The Atlantic, Electric Literature, and the Digital Future
If your core pitch is your "innovative" business model and not what you publish and for whom, your 15 minutes are almost up.
Seven People in My #Transmedia Neighborhood
While Twitter has only become even more valuable since then as a professional networking tool, I still look to blogs for deeper engagement, and subscribe to feeds of blogs that offer real value.
Audience Development, Beer, Books and Optimism (#smbtv)
The passion and optimism for Troy from some of the people I met was inspiring and infectious, reminding me very much of the community that's gathered around Digital Book World over the past year.
Waiting for “Superman” and the Vast Charter School Agenda
The situation is dire, the film warns us. We must act. But what must we do? The message of the film is clear. Public schools are bad, privately managed charter schools are good. Parents clamor to get their children out of the public schools in New York City (despite the claims by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the city’s schools are better than ever) and into the charters (the mayor also plans to double the number of charters, to help more families escape from the public schools that he controls). If we could fire the bottom 5 to 10 percent of…
The Ideal 21st Century Publisher: A Remix
My fantasy publisher would follow a pretty simple equation: Tor.com + Runes of Gallidon + Book View Cafe + Cursor = Awesome!
Your Brand is NOT a Community
Back in January, Shiv Singh gave a great keynote presentation, Engaging Readers in the Digital Age, at the inaugural Digital Book World Conference that, in retrospect, set the tone for what was to come in 2010.
“Build consumer brands,” Singh exhorted, “because your current value chain is breaking.”
Since then, we’ve seen the introduction of the iPad, the Agency Model, and ugly public standoffs between Amazon and several publishers over ebook pricing; notable authors like J.A. Konrath and Seth Godin have made a fuss about eschewing “traditional” publishing channels; and uber-agent Andrew Wylie challenged Random House to a stare-down over ebook royalties, launching his own ill-fated ebook imprint, Odyssey Editions.
Underscoring all of these dust-ups is one recurring theme: publishers’ lack of a direct relationship with readers leaves them vulnerable to disruption and disintermediation.
The Godin Situation: Content, Context, Community
Seth Godin's decision to not publish his theoretical next book(s) via traditional channels has caused a predictable stir amongst the pundit class, with proclamations about "The Death of Publishing" coming from many of the usual suspects looking to scare up page views. Predictably, few have acknowledged the unusually nuanced statement Godin actually made about his situation: "The thing is--now I know who my readers are. Adding layers or faux scarcity doesn't help me or you."