In response to our recent rant about an author who decided that the best way to help independent bookstores was to pull his book from Amazon, we received several interesting comments — and one fascinating comment (not a bad return on investment). In this case, the author noted that the costs of doing business with […]
Articles from December 2006
The Other Side of the Story
December 27th, 2006 · 17 Comments
File Under: Back To Basics
Nyet To Amazon, Says One Author
December 21st, 2006 · 4 Comments
We’re heading off to an undisclosed location for the holidays (okay, one holiday — we’ll be back next week), but couldn’t let this one pass without comment. A children’s book author in the UK, one who is apparently quite passionate about independent booksellers, has demanded that Amazon remove his book from their site. George Walker […]
File Under: Square Pegs
It’s The Most Wonderful Post Of The Year
December 18th, 2006 · 3 Comments
Year-end is approaching more rapidly than it has in previous years (we have done some scientific testing, and, yes, we all lost a week), so we’ll make our annual “give lots of money to literacy programs in time for the year-end tax deduction deadline” post short and sweet. Give lots of money to literacy programs. […]
File Under: Square Pegs
News Of The World: Regan Fired
December 16th, 2006 · 2 Comments
Wow, while we were taking an unexpected week off (the laptop headed off to the hospital for a hard drive-ectomy; while he was there, he got a keyboard lift, some work done to his memory, and what appears to be a motherboard tuck), the unexpected happened. Judith Regan, she being the one who promised to […]
File Under: The Business of Publishing
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 — Book Parties Made Easy
December 12th, 2006 · 1 Comment
About a month or so ago, we told a charming little story involving a bar, a girl, and a guest post. What you didn’t know (couldn’t know) was there was more to the story. It was through the girl (also known as Carolyn Turgeon) that we found the incredible artist and author, Molly Crabapple. That […]
File Under: Marketing For Introverts
Quick Thoughts On Book Search
December 7th, 2006 · 4 Comments
Gosh, it seems like a year since we sat in a room and listened as a representative of Microsoft outlined the company’s ambitious plans for its book search project. In reality, it’s been closer to nine months. Which would make it six months since the company wooed authors and publishers at BookExpo America. “Come to […]
File Under: The Future of Publishing
When A Scandal Isn’t Really
December 6th, 2006 · 2 Comments
What is plagiarism? We do not ask out of idle curiosity, we ask because, well, it seems that everyone is doing it. Or at least being accused of doing it. Or something. This week’s offender is reputedly Ian McEwan — though his actual crime seems to be mired in the magical world of “Huh?” McEwan […]
File Under: Square Pegs
Google Book Search, Google Print, The Plot Comes Together
December 1st, 2006 · 2 Comments
If you didn’t realize that Google was moving toward a paid content model with its various book initiatives, you haven’t been paying attention. Though the news has apparently just crossed the Atlantic Ocean, this goal was made clear at this year’s BEA (and, well, should have been obvious to everyone from the beginning). While publishers […]
File Under: The Future of Publishing