Showing Tag: "publishing" (Show all posts)

Writers Thought for Today Blog Getting Makeover

Posted by John R. on Monday, January 10, 2011, In : Blogging 
"Writers Thought for Today" blog is moving to a WordPress blogging platform, will be located at http://alturl.com/6izif  and be renamed to "Publishing/Writing: Insights, News, Intrigue"

I cordially invite all my current and future readers to visit my new location for the very latest publishing and writing industry happenings...AND please click the free "subscribe" button in the top menu to follow my new blog...The blogging gods will bless you...   


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E-readers Are Scorching-Hot Sellers; Rewriting Bestseller Lists!

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, In : digital publishing 
On Christmas day people, armed with their newly-presented e-readers, downloaded over a million plus e-books!

Talk about regenerating and transforming bestseller lists in an instant...

E-readers have rode in and, in one swell swoop, saved publishing, the book industry and inspired reading. What a shot in the arm!

The only question is: who the hell truly understands all the opportunities in this newly-transformed, sleeker, more efficient, offspring publishing industry??*##% Did I say newly-transfo...

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Some Publishing Predictions

Posted by John R. on Saturday, January 1, 2011, In : publishing 
Jason Boog, editor of Media Bistro's GalleyCat blog, has put together an excellent list, coupled with some great links, reviewing the publishing industry of last year and forecasting coming developments in 2011.

He reports:

Publishing predictions, bestseller advice, and our best books of 2010 mixtapes topped our charts in December.

Instead of doing our traditional year-in-review post, we’ve decided to collect the ten most popular stories on GalleyCat each month–sharing the stories that matte...

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How Books Need to be Packaged, Bundled and Sold

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, December 29, 2010, In : publishing 
You often hear of authors selling their book rights...but, today's post is about a best-selling author buying back his book rights!

 Best-selling author, Steve Farber, is paying a handsome figure to buy back the rights to two of his leadership books from Kaplan Publishers so he can publish with No Limit Publishing Group; publishers more savvy in all the new tech publishing platforms. 


No Limit is also offering Mr. Farber a 50/50 split on net royalties for both digital and print formats AND wor...
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Self-Published "Pleased But Not Satisfied" Topseller for Bookworm

Posted by John R. on Monday, December 27, 2010, In : self-publishing 
David Sokol, an Omaha native, has self-published a business management book (his first book) through online bookstore Bookworm. It has been it's bestseller over the last two years with 8000 copies sold to people from all over the world.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Sokol is a top manager in a Berkshire Hathaway major subsidiary company AND that  Sokol is rumored to become Berkshire Hathaway’s next chairman and CEO, succeeding Warren Buffett, 80.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is essentia...

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How Jackie Kennedy Onassis Became an Editor

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, December 22, 2010, In : Editing 
When I began reading this inside look at Jackie Kennedy Onassis, I did not realize how captivated I would become. I really never thought of her as an editor...only as the First Lady or the wife of a very rich industrialist.

BUT, she had quite a life after the death of her second husband, Aristotle Onassis...as an editor...

Joseph Kanon, a published author of spy and action novels, wrote this special for the Washington Post:

"A woman of many titles"

JACKIE AS EDITOR

The Literary Life of Jacquelin...

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Books To Always Be...Publishers Not To Be

Posted by John R. on Monday, December 20, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Books, albeit 'live' or interactive, will remain a part of the human experience forever....And they will primarily consist of text, whatever the media format. Publishers, as an industry, will not. That industry has been fragmented into a democratic individualistic endeavor, if you will...A vastly more level and responsive playing field

Everyone who writes and presents are now 'publishers'...Talk about an all-inclusive vertical business model...In fact, talk about an all-inclusive horizontal b...

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Picture Books are Still Vibrant and Thriving

Posted by John R. on Monday, December 13, 2010, In : print publishing 
The New York Times recently published a front page story essentially writing the orbituary for children's picture books...A story much in conflict with the real world according to big house publishers, booksellers, libraries and agents.

Karen Springen, Publishers Weekly, gives the straight story on printed picture books (with considerable associated writing):

Don't Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet

Children's book publishers are still reeling from the New York Times front-page story back in ...

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Are Print Magazines Seeing Some Improvement in 2010?

Posted by John R. on Saturday, December 11, 2010, In : Magazine Publishing 
Is the print mag publishing market finding it's bottom...or optimum level of sustainability? Seems it might be as there were fewer closures this year than last. There were also fewer start-ups than last year, but there were start-ups!

Matthew Flamm has some insightful figures for us un-initiated that are quite revealing in this report for Cain's New York Business:

Magazines say fewer hellos, goodbyes in 2010

A year that saw innovations like iPad-only magazines both launched and shuttered fewer ...

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Google and Ad-Supported Book Publishing Model

Posted by John R. on Thursday, December 9, 2010, In : digital publishing 
The newly opened Google eBookstore has some nice surprises and offerings. The Google Store can sell books to targeted people right after they search a particular topic AND they can also create an ad-supported publishing model...delivering targeted ads from the book subject purchases...Seems this is more possible since the ebooks will be provided from the cloud configuration.

Wonder what the split is on an ad-supported publishing model?  Authors/publishers get what % and Google retains what %? ...

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U.S News & World Report Abandons 'print' Ship!

Posted by John R. on Friday, December 3, 2010, In : digital magazines 
A venerable old weekly print news mag (it was reduced to monthly in November 2008) is riding off into it's last sunset (the last issue is this month)...

BUT, the U.S. News & World Report will re-appear in digital clothes with an expanded online edition that will appear 8 times per year and definitly include it's famous "list" issues...you remember them: the best colleges, hospitals, etc.

Here is a great eulogy delivered by big fan Greg Brown of FOLIO magazine:

Right about now, you should be gett...

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Market Intelligence for the Professional Publishing Industry

Posted by John R. on Friday, November 26, 2010, In : digital publishing 
In the digital publishing age a balance needs to be created between the customers' desire for immediate accessability at any time to enriched text (enhanced with audio, video, three-dimensional objects, full text searching, note taking, etc) and "...publishers’ needs for financial self-sustainability."

We are at the age where researchers can access works in the form of e-books that are accessable at any time and any place and never go out of print!

This is heavy neatness to the extreme. Publ...

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B2B Publishers Gain More Investor Interest

Posted by John R. on Thursday, November 25, 2010, In : publishing 
Publishing, as a whole, has seen an uptick lately...Not B2B publishing models, however.

PaidContent.org, utilizing info from Data Explorers, a financial data aggregator which tracks stock loan information to provide insight on short selling and long-side ownership, has surmised that the B2B publishers are gaining interest and activity from investors that indicate this publishing model may be on the mend...due in some regard (I think) to improved handling of digitization.

Anyway, PaidContent has...

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Amazon's CreateSpace is on the Move!

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, November 23, 2010, In : self-publishing 
Amazon's self-publishing arm, CreateSpace, has listened to suggested improvements by many of its users and finally introduced a number of customer-friendly upgrades to improve the self-publishing experience.

More details provided by this press release from MarketWatch.com:

CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com, Inc. group of companies, today announced an improved self-publishing experience that will help content creators set up, distribute and manage their titles more easily. These enhancements a...

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Possible Resolution in the 'Rights' and 'Control' Fight Between Google and Publishers?

Posted by John R. on Friday, November 19, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Peaceful resolution may be at hand! I've posted on this issue previously several times on both this blog and Writers Welcome Blog, but I will give one reference here from Writers Welcome Blog for a little background on Google's effort to corner and monopolize digital rights to books (especially out-of-print books).

Anyway, the French publisher Hachette Livre has reached an agreement with Google that may serve as a model for other countries...It certainly is a pact that benefits all concerned (...

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How Would You Like Your Own Publishing Imprint?

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, November 17, 2010, In : publishing 
What position (or level of fame, talent) do you need to be in to be offered your own imprint by a big publisher? Well, being able to walk on water or leap skyscrapers would help.

OR, you could be the outrageously funny and popular late night E! Television show host, Chelsea Handler, who has already published three bestselling books by three different publishers!

Chelsea's imprint will be part of Grand Central Publishing (part of Hachette Book Group and formerly Warner Books) and called “Bord...

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A Good Book that not Everybody Can Get Their Hands On

Posted by John R. on Sunday, November 14, 2010, In : publishing 
A little insight into what happens when a small-selling book all of a sudden wins a prestigious award.

It throws the publisher and supply/distribution chain into a tizzy!

Zaineb al Hassani reports this current example in The National Conversation:

Last Updated: Nov 14, 2010

Having previously sold only 400 copies of her 2009 debut novel, The Sentimentalists, it's safe to say the Canadian author, Johanna Skibsrud, was as taken aback as the rest of the literary world when she scooped the coveted Sco...

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Kindle To Give 70% Royalty to Publishers

Posted by John R. on Thursday, November 11, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Starting 1 December 2010 Kindle will bump publishers' revenue share to 70% (minus delivery costs).

Delivery costs? this is something I'm still confused about. What the hell is the delivery costs for digital downloads? Maybe one of my smarter readers can enlighten me...I hope so. Even the example given in the article below doesn't add up in my petrified mind.

Anyhow, this royalty about to be introduced by Kindle proves they are eons ahead of the other eBook retailers and bookstores (and their a...

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Publishers Becoming Wary of Apple

Posted by John R. on Saturday, November 6, 2010, In : digital publishing 
The fastest growing sector of publishing is in the mobiles. And Apple is in position to control...But they may be screwing up according to a new report by ABCi (Audit Bureau of Circulations 'interactive').
 
The bottom line is Apple has poor analytics and doesn't share appropriate customer data with publishers.

Steven Sande of TUAW
(The Unofficial Apple Weblog) reports this:

ABCi, the interactive media arm of the
Audit Bureau of Circulations, has issued a new report showing that American and Cana...
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Omeka Publishing Unveils A Scholarly Site

Posted by John R. on Sunday, October 31, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Omekais geared towards the online exhibition of library, museum and archive collections. Their new scholarly site, http://www.omeka.net/ , will be a boon to researchers and advanced degree candidates...as well as other academic aficionados.

This new Omeka site will also encourage collaboration and communication; a good thing in research. 

Wonder if something like this would encourage more adult collaboration in D.C.for the good of the country?#@*! 

Just thought I'd ask.

Susan J. Campbell of TMCne...
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Want to Know What a 'Round Book' Is?

Posted by John R. on Friday, October 29, 2010, In : digital publishing 
A German author has introduced a concept for new e-books that will further differentiate them from traditional books...And, he hopes, will make them a better reading experience for readers.

The German author who is on a mission to make e-books more interactive, and with the possibility of no beginning and no end, is Juergen Neffe and his program is called Libroid.

More details by
Barry Neild for CNN :

Never-ending book heralds new chapter in e-publishing

It's an age-old problem for avid book read...

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Adobe Triumphs Over Apple's Resistance to 'Flash'

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, In : Magazine Publishing 

Conde Nast's magazine empire will be using the Adobe publishing tool to publish and sell mags on Apple's iOS...AND with the fantastic "flash" capability intact through the use of ingenious Adobe apps.

For those who aren't aware, Apple resisted the use of the fantastic "flash" technology on their new iOS/iPad outlet by not including an Apple in-house designed app to allow the great clarity and sharp graphics technology that is "flash" and sets Adobe apart from the rest in this area...including ...


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Adobe Unveils New Hosted Digital Publishing Suite

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, In : digital publishing 

Adobe, still the premier online graphic designer resource, is providing a publishing platform that will allow magazines and newspapers to publish to all the new mobile devices.

The new Adobe platform was introduced today at the start of it's Adobe Max Conference.

I learned of this cool news reading an article by
Ron Miller for Fierce Content Management:

Adobe(NASDAQ: ADBE) made several key announcements today at the launch of its Adobe Max conference including a new hosted digital publishing...


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A Particular View of Book Publishing

Posted by John R. on Monday, October 11, 2010, In : publishing 
People who have experience in the publishing world probably have varied and unique outlooks as to just what that world consists of and is (much like life itself).

Adam Langer wrote his book The Thieves of Manhattan from his own particular view and admits much of it is fiction...But, a fiction based on factual experience, if you will.

This reported in the
Northwest Indiana Times by Jane Ammeson:

If you in anyway believe that book publishing is an old-school style business, full of refined types...


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Five Publishing Companies' Financial Wellness

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, In : publishing 
Every now and then I post on some financial data in the publishing industry. Some still invest in this great but changing industry you know.

In fact, industries in a state of flux sometimes offer the best opportunities for making money investing.

Chip Brian, founder of SmarTrend, reports on high debt to income ratios for five publishing companies:

Below are the five companies in the Publishing industry with the highest Debt-to-Capital ratio. The debt-to-capital ratio is an important measure of h...

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Barnes & Noble Trumps Amazon with 'Pubit' Self-Publishing Platform

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, October 5, 2010, In : self-publishing 
You can now self-publish in the B&N eBookstore and BN.com!

The reason I say Pubit trumps Amazon is because it comes with a free conversion tool that automatically formats Microsoft Word, TXT, HTML or RTF files into the ePub file format for publication.

This is BIG. Any self-publishing author can attest to the difficulty and frustration with formatting these files for Smashwords, Amazon, iPad, etc. This is a great step forward and hopefully will be followed by the others to make digital publis...

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Insight: Making Books Less Expensive for Buyers and More Profitable for Authors

Posted by John R. on Saturday, October 2, 2010, In : publishing 
Another big house publisher has been dumped by a bestselling author...And, why not? Traditional publishing is like thick molasses pouring from a bottle when new tech has ushered in fast-pouring media.

Traditional publishing can take up to two years or more to get a book to market from contract signing! Hell, by that time the book info is probably obsolete!

Douglas Rushkoff, a bestselling author, gives a good insight into why writers are leaving the big publishing houses in this article by Pando...
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What is a 'Published, Sold Author'?

Posted by John R. on Friday, October 1, 2010, In : publishing 

Good question...And one I would have answered exactly the same as author J. S. Wayne, even before I knew of him, in an article he wrote for Wordpreneur:

One or One Hundred Million?

So you’ve finally published your first book. Whether it was self-published or you went the more traditional route, you’ve got that first, shiny-covered book in your hand. Now you can give a wave to the people who supported you. You can also do the same to the people who said, "So, when’s that book coming o...


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Ingram Book Distributors and Macmillan Publishers Form New Partnership and Business Model

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, In : book distribution 
With the new digital format demand for books plus the print on demand (POD) requirements of many, logistical requirements for delivering mixed content to ever-increasing readers became a nightmare for publishers.

One giant global publisher, Macmillan, solved this nightmare problem by joining with one of the worlds largest book distributors, Ingram Content Group, to forge a new business model.

This report from PRWeb:

Ingram Content Group Inc. and Macmillan today announced a new distribution ser...


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Apple's Digital Newsstand Far from Done Deal!

Posted by John R. on Saturday, September 18, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Apple wants to "help" newspapers and magazines sell digital versions of their products on iPad, mostly by subscription, by offering a rich digital publishing environment with text plus video. 

Sounds like it could be a good deal for newspapers and magazines, but the devil is in the details.

First, Apple wants to own the subscribers info and data and not give this info to the individual newspapers and magazines for use in their management of subscription bundling, etc, based on readership demogr...

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Publishers: Adapt and Add Apps

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, In : publishing 
Sourcebooks Publishing is growing because it has learned one simple but very important principle: treat your employees like entrepreneurs and be open to their ideas and input.

In other words, treat them like respected partners and be transparent!

Ann Meyer reports this in the Chicago Tribune:

Book Publishing Firm Finds New Sources of Growth

As the book publishing industry undergoes a transformation, at Naperville-based Sourcebooks Inc., Dominique Raccah (pictured above) is embracing the change ...


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The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!...Publishing That Is

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, September 8, 2010, In : publishing 
Quercus Publishing PLC (Public Limited Company in UK), a fast-growing British company established in 2004, is opening in the U.S. and Canadian markets through a collaboration deal with Sterling Publishing, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble.
 
Interesting side note here: Sterling, established around 1949, is noted for publishing nonfiction and Quercus is primarily known for international fiction...Looks like an expanding venue for Sterling. Their new-formed company will be known as Silver Oak

Here...

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Publishing Flourishing in India - Lessons To Be Learned?

Posted by John R. on Monday, September 6, 2010, In : publishing 
Publishing is flourishing in India because new publishers there have recognized the NewGen reader (impatient and with short attention spans). The NewGen reader wants short, racy, relatable and fast reads.

This interesting report comes from

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FastPencil Offers Big-Name Authors Speed, Simplicity and Higher Royalties

Posted by John R. on Sunday, September 5, 2010, In : self-publishing 
FastPencil is moving FAST (appropriate name) to nab established authors with their FastPencil Premiere package...A package solidified with agreements with Amazon, iPad and Barnes & Noble website outlets; plus they are working deals to sell the books in brick and mortar stores.

Anthony Ha reports these details from MediaBeat (of VentureBeat):

Campbell, Calif.-based
FastPencil tries to democratize the book worldwith Web-based book creation and publishing tools. Now it’s trying to go up-market w...
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A Gloden Tattoo for Random House

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, In : publishing 
Stieg Larsson's thriller series ("The Millenium-series"), which included The "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", has been a huge boon to Random House profits.

Matthew Flamm , writing today in Crain's New York Business, reports this:

The girl with the dragon tattoo has been very good to Random House.

The world’s largest consumer publisher has sold 6.5 million copies—including 1 million Kindle e-book editions—of the late Stieg Larsson’s trio of thrillers featuring the inked Swedish hacker. ...


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Self-Publishing or Traditional Publishing? Both Offer Writers ?????

Posted by John R. on Sunday, August 29, 2010, In : publishing 
Self-publishing is growing up and coming into it's own right before our eyes; but, traditional publishing (TP) still has tons to offer...and with the right flexibility and adaptability, TP will continue to offer great publishing options.

Boyd Morrison, published author of The Ark, wrote this for The Huffington Post:

To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish

When I was looking for a publisher in the olden days of 2008 (47 years ago in ebook time), it seemed clear that the way to make a living as a...


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Dreck is in the Eye of the Beholder

Posted by John R. on Thursday, August 26, 2010, In : publishing 
Dreck, defined as trash or rubbish, has become a buzz word in publishing to denote what some agent or publisher thinks is a bad manuscript/project.

Well, examining the history of traditional publishing proves their track record on what is dreck or not is pretty dismal...at best, a 50% success rate. REALLY hit and miss. Just read all the horror stories of past great writers (such as Faulkner and Hemingway) who were turned down multiple times before their masterpiece was finally published! The w...

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Digital Mag and Newspaper Subs Could Bring $3 Billion by 2014

Posted by John R. on Friday, August 20, 2010, In : digital publishing 

The title says it all! 

A consumer survey conducted by consultants with Oliver Wyman for Next Issue Media determined that consumers were willing to pay for good mag and newspaper digital content...Details follow from an article by
Eric Sass in MediaPostNews:

Digital issues of magazines could generate $3 billion in subscription revenues for magazine and newspaper publishers by 2014, according to a consumer survey conducted by consultants with Oliver Wyman on behalf of Next Issue Media, a consort...


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Vanity Publisher 'New Century' Sued by 16 Authors

Posted by John R. on Thursday, August 19, 2010, In : publishing 
They have snakes in every industry, but, in publishing they seem to be focused mostly in the so-called 'vanity' publishing arena.

Bruce C. Smith of the Indianapolis Star www.indystar.com  reports this story on one vanity publisher located in his state:

Vanity book publisher and former Downtown bookstore owner David William Caswell was accused in a lawsuit filed Tuesday of violating the state's deceptive consumer sales laws.

This is the third time in 20 years the Indiana attorney general has...


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Is Freedom of Speech Being Chased Out of America?

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, August 17, 2010, In : publishing 
More intrigue and suspense in the publishing world!...This time all the way to the Pentagon (I don't know which is worse at guarding it's own top secret stuff, the NSA, CIA or the Pentagon?). 

It seems the website WikiLeaks got it's hands on some loose-guarded documents RE the Afghan war and has been publishing them, much to the chagrin of Pentagon officials.

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' owner, fearing the Pentagon will try and shut him down, has moved his servers to Sweden and will apply for a S...

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Write Once Publish Everywhere

Posted by John R. on Saturday, August 14, 2010, In : publishing 
Technology has improved publishing means...AND that also includes printed word publishing as well as digital publishing.

This neat piece of information comes from FOLIO magazine and it's staff:

Publishing Technology 2010

Today, the publishing industry is being driven by technology more than ever before. As business models evolve, the right technology can make or break new products, from the back-end of a Web site to new customer-facing channels such as mobile and tablet apps.

But it’s not...


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New Mobile Magazine to Pursue Paid Subscriptions over Advertising Revenues AND Big Revenue Share with Writers

Posted by John R. on Friday, August 13, 2010, In : Magazine Publishing 
Nomad Editions, a new series of digital weeklies strictly for mobile devices, will debut in October. What sets this digital mag apart is it's business model being 180 degrees off norm...Mainly seeking it's revenue from paid subscriptions versus advertising.

NE will also be paying it's writers and editors with a generous revenue sharing program...This could be a substantial living...IF NE IS SUCCESSFUL!

Anyway, Matt Kinsman, Executive Editor of FOLIO magazine, wrote this about Nomad Editions:
...
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The Terminology of Publishers

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, August 10, 2010, In : publishing 

When talking about certain industries, you sometimes have to learn their inside language to truly understand their professional-speak.

Here is an article from Saint Louis Today (
www.stltoday.com) by Jane Henderson that provides clarification of some of the latest publishing and book handling terms:

Publishers sometimes use terminology differently, but
Christine Frank offers a primer on how the St. Louis Publishers Association defines common terms.

Traditional publishing (also called commercia...


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Digital Publishing Market is Booming in China!

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Global Leaders Institute will be hosting the Digital Publishing Asia Pacific 2010 event in November in China. Everybody who's anybody will be there to hash out the inevitable problems in a huge emerging market...

This press release and report is from
PRNewswire :

Hosted by Global Leaders Institute, world digital publishing industry leaders will convene at Digital Publishing Asia Pacific 2010 (DPAP2010) on November 16th and 17th in Beijing China. The two-day executive summit will examine the hot...

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Amazon IS an Amazon!

Posted by John R. on Sunday, July 25, 2010, In : publishing 
Not only has Amazon's e-book and general merchandise profits risen BUT their print book sales have jumped up by double digits!

Seems I have print books' staying power on my mind in all my blogs today (see my post today on Writers Welcome Blog
http://alturl.com/4z88

This report from Industry News in
Publishers Weekly

Revenue in Amazon’s North America media segment, which includes books and e-books, rose 15% in the second quarter to $1.32 billion. Sales in the electronic and general merchand...

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How Self-publishing Affects a Writer's Career

Posted by John R. on Sunday, July 25, 2010, In : self-publishing 
There are pros and cons to self-publishing...However, in todays evolving publishing atmosphere, self-publishing is becoming more acceptable and now has more pros than cons!

Here is an insight given by
Ruth Belena in an article she wrote for Helium:

Self-publishing is now more than ever an option for a new writer to get into print or to create an e-book. It is worth considering the effects of self-publishing on a writer's career and the many benefits to be gained from self-publishing, when it is...

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Virgin Group Ltd. Jumping into Publishing

Posted by John R. on Friday, July 16, 2010, In : publishing 
Sir Richard Branson, the British industrialist and founder of Virgin Group Ltd. (a brand of over 360 companies), is going to launch a digital only magazine titled Maverick this October...ushering in Virgin's foray into the publishing world.

Scott Merrill (no decent links about him personally) of
CrunchGearwrites this about Virgin and their e-magazine Maverick: 

Virgin is looking to expand into the publishing market with a new magazine called “Maverick” that targets the upscale international...

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How 'Tumblr' Fits into News Organizations' Publishing Options

Posted by John R. on Thursday, July 15, 2010, In : Social Media 
A good community blogging platform site that is full of media and publishing companies! A great place for "us" types...

The lowdown comes from this article on Poynter Online by
Mallary Jean Tenore :

Mark Coatney, also known as "
Newsweek Tumblr guy," announced Monday that he had accepted a job as Tumblr's "media evangelist." The position, he said, will allow him to teach other journalists the lessons he's learned in creating and running Newsweek's Tumblr.

"Basically my job is to introduce Tumblr ...

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Self-publishing is Coming-of-Age!

Posted by John R. on Thursday, July 8, 2010, In : self-publishing 
Gone are the days when self-publishing (SP) was on the "B" list...It has arrived and is getting invites from "A" list groups.

And what was the popularizer or legitimizer? Who gussied up SP?

Technology!

With a large helping hand from bad management and greed in the old traditional publishing model!

This from the
New Hampshire Public Radio  (Word of Mouth) by Virginia Prescott

Self Publishing Débutante

There’s a new way to make it in the cut-throat world of book publishing. We recently spoke t...

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Magnify.net to Offer Curated Video Content (CVC)

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, In : digital publishing 

How would you like a resource to pull videos from that are related to your site content AND that will draw bigger advertisers with more money for you?...

At least that is what I think the following press release is saying...I am NOT an expert. But, the following press release seems to be saying something important for helping smaller publishers monetize while increasing sales for advertisers!

Initiative will allow publishers to provide contextually relevant video to site specific advertise...


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Empowering writers

Posted by John R. on Sunday, July 4, 2010, In : writing 

Since the Grub Street Writing Center started in 1997 in Boston, Massachusetts...It has established an extraordinary pedigree! Famous authors on it's staff and 22 students with published books and more coming...

A must read for aspiring and established writers alike:

Jan Gardner reporting for the Boston Globe

In the world of publishing, the Grub Street writing center is the little engine that could. Since its inception in 1997, 53 instructors, including New York Times bestselling author Jen...


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Delving into Self-publishing

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, In : self-publishing 

Today's post is introducing a blog and website that gives insight from authors who have actually self-published...There are nuggets to be mined from this resource for those who are thinking about self-publishing or want to learn more about self-publishing and marketing books online.

This press release from prlog.org:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 29, 2010 – Dearborn, MI – June 29, 2010 – Today, jexbo.com, the site that helps self-published authors sell books on...


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Self-publish Books? Why Not Magazines?

Posted by John R. on Thursday, June 24, 2010, In : self-publishing 

Nice little tid-bit of interesting publishing-simplified news. This from Christopher Nulla technology writer for Yahoo! News:

Not everyone has it in them to write the
great American novel. Some of you may have more skimmable ambitions — to create your own magazine.

I love magazines, but I know firsthand how difficult they can be for amateurs to create. The printing and distribution process is the real killer: Commercial printers cost a small fortune to use, and getting magazines into the ...


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So You Wanna Publish a Book

Posted by John R. on Sunday, June 13, 2010, In : publishing 

I found this cute, but informative, refresher article on the steps to publishing your book with a traditional publisher. The author, name not given, was referring to nonfiction, however, when discussing writing a book proposal for approval and securing an agent before actually writing the book (step 1 in the article). Fiction works require you to submit an entire finished manuscript in most cases.

Those of you who have never seen the actual steps quantified will learn much from this post and t...


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Can iPad Resuscitate Magazines?

Posted by John R. on Sunday, June 6, 2010, In : digital publishing 

Maybe...The iPad offers a more personal experience than computers and more graphics and peripherals than eReaders...but, will readers pay for the mag content...much less invest in the expense of the iPad to begin with?

I feel they will...IF the content is relevent, interactive, well written and not available elsewhere. Afterall, content that people want is king!   

Benny Evangelista, who writes technology for the SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle), has this view:

For the magazine industry, App...


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How To Be a Successful Author

Posted by John R. on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, In : writing 

How can I be a successful writer? A question asked by ALL newbies...Well, one way is to follow lessons learned from more experienced writers who are willing to share...Such is Bob Baker (pictured) who is a full-time author and independent publisher who wrote this excellent advice for Wordpreneur:

Are you a curious person? I am. Especially when it comes to people who have taken action to achieve worthy and creative goals. Whenever I meet a successful author, musician, artist, actor or whatever,...


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E-books No Party Crasher At BookExpo America

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, In : digital publishing 

The international digital publishing industry was an invited guest at BookExpo America (BEA) taking place now in New York AND given a kings welcome! 

This is a good move and shows that booksellers realize they must gear up to sell both digital and print versions of books to grow and survive in the new publishing paradigm. 

Here is an interesting take on this years BEA by Bob Hoover of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

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The New Middle Ground Publishing

Posted by John R. on Monday, May 24, 2010, In : digital publishing 

A new middle ground, half way between traditional publishing (that now outsources everything and puts the marketing burden on the writers) and pure self-publishing, is opening up. Publishing companies are now offering so-called "midlist authors" (and others too) more publishing support in their semi-self-publishing efforts. A case in point is Amazon's new publishing arm, AmazonEncore, agreeing to digitally publish J. A. Konrath's new Jack Daniels female cop series book, Shaken, and bring the ...


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How Do Publishers Handle Worldwide Digital Revenue?

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, May 19, 2010, In : digital publishing 
The growing revenue WORLDWIDE from all the downloadable stuff (eBooks, music, etc) is growing almost exponentially and you can just envision the paper money literally raining down in buckets! 

Well, how do the publishing, distribution and retail companies get a grip on all these currencies and their accounting and reporting? One way is through companies like RoyalShare...



This press release from
PR Newswire:

Leading Book Publisher Adopts RoyaltyShare Service to Handle Growing Demands of Digit...


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Are Writers' Dreams of Riches Now Unrealistic?

Posted by John R. on Sunday, May 16, 2010, In : digital publishing 
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Will the digital content explosion destroy writers' livlihoods OR make their businesses better? There are two schools of thought on this topic...Some in the business, mostly from the publishing standpoint, think that the increased availability of content will drive down content costs and thereby royalities for writers of that content.

I respectfully disagree with this forecast.

I feel that the growing digital publishing industry is creating a renewed interest in reading and that cou...

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Borders Launches e-Books and Kobo Readers

Posted by John R. on Friday, May 14, 2010, In : digital publishing 

Amazon, Google and Apple are in the eBook biz, why NOT Boarders? And other current bookstore chains are probably scrambling to integrate digital as I'm writing this post! Follow the money, right?

Calvin Reid reporting in Publisher's Weekly says:

Borders has provided a few more details for its move into offering digital content, beginning with plans to take pre-orders for the new Kobo digital reading device. Kobo’s new $149 e-ink reading devices will begin shipping in June to be followed by ...


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Writers With Rejectionitis--Submitting to the Inevitable

Posted by John R. on Monday, May 10, 2010, In : writing 
Writers have always been put through the wringer to get published; even more so in the last three or four decades for the fast buck over true art. Fair? Hell no! But that has been the extremely flawed business model that the traditional publishing industry somehow got away with...Perhaps, the tables are turning on them now with the new empowering and equalizing technology that has exploded upon us.

I was reading 
Deborah Hansen's writers' group blog  (The Florida Times-Union) the other day in w...
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Digital Publishing Digs In at Simon & Schuster

Posted by John R. on Saturday, May 8, 2010, In : digital publishing 
Some nice, interesting tidbits about ebook sales and digital publishing within Simon & Schuster...
Be sure to follow the links in this post.

Mark Byrne of MediaBistro/Galleycat reports: 

CBS Publishing released its first quarter report yesterday, showing an uptick in e-book sales and a sharp increase in digital publishing revenue for Simon & Schuster.

Digital publishing revenue jumped from $3.6 million to $12 million in the first quarter of this year, growing 233 percent. According to a paid...


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Book Publishing is Simply Becoming Self-Publishing

Posted by John R. on Saturday, May 1, 2010, In : self-publishing 

"Self-publish? Are you nuts!" says I. "Yeah, nuts like a fox! Or is it a squirrel? Squirrels like nuts,right? Not foxes. Oh hell, I want a re-write!" says my author-aspiring friend.

Let's try this again. "Self-publish? Are you crazy!" says I. "Yeah, CRAZY LIKE A FOX!" says my author-aspiring friend.

Much, much better...and TRUE...as the following NY Times article by 
Virginia Herrernan  (pictured at left) proves:  

I love out-there theories and the people who are seized by them. I’m a sitting d...


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Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC) Will Highlight Two Key Trends: The Rise in Self-Publishing and Virtual Events

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, April 28, 2010, In : self-publishing 
Want to get the latest on self-publishing? The second annual Self-Publishers Online Conference coming 12 - 14 May, 2010 is an excellent place to get expert advice and attend virtual seminars, exhibit halls, conference rooms and briefings by industry insiders...AND from the comfort of your own home...AND for free!...What a deal...

Press release from Send2Press edited by Debra Tone

Recession or no, more books are being published now than at any time in history. Yet attendance at publishing ind...

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How Publishers Can Survive Change

Posted by John R. on Sunday, April 25, 2010, In : digital publishing 

This post highlights what two young publishers are doing successfully to save their alt-weekly newspaper in Tampa. Quite innovative use of so-called "community journalists" to produce fresh, ever-relevent, street content. The only thing: passion is a must.

This from WebProNews: 



The publishing industry has changed dramatically over the past few years and will continue to do so moving forward. As a result, traditional journalists are being forced to re-invent the industry. At SXSW, WebProNewsspo...


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High U.S. Demand Delays Global Release of iPad!

Posted by John R. on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, In : digital publishing 

Is the Apple iPad a success? I guess so as evidenced by the sales numbers! Good gosh, they can't seem to keep up with the demand...I wish I had a piece of this action!

Oh well, this from the New York Times:


Responding to strong demand in the United States for its iPad, Applesaid Wednesday that it would delay the worldwide release of the tablet computer for a month.

“Faced with this surprisingly strong U.S. demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch ...


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Adobe's InDesign CS5 Powers the Transition to Digital Publishing

Posted by John R. on Monday, April 12, 2010, In : publishing 
I have always LOVED Adobe and their products...and now they are outdoing past achievements with agressive leadership in digital publishing! The new interactivity and time-saving work-flows in their publishing software are stupendous! 

This press release from BusinessWire paints a pretty picture of Adobe's "InDesign CS5":

Adobe InDesign CS5 enables creative professionals to deliver digital documents that include interactivity, animation, video and audio -- connecting people to page content in in...
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Authors and Self-Publishers Learn the Latest in the Business of Book Publishing!

Posted by John R. on Friday, April 9, 2010, In : publishing 
I'm always happy to pass along interesting info on the business of book publishing. Here for you is an announcement  by Debra Tone of Send2Press Newswire RE an online FREE three day conference taking place next month

The second annual Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC) gives entrepreneurial writers, authors, and publishers the opportunity to learn from experts in book publishing from the convenience of their own office. At SPOC, everyone is encouraged to "Live Long and Publish!" This thr...

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What Chef Ramsay Can Teach Writers

Posted by John R. on Thursday, April 8, 2010, In : writing 
Bob Mayer, a contributing writer on GENREALTY Blog, former green Beret and published author, has some excellent advice and guidance RE focus and discipline in reaching your writing goals. I do take exception to a few of his thoughts (very few) and I have noted those in the body of his post below. But, overall he is right on in this writer's opinion.  

Bob Mayer:
Are you striving to survive or striving to succeed?

Warrior Writer works because other successful people use the same basic strategi...


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About Me


John R. Austin Writer, Old-Warrior-Adventurer, Blogger... I was born in Key West, Florida. A rather famous hangout for some past famous writers: Hemingway and Tennessee Williams to name two. I just hope that I possess a glimmer of their talent. I have a bachelors degree in architecture/construction and a master's degree in industrial engineering. I have been writing for fifty plus years. Most of my writing has been in the technical, instructional and business areas. I am working on my first book: "Havana Harvest---When Cuba Was Naughty" which details my coming of age experiences in 1958 Havana, Cuba, at the age of 15. Please visit my other blog "Writers Welcome Blog" at http://alturl.com/4z88.

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