Todays links of interest: The New York Times Laments Forward Progress with the KindleJoe Wikert responds to the silliness that is the New York Times. Peter Arnell Loses AgainIn which one man has a very, very bad streak of luck. People, if you take the money to write a book, you have to fulfill your contractual obligations. Books Stay Part Of the Grocery Store MixOr, if you sell books where people are, they will buy them. Read that on a fortune cookie.
Did you feel the Earth shift a little bit yesterday? Maybe around 1:30 or so Pacific Standard Time (the only time zone that matters!)? Did you Twitter feed seem to be filled with jangly nerves? It turns out that Amazon bought Lexcycle today. Lexcycle? Huh? Who? Erm? Lexcycle is the mighty little company behind the bookish iPhone application darling, the Stanza Reader. Not only were they near first, they’ve been the best. With a strong focus on usability (or, if you will, making it easy for real people to accomplish the very simple goal of reading), support for ePub, and
Todays links of interest: L.A. Times awards 2008 book prizesCongratulations to the winners! Franklin letters foundIt’s nice to know that there are still treasures to be discovered in our world. Microsoft To Re-Enter eBooks?Mike Cane contemplates the possibility of Microsoft entering the ebook market. It’s probably a given they will — Microsoft is not a company to let others play in a space without giving it a shot, too. Also, and maybe irrelevant, MS has library of scanned texts. Can these be repurposed in a useful (read: non-scanned graphic version) way?
Todays links of interest: BOOK: The SequelThe Perseus Books Group is engaging in a very cool, very ambitious BEA project: take a book from start to finish during the conference. Watch as editing, marketing, production, and even conversion to e-formats happens. Live. No really, this is cool. Why should I care about e-books? Lessons learned the hard way from the newspaper bizAh a long list of questions to be answered. Publisher ConfidentialDelightful. Comments from booksellers, readers, and librarians about what they want from publishers. Stop us if you’ve heard some of these before. Deseret Book demotes ‘Twilight’Stephenie Meyer books will
Todays links of interest: The Sun Sets on Desert Rose Literary AgencyAs Victoria Strauss reports, Leann Murphy of the presumably now-defunct Desert Rose Literary Agency has been served her just desserts. Love the One You’re With: Book Review Ethics Re-examined, Part TwoBethanne Patrick continues her examination of the ethics and sticky problems of book reviews. The Future of Book Coverage, Part II: Amazon.com and the Revenue QuestionMax Magee takes a long look at why Amazon’s hidden stakeholders — book blogs — choose to participate in the Associates program. Interesting points about process, accounting, and depth of content.
In discussing why Bloomsbury has created “The Bloomsbury Group”, focused on lost classics: [Alexandra] Pringle said that she was struck by how many books being discussed on literary blogs were out-of-print period pieces. “Reading exchanges on the blogs set me thinking about what it is we like to read and how we find those books we know we will enjoy and treasure,” she said. “While the publishing industry chases the new, the young, the instantly commercial, readers are often looking for something else—for a kind of enduring quality.” Publishers launch ‘lost classics’
Todays links of interest: The Million-Dollar Sure ThingIn which Pat Holt is in a bad mood. Who cares about publishers’ imprints? (Answer: the publishers!)Hmm. The True Cost of Amazon’s New KindleLook, you knew someone would do it: break down the Kindle and price out its components.
Last week, the Internets were treated to a rather whiny post from an author who felt that agents were the only thing standing between her and literary greatness. The truth of the matter is that it’s a tough business out there, and sometimes it takes talent plus a little something extra to get your work noticed. Sometimes it takes thinking outside the box. Over the past few years, we’ve had the special privilege of meeting some authors who not only exhibit incredible talent, but also the ability to connect with readers — in a huge way — through non-traditional means.
Todays links of interest: The Awl – Be less stupid.Choire Sicha and Alex Balk have launched their latest project. Minimalist look, lots and lots of words. And attitude. Welcome back! Bloomsbury offers Orange title for freeKamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows offered free in exchange for an email address. Interesting deal. Discounts Plot Against ‘Da Vinci’ NovelAs the new Dan Brown novel is given a list price of $29 (really? in this economy?), Amazon and Barnes Noble announce steep discounts. Steep. Can’t-compete-with-that steep. BookSwim: Netflix for books?Once more: this is not the Netflix model unless Bookswim has magically added ongoing author compensation.
Todays links of interest: Harlequin on Digital AgilityGreat (long!) presentation from the Harlequin Digital Team (including the awesome Amy Wilkins!) about their digital program. Other publishers should view this is as a primer. This is Your Wake-up Call: 12 Steps to Better Book PublishingJonathan Karp writes a manifesto. Lordy, some of this stuff is so painfully obvious you have to wonder… Random House Group announces enhanced ebooksWhile liking the fact publishers are looking at enhanced ebooks, one has to wonder who this press release is targeted at.
