While Wall Street and technology pundits continue to devalue those who create and curate content professionally in favor of dumb pipes, content aggregators, and social media pyramid schemes, the fact is, at the end of the day, it all starts with good content. Without it, the digital business is a cork floating on the publishing stream, and the new shiny devices are little more than electronic bricks sinking to the bottom at varying rates of speed.
Tag: Social Media
Social Media Overload! What to Unplug?
Google+ is an intriguing mash-up of Facebook and Twitter, but its use of "circles" does a better job of reflecting and managing the variety of solid and permeable walls that exist in real-life networks, and when it comes to privacy, I trust our robot overlords a slight bit more than the new kids on the virtual block.
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 … Continue reading Your Brand is NOT a Community
Goodreads Takes Next Step in Social Reading
Americans spend nearly a quarter of their time online on social networking sites and blogs, according to the latest Nielsen research, and the most conservative estimates predict eBooks will represent at least 10% of book sales by the end of the year, but one question that's not been clearly answered yet is whether there's any … Continue reading Goodreads Takes Next Step in Social Reading
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 … Continue reading Macmillan Authors Rally Fans in Battle with Amazon