Meet The Advisers
Brian O’Leary
A publishing veteran with 30 years of operational, management and consulting experience, Brian O’Leary is founder and principal of Magellan Media, a management consulting firm that works with book, magazine and association publishers seeking support in content operations, benchmarking and financial analysis. With Hugh McGuire, O’Leary is co-editor of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto (O’Reilly Media, 2012).
How would you (briefly) describe your role in the industry?
I work as a consultant to book, magazine and association publishers. Much of my practice involves workflow assessment and improvement—changing processes, technologies or tools, and organizational structures in a planned manner to support cross-platform content dissemination. I also write about broader publishing issues, both on the Magellan blog and in several published reports created for our clients.
Read this story in our digital edition, or download Book Business' iOS app to get free access to all our great magazine content on your tablet.
What big issues do you see publishers thinking and talking about these days?
You can't toss a conference program without hitting someone talking about "discovery," particularly across online platforms. I wish that the conversation was a bit less driven by talk of metadata (although that matters a lot). Institutions like libraries play a critical role in discovering books, but they have been largely shut out of the digital conversation. That needs to change.
I'm also hearing a more coherent discussion of workflow and why it matters. Some of that might reflect my work—we all hear what we are interested in—but I think the growing number of platforms and formats has made most publishers step back and think about how they are going to participate in this new ecosystem.
There's still talk of piracy and DRM, but I'm happy to hear less talk of whether DRM can stop piracy and more discussion of how it locks customers into specific retail platforms. There's still a lot of work to be done to assess the true impact of piracy, something an increasing number of publishers understand.
Tell us (in 10 words or less) why metadata matters.
Good metadata helps book buyers find the content they want.
Christopher Kenneally
Christopher Kenneally is Director, Business Development, for the non-profit Copyright Clearance Center (copyright.com). He is also host and producer for CCC's podcast series, "Beyond the Book." Before joining CCC in 2001, Kenneally reported for The New York Times and WGBH-TV among many other publications and broadcast media. He is the author of Massachusetts 101.
How would you (briefly) describe your role in the industry?
Copyright Clearance Center, marking its 35th anniversary in 2013, has as its mission the creation of innovative licensing solutions for the seamless sharing of knowledge. We recognize that copyright is a complicated legal area, but we fundamentally believe that enabling copyright-based solutions should be—and can be—easy.
What big issues do you see publishers thinking and talking about these days?
These are hectic times indeed for everyone in publishing. What you worry about depends, of course, on your role and your sector. In STM, "open access" is shifting the publishing paradigm away from subscriptions and toward author services; this is creating need for a wide range of web-based processes that deliver efficiencies and scale. The newspaper business continues to confront the challenges of monetization, and is looking more closely than ever before to licensing for growth opportunities. As for books, the passage from print to digital has meant a proliferation of new forms and a hunger for new content; moving forward, publishers expect to create value in the innovative application of re-use and republication.
In this Internet age of cut and paste, is copyright under siege?
Copyright suffers most, perhaps, from a lack of understanding. The public, especially young people, are confused: Technology makes it almost too easy to copy any type of file—text, video, music, photography. Education about the important role of copyright in our "creative economy" and the impact of infringement on art, science and industry can help clear up any confusion, and help address viability for creators and publishers in the future.
Read this story in our digital edition, or download Book Business' iOS app to get free access to all our great magazine content on your tablet.
- Places:
- Massachusetts
%0D%0A%20%20You%20can't%20toss%20a%20conference%20program%20without%20hitting%20someone%20talking%20about%20"discovery,"%20particularly%20across%20online%20platforms.%20I%20wish%20that%20the%20conversation%20was%20a%20bit%20less%20driven%20by%20talk%20of%20metadata%20(although%20that%20matters%20a%20lot).%20Institutions%20like%20libraries%20play%20a%20critical%20role%20in%20discovering%20books,%20but%20they%20have%20been%20largely%20shut%20out%20of%20the%20digital%20conversation.%20That%20needs%20to%20change.<%2Fspan>%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookbusinessmag.com%2Farticle%2Fbook-business-chats-editorial-advisers-brian-oleary-christopher-kenneally%2F" target="_blank" class="email" data-post-id="1404" type="icon_link"> Email Email
0 Comments Comments