The Daily Square – April 13, 2006
Daily links from Medialoper: booksquare
How Many Books Can One Subject Spawn?
One wonders, however briefly, if publishers have a monster board that not only details the upcoming year’s production schedule by title, but also by subject matter. And then one wonders if those same publishers have their competition, title/subject, matter on the same monster board. Movie studios do it, so one would hope publishing houses do it. You do have to wonder sometimes because, as the New York Times points out, there’s a lot of competition for reading dollars in this market. And a slew of titles on the same topic can be either good or…confusing. Do you buy this book
Unexpected Results: Winning High School
Unless you count reunions, there is nothing worse than high school. It’s as if an ancient sadist stroked his (or her) bearded chin and said, “How, I wonder, can I destroy their psyches for life?” Another moment passes and the answer comes, “High school! Of course. I am both diabolical and brilliant. Also, I had an unfortunate experience in gym.” Oh wait. Releasing your first book might count. Rejections, reviews, and people telling you that your life’s work is all wrong (and they should know, they have an idea for a book). Our friend Joan Kelly, author of The Pleasure’s
DRM For The Publishing Industry
Publisher’s Lunch alerts us to a new approach to galley distribution. Simon & Schuster will be experimenting with new, more communicative galleys for Stephen King’s new book. The purpose, of course, is to cut down on selling those “Not For Sale” copies. To quote from Lunch:
Innovation, Meet The Brick Wall
This just in: the publishing business is inefficient! Hmm, okay, so that’s not really news. But the fact that they’re trying to do something about it is. Business Week explores the idea of multi-channel delivery — you know, releasing in multiple formats simultaneously. The article starts off with amusing anecdotes — customers walking out of bookstores because they don’t want to wait a week for product, and bookstores over-ordering to meet quotas…then sending large quantities of books back. The so-called Caravan Project