You can’t spend three days at a conference such as the recent Tools of Change (February 13-15) and not marvel at the logistics, atmospherics and the countless insights and discoveries sprinkled throughout the event.
The location at the Times Square Marriott provided a striking reminder of the new power of electronic media in lights and motion. The glittering mash up of news crawls, jumbo video screens, advertising and entertainment that now define the Manhattan theater district, and Broadway and 42nd Street has become an urban theme park.
Where does a publisher go for the latest in process, for a view of the future and to map a path for getting there? This year’s three day 6th annual TOC conference provided an immersive opportunity to do so. It was at once a celebration of the traditions of storytelling and an exploration of new developments and business frameworks for their presentation and distribution. The theme was "Change/Forward/Fast and Start Again."
Recently Barnes & Noble announced that it would not sell books in its brick and mortar store that are published by Amazon’s new print publishing division. Shortly after this, Books-a-Million, Canada’s largest bookseller Indigo Books and Music and the American Booksellers Association also announced that they were joining the boycott.
These are, indeed, interesting times we live in. Have you ever heard of an instance like this? In ANY industry? Competitor B launches a boycott of competitor A, paints it as being for the good of the industry, and gets support from other competitors? Not I.
Book Business' own Eugene G. Schwartz was on the scene at the third annual Digital Book World Conference. He filed this comprehensive report from the proceedings.
Attendees at the third annual Digital Book World Conference heard reports that while publishers are in fact healthy and thriving in the new digital age, a lot more work is needed to let go of the habits of the past and live in the new interactive, multi-platform and vertically patterned business world of the future.
The cohort of newly minted consultants in attendance—emerging out of downsizing and transformation—are witness to their price as well as their opportunities.
It’s time to come up with new words for what we’re creating. “Ebooks” just doesn’t cut it anymore.
The past week pretty much covered the gamut of what’s going on in our industry for me. Tuesday I heard a wonderful, impassioned speech about physical books. And then on Thursday… well, perhaps you’ve heard that Apple made an announcement or two.
On Tuesday night, Kevin Spall (CEO of Thomson-Shore, Inc.) gave a speech at the Book Industry Guild of New York meeting. Kevin spoke, not only of his background, but spent some time reminding us what a wonderful thing the printed/bound book is. The history, of course, is rich. I confess that I did not realize that codex binding (basically the same thing we do today) has been around for over 1,700 years. Of course, some will describe that history as “rich” and others as “ancient” (and not in a good way).
By definition, libraries have always served as a “threat” to publishers—why pay for it, when you can get it for free at your local library? And yet, libraries and publishers have existed side-by-side. I think a point that gets missed is that when you give people an opportunity to open their minds up, to explore and dream you create additional demand.
I promised to discuss the top six negotiating traps. But I just couldn't stop at six: Here are two more traps to avoid when seeking a large-quantity book sale with a corporate buyer: 7) Not seeking common ground and 8) Focusing on the sale of books
By definition, libraries have always served as a “threat” to publishers—why pay for it, when you can get it for free at your local library? And yet, libraries and publishers have existed side-by-side. I think a point that gets missed is that when you give people an opportunity to open their minds up, to explore and dream you create additional demand.
One concern (paranoid obsession?) of the publishing industry is going the same route as the music industry.
No doubt you’ve heard that Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA and Hachette Book Group have agreed to create a shared website, to be called Bookish.com. They will provide start-up financing, but … at least 14 publishers will participate. … My first reaction was that this really speaks to that whiff of desperation in the air for publishers.
