Booksquare

As you all know, the entire United States publishing community is gearing up for BookExpo America 2009 (#BEA09). For a show that conventional wisdom pegged as leaner and smaller due to the economic downturn, there is a whole lotta buzz going on. So buzzy, in fact, that I’m packing my bags and heading to the show. Yeah, it’s a news round-up post!

• Blogger Signing Schedule at BEA: NetGalley is graciously offering booth space to a whole lot of terrific bloggers, including some of your personal favorites (ahem, Friday, 2 p.m., me). Click on the PDF link for the updated updated schedule. Please make stop by booth #4077 to say hello. Rumor has it you’ll also be given a chance to win a Sony Reader.
• Book: The Sequel – A 48-hour Publishing Romp: Speaking of BEA excitement, I am super-enthusiastic about this live experiment from Perseus Books. In the space of 48-hours, we watch a book move through the publishing system. I am already asking my friends to make sure I am dragged away from Booth 4237 before I am labelled a stalker.
• The Heart of a Woman: Harlequin Cover Art 1049 – 2009: I am so excited about this exhibit, which captures changes in women’s lives over the past 60 years. Over 100 original works of art will be displayed. The exhibit is at the Openhouse Gallery in New York City from May 29, 2009 through June 12, 2009.
• All Your Bases Are Belong to Amazon: I never weighed in on the Amazon Encore project, but many smart folks did. I’ve linked to Eoin Purcell’s analysis above. Encore is not Amazon’s first foray into the publishing business; I don’t believe it is Amazon’s intention to enter the publishing game completely (ah, the irony of trying to get print distribution in the stores they are trampling!), but to offer exclusive content to extend their brand? Makes perfect sense.
• Scribd Launches a Pay Model: I’ve been trying hard to work up some enthusiasm for this news, but, then again, I’ve been trying to hard to work up some enthusiasm for Scribd. They certainly offer a marked contrast — compensation-wise — to Amazon. To make this service a viable alternative to the Kindle bookstore, files must be generated in a format that allows customers to easily load books on their device. This will create the beginnings of the necessary competition we need in this market.
• Amazon Cuts Social-Networking Features: This move by Amazon remains a quiet little story. While they made a big media splash in previous years with their forays into the social web, I’ve never had a sense that Amazon’s services were providing the robust kind of user experience of other sites.
• The Failure of E-Book Devices: A slightly misleading title as the failure in question comes from the fact that it’s so hard for libraries to get into the ebook lending game.
• Author Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Text to Speech Functionality: Or what the Author’s Guild didn’t tell its members about text-to-speech. Authors, if ever there was an issue you should force your organization to revisit, this is it!