Not That We’re Suggesting The Metrics Are Wrong

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Far be it for us to read something and wonder if perhaps someone is looking through the wrong end of the binoculars, but, well, that does seem to be the case for Mr. Atwood: “A big part of the motivation for newspapers to charge for their online content is not the revenue it will generate, but the revenue it will save, by slowing the erosion of their print subscriptions,” Mr. Atwood said. “We’re in the midst of a long and painful transition.” Let us get this straight. Print subscriptions are dropping. Online readership is growing. Online ad sales are up. […]

Square Pegs

Sometimes An Odd Notion

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In favor of reincarnation: surely this isn’t our only chance to get it right. Against reincarnation: surely we would have come back rich. As we read Jane Guills’ backstory for Nectar From A Stone, we were struck by the idea that sometimes you just don’t know. Things happen that cannot be explained. Then again, why do they need to be explained? Why not just accept the convergence or the weirdness or the fact that what you least expect is exactly what you need? Jane Guill’s Backstory for Nectar from A Stone

Books/Mags/Blogs

Also, Standing Naked On A Street Corner

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We suppose we must begin with a question: has there ever been a point in publishing history where every book released into the wild came accompanied by an unlimited promotion budget? We ask because we are not certain if the large number of books being released truly means that authors need to be more creative with marketing, or if authors have always been required to exercise ingenuity and guile. Marketing is our biggest fear. It goes back to kindergarten and playing the fat lady in the school circus. This was before the point in our life when we discovered food

Tools and Craft

On Something Completely Different

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“Spamalot” fans who signed up for a newsletter on the Broadway musical’s official Web site may end up getting, well, spammed a lot. “Movin’ Out” devotees may have the same problem. A security glitch – now fixed – exposed the names and postal and e-mail addresses of more than 31,000 people to savvy computer users. That we could not resist should come as no surprise to anyone. What to Expect of ‘Spamalot’? A Lot of Spam

Quote of the Week

Because They Could Not Stop For Death

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We totally stole the headline from Arts Journal. We have no shame, and it is one of our favorite poems. Besides, what, pray tell, other possible headline could there be for a lead like this: In this era of first-person shooters, successful video games seem to require lots of shooting, explosions and other assaults on the senses. But who says you can’t write a game about the poetry of Emily Dickinson? Arts Journal Battle for the Belle of Amherst

Square Pegs

The Great Escape, Or Our Lousy Attempt at Double Entendre

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Well, we escaped from the Texas State Capitol building. Barely. Thank goodness for our innate nosiness, or we’d still be stuck in the dungeon. If we may make a suggestion, perhaps better signage would be appropriate. Also, better security — it is rare that we long to see someone in uniform wielding authority, but today, it would have been welcomed. Yes, all of this is beside our real point. Except for the part where today’s adventures are something that would happen in a comic strip. See how we cleverly tied things together? Comic strips are facing the same challenges as

Square Pegs

Pardon Our Foot-Stamping Irritation

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Let us begin with a bit o’advice: limiting your audience is bad. Creating barriers to your products, never good. Unless maybe it’s the waiting list for the Birkin bag. Books are not Birkin bags. Just making sure we’re all on the same page. We do not use any MSN services. We don’t. We won’t. We’re sorry. We don’t have a lot of faith in any current digital rights management system (this will likely change as the systems become more sophisticated and consumer-friendly). Penguin, of all publishers, should be thinking innovative rather than hamstrining itself. Of course, what do we know?

Publishers and Editors

In Our Continuing Public Service Series

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You’d think that people would keep excellent track of their money. But they don’t. While we cannot give away trade secrets, we recently encountered a situation where two well-known (in a different era) producers had their checks returned because they’d either a) died or b) moved without a forwarding address. This, sad to say, is not outside our normal experience. Thus, in the spirit of public service and all that, we bring you a listing of authors and works due money…yet nobody has claimed the funds. Yes, yes, we know, it’s the Google era. You will have to take our

Tools and Craft

We Offer To Help, We Get No Calls

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Oh sure, maybe it’s because we get scared when the phone rings. It’s like the telegram of yore…nothing good can come from voice communication. Yes, probably major publishers should contact us via email for advice on running their businesses. That will reduce the likelihood of us staring at the Caller ID display with a mix of terror and confusion. We get that “star” (and we use the term with the highest level of appreciation and disdain) books make bucks. Something (maybe cyncicsm) tells us that the initial sales rush is like that of a horror film…no legs, lots of remainders.

Publishers and Editors

See Previous Re: New Booksquare Theme

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Though it’s hard to tell, we’re deep in the throes of research. No, we are not making this up to pretend we have an excuse for not following through on our major (ha!) proposal for addressing the woes authors face due to the burgeoning resale market. We are doing true and actual research. This involves…stuff. Like looking at financial statements. Those are the things with numbers. There will be a sea change in how art is sold to the public. Likely, this will happen in the music industry, despite their myriad missteps. Technology and consumers have outpaced the industry, and

Square Pegs
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