Author name: Kassia Krozser

Barnes and Noble, Blackberries, and Human Nature

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There is nothing like October — the falling leaves, the shorter days, the endless aisles of Christmas ornaments. Around here, October says “Goodbye old year, hello new!” Or, people, it’s nearly time for me to stop staying, “People, it’s 2007.” Publishers and online retailers and content providers have this fascinating love affair with partnerships. Stay tuned for next year’s catch-phrase, “It’s 2008, what are you thinking?*” Today, in my normal reading, I stumbled across a press release from Barnes and Noble. In nearly-2008, “the world’s largest bookseller” has opened a Blackberry-enabled storefront. Yes, you read that right. And I know […]

Back To Basics

Looking At Spinebreakers

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Last week, I mentioned the new Spinebreakers website from Penguin UK. I noted that it was pretty much everything I wanted a publishing website to be. Or, if you’d prefer, it’s a publishing website that targets readers. The delightful message is less “buy buy buy” (or “sell sell sell”) than it is “stay stay stay”. With eyecatching colors and a mix of social networking features — video, audio, polling, discussion, and lots and lots of words to read — the site tells its target audience to stick around, read, and chat. Not necessarily in that order.

Publishers and Editors

On Frankfurt

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It is however a neat lesson in how the book fair works: for as long as people have written books, people have sold them too, and this involves a certain amount of talking things up. Erasmus, in the 15th century, is said to have drummed up business here (the fair’s been going for 800-odd years) by claiming the first print run of his Colloquies was 24,000. And this in an age when the average number of copies produced was around 50. ‘It’s carnage…’ Inside the genteel world of books

Quote of the Week

Strikewatch 2007: Further Apart Now Than When They Began

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As you know, the potential for a writers’ strike in Hollywood has been occupying more than a fair share of my brain power these past few months. Since I’m just an interested but casual observer, I can well imagine the tensions it’s creating for the real players. Especially since it appears the two sides are further apart than ever. It is a decided risk to strike for higher residuals. No mean feat, considering they started on opposite sides of the payscale spectrum. The story in a nutshell. Both the writers and the studios want to change the way residuals are

Square Pegs
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