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.
Macmillan Authors Rally Fans in Battle with Amazon
Whether you agree with Macmillan’s push for new terms of sale for their ebooks or not, one thing that’s been particularly impressive is the extremely vocal support they’ve received from their authors, particularly those published by their sci-fi/fantasy imprint Tor/Forge. As the news broke last weekend, several Tor/Forge authors immediately reacted to Amazon’s ceasing direct
A Quick Note on the Fabled “iPod Moment”
There are millions of books on amazon.com, and on average each will sell around 500 copies a year. The average American is reading just one book a year, and that number is falling. The problem (to quote Tim O’Reilly) isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity. Authors are lucky to be in a business where electronic copies aren’t
“E” is for Experiment (Not eBooks)
Much like TV, which quickly evolved from simply broadcasting radio programs into its own unique medium, there’s a line where something stops being a book and becomes…something else entirely — a completely new medium with its own rules, pros and cons. We’re not there yet, though.
Playing with the Kindle, Playing with the Future
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future. –Sidney J. Harris It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of eBooks or eReaders, but there’s no question they’re growing in popularity… at least amongst technology companies. While the hype
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
eBooks: The False Dilemma
People will continue to read printed books for a long time, just as some people still watch movies on VHS. But the printed book will be “dead” in a few short years in the sense that the bulk of the adoption curve, the pragmatic majority, will have moved on. –Arvind Narayanan, “The death of the
Do Publishers Still Need Authors?
Just as many entrepreneurs no longer need venture capitalists to launch their companies, authors no longer need publishers to publish. Mark Coker, Do Authors Still Need Publishers? Picture this: In the future, as the risks of publishing shift from the publisher to the author, publishers will be able to invest in technologies that allow them
New Media’s Credibility Problem
By offering consumers a low cost digital product, the economics of ebooks create a virtuous, self-reinforcing cycle. The low price expands the available market by making it affordable to more consumers; low production and distribution expenses allow the publisher to earn a healthy margin; and the larger addressable market allows publishers to sell more units
Motivational Cliches Aren’t Business Models
“If the people who make the decisions are the people who will also bear the consequences of those decisions, perhaps better decisions will result.” John Abrams, The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community and Place I hate pundits. [ETA: Maybe I should have said I hate Twitter? Update at the end of