On Opportunity

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Coffee House Press’s Allan Kornblum, as part of a great interview with Scott Esposito, starts the conversation about publishing in a recession like this: When you throw the internet, DVDs, and other forms of entertainment into the mix, major publishers were having difficulty sustaining their business model even before the recession hit. Now with Borders on the brink, and former readers becoming would-be writers and self-publishing books instead of reading books, a major shake-up was inevitable. Where it’s going to end is anybody’s guess. But publishing isn’t going to return 20% or even 15% on the dollar—it never has in […]

Quote of the Week

Big Bad, Three Years Running, Or How to Solve a Problem Like DRM

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I’d like to note that Digital Rights Management has won the “Big Bad” title at the O’Reilly Tools of Change Conference for three years in a row! In today’s market and economy, that’s a major accomplishment. Congratulations to DRM for being the most hated aspect of digital publishing in 2009! You’d think the DRM folks out there would be feeling some shame by now. They’re not, and maybe it’s because there is a lot more fun in playing the DRM Blame Game than in tackling the problem (acknowledging here that players in the Blame Game have legitimate points). Here’s the

The Future of Publishing

Toc: Preview of Smart Women Read Ebooks Panel

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Some people go to Disneyland, Booksquare goes to New York for the Tools of Change conference. This year, I’m especially excited because I’m moderating the best panel of the conference: Smart Women Read eBooks, featuring the fabulous Angela James from Samhain Publishing, Malle Vallik of Harlequin, and Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I’m just going to sit back and let them roll. (Before we get into the good stuff, I’d like to congratulate Teel McClanahan III of Modern Evil Pres on winning our ToC conference guest pass. And a special thank you to Fran Toolan and Doug Lessing

The Future of Publishing

Too Much Awesome, All In One Panel (A Guest Squeefest from SB Sarah)

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Next Tuesday at the O’Reilly Tools of Change conference, Kassia put together the most excellent panel ever in the history of the world.  (Oh really? No – O’Reilly!) Smart Women Read eBooks, an examination of ebook technology and the savvy female reader, will feature Kassia, who deserves the people’s ovation and fame forever for the proposal itself, plus a few other monstrously cool people. First: Malle Vallik, Director Digital Content & Interactivity at Harlequin. I call her St. Malle of EBook, and really, she’s a freaking oracle of eBook technology and how it can and should be sold to female

Square Pegs
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