To give you a hint of what’s in store for you, I forced Kat Meyer, Conference Co-Chair to answer a few deeply important questions. And — if you haven’t already registered for the conference — at the end of this post, you can learn how to enter a drawing for a free conference pass.

(If you don’t win, don’t despair! You can still register using the discount code TOC11BSQ.)

1. So, Kat, with Tools of Change 2011 is just around the corner — February 14 – 16, 2011 — I figure you have plenty of free time to answer questions about this year’s program. Let’s start with the theme: Publishing Without Boundaries. What does that mean to you?

   The phrase “Publishing without boundaries” was actually coined by my co-chair, Andrew Savikas during one of our preliminary conference meetings. He didn’t suggest it as the theme, but all of us at O’Reilly loved it and agreed it fit perfectly with where the world of publishing is right now. Boundaries are disappearing. The rules that many in the industry have relied upon to make business run smoothly (for the most part), no longer apply – which is either a terrifying wakeup call or an exhilarating opportunity depending on one’s point of view. The one thing most seem to agree upon – as the old walls/boundaries come down — there’s no going back. Boundaries of who is a publisher, and who is a reader – they’re disappearing as digital production and distribution tools are more and more accessible to pretty much everyone. Boundaries of what content is available where and to whom — those boundaries are disappearing as digital content refuses to be easily confined by territorial rights restrictions…An industry that was once a rigidly defined landscape is being transformed into unchartered territory. So, the next question to consider is: as this territory is explored and claimed, what will the new boundaries look like? How will they be defined? That’s where it gets interesting, and that’s what a lot of the discussion at TOC 2011 will revolve around.

2. I know you’re excited about every session and speaker on the panel, but can you give us some highlights from the schedule?

   Wow. Yes, I am excited about every session and every speaker…I’ve spent the last many months talking at length with the speakers, learning about their backgrounds, and hearing what they plan to talk about. This is a stellar group of people we’ve gathered together. It’d be intimidating to have that many brilliant people in one space, if it weren’t for the fact that they’re all incredibly nice people as well. And each thoroughly entertaining in their own way. Every speaker on this program is a highlight. I can tell you that some of the speakers have really surprised me – and I’m happy to share a few of the names that may not yet be as known as others, but who are rising stars in this community:

   Gus Balbontin is one person I am pretty sure everyone will learn a lot from, and also want to get to know. He’s passionate not just about the work that Lonely Planet does, but about life, and about how the two connect. His keynote is funny, and real, and the lessons he shares apply equally to publishers in transition and anyone facing tough changes in life.

   Keynoters Britt Iversen and Anna Gerber, co-founders of gorgeous art object/booky-book publisher Visual Editions will blow everyone away with their pure enthusiasm for creating beautiful paper books that make readers happy. They take on seemingly impossible projects because they want to see them come to life – and they make them happen. But at the same time, they’re smart business women. They’re going to make a real impression and inspire a lot of people.

   Marcin Wichary of Google, who is leading a workshop on HTML5 for publishers is brilliant, funny, and excited about sharing what he knows. He is one of many workshop leaders who have been spending hours and hours preparing for TOC, and I am so proud of what he, and every one of our workshop speakers has put together for the participants. Marcin and others are just bending over backwards to make sure they can answer questions and really deliver what the attendees are hoping to learn. I mention this because all of our workshop leaders (and a good number of our speakers) have indicated they’d really like to hear from TOC attendees ahead of time — so we’re encouraging TOC attendees to reach out using the “comments/questions” window located at the bottom of each session description page on the website.

   Neal Hoskins’ panel of app developers has morphed from being an overview of features that successful apps have incorporated into an in depth discussion of the craft, care and polish that go into well-thought out content apps. The panel is another one (we have so many) that is packed with a veritable who’s who of leaders in their field.

   And another really awesome panel people may not have noticed quietly take a place on the program — one on subscription models and case studies which is being moderated by Andrew Savikas, and includes Jeremy Bornstein of Subutai (creators of The Mongoliad project) and of Rich Ziade of Readability (who has a major announcement he’ll be making soon).

   I’m also really excited about meeting readers — it’s one of my favorite things about TOC.

   If I keep going, I’ll end up recreating the entire program here. We’ve got keynotes that are just insanely impressive, we’ve got speakers from around the globe, we’ve got speakers from every conceivable part of not only the publishing ecosystem, but from the academic world and from other industries. This program represents an incredible assembly of relevant and meaningful perspectives that most of us just don’t get to hear from every day. And what’s really cool? We’ll all get to be part of the conversation. Each speaker is really interested in making each session as interactive as possible. One gigantic ball of highlights, Kassia. That’s what we’ve got going on at TOC this year.

   [Note: Kat's comment about hearing from attendees in advance goes for my panel, Bookselling in the 21st Century as well. Please share what you'd like to hear from this awesome group of people.]

3. Every year, it seems certain themes, intentional or not, emerge from proposed and accepted sessions. Anything pop this year? (Yes, I’m asking so I can be on the cutting edge of cool thinking)

   Hmm. Now that you ask, yes – there are a few. The most prominent is directly related to the “publishing without borders” concept. It’s the theme of collaboration – collaboration within organizations, collaboration between organizations, and collaboration across industries. It’s a theme, and it’s one that is echoed in the more “big concept” keynotes, as well as in many of the more technically-focused sessions.

   Another theme I’m hearing from speakers is – we don’t have “the” answer. We have answers, but they may not fit your questions, and there is no solution that’s going to work for everyone. Oh, and the solutions we do have, they may work great today, but they probably won’t work forever. To put it another way – there’s a very common theme that being nimble and agile is a prerequisite for any company that wants to keep moving forward.

   I’d add to that there have been many speakers who are emphasizing the importance of knowing what your core strength as a business is, and not losing sight of that.

4. I’ve heard rumors of big surprises for TOC attendees. Can you give us a hint?

   There are at least a few business announcements/launches taking place at TOC. For people like you and me, Kassia (and for many at TOC) at least a few of these announcements are the stuff geek girl “squees” are made of. Oh, and the speaker list (though I am receiving big sighs of exasperation from the speaker manager) may continue to grow… just a bit. So keep checking that speaker roster!

5. Is it true Margaret Atwood is going to be on my bowling team?

   Well, the bowling event has gone back to the drawing board. No matter how much I tell the event team that TOC people are bowling people, they seem to think we are much more sophisticated (I have no idea where this impression was made, or by whom — clearly not at last year’s TOC karaoke Tweetup), but regardless of that happens with TOC, having met Ms. Atwood, I believe she’d join your bowling team if she thought it would make you happy. She’s maybe as kind as she is funny. And, that’s a whole lot of kindness!

Now for the fun stuff! We here at Booksquare are thrilled to announce we’re giving away a free pass for this year’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference. This pass covers the two-day conference only (Tuesday and Wednesday, February 15 and 16, 2011), workshops are not included. You are also responsible for your own airfare, hotel, and travel expenses.

To enter for a chance to win this awesome prize, just tell us in the comments what you’re looking forward to most at this year’s TOC. Or, tweet a link to this post with the hashtag #BSTOC. The most random creature on the plan — Wiki Gonzalez (tabby and paper lover) — will chose a winner from all entries. Winner will be announced on Friday, January 21, 2011.

Yet, this is the season of giving (and, yes, tax deductions). Every year, we here at Booksquare make a pitch for our favorite causes, hoping some of you, like us, will find a little something extra to give this now and in the future. If you have a favorite cause that relates to literacy, reading, or education, let us know in the comments.

• ProLiteracy — As always, our list is topped by Proliteracy.org. You can contribute either financially or by volunteering as a literacy tutor. When you are a reader, a to-your-soul reader, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where people can’t read. The reasons vary, and the solution is not simple. Helping others learn to read should be the primary goal of the publishing industry — any way we can.

  If you can’t donate money, can you donate time?

• First Book — Just as teaching the world to read is important, getting books to children is essential. First Book gets books to children who need them. You remember your first book, you remember reading as a child. Help share that joy. Bonus! through December 31, your donation will be matched book-for-book by Random House.
• Girls Write Now: Girls Write Now is a non-profit organization devoted to mentoring the next generation of women writers. Focused on New York’s underserved and at-risk high school girls, this program helps them find their voices through creative writing.
• Donors Choose — The problem with growing up the child of a public school librarian is that you know how completely screwed up our public school financing priorities are. It is appalling that teachers and librarians are forced to finance so many projects (and supplies, essential supplies) out of their own pockets. It’s not like teachers make huge salaries. DonorsChoose.org was founded to bring educators together with people who have money to contribute to specific projects. Look at the list of projects — is there something you can help transform from wish to reality?
• Buy Books — You want to make a serious statement about your commitment to books? Buy everyone on your shopping list a book. Or two. Or three. No need to limit yourself. This isn’t going to turn the industry around, but, c’mon people who get free books, put some money back into the industry that’s been good to you.

Here’s hoping you have a little extra to give to one or more of these causes, be it money, time, or energy. And thank you, so much, for reading BS!

Not only is the bookish world attending SXSWi, but they are also actively participating as speakers. Which means, yes, once again I bring you a listing of book-related panels with brief descriptions. Part of the panel selection process is a bit of a popularity contest, and your vote for these panels helps get book programming on the schedule.

Check out the panels, take a moment to go through the (painless) registration process, then please vote. My panels, ahem, are listed first, and every vote is appreciated by me and each of the great people who put together great proposals! (And if I’ve missed something, shout out in the comments, please!)

Note: I’ve shortened some of the descriptions. Click through for full descriptions and comments on proposals.

• 21st Century Publishing Models: Turning Tradition Upside-Down: This panel features me, Angela James of Carina Press, Pablo Defendini of Open Road Media, and Kirk Biglione of Oxford Media Works. It will be awesome. New publishers are building thriving businesses with digital first/print maybe and books-as-apps approaches. With industry giants crowding the bestseller lists and the number of titles published each year growing, how do these independent digital publishers compete in the book marketplace? Veterans of this constantly evolving business model explain how they are building twenty-first century publishing houses, combining the strengths of traditional publishing with cutting-edge technology.
• Beyond the Book: New Publishing Models That Work: Simon St. Laurent, O’Reilly Media. (I’ve been invited to participate on this panel!) Instead of lamenting the loss of a golden era, though, some publishers and authors are already finding new opportunities. Despite some hopeful dreams, the iPad by itself won’t save publishing. There’s much more going on than just app stores that can run like bookstores. The Web makes possible all kinds of things, like subscription models to libraries of content, constant updates that depart from the edition model, video content that reinforces or replaces a book’s message, live online events, applications that offer readers new content navigation models, and more. Print on demand, of course, continues to transform even the traditional print book market.
• Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted. Not!: Richard Nash, Cursor. In the Assassin’s Code, the death of God makes everything possible. Many believe that the network makes everything possible. But if everything is possible, how does anything matter? In art, what is left out is as important as what is included. Can the rules of making art help us make more useful technology? Can such concepts as the minimum viable product help us do a better job of writing, editing, designing, and disseminating novels, films, music.
• The New Author Platform: Mary Ann Naples, OpenSky, featuring Debbie Stier of HarperCollins. Building your brand hub with internet platform tools–for authors, the desired “platform” used to mean what publicity you have gotten, who you are connected to, and what your speaking schedule was (if you didn’t have a tv or radio show). Now, it’s a whole new world. This panel addresses the new era of internet platform tools that are helping authors engage, grow, and monetize their online presence–and gain more readers.
• The Independent eBook Revolution: Is Big Publishing Dying?: Kelley Allen, Diesel eBooks, also featuring John Warren of Rand and Mark Coker of Smashwords. Not too long ago, having your book published through a big New York City publisher was the only ticket to fame, fortune and glory. Now with the Internet, we are witnessing the rise of indie digital retailers, indie publishing and self-publishers (presses that accept all books submitted to them and also distribute those books to the battlefield of retail outlets and eBook consumers.) Do authors really need the big NYC houses at this point?
• Meet the Reader: Authors and Teens Connect Online: Jacob Lewis, Figment, other panelists include the delightful Lizze Skurnick. The distance between publishing and teens is decreasing as published authors are meeting teens in online spaces, outside of the context of their books. Many authors, especially in YA, are building audiences by talking, filming, writing and collaborating with teens. And teens, in turn, are participant in the same mediums, often becoming their own distributors of original work.
• Your Screen or Mine? Zinio’s Unity Platform: Andrew Malkin, Zinio LLC. Join digital publishing expert, Andrew Malkin, as he discusses how magazine and book publishers, as well as end consumers, have benefited from the convenience and connection of a UNITY™ platform where a fan of high-fidelity digital content can buy content once and take their reading anywhere. Case studies will include examples of illustrated, color and interactive content optimized and enhanced across devices, created both for North American and European clients in the digital magazine and book space including National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, among others.
• Got 99 Problems But a Blog Ain’t One: Jenny Blake, (Google, but panel would not be on behalf of them). Want to be a published author? Given the abundance of self-publishing options and the proliferation of e-books, the question today is not IF but HOW to reach your goal. According to a survey by the Jenkins group, 80 percent of the U.S. population says they want to write a book. If you’re a blogger, you already have a head start. So what’s next? For those who still want to go the traditional publishing route, this panel will provide a look at several bloggers who landed book deals, even with the industry in a state of flux.
• Imagining a Nimble World: Challenging the Publishing Industry: Rachel Lovinger, www.Razorfish.com. Content needs to be free (like a bird, not a beer) – free to be viewed across any platform at any time. To survive in the digital age, publishers must find engaging ways to re-package their content as products and services with a distinct value to customers. In this panel, we’ll addresses challenges facing the publishing industry today including if and how to monetize content, how publishers can successfully make the transition to the digital economy, add circulation, find new readership, increase ROI, deliver valuable content to a growing range of platforms and devices, and deepen audience engagement.
• The Truth About Landing the Book Publishing Deal: Kyle Lacy. Landing the book deal is the biggest step in self-promotion to help advance your career. Publishing a book is what separates the experts from the gurus. This presentation details the process of signing a book deal with a book publisher. Lacy and Prebynski will outline what you need to do to not just sign your book deal, but position yourself for future book deals that will advance your career. From their experience, they will tell the truth about what it takes to sign the book deal with the Do’s and Don’ts that are necessary to increase your chances for success.
• Touching Stories: Designing Digital Magazines for the iPad: Matthew Carlson, Hot Studio Inc. The launch of the iPad signaled the start of a new era for magazine publishing. A single device that delivered the fidelity of print and the interactivity of the Web, all wrapped up in a fun and easy-to-use form factor gave the industry new reason to hope. There was one trick: no one had designed for this brave new medium yet. Editorial teams suddenly needed to consider multi-touch gestures, multiple orientations, dynamic layout and the integration of rich media into the design of their issues. Ink-smudged print teams had to reach out to the pixel-based life forms in charge of the company Websites, and engage a new breed of Cocoa developers as well.
• Fireside Chat with Old Media: Pipe, Slippers Optional: Eric Moore, Razorfish. Why has it been so hard for old media companies to change? After all, they still create and possess the content that people consume. If you believe content is king, then what is the problem? We’ll have a cozy fireside chat with three executives from major ‘old media’ brands and discuss what they are doing to transform their businesses in a meaningful way. We’ll also explore what ‘tricks’ the ‘old dog’ can teach new media.
• +5 Sword of ePublishing: Lessons from Tabletop RPGs: Gareth-Michael Skarka, Adamant Entertainment. The tabletop RPG industry were early adopters of electronic publishing and digital distribution to niche audiences. What can mainstream publishers learn from the challenges already successfully faced by the D&D geeks?
• The Electronic Page: The Future of Print: Jaime Morelli, ZenithOptimedia. Traditional magazines and newspapers have lost their monopoly on news and information to the internet and digital readers. This process accelerated with the introduction of the iPad and the subsequent price reduction on competing e-readers.
• Indie Publishing: New Technologies & Crowdsourcing Thematic Content: Cynthia La Grou, Compathos TV, Compathos Productions, Millennia Music and Media Systems, Inc., Millennia Media Group. Explores: New hybrid publishing models incorporating traditional, interactive, collaborative elements. The horizon in terms of convergent technologies in portable media, touch screen tablets, dynamic content, print on demand.
• Kill The Publisher: Independent eBooks Liberate Content Creators: David Schloss, Mac Create, Inc. Since the time of Guttenberg’s press, the power—and the money—has gone to those who publish books, not to the creatives themselves. This session will show you you can take well-crafted, targeted content and make it available on the Apple iBookstore and Kindle marketplace to reach readers that publishers couldn’t reach at speeds they can’t imagine.
• The Self-Publishing Novelist: Report from the Trenches: John Sundman, Wetmachine. A look at self-publishing technologies and practices.
• Digital Bookmaking for Designers and Developers: Brian Warren, Happy Cog. The technical aspects of creating ebooks from mark-up to formats.

As app developers get their hands on the device and explore potential, I fully expect applications that rethink “computing” — we’ve seen hints of this already. It’s really hard to develop without a working device, so even those apps that were ready from Day One will be updated and reworked based on actual usage.

Overall

As I mentioned, I was expecting a pumped-up version of the iPhone, and that’s where we are right now, especially application-wise. A few apps, however, show how new thinking is being applied. The first is Omnigraffle. This diagraming tool is extremely flexible, and the iPad version shows how a company can port the desktop application into a new medium, changing how it works to support the technology. Omnigraffle is pricey: $49.99. Totally worth it for designers, developers, and people who like to sketch ideas and share thoughts in meetings. It’s the first app I’ve seen that shows how the iPad can be used as a business tool.

The Elements is a terrific example of how “enhancements” to books can work. Priced at a mere $13.99 — truly, this is a bargain! — it offers text, animation, encyclopedic information, 3D (you can order glasses from the app!), and humor. Seriously, I’ve had The Element Song as an earworm for days.

Finally, while news apps are still a work in progress, the NPR app stands out for its creative use of technology to provide information. Sound, images, text, information sharing via Facebook or Twitter (or, heck, email). You can access stories from various points in the app — via the “Topics” menu, by scrolling horizontally through stories, tapping the “More” button for synopses of top stories. Programs and stations are accessible, and, yep, you can build you own NPR playlist. There is subtle advertising included, with Bose being a sponsor. I can appreciate that.

(Note: honorable mentions go the Marvel and GoodReader [PDF] apps. I’ve only dabbled with them so far, but they work as advertised! I am looking forward to reading manga, traditional style, as well.)

These apps — and others I’m sure I’m not aware of — point to a future of creativity that will change how we work. This does not mean the iPad is a laptop/desktop killer. It’s not a Kindle killer. It’s not a [fill-in-your-favorite-technology-on-target-to-be-killed] killer. It’s a device that rethinks how we do some work, and, if anything, is a glimpse at the future.

The Good: It’s fast. Love that speed. Love the display, love the crisp elements. Love the possibility. I did get a little dizzy viewing the ABC app — definitely high definition. Typing is easy (see below). The iPad doesn’t conduct the same level of heat as a laptop, so it can be rested on bare knees or thighs. The battery life is impressive, longer than advertised.

I’m also foreseeing serious movement into man purses (or, as O’Reilly Media’s Mac Slocum put it, unicorn scabbards). Wives everywhere will rejoice as their husbands have a place to put wallets and sunglasses. Oops, did I say that?

The Bad: It’s heavy. I expect future devices will be lighter as technology improves, but it’s heavy. This means I have to consider where I’m going and what I’m doing before I choose the device I’ll carry. To say it shows every fingerprint is an understatement. It’s a touch device; the surface is one big fingerprint, meaning there will be lots of cleaning of screens in your future. It’s not optimal in bright sunlight, and not particularly conducive to touch typing due to lack of tactile clues, so no long-form typing.

On the bad list — and this applies to those who are using the iPad as a family device — is the lack of user switching. When I wanted to test my own Kobo books, I had to log my husband out, receiving a warning that he would lose his place in the cloud. I think he’ll be okay, but separating information may be an issue for some users.

Reading

These are my overall impresssions of the iPad as a reader. For me, it will be, at best, an ancillary device. It’s too heavy for one-handed reading, and the touch screen means you need to swipe to change pages, not easy with just one hand (imagine, if you will, a mother holding a baby and reading at the same time). I could do more weight-lifting, but doubt that will solve the bigger problem.

Given the choice between tucking a Kindle or an iPad in my purse, I’d go Kindle. My tendons approve this message. If I’m going minimalist, I’ll still have my iPhone with me — meaning I’ll have my Kindle, Kobo, Ibis, Stanza, and other libraries with me. I love that I have so many choices when it comes to reading.

What I am most looking forward to are magazines (the Zinio app looks promising!), books that rely upon a heavy mix of graphics and text, and books that include video/audio information. I cannot wait for cookbook publishers to rock my world (and they should hurry before the Food Network owns this space). For narrative fiction or non-fiction, the iPad isn’t likely to be my primary choice.

As others have noted, this is not a device suited toward reading in bright sunlight. Since I live in Southern California, this is a serious drawback. The shiny black border tends to reflect overhead lights as well. For example, the pendant lights over my kitchen island bounced off the border in an uncomfortable way. And, no, turning off the lights wasn’t an option as I was, you know, cooking while reading.

A final concern is one I have with the entire App Store/Apple experience. There is an interesting prudishness in the Apple organization. As noted in this Boing Boing story, it extends to the use of the word “sperm” when referencing a specific type of whale (the screenshot shows “s***m”). We’ve heard stories about apps being rejected for content reasons. As a thinking adult, this bothers me.

Now for a brief look at some reading apps. As I noted above, I fully expect the experience to improve now that developers have their hands on devices and can test more thoroughly, so I’m not giving up on any one app yet. Plenty of time, plenty of time.

iBooks

iBooks is okay. Readability is excellent. The bookshelf metaphor is hokey. I prefer the list view, and the ability to sort books in multiple ways is very nice. Adding my own EPUB versions of books is a lovely bonus. The inability to sync books between my MacBook, iPhone, and iPad…not so much.

From the perspective of discovery, the iBookstore is a mess. Presumably this is a work in progress, but, wow. I will note that I’ve never warmed to the discovery process in iTunes. While the navigation includes most major categories of books, the sub-categories are either bizarre or non-existent, depending on your perspective. This is something particularly important for readers for readers of all types. In the romance section, you have a choice of “Contemporary” or “Historical” on the landing page. Yes, you can search beyond that, but that means you have to know what you’re looking for.

Likewise, the primary cookbook categories are “Regional & Ethnic” and “Beverages”, useful categories, to be sure, but not the breadth of the cookbook world. Again, it requires specific knowledge of what you want to find the right book. Lifestyle & Home features pets and crafts & hobbies as default categories.

Title selection is limited, though growing rapidly. As with the iTunes store, the emphasis seems to be on front list, current releases. This may be fine for some readers.

I can’t avoid the issue of price, especially given the cheerful Publishers Lunch story on sales tax (registration required). We’ve been hearing noise about this for a couple of weeks now, and it appears it will impact readers, adding to what are already perceived — and in some cases, not-so-perceived — price increases. Right now, prices in iBooks, and other bookstores, are not very different than what you’d pay for print, particularly if you typically buy your hardcovers at discounted prices.

(Pricing issues are, generally, similar for all retailers, not just iBooks.)

As a consumer, I’m not particularly thrilled about parity with print prices when my overall rights as a reader have been curbed — parity is happening in the mass market area as the iBooks store has specific thresholds based on print price for hardcover. I’m not going to boycott anything, but I will be more selective about my purchases in the future. Pricing also makes iBooks less attractive as a retail option to me. I sincerely hope we see some consideration for readers in pricing in the near future.

I am particularly amused by the pricing displayed in the “Classics” section — if only because it highlights pricing issues across the board. $27.99 for Atlas Shrugged (really? there is no indication why this is the price point, and the reader reviews are filled with shock and awe). For Whom the Bell Tolls checks in at $12.99. Middlemarch (a public domain title) retails for $6.99. Of Human Bondage is a mere $4.99 while Pride & Prejudice is a bargain at $3.99. The free version of P&P drops me right into the story, while the sample of the same novel doesn’t start the story until “page” 39. I’m not opposed to Margaret Drabble’s analysis of the story, but — and I suspect this is true for most readers — it’s not what I’m looking for when I pick up a copy of P&P.

As one reader who is looking to fill her library with digital versions of print favorites, this is the kind of pricing that makes me sad, especially given the quality control issues that abound when scanning and converting these older books.

Kindle

As expected, the Kindle app is excellent, usable, and functional between devices. Reading via the app is as pleasant as reading via iBooks. Given the pricing limitations created by the Agency Model, I am more focused on user experience, and, frankly, when comparing the Kindle ecosystem versus the iPad/iBook ecosystem, the Kindle ecosystem wins. Greater selection, better discovery, portability, lighter weight, more gym friendly (okay, I am basing this on the weird, bright, glaring lighting in my gym, the perceived challenges of swiping the screen while exercising, and my fear of dropping the iPad).

No, you cannot buy Kindle books from within the app. I’ve heard this is a limitation imposed by Apple. I’ve also heard other reasons (don’t know, don’t worry about it), but it’s not a horrible imposition since it’s easy enough to buy using the Amazon app or the web browser. Plus I can purchase from laptop or iPhone. User experience is going to be a key factor all around, and right now, Amazon is leap years ahead of others.

This doesn’t mean they can’t be toppled. It merely points to a key area of focus for those who are competing in the same space.

(Much of what I’m saying here can also be applied to Barnes & Noble; their app has not yet been approved, so I can’t speak to experience.)

Kobo Books

I am a bit of a Kobo Books fangirl, both from the perspective of user experience (they are very responsive to readers!) and attitude. As with the Kindle experience, I can read books purchased from Kobo in a variety of ways. That’s really important. I miss the days when I could plant myself on the couch and read for hours. Now, portability and convenience are my touchstones.

There has been a bit of wonkiness with the Kobo app. This was not unexpected, and the team’s overall responsiveness to questions and issues has been impressive. Kobo’s hook, as it were, is cloud-based reading, and this works great for single-user devices. On shared devices, a way to switch accounts would be lovely.

Ibis Reader

I like the way Ibis Reader looks and feels. Reading is easy. I love that Ibis is portable across devices, meaning I can easily shift between my laptop, my iPhone, and the iPad without worrying about whether I have my Kindle wireless connection turned on (I tend to leave it off to preserve battery life). This focus on user experience — are you sensing a theme? — is important to me.

Since Ibis is a reading system, not a retailer, I am looking forward to the day when it’s seamlessly hooked into my book buying experience. It could offer significant advantage to independent booksellers.

Ibis Reader, interestingly, has the best cover representation of Pride & Prejudice. They’ve pulled the Feedbooks version of the Project Gutenberg edition (same as the free version I downloaded from iBooks). Just in case you were wondering.

What? More?

Yes, there is more to discuss. No, I’m not going to keep rambling. The Unicorn is a great device exhibiting potential to be a serious tool (much as the iPhone has). It’s a good reading device that is on the cusp of its potential. I am looking forward to seeing what creative minds can do with the technology.

Here is additional analysis:

• The iPad: A Hella Long Journal and Review Incredibly detailed analysis from SB Sarah, including the official quote of the week. Trust me. You’ll know it when you read it.
• 10 Hours with the iPad: Why the iPad Is Not a Kindle Killer Jane Litte digs into her iPad, including highlighting some pesky metadata problems.
• The ePub eBooks Metadata Mess While I’d say it was not the fault of EPUB (the standard), I cannot disagree with metadata on ebooks is a mess and all publishers need to pay more attention to what they’re serving readers.
• iBooks and ePub A slightly more technical look from Liza Daly
• The iPad Cometh. Kneel Before Zod. Oh yes, Pablo Defendi did get an iPad.

I don’t attend South by Southwest for “aha” moments, though I’ve had them. I tend to soak up zeitgeist, themes, and trends. Many of the ideas I note below are not unique to this year’s festival. I’d say most have been simmering along for a while. This year, they reached critical mass.

• People Will Pay for Content: Given the nature of the Interactive festival, you’d expect a lot of praying to the God of Free. Au contraire! Of course, people who attend SXSWi are working professionals, and they expect their work to be valued. Not only did people express the desire to be paid, they expressed the desire to pay.

  Which leads to….

• The Rise of Bespoke: During Daniel Ek’s Keynote Interview (yeah, I totally made up that phrasing), he used the word “bespoke” to describe how some features are used on Spotify. I was delighted by the lovely, old fashioned, and entirely contemporary word. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a yearning for things that are unique to them. This is why we knit, this is why Etsy thrives, this is why we put stickers on our laptops.

  What emerged as a theme throughout SXSWi was the idea that people are willing to pay for content, but they’re willing to pay higher prices for something unique, something different, something more than the ordinary mass content. Putting this in context of books, this opens up the potential for limited, high-end editions. It opens up the potential for truly enhanced ebooks (please, once again, do not confuse marketing extras with enhancements. Big. Difference.). It opens the potential for a range of price points and formats in the book marketplace.

• Context: I’ve been waiting for this one. A few years ago, I told someone that I think the next hot career will be librarian. I’ve been talking about this ever since. We live in an age where nearly every bit of information can be found via Google or its brethren. Constant streams of information bombard our brains. As more and more information fills the silence, we will need experts who can put all the pieces together, put them into context.

  We will need librarians. Public librarians, private librarians, corporate librarians, freelance librarians. They have trained for this mission!

  Let’s also take context in another direction: analysis. The journalists on the Future of Context panel talked about pulling the pieces of news together in ways that create a richer story. This is the future of paid news. A house fire on 4th street rarely requires deep analysis, and isn’t the type of news people will consider worthy of money. Analysis, insight, putting the pieces together…that’s where the money is.

  This likely means news services that mix free with paid (which I suspect is antithetical to Rupert Murdoch’s vision). I know I subscribe to Salon because I get more than a cursory overview of the headlines. I’ve supported other news organizations because they do the same. It’s time to stop worrying about the death of journalism and start, you know, practicing it again.

• Privacy: This is the year people thought seriously about privacy. From Danah Boyd’s keynote (which I missed due to being, oh, 35,000 feet in the air) to various other panels to private conversations, the idea of privacy is being discussed. Taking that further, the idea of privacy in an era where we are in constant online communication with friends far and wide about every aspect of our lives.

  I’ve always engaged in some levels of online privacy (like never putting my home address in a place where Google can index it). I’ve been thinking even more about privacy since last November when a weird incident — one entirely offline! — lead me to think about what I was telling people about my whereabouts and activities. The odd thing about this thinking is not that I worried about people I don’t know, but people I do know…or people the people I know, know.

  It is possible to live full, open online lives and still maintain privacy. This is why I believe authors should set up Fan Pages on Facebook rather than letting strangers participate in your personal profile, where you may also be “friends” with your husband, your mother, your children, your boss, and your personal posse. Boyd discusses the blowback from the launch of Google Buzz, and I suggest people take time to understand the technology they’re experimenting with before leaping into the void.

  There is no perfect system, and privacy breaches are not limited to the online world. We cannot depend upon others to do all the work to maintain our own privacy, meaning we must take responsibility by learning what we are giving away and to whom before sharing everything.

• Community: This is not a new concept at SXSWi, but it remains a strong theme. It was around the idea of community that I did have a small but important epiphany. During the Community Management: Future Skills You’ll Need to Know session, it was noted that community managers should be in senior management roles in the companies they represent. All too often, this function is delegated to interns or low-level staffers who do not have sufficient authority to speak on behalf of the company or to communicate directly with decision makers.

  Without this level of authority, senior management is not kept in the loop about what their customers are saying (how often does an intern get invited to a top-level meeting, and when it does happen, how seriously is that intern’s message taken?). Company positions may be misstated or serious concerns may be overlooked due to a lower level employee’s lack of exposure to issues, lack of experience, or even desire to do the best job possible while not realizing the harm being done (which is apparently what happened to Dell Computers a few years ago).

  This is a management failure, not the fault of the people tasked with doing a high profile, public-facing job without adequate support.

  For brands of all types, community remains the goal. If you decide to create one, to nurture one, to use one to better your company, then it needs to be taken seriously and championed by senior management. Thank you.

• Location Awareness: Where Are You Now?: This ties in with privacy and community. As our computers become more and more portable, think iPhone, we want to be able to find restaurants, to tell friends where we are, to be given virtual coupons for lattes. We want to engage in real-world tours using digital information.

  This will be weird and fun and messy (note to all Foursquare and Gowalla users: please turn off the ability to push your updates to Twitter; everyone who follows you will appreciate the courtesy). Lots of services will vie for our attention. Lots of great ideas will emerge. In fact, we are only limited by a few things.

  And they are annoyingly huge: GPS and GPS-like systems that make accuracy less-than-perfect; AT&T’s still-spotty service in major metropolitan areas like New York and Los Angeles (after last year’s fiasco, they beefed up coverage in Austin for Interactive, but pulled out the trucks prior to music) make the iPhone difficult for many to use; privacy concerns abound; and the sheer annoyingness of developing apps for every phone, platform, and network. The complexity of the system is likely the biggest obstacle for location aware technology.

• You Are Not A Gadget, or User Experience Should Be Your Number One Goal: No, I’m not referencing Jaron Lanier’s book. I’m suggesting to publishers that the killer apps and devices are not Kindles, nooks, iPads. They remain, yep, laptops and desktops and browsers. I’m talking about user experience, with my own twist.

  (Note: there was a lot at the conference about user experience in developing for the web because it is that important. I would advise learning as much as possible about it.)

  Perhaps a better way to put this is: how about leveraging the technology most people are using right now? For the past several years, there has been a lot of talk about the Kindle, the Sony Reader, the nook, and the iPad (formerly known as the Unicorn), but very little movement on the part of publishers to leverage serious book reading via web browsers…which, you know, is the primary tool used by people who are online right now.

  This does not mean giving up on new technologies and platforms; it simply means addressing the reality of digital reading. Developing for specific devices while ignoring reality — or tying readers to desktop versions of proprietary reading systems, ahem — leaves a large group of readers behind. It is true that some people do not want to engage in long-form reading on their computers; it is even more true that many, many more already do this type of reading.

  As I write this, I’m thinking about the pre-orders for the iPad. Someone suggested that it won’t be long before the iPad outsells Kindle, unit-wise. That is a given. But it’s a dangerous comparison. Every person who buys a Kindle (or nook or Sony Reader or other dedicated ereader) is doing so for the sole purpose of reading books and other words. Some of the people who buy the iPad will use it for reading, but it’s a multimedia device, and to expect it to serve primarily as a reading device is wishful thinking.

  Smart people have developed readers like Ibis Reader, which allows people to read EPUB on their phones, their tablets, their laptops, their desktops, and other devices. Ibis is all about the reader experience. It doesn’t require a special device (though it works on special devices). Rather than focusing on the bright and shiny, I’d love for publishers to focus on how people really read digital books (hint: there’s a reason PDF is still the number one format for ebooks).

  Focus on the user, the consumer, the reader. User experience is critical. Always has been.

• HTML 5, It’s What’s for The Future: HTML is the language of the web. It is the language of EPUB. It’s also, painfully, the language of MOBI. It is a mature standard, and you can’t go wrong with it. And, like all standards, HTML is evolving as our other web-based technologies evolve.

  Thus, we have HTML 5. I’m not an expert, nor do I play one on TV. But I know people who know stuff, and they’re working in HTML 5. Is this the death of Flash? I have no idea. I do know that that the iPad will not use Flash. I also know that accessibility and flexibility are improved by using HTML. Android devices maybe/might have Flash support. Apparently there’s a yet-to-be-seen workaround. If it does all that and more, great, but if you are thinking Flash only, you are limiting yourself. For content producers, this means thinking short-term, mid-term, and long-term.

  Which leads us to the final thought…

• It Will All Be Different Tomorrow: For those of us who have been online for twenty or more years, everything is different than it was when we started. Once upon a time, we didn’t have Twitter (I know). Future-proofing is near-impossible, so the best you can do is focus on standards instead of proprietary technologies.

  Or, plan for change. It’s inevitable.

What were your takeaways, themes, big ideas?

An Aside

I participated in the A Brave New Future for Book Publishing at this year’s conference, and want to thank everyone who attended, tweeted, and asked questions. I want to share my sincere admiration for my co-panelists Kevin Smokler of Booktour.com (fearless leader), Debbie Stier of HarperStudio (rockstar), Pablo Defendini of Tor.com (most awesome), and Matthew Cavnar of Vook (oh yes, yes). They are exceptionally smart people, and I was proud to be part of such a positive panel.

We talked about a lot of things and didn’t come close to everything we wanted to discuss. For those who wanted us to talk about copyright, I hope you attended the various SXSW sessions addressing this topic (it’s too much for an hour). For those who wanted to get into transmedia storytelling and why publishing isn’t going whole hog into it, I’ll address that in a separate post (hint: ain’t nothin’ as easy as it seems from the outside). To those who thought we crammed too many topics into an hour, well, the panel was designed to introduce the industry to non-book publishing professionals.

Coming out of the festival, Kirk Biglione noted something funny to me. For years we’ve been imploring publishers to attend SXSW, and this year was a dream come true. However, this lead Kirk to comment that he’d now suggest that people who are interested in the various topics we addressed attend the various publishing conferences that cover these topics in more depth.

Other thoughts and wrap-ups:

• SXSW Digerati: Publishing Assassins or Saviors — Prefer “ninja”.
• SXSnotes — Wrap-up from Pablo Defendini
• My Impressions of SXSW 2010 – Think Chatroulette IRL — Debbie Stier’s thoughts, with awesome picture!
• Notes from A Brave New Future For Book Publishing from SXSWi — William Hertling took notes so we don’t have to remember!
• Should Publishers Attend SXSW — A yes from Lorraine Shanley
• At SXSWi: A panel on the future of publishing — Peter Miller covering the conference for “Jacket Copy”. Thank you, Peter, for your extremely generous coverage of our panel (he was on last year’s panel).

There are a lot of of conferences focused on the changes facing publishing. Some might say too many, but I disagree. Over the next few decades, we will see all sorts of shifts in publishing, and these conferences — which thanks to the magic of technology have extended beyond the in-person realm to include far-flung audiences via social media discussions, webinars, and more — tackle the wide range of opportunities, challenges, and imaginative thinking that leads to innovation.

As I explore my takeaways from this year’s Tools of Change, I start from this position: all publishing is already digital.

Granted, there may be a few authors out there who submit handwritten or typewritten manuscripts (and if so, dear publishers, allow me to express my sympathy). Those are the exceptions. Every manuscript begins its life in digital format. So. All publishing is already digital.

What I see as one of the biggest challenges facing existing (or traditional) publishers is that they still haven’t managed to make the shift from a print-based workflow to a digital workflow. Motoko Rich of the New York Times wrote about the costs of producing a book, yet didn’t explore the fact that some (not a lot, granted) savings could be realized through more efficient workflow.

(Actually, there is a lot of to chew on in Rich’s piece, including the ever-popular advances-not-earning-out problem, something that increases costs for everyone.)

I’ve watched this conference evolve from a curiosity to a conversation. The “tools” of “change” are not always apparent. Sometimes the tool is as simple as attending something outside your wheelhouse; sometimes it’s hearing how someone else does something and realizing parts will work for you. It’s the “tools, not rules” thing. If anything, this year’s TOC highlighted the need for even more nuts-and-bolts discussions — and there were quite a few of those mixed in with equally important long-term vision sessions.

So a few takeaways:

Contracts and Systems

When Angela James and I proposed our “A Different Model” presentation, we had a very different agenda in mind. A lot has changed since last summer, and I was thrilled when Angie, who is the Executive Editor of Carina Press suggested focusing on some of the specific issues she’s encountered as she and her team speed toward launch.

As a digital first publisher, Carina is essentially a start-up within an established publisher. Rather than building new infrastructure from scratch, they are leveraging existing systems within the parent company, meaning some big questions have to be addressed. As more publishers explore the digital first, print maybe model, these are some of the questions to be expected:

• Royalties: The digital author expects higher royalties, often ranging from 35% – 50%. For publishers who have set royalties, what does it take to accommodate different royalty rates for different distribution models?
• Reserves/Automatic Calculations: It’s not unusual for royalty systems to do automatic calculations for reserves for returns or bad debt. Of course, in the digital realm, returns are possible, but the rate will be far lower than the amount coded into the system. What changes are required to your existing system to accommodate a different type of sales model? Do you even need to hold reserves?
• Reporting Frequency: Authors who forego advances expect to be paid earlier and more frequently. Some systems are hard-wired to spit out statements and any related payments on a semi-annual basis. This won’t fly with the digital author. How flexible is your system when it comes to reporting?
• Word Count: In the world of digital books, page count means next to nothing. Word count is the measurement. Do your internal systems allow you to reflect the manuscript/book word count? Do you have the ability to feed this information to your trading partners?
• Contracts: The above points likely make it clear that standard house agreements need revising to reflect a digital first author/publisher relationship.

Saving Time and Money

For those wondering about digital publishing models and how they work, the “Agile Publishing Model” session hewed very close to the session Angie and I had originally planned. The digital model developed by Dave Thomas and Andrew Hunt of Pragmatic Programmers will be familiar to some: no advances, higher royalties, DRM-free ebooks, digital workflow, direct sales. It’s not just a case of great minds thinking alike — it’s a business model that works, even as it evolves, and this presenter team offered up real numbers.

Thomas and Hunt, however, are tech guys, and their background allowed them to bring their own specific solutions into the discussion. Thomas, and I paraphrase, noted he’d attended a workshop demonstrating the process of porting an InDesign file to EPUB, and the number of steps involved made him cry. During that same workshop, he managed to create his own EPUB file in approximately 40 seconds; the two also demoed the creation of MOBI file during their workshop. Total elapsed time was about a minute, and this was done live.

The two demonstrated how using the right tools — in this case, structured mark-up of manuscripts and solid scripts to create files — can save publishers time and money. Every publisher is different; I don’t imagine many trade publishers will be inclined to force their authors to upload their manuscripts using the structured XML (they call it PML, their own flavor of the mark-up) necessary to make the process easier. But there are ways to achieve these goals, starting with editorial.

(But, hey, how many publishers right now are thinking about this as a great idea? Imagine if the manuscript you got from an author was already in your system, marked up, and ready to flow through the editorial process?)

The takeaway from the Pragmatic presentation is that basic tools exist (and even more are being built) to streamline workflow. The creation of a solid digital file is Goal One. That file is then used to create the various flavors of books, from ebook to print book. This saves conversion costs and much time. The exact implementation depends upon the publisher.

Or, as my yoga teacher used to say (usually while we were standing, forgotten, in half moon position), “Take what you need and throw the rest away.”

What Are Enhanced Ebooks, or Does Your Staff Have the Right Skills?

Okay, that’s a trick question, one I’ve already asked. While major publishers are trying to sell reading guides as “enhancements”, companies like Enhanced Editions are re-imagining the book in the digital era. Peter Collingridge demonstrated the iPhone app for Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro. I admit it, I swooned when he said that Cave wrote the soundtrack for the book (Cave also read the audio version).

Soundtrack. That’s what I’m talking about. Reading guides are marketing material. Enhanced Editions is, well, enhancing the story experience. Likewise, Peter Meyers offered up a very low tech vision — pen and paper models — of how storytelling might unfold on the iPad (formerly known as The Unicorn). In both instances, one thing was made clear: publishers will need to re-imagine the skills sets of staff and reconfigure their views of the publishing “team”.

In his closing keynote, Tim O’Reilly exhorted publishers to focus on the boring stuff. The boring stuff is actually the important elements that publishers bring to the table. I’ve wavered about what I thought he meant. Sometimes I think he saw the lay of the land and realized major publishers weren’t going to step up in the creative, multi-media realm. At other times, I think he understands these new job skills, new team thinking, are part of the boring stuff. Right now, I honestly think he meant the latter. Mostly because I believe the really good enhanced ebooks start at the beginning of the editorial process. They are not afterthoughts.

To me, this means either having the right people, with the right skill sets, on staff, or developing the right relationships with creative minds. It means providing the right tools to people who need to get their jobs done. It means ensuring readers get the best possible experience out of a story is the boring stuff. And I have my eye on the publishers who are already positioning themselves to lead the way.

The World is the Market

Both Kirk Biglione and I wrote about emerging markets back in October, specifically focusing on the work of Arthur Atwell and Ramy Habeeb (link is to Kirk’s piece). It is somewhat stunning to realize there are major, massive markets still unexplored by publishing as we know it. Possibly even more stunning is that the industry is just now waking up to this idea.

A few key issues come into play as publishing looks at these markets. The first, of course, is that “piracy” might actually be an indicator of demand for books in under-served markets around the world. The development of viable marketplaces where none exist can only increase sales, particularly since many of these areas have none. I firmly believe viable marketplaces are the first line of defense when it comes to piracy.

Territorial rights (ah, you knew I’d bring it up!) also become critical (Emily Williams and I both used the “world without borders” concept, and her piece Must Be Read). The solution to licensing and exploiting digital rights around the world is one I’m glad I don’t have to manage because I suspect it’s going to get knock-down, drag-out before too much longer. However, it must be resolved…if not for piracy reasons, then for the authors. They are losing sales!

Oh, and the readers. In the Emily Williams piece linked above, she talks about the vocal (and admittedly minority) group of readers who demand simultaneous releases. These readers do not — nor should they have to — understand the insanity that is book licensing. As the borders shrink, publishing’s challenge is not trying to explain a nonsensical (from the reader perspective) business model as it it figuring out how to solve this problem sooner rather than later. See: piracy as indicator of demand.

Step Right Up

One thing I’ve noticed at TOC and other industry conferences is the lack of serious participation from large trade publishers. This is not to say they are not there and talking. There was a large presence at Digital Book World, but there wasn’t a lot of discussion of bold initiatives or innovation (that was not the focus of the conference). There was a large presence at TOC. As I look back over the years, only one large publisher — Harlequin — has consistently discussed successes, failures, and specific ideas in the public forum.

I get the need for big surprises and playing cards close to the vest, but as I lead into my final point, I think the fact that large trade publishers aren’t sharing information plays into a larger industry criticism. Where is the innovation? Where is the leadership? Individuals and small publishers are openly sharing their work, but where are the big publishers?

The digital transformation is something the entire industry is making up as they go along, and now is the time to have public discussion. The conversation feels a bit one-sided. We saw innovations in storytelling, reading tools (hello, Ibis Reader, an HTML 5 iPhone app), workflow, new business integration, channels, marketing, and even reader concerns (hey, meet them halfway!) — all independent voices. I would love to see larger houses chime in as well.

(Some have wondered where the money is, how it will be made. A few of the presenters I’ve highlighted discussed finances. Others are engaged in experimentation. The world of digital books is a nascent business, and there is a healthy amount of experimentation happening. Not every idea will make money, not every idea will be embraced, and not every idea will hit the commercial market looking exactly as it does today.)

The key is sharing information, sharing successes, sharing failures. This is where larger publishers can provide leadership. I think my biggest disappointment in TOC, and other industry conferences, is the unwillingness of market leaders to step up and share their experiences. It’s not rocket science, heck, it’s not even pharmaceutical science. It’s not the project, it’s, ultimately, how you do it. And everyone will do it differently.

Which leads to…

More Targeted Education is Needed

Throughout the conference, various themes emerged. Kate Eltham has a great post at Electric Alphabet on this topic. She outlines three key areas: analytics, metadata, and fresh thinking. These are not new challenges, but the fact that they keep coming up at conferences like Tools of Change tells me they are subjects the industry is struggling to address.

(In the Dear Author piece linked below, Fran Toolan of Firebrand Technologies makes a good point in the comments. What sort of world do we live in where customers are discussing metadata, or lack thereof? Shouldn’t this be invisible to the consumer, however defined?)

It is very difficult to offer the required type of detailed, hands-on training in a conference environment, though the various workshops that preceded the actual TOC conference focused on this specific type of training. We need more of them, particularly more outside the Manhattan area. Large publishers can afford to throw resources at solving these problems — one hopes they will! — but small publishers cannot justify trips to New York to get this kind of training.

In addition to Kate Eltham’s piece linked above, here are a few other wrap-ups.

• Mark Coker of Smashwords offers his view, including a few words about sponsors
• At Publishing Trends, Laura Hazard Owen focuses on DRM and piracy. One of the funniest thoughts from Kirk’s presentation was that consumers were spending Christmas week trying to figure out how to circumvent DRM on their gifts.
• Tools of Change: Thoughts from a Reader’s Perspective: Dear Author’s Jane Litte weighs in with her observations.

Seriously, is it ever a good idea to disparage your customers? To treat them like they are annoyances? To suggest that they simply don’t understand how things work, when, really, why should they? Especially when, in at least one instance, the publishers were the ones who changed (or attempted to change) the rules?

So, as a person who happily pays for books, this is what I feel entitled to: the book in the format I prefer at the time my awareness in said book is sufficient that I go to make the purchase at the price I deem reasonable based on my extensive experience as a book consumer.

The truth is, I don’t care about ebook windowing (except that it’s, as far as I know, a relatively new idea, and to take readers to task for expecting simultaneous releases is a bit much, no?). I don’t care about ebook pricing games. I don’t even care how long it took the author to write the book, the amount of research that went into it, and that it was handwritten in blue ink on yellow paper. None of these things are indicators of whether or not I’m going to have an awesome reading experience.

Basically, a publisher has one chance to get my money. If the marketing is done right, my awareness of a book is raised and my interest is piqued. Depending on the book — some I want as print, some (most) I want as digital — I will then attempt a purchase. If the book is not available, based on my previous behavior, I will either buy something else or find myself distracted by other bright and shiny things. The book that brought me to the store will never be purchased, barring a secondary marketing campaign coupled with renewed want.

Here’s why. There are way more books that I want than there are books that I need. If I stopped buying books for five years, chances are I still won’t finish all the books I already own that I haven’t read. Ten years? Maybe. You probably don’t want to challenge me on that.

Today’s wanted book becomes tomorrow’s forgotten book.

I am going to be frank about pricing. My household has purchased very expensive ebooks — a practice that lead me to present on the $75 ebook at Digital Book World — and most have been worth the price paid. We’ve had a digital book subscription plan for many years, sometimes paying money for an account that isn’t accessed for months. The value assessment of books comes from the consumer, not the publisher.

My experience with well-done ebooks, those books I paid higher prices for, and the ebooks I’ve purchased from major publishers has forced me to seriously consider price when it comes to buying ebooks. I recently wrote about the need to get the basics right. Given my experiences to date, it will take some serious effort on the part of these major publishers to regain my trust in their ebook products.

When prices go above $10, I take fewer chances on books. When prices go above $10, I refuse to pay for bad experience that cheapens the story. When prices go above $10, I weigh the fact that I could get two books for approximately the price of one. Given that I am a fast and constant reader, that final point is not dismissed lightly.

So yeah, I have a sense of entitlement when it comes to purchasing books. Availability, format, price. Where I come from this type of entitlement goes by another name: customer service.

* – Given worries about piracy, I think my stance should be welcome.

Yet, this is the season of giving (and, yes, tax deductions). Every year, we here at Booksquare make a pitch for our favorite causes, hoping some of you, like us, will find a little something extra to give this now and in the future. If you have a favorite cause that relates to literacy, reading, or education, let us know in the comments.

• ProLiteracy — As always, our list is topped by Proliteracy.org. You can contribute either financially or by volunteering as a literacy tutor. When you are a reader, a to-your-soul reader, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where people can’t read. The reasons vary, and the solution is not simple. Helping others learn to read should be the primary goal of the publishing industry — any way we can.

  If you can’t donate money, can you donate time?

• First Book — Just as teaching the world to read is important, getting books to children is essential. First Book gets books to children who need them. You remember your first book, you remember reading as a child. Help share that joy. Bonus! through December 31, your donation will be matched book-for-book by Random House.
• Girls Write Now: Girls Write Now is a non-profit organization devoted to mentoring the next generation of women writers. Focused on New York’s underserved and at-risk high school girls, this program helps them find their voices through creative writing.
• Donors Choose — The problem with growing up the child of a public school librarian is that you know how completely screwed up our public school financing priorities are. It is appalling that teachers and librarians are forced to finance so many projects (and supplies, essential supplies) out of their own pockets. It’s not like teachers make huge salaries. DonorsChoose.org was founded to bring educators together with people who have money to contribute to specific projects. Look at the list of projects — is there something you can help transform from wish to reality?
• Buy Books — You want to make a serious statement about your commitment to books? Buy everyone on your shopping list a book. Or two. Or three. No need to limit yourself. This isn’t going to turn the industry around, but, c’mon people who get free books, put some money back into the industry that’s been good to you.

This future of words is good, the future of publishing as we know it, hmm, there are justifiable concerns. Right now, the only thing standing in the way of the future of publishing is…yep…the business of publishing. It’s hard to focus on the entire system, so let’s look at my favorite subsection: ebooks. So, what is the future for digital books?

• International Rights Will Be Hot, Hot, Hot: I’ve been writing about territorial rights, particularly as they apply to ebooks, for years (last year’s A World Without Borders may have had a bit too prophetic a title). Right now, the Kindle and other devices are being rolled out internationally, or, ahem, being acquired by international readers despite lack of official infrastructure in their countries. Right now, readers are complaining about the lack of books to support the technology.

  Publishing, the monolith, is dangerously close to losing control of the international ebook market. The readers are educated, sophisticated, and in possession of technology. They don’t get why it’s so hard to buy the books they hear about, print or digital. They are already bypassing the publishing infrastructure. While I’m not a piracy alarmist, I do think the lack of legal marketplaces creates opportunity for black markets.

  In today’s marketplace, the piecemeal acquisition of territorial rights harms the bottom line. Readers don’t care about the publishing business model, and the speed of today’s communication means publishers need to be better positioned for connecting books and readers while the buzz is buzzing. I personally advocate for acquiring worldwide language rights versus specific territories.

  Think about it this way: deals are being made today that withhold English-language (for example) ebooks from the world because someone along the way thought it was a good idea to continue parsing out rights on a territorial basis. This means a year or two from now, in a (hopefully for publishers) burgeoning international ebook market, release patterns will be spotty and confusing. Missed opportunity to the left of me, missed opportunity to the right.

  As smart people realize this, international language-based digital rights are going to be the hot topic (though, I predict, not a lucrative one for authors and agents who are seeking to get larger advances for this market; it’s just not there.)

• Consumers Flex Power, Publishers Pay Attention: As noted above (and below), readers don’t care about the publishing business model. It increasingly makes little sense to them. It’s puzzling for consumers when they want to give a business their business, only to be told their money’s no good. The reaction will never again be “Fine, I’ll just sit quietly in the corner until you decide to sell to me”; it will likely forever be “Okay, I’ll just take my business somewhere else”.

  As I noted above, because the infrastructure for selling ebooks internationally is lagging behind the technology, consumers are developing their own markets and systems. They’re setting the terms. They’re breaking DRM to read, not to pirate. They’re asking for flexibility and choice. Consumers are speaking all over the book business. Smart publishers will thrive by listening.

• $9.99 Will Become The (Sorta )Standard: The Kindle continues to sell very well (how well? Nobody knows for sure, but units are moving briskly). Barnes and Noble was forced to ramp up Nook production because demand greatly exceeded supply. We know this for sure: many people will receive dedicated ereaders this holiday season. Many more will receive iPhones, Touches, or other gadgets that facilitate reading. And, of course, the most popular digital reader of all time — the computer (lap, desk, notebook, mythical Apple unicorn tablet) — is widespread and being used every day to read books.

  At Digital Book World, I’m going to do a brief presentation called “The Case for the $75 eBook”, because there is a marketplace for high-priced ebooks. In fact, I think there’s a robust marketplace for higher priced digital books, and I believe I can make a strong case for these price points.

  That being said (ha!), I don’t believe the publishing industry can make a valid, solid, logical case for pricing most narrative fiction (and some non-fiction) ebooks above $9.99. Not only is this price point being cemented in the minds of readers by retailers, but, let’s be blunt, publishers have done a lousy job of making the value argument. The near-cynical approach of publishers to producing and selling ebooks has backfired. The process, the pricing, the product has been weighed by consumers and they are not amused. They like the $9.99 and below price point. It makes sense to them.

  So, yep, I’m predicting publishers will have no choice but to swallow this one and figure out how to make their business work with ebooks priced below $10. It’s better to initiate this change rather than scramble when the retailers start demanding better terms. You can do it, publishing industry, you can do it!

• Independents Will Rule: Up and down the publishing food chain, now is the time for independents to stake a claim. I’m thinking booksellers, authors, agents, publishers, distributors. At the moment, I’m putting my chips on booksellers, with smart digital publishers as back-up (this is subject to change every five minutes, but these two are my favorites). Naysayers might cite the dominance of the Kindle as a barrier for booksellers, but two things convince me otherwise: a) the fact that you don’t have to buy content from Amazon to load it on your Kindle, and b) the relative openness of the Nook.

  Oh, and the fact that dedicated readers will only appeal to a certain segment of the ereading population. Many others will choose other options. Because only a subset of readers is tied to one retailer (and those ties can be broken!), there is wide open possibility for others to enter the game. And, ahem, if new retailers can offer more attractive terms to authors and publishers, those authors and publishers will be more inclined to advocate on behalf of those retailers.

  A word about new publishers: many barriers to publishing have been reduced, if not eliminated. Lower costs to market will encourage new publishers and publishing approaches. Large houses don’t have the flexibility to move quickly.

• Business Decisions Will Be Made Without Fear: Okay, I admit this is a long shot. Super long. Near-impossible. But it can happen. The possibility of increased sales will trump the fear of piracy (or, ahem, we’ll get serious about definitions, including those of “lost sales”). Shrinking print opportunities will encourage authors and agents to try new things (not all of which will be successful). The lure of reaching new readers, expanding audiences, and even increasing backlist sales (want to convince people to buy the ebook of a beloved print book? Smart pricing, that’s the ticket!) will triumph over fear.

• Digital First/Print Maybe Deals Will Give Authors Leverage: Not only will traditional publishers enter into more ebook-first deals, but more digital publishing houses will emerge, across all genres. Because the latter will naturally start from a position of higher royalties, traditional publishers will have to up the ante as well. Right now, the trend is to decrease digital royalties, but when publishers ask authors to take new kinds of risks, publishers have to be willing to make it worthwhile for the author.

  Especially in a world where playing field is increasingly level.

• Ebooks Will Be Huge: Yeah, this is a no-brainer (or, it’s sorta cheating to put it on the list). The numbers on the IDPF chart will continue to rise, as will number of people indulging in celebratory drinks when they see the chart at a conference.

Those are mine. What do you predict for digital books in 2010?

Let’s back up. Digital Rights Management (“DRM is not inherently evil, but it’s not winning friends or influencing readers. Any mechanism that keeps people from accessing their legally purchased books is a failure. The fact that there are no clear (or even standard!) guidelines related to how ebook purchases can be used in the real world — is it really up to the reader to figure this stuff out? — is frustrating.

Now for the comments, the thoughts, and more reaction!

• Adobe Digital Editions — It’s not an experience people love, yet it’s also becoming an industry standard. I challenge all parties involve to talk to real readers about their frustrations and come up with a solution that makes people happy. As one person said:
  

  Oh, do I hear you on the ADE. The books I first got in ADE format were FREE and I was still so furious over the whole thing that I’d never go that route again.

• Device Specific DRM — As more reading devices flood the market, the problems with using DRM to tie readers to devices and retailers will make news. News Flash: most people do not know that they’re being limited in their ability to transfer books between devices. Once the Nook is released in the wild, and based on pre-sales, it seems to be popular, mixed Kindle/Nook families are going to face some serious challenges. Is the industry prepared to take on this discussion? As noted:
  

  The other aspect of DRM that is super annoying is that, for the moment, it is far too device-specific. I couldn’t seriously consider a Sony when I was looking at eReaders, for example, because their library-management software doesn’t run on a Mac. Get real. This is a cross-platform world, folks, and I don’t mean just Mac vs. PC. If I buy a book, I want to be able to read it on my Kindle, my iPod, my Mac, my Sony (should I have one), my Nook (should I have one)…

• Limited Scope Lending Is Attractive — The feature readers like most on the Nook is the ability to lend. For a limited term. To one person. Under very proscribed circumstances. This is a selling point, and allows readers to play their role in the word-of-mouth game. However,
  

  But, of course, Publisher’s Lunch let out the dirty secret that all the big publishers have no plans to participate in this feature right now, despite feigning excitement at the official unveiling. Sure, B&N didn’t have freebies for them, but that’s no reason to get snippy. Joking aside, though, if none of the big publishers will allow their books to be lent, what good does it do the reader. It DOES let smaller publishers get their name out, which I am grateful for, but it still doesn’t do the consumer much good.

  Another commenter added:

  I also agree–how bizarre to complain on the one hand that there are not enough people reading, then make it hard to access books. Or share them – word of mouth works a lot better if you can actually pass along the book and create a new fan. “I just read the best book. You’ll have to pay ten bucks to see if you agree with me” doesn’t work so well.

• The Horse Has Left The Barn — DRM does not stop piracy. Anyone who believes this is deluded. The only effective way to prevent piracy is to never write the book in the first place. This is an unworkable scenario for many (obvious) reasons. In what might be the most radical — or perhaps it’s practical — of thoughts, it was suggested that the time has come to accept torrent-sharing as part of the digital process. As Sean Cranbury noted:
  

  Smart publishers already know this and are working to figure out how to work with the digital consumer flow – or, dare I say it, torrent – and are not wasting their time on ways to prevent their content from being read but rather working with the technologies, readers and other opportunities to keep themselves and their writers relevant going forward.

  Even from my safe location in Pasadena, I can hear the gasps. And Sean’s point may, eventually, have far less to do with DRM than it does business models.

• The Netflix Model Resonates — I personally think there’s much potential in this approach, and I hope the publishing industry views the many (many!) schemes put before it in the near future with an eye toward experimentation instead of reacting in fear. When life gives you new revenue streams, go with the flow. Here’s one thought:
  

  I think you’re right about a “true Netflix-type model” having potential. I can imagine a book club/Netflix mix where there is a flat rate per month and access to differing numbers of e-books for a set amount of time.

• Social DRM: It’s Something to Consider — While there are certainly legal issues with next commenter’s solution, social DRM is gaining traction (among DRM skeptics!) as a potential solution to one type of pirate:
  

  The only purpose to DRM is to prevent casual copying, since committed pirates have long since worked out how to break all the DRM schemes currently used. So why not switch to watermarking? Instead of using encryption to lock a book down and making life difficult for those who legitimately purchase books, use it to watermark the book with the purchaser’s name and credit-card (or SS) number.

• DRM Restrictions Reduce Value to Consumers — This was mentioned in a few different ways. The first:
  

  In response to one argument I read, does DRM-free eBooks address the low price point argument? If we sell eBooks without DRM, can I sell them at a higher price because I’ve given the user total access? If not, then there’s something else at play.

  In this instance, I’d suggest to Allen, the commenter, that there is far more at play in the pricing game than just DRM. The restrictions (or challenges) caused by DRM are just part of the overall ebook pricing problem. I honestly believe the only way publishers can convince people to pay above $10 for ebooks — particularly narrative fiction — is to increase the value of the books.

  And by increasing the value, I don’t mean pricing the books higher. I mean adding value. Adding quality. Adding content. Cheap conversions without quality control undermine the value argument faster than anything else. Lack of understanding of consumer desires undermines the argument. Ebook prices can be higher, but the value of the ebook needs to match the price.

  And then:

  Sean, you might extend the “free to share” analysis (something you know I agree with) to consider how restricted content is actually worth less to the buyer. I’ve been thinking lately that DRM locks may be contributing to lower digital content prices.

  Which lead to some interesting commentary about value and community:

  One writer in question was pretty far out front of the pack. Not only was her book published by a major press but she was leveraging the work online with seminars, paid discussions, other ancillary revenue generators and a .pdf available for sale from her site for $32.95. I was/am beyond impressed.

  The high price point for the digital file in her case works for a few reasons… 1) highly specific content 2) natural readership respects the authors copyright 3) natural readership doesn’t possess technical know how to upload to torrent sites 4) natural readership doesn’t download torrents for same reason 5) writer has created a unique readership community that understands and respects the price of admission and is happy to spend the money on something that they consider valuable…

The comments above don’t change my views, though I am intrigued by Sean Cranbury’s thoughts on pricing (see full comment; I only pulled the bit I needed about DRM), because while I’ve shifted from the mental price point he states to one that is higher, I suspect his argument has traction in a large portion of the reading community.

So where I remain: people don’t mind DRM as much as they mind how it’s implemented. The argument that it keeps honest people honest is stupid. Most people aren’t inclined to engage in piracy; the effort and risks involved aren’t attractive to the average consumer. The future is smart DRM. The path to disaster is dumb DRM. That is all.