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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Friday, October 8, 2010,
In :
publishing
 Another chapter RE the so-called "agency model" (where publishers and not booksellers set the book prices) and what physical book and eBook prices should be.
Please refer to the 10/5/10 post "E-Books are Selling for More than Hardcovers!" on the Writers Welcome Blog for an interesting background.
Apparently, the sole argument put forth as to why eBooks should be cheaper than their physical counterparts is the fact that you don't have the more expensive production costs (printing, paper, binding... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Wednesday, September 29, 2010,
In :
publishing
 How would you like a machine that prints, binds and trims bookstore-quality paperbacks with color covers in minutes?
Well, the technology is here and Xerox has it! It will be available in 2011.
This press release is from Market Watch:
An innovative, on-demand book printing system that is changing the way books are published, bought and sold worldwide can now be purchased directly from Xerox Corporation. The Espresso Book Machine(R), a Xerox Solution, prints, binds and trims bookstore-quality p... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Thursday, September 23, 2010,
In :
publishing
 The AAP (Association of American Publishers) has released the latest book sales figures.
The eBook sales have increased 150 to 190 percent! But, the print books did OK too...with some mostly small decreases in a few areas but increases in other areas. Not bad, in my opinion, considering the bad economy.
More details and figures are in this release from AUTHORLINK:
New York, NY, September 22, 2010— Publishers’ book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month ... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Thursday, September 16, 2010,
In :
publishing
 SachManya, a maker of mobile publishing tools, is launching a mobile app platform called Yapperthat will allow media publishers to create mobile apps in 30 minutes without writing any code.
Pretty neat stuff and a little bewildering to my simple mind!
Julie Klein of VentureBeatreports more details:
SachManya is one of 70 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Fall 2010 event taking place this week in Silicon Valley. After our selection, the companies pay a fee to present. Our cov... Continue reading ...
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 ... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Saturday, September 11, 2010,
In :
publishing
 Where is all the action regarding independent publishers and new creative energy happening today?
It's taking place in Brooklyn NOT in Manhattan! And more specifically it's happening this Sunday at the fifth annual Brooklyn Book Festival...
This is a book festival that has quickly taken on an international flavor and will include a special stage devoted to international programming that will feature several famous international authors.
John Williams, writing for Publishing Perspectives, gives ... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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 Meenakshi Kumar (no good link given for this writer) writing for the The Times of India:
Till a decade ago, Indian publishingwas a low-key affair. It had few players and scant success stories. Today, it's buzzing. As publishers mushroom, big money is backin... Continue reading ...
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. ... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Sunday, August 22, 2010,
In :
publishing
 Four days ago I posted "Is Freedom of Speech Being Chased Out of America?" which introduced the story of WikiLeaks and it's owner Julian Assange.
Julian fled to Sweden to avoid the possibility of having his site shut down here in America due to his publishing sensitive Pentagon documents...How did he get the docs and are they really worth all the fuss? I don't know. But, I do wonder about the efficiency of the Pentagon.
Anyway, here is an update on Julian Assange in Sweden from BBC news:
Swedi... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Saturday, August 21, 2010,
In :
publishing
 A cool look into the salaries of various professionals in the publishing industry, from executive management to editors and assistants...Interesting stuff...From the salaries, I guess publishing is surviving or at least hasn't hit rock bottom yet!
From PW:
Last year our annual salary survey asked "How Low Can You Go?" and the answer is 2.1%. That is the average industry raise reported in 2009, the lowest raise in at least six years and more than a full percentage point below the meager 3.3% rai... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
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...
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... Continue reading ...
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...
Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Friday, June 11, 2010,
In :
publishing
 This industry intelligence report by First Research on the book publishing industry is a 2009 report, but gives us a good peek into some of this industry's numbers, competitve landscape, products, operations and technology. This kind of data tracking is for serious researchers of this industry and full reports have to be purchased ($129/report) or subscribed to (First Research has reports on numerous industries other than publishing).
First Research, a D&B company, is the leading provid... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Monday, May 31, 2010,
In :
publishing
This is a simultaneous post on all my blogs:
God bless all our troops fighting for our cherished freedoms...and those who have sacrificed their very lives for this country!
Here is a story of unselfish love toward some of our troops (sent to me from my good friend Lynn in Florida) and how it was repaid in spades!
Sack Lunches
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get...
Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Saturday, May 22, 2010,
In :
publishing
 The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) will celabrate 20 years of solid work in protecting American freedoms next week in New York at Book Expo America (BEA) 2010...
I want to point this out because of the important work ABFFE does in fighting those who would limit our freedom of expression through promulgating censorship...due to mostly those who can't interpret mature literature and art without acting out there own stupid fantasies!
This from Publishers Weekly Indust... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Thursday, April 29, 2010,
In :
publishing
 Some interesting book, publishing and production stats from R. R. Bowker Company...and a little about Bowker, the guardian and issuer of ISBN's; also the world's leading provider of bibliographic information management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers.
Increases in tech and finance titles offset continuing decline in fiction; Explosive growth in “print on demand” drives total production past the million mark. Bowker, the global... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Wednesday, April 21, 2010,
In :
publishing
This is a wonderful post about a small, independent, non-profit publisher who came across a little manuscript that was rejected by many of the big boys; loved it, even though it went against the grain of the current formulaic successful-seller, and gave birth to a Pulitzer Prize winner! A true literary happening!
Marion Maneker, writing for Slate's blog The Big Money, reported on this inspiring event thusly:
Today's New York Times traces the back storyof Paul Harding's "Cinderella" Pulitzer P... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Thursday, April 15, 2010,
In :
publishing
Big challenges to be debated by big players RE book rights across ever-increasing digital channels...as well as print, audio and film...all to take place at the London Book Fair 2010 next week...Should be an interesting fair that could produce industry-changing guidelines!
The following press release is for LibreDigital by Heidi Johnson, heidi.johnson@virtualprdirector.com
LibreDigital CEO Russell P. Reeder to Host Discussion with Executives from Barnes & Noble, Entourage Systems, Hachette L... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by John R. on Saturday, April 10, 2010,
In :
publishing
Ever wonder how to talk to a real, live agent face-to-face about your project? How are you going to make your pitch? For those who have no experience in this area yet...it's a good idea to get some pointers and PRACTICE! Especially if you have a chance to go to a writers conference where agents will be in attendance.
Rosemary Clement-Moore, a published writer of YA fiction, has some excellent pointers she shared on the GENREALITY blog:
I’m speaking this weekend at the DFW Writers Conference ... Continue reading ...
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... Continue reading ...
|
About Me
| John R. Austin |
| Pueblo, Colorado |
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.
|
|