The Business of Publishing

Clever Author Tricks, Or How Booksellers Feel About Turning Titles Face-Out

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Bookseller Chick, who is somewhere on the West Coast, but probably not Pasadena as she never speaks of her home in terms that imply sheer perfection, answered reader questions this week. She deigned to address the issue of authors who turn their books cover out (or their friends who help do this), drive-by signings, and chocolate as bribery. We are pleased to see her stance on bookmarks and other important issues. And we are pleased to note that rudeness still doesn’t pay (at least not well): What appears to happen (and what has happened in my store) is that friends […]

Marketing For Introverts

Amazon Introduces Plog, We Are Intrigued

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Okay, we were more than a little surprised to see that Phillip Jennings was prominently featured on our Amazon homepage. Also purses, iPod cases, and books (the books were at the bottom, which is rather sad, but maybe it’s one of those things that moves around whenever we reload). But let’s back up — we had messages from Phillip Jennings waiting for us when we went to Amazon to make a random purchase or do research*. You may remember him as the author of the brilliant Nam-A-Rama; we just thought it was odd that he was on the Amazon homepage.

Marketing For Introverts

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

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As things settle down on the ranch — there is only the faintest hint of dust swirling in the distance — we turn our attention to What Went Wrong. Things were moving along so swimmingly, it looked to be a successful season, and when disaster struck, and disaster is always a possibility, we know that, we didn’t see it coming. But surely someone out there is in charge of the publishing farm? And increasingly the question becomes “Who?” The front line of defense was formerly editors, those people who labored over each word, each paragraph, each book. Editors are not,

The Future of Publishing

If You Give It Away, They Will Download

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We’re not sure where to focus our attention in this story about young Italians downloading a free book about the struggle to survive on 1,000 euros a month. Part of us thinks, “Hmm, how interesting is it that an ebook broke out from the pack in such a manner.” The other part of us sits back and wonders, “Does this mean that Internet usage is so wide-spread in Italy that such downloading is possible?” And, thus, we’re stuck. You get to determine the underlying meaning on your own. Young Italians find a hero: Thousands download an internet novel highlighting the

The Future of Publishing

Moonves Sees The Future In S&S Library

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Though we cannot imagine anyone out there biting their nails over Les Moonves’s thoughts on the future of Simon & Schuster, there is a sense of relief that Moonves has said that the publishing house will remain part of the CBS family. Sure, there could be more synergy, but, you know, there can always be more synergy. That’s the problem with synergy, once you get a little, you’re like an addict. He then shines a light on the future before asking and answering a rhetorical question: Although he acknowledged that the synergy between S&S and other CBS units could be

The Future of Publishing

More Gushing About O’Reilly

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The husband brought our attention to a new program from O’Reilly (home of the best geek book covers ever): Rough Cuts. What is a rough cut? So glad you asked. Sometimes you just can’t wait for the book. When you need to learn a new technology right now, turn to the Rough Cuts service from Safari Books Online. You’ll get early access to books on cutting-edge technologies-you can literally read them as they’re being written. O’Reilly’s online “Safari” service has been a real back-saver in the BS household. Hmm, that’s probably not true. While we have reduced the number of

Publishers and Editors, The Future of Publishing

Playing With Numbers

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Here is what we want to know: why doesn’t anyone ever offer us money to do stuff like, oh, figure out the most popular settings for novels? Other than the fact that we’d probably take the money, do a little abracadabra, and poof! declare New York and London the winners…without actually putting out any effort. It takes very little reading experience to guess the answer to the question. Yes, the fine folks at Bowker have crunched lots of numbers, tested prices and formats, and tramped the misty heath of Scotland. Or something like that. The numbers aren’t surprising, unless the

The Business of Publishing

Stare Decisis or Something Like It

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We have spoken at length on our thoughts on used book sales — not a bad thing, but, boy, it would be nice if the authors got themselves a piece of that pie. One thing each and every person who’s weighed in on this topic acknowledges is that the doctrine of first sale is alive and well. We’ve also noted that current copyright laws don’t really address the rapid changes in how we access and consume media. Congress needs to focus on this — and they need to understand the issue. We figure that’s going to take some time, if

Our Continuing Fascination With Copyright

Long Live The Internet

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It hasn’t been hard to predict the slow demise of the standalone book section in major newspapers — the Chicago Reader reports that only five such sections still exist. And one, belonging to the Chicago Tribune is undergoing stomach stapling surgery. To save on the cost of newsprint. Apparently a brilliant plan to move the section to the lower-circulation Saturday was nixed when additional stuffing costs were factored into the move. The truth is that newspapers are losing eyeballs and consequently advertising revenue. We’d like to gently point out that had they paid attention when Craigslist first went online, this

The Business of Publishing

High-Level Summit, Publishing Style

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Random House and a group of UK agents convened for a summit regarding the future of publishing. Or rather, the future of publishing as it relates to author compensation. We were taken by this rather prosaic comment regarding money or lack thereof: Transworld Publisher Larry Finlay said: “There’s no reduction of advances for the big names, but there are far more higher discount clauses in contracts now. That leads to reduced royalties, which could ultimately mean lower advances. Publishers are feeling the pain – unearned advances have increased.” The Publishing News coverage of this top-secret meeting doesn’t suggest that the

The Business of Publishing
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