Publishers’ “green” efforts took center stage at the 3rd Annual SustainPrint Awards Dinner, held March 23 at New York City’s Marriott Marquis Times Square, during the Publishing Business Conference & Expo. Two book publishers were recognized for their significant achievements in environmental sustainability: Melcher Media—winner of the Newcomer of the Year Award in Book Publishing (awarded to a company that recently implemented significant environmental sustainability efforts)—and the University of California Press—winner of the Longtime Leader Award in Book Publishing (awarded to a company with a significant history of environmental sustainability). Boho magazine and Ogden Publications received this year’s SustainPrint Awards in magazine publishing.
Product Launches
It has been several months since Google’s preliminary out-of-court settlement with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Authors Guild regarding Google Book Search, and the dust has yet to settle. The agreement’s true impact will only become apparent over time, as its terms are put into practice. The devil will be in the details of execution. This is a watershed event nonetheless and marks the beginning of a new era in content distribution. A few themes have emerged that will characterize this next phase.
Six Approximate number of titles HarperCollins expects to produce as video books, or v-books, which will be available for download on iPods and iPhones. The publisher released its first v-book, “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis, last month; the print version of the title was released in January. The “Google” v-book, which retails for $9.99, features a 23-minute video of Jarvis discussing the basic concepts in the book.
Source: paidContent.org, Feb. 3, 2009
$0 Amount Massachusetts-based, nonprofit Concord Free Press charges consumers for its books, including shipping. In exchange, the publisher asks readers to make donations to a local charity or someone in need in their community, and to pass on the book. Concord plans to publish two titles a year as part of its effort to “expand the definition of publishing and re-invigorate the book” (according to its Web site). Each book will be limited to about 1,000 copies.
Judging from the prognostications that Pat Schroeder remembers hearing at publishing conferences a decade ago, most people today ought to be reading e-books and regarding print as a quaint relic of the past. That hasn’t happened, of course, and the president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) sees that fact as a useful caution when trying to predict the future of the industry. It’s easy to identify key factors, but misjudge their effect; trends that seem vitally important now could fade into obscurity, and the course of publishing could be shaped by things currently on no one’s radar screen.
One might think that all other problems fade into the background when there’s a recession, but for university presses, that’s certainly not true. Questions about changes in education funding and student habits rear up alongside concerns about preparing for the digital future; still, the country’s economic woes are plaguing university presses, and the stress is not likely to disappear anytime soon.
$100,000 The value of what is said to be the world’s most expensive book. “Michelangelo. La Dotta Mano,” which was recently published by Italy-based FMR, is a 62-pound, velvet- and marble-bound tome depicting the life and work of Michelangelo. It takes six months to make each book, and more than 20 copies have been sold.
Two events occurred recently that some have called the biggest news to hit the industry in decades. First was the announcement of the settlement between Google, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Authors Guild, regarding Google’s controversial Book Search tool. The settlement allows Google to make millions of books available for consumers to read or buy through Google Book Search; but the big news is that Google will provide compensation to publishers and authors for their works. The settlement also established a Books Rights Registry (supported by the $125 million settlement paid by Google), which will monitor such compensation as well as work to resolve any additional disputes.
It is a challenging time to be a publisher, to be sure. David Hetherington, a 25-year book publishing veteran, describes the current climate as a “perfect storm, as various forces converge to create what may prove to be a truly unique ‘weather system’ for the book publishing industry.” He believes that the combination of the credit crisis and an economy in recession, coupled with a skittish consumer mentality, rising oil prices and the fluctuating dollar, will have a different impact on each major industry sector. “The question will be one of degree. Which sector,” he questions, “will have the toughest time, and how will they respond to the challenges?”
Google's open-source Android mobile operating system, a device manufactured by HTC of Taiwan to operate on the T-Mobile network, didn't make much of a splash. The press was unabashedly nonplussed. Out of the gate, the launch of the first Android phone, called the T-Mobile G1 with Google, failed on at least one count: matching the appeal of the iPhone.
