m a firm believer that independent bookstores are not only critical to the viability of the publishing industry, but also to the cultural and economic fabric of local communities.
What’s the Curation Algorithm, Kenneth?
I was recently talking with a couple of researchers who observed that the most interesting science isn’t usually in the big name journals, but rather in the mid-tier or even lower-tier publications where really radical thinking and unusual results find their way into the literature. The big name journals are publishing on popular topics well
Six People in My (Virtual) Neighborhood
This fervid desire for the Web bespeaks a longing so intense that it can only be understood as spiritual. A longing indicates that something is missing in our lives. What is missing is the sound of the human voice. David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto A year ago, I used to get most of my information
Your Tools Don’t Matter (Or, Why I Love My Job!)
Why is it that with over 60 years of improvements in cameras, lens sharpness and film grain, resolution and dynamic range that no one has been able to equal what Ansel Adams did back in the 1940s? Ken Rockwell, Your Camera Doesn’t Matter First, disclosure: this post is primarily about the day job and is