A few months back, HarperCollins launched its “Author Assistant” project (example here. In a nutshell (meaning, yes, I’m going to get into more detail in a few paragraphs), the service allows HC authors to easily build dynamic web presences with a smattering of Web 2.0 features that allow for community building. Authors must be active […]
Articles from November 2007
HarperCollins Author Assistant: Publisher Marketing Done Right
November 28th, 2007 · 5 Comments
File Under: Marketing For Introverts · Square Pegs
Two Great Ideas For The Kindle
November 26th, 2007 · 12 Comments
Last week’s reception for Amazon’s Kindle was, to put it kindly, rough. I admit it: I was expecting something more exciting. Something more egalitarian. Something I could put on my Amazon Wishlist. Good thing I’m an eternal optimist. I really do think a good e-reader is important to the world, and here are two reasons […]
File Under: Non-Traditional Publishing
Joining The Kindle Fray
November 20th, 2007 · 11 Comments
I had a choice yesterday: join the Kindle fray or watch the Kindle fray. Went with the latter, and, not surprisingly, the vast majority of the bloggers out there were as underwhelmed as I was when the device was initially announced. It’s unsavory to pay to upload legally-owned content to a legally-owned device. Kirk Biglione […]
File Under: The Business of Publishing
iPhones, Teenagers, and The Future of Reading
November 13th, 2007 · 14 Comments
There is no question that we are undergoing major change in the world of entertainment. The rate of change is both rapid and glacial. What is absolutely certain is that the next generation will consider our ways quaint and overly complex. They are growing up with a new set of expectations — and it is […]
File Under: The Future of Publishing
WGA Strike: Understanding The Basic Issues
November 9th, 2007 · 18 Comments
As you’ve noticed, I am greatly preoccupied by the Writers Guild of America strike. Not only is the gleaming BS headquarters based in Southern California, but I know people on the picket line. I’ve grown accustomed to seeing some of them hard at work while I’m pretending to do the same. I also know people […]
File Under: Square Pegs
Regnery Authors Sue For Lost Royalties
November 7th, 2007 · 4 Comments
Longtime BS BS readers know that one of the dirty little secrets of the publishing industry relates to “club” sales. According to the New York Times, five Regnery authors are suing the publisher for lost royalties due to in-house/related party club sales and other deep discount related party transactions. The book club is a simple, […]
File Under: The Business of Publishing
Online Content: The Importance of Ownership
November 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on Online Content: The Importance of Ownership
Some of your are thinking, “Why is she so obsessed with this strike?” Others, I hope, are seeing the appropriate parallels between what is happening with the Hollywood writers and you. Authors are surely noting that these writers are fighting for better compensation. Publishers are seeing that, as with music, creative talent has leverage. It […]
File Under: Non-Traditional Publishing
It’s The Story, Not A Lot More
November 5th, 2007 · 2 Comments
As the world settles into a potentially long winter of reruns and very bad reality television, the role of the writer in Hollywood is gaining new attention. We all know that someone writes those words that Angelina Jolie speaks on the big screen. We are newly aware that David Letterman’s “Top Ten List” isn’t created […]
File Under: Square Pegs
An Impossibly* Brief Post
November 1st, 2007 · 3 Comments
Today, as those of you feverishly attacking your keyboards know all too well, marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. Every year, during the month of November, thousands of people band together for a common cause: to write a novel over the course of what is surely the second-hardest month of the year. That […]
File Under: Square Pegs