Articles from December 2006

The Other Side of the Story

December 27th, 2006 · 17 Comments

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 […]

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