Illuminating the landscape Getting a piece of the action has not, historically, been the way literary agents portrayed their services. Maybe at the breakfast table. Or over a quiet Campari. Rarely for the record. And despite several years of rapid digital-driven experimentation and a growing number of “agent-assisted” approaches to publication, the idea that the… Read More
'Are there too many literary agencies?'
The question with which I’ve headlined this post comes from literary agent Jonny Geller. More: I believe that the lack of changes in our industry will leave many authors exposed. I would say this, wouldn’t I? Well, I’m not actually criticising any one agent, or the notion of small agencies—but my industry as a whole.… Read More
Perceived differences between 'us' and 'them'
“More trust in your staff not to be numpties.” Only if you lingered for a bit after #FutureChat — or looked back later to see the stream — might you have spotted that comment from Suw Charman-Anderson. And not much earlier, Victoria Noe had said, “It’s like a generation gap.” She was referring to the… Read More
An industry divided? In digital we trust — some of us
It’s not as if we haven’t seen opposing viewpoints — along with rising and falling fortunes — during publishing’s encounter with the digital dynamic. Some of the main divisions of variously rivalrous perspective include: eBooks vs. print, Online bookselling vs. bricks and mortar, Apps vs. ebooks, and immersive ebooks vs. enhanced, Traditional publishing vs. self-publishing for authors,… Read More
The winter of our discontent with the ISBN
ISBN: Not much more traction than the first snowfall on London I’m just glad Amazon & B&N do reveal overall sales ranks so we can measure their mix of sales that way. Other retailers, including Apple, do not, limiting us to only estimating the very top books in a limited number of categories on those… Read More
AuthorEarnings: ISBN On Ice!
Everything’s Coming Up Indie. Right? As slippery as the business of publishing-industry statistics is, the author Hugh Howey and his unnamed associate referred to as Data Guy have now given us a year of AuthorEarnings.com reports. This is a good thing. Despite Howey’s detractors and some of their misgivings, the AuthorEarnings series of interpretive essays have… Read More
Authors Alighted – Angry Birds and our new Indie Preview
Everyone in the publishing industry is accustomed to hearing the warning that other books aren’t their only competition, right? You know the drill: Video, television, gaming, music, everything including yoga classes and financial seminars are now arrayed as competition to reading. And this is no backyard boxing match, there’s obvious truth to these observations. Digital giveth and… Read More
'Print books are more like decorations': A #FutureChat recap
Could ebooks and print be friends instead of enemies? Having heralded The noise and fury— where he wrote, “Booksellers are back! The print book is on the rise! The ebook is dead!” — The Bookseller editor Philip Jones then returned Friday with classic irony in Surprise, surprise: Defying what we sometimes read in the wider… Read More
#DBW15: Can eBooks Steamroll Print?
‘What Sells in Print’ – eBooks’ impact on the market Not so fast, it seems we’re hearing from several directions. Today, our colleagues Tom Tivnan and Felicity Wood at The Bookseller are writing Print and digital help the book market in 2014. Here, from that story is an “e” and “p” — ebooks and print… Read More
#DBW15: Digital Book World surveys authors – 'Risks, Rewards, Commitment'
Have you ever actually seen an olive branch? Self-publishing has dramatically changed the freedom and control authors exercise over their writing careers. The self-publishing successes of top-selling and midlist authors have made it possible for many of them to earn more income from their writing and have raised questions about why authors need publishers. Those… Read More