Never Say ‘Men Don’t Read’ It may be the publishing world’s most irrational lie. I mean, would you leave half the population’s money on the table? Me, either. But you’ve heard it, of course: “Men don’t read. Doesn’t matter what book you give them. They just don’t read.” Mark Zuckerberg And every time that meme is… 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: So Shall You Reap? Success and ‘Investment’
Shot Out of a Cannon I’m told that there are people who find the holidays restful. I have yet to meet one of these extraordinary creatures, but I think they would find holding the publishing industry’s first grand-slam conference of the year in the second week of January to be a dandy thing. Bright-tailed and… 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
#DBW15: #LaunchKids: Good trends, many examples, little understanding
‘Just look at what this little thing has turned into’ Mike Shatzkin had borrowed a spare outlet to power up and check messages on his phone during the lunch hour at #LaunchKids. His Publishers Launch series of events was producing the fourth such outing focussed on children’s publishing. He stood for a minute with me… Read More
#DBW15: #LaunchKids rolls out to the pad
A “take-up of digital books” that is “huge and growing” By day’s end Tuesday, the audience for Digital Book World’s daylong Launch Kids Conference will emerge into New York City’s notably chilly evening breezes — a -3C is as warm as it’s to get today here — fortified by the surveyed details of surely the most extensively studied… Read More
Digital Book World’s Choir: Keynotes From Amazon, Apple, And All
The First Major Publishing Pilgrimage Of 2015 Publishing conferences are ritual performances. They are to the varied segments of publishing what morality plays are to the various forms of Christianity. They are narratives that are organised to demonstrate, emphasise, and reinforce the orthodoxy. Those are the words of one of our most dependable iconoclasts, Baldur… Read More
Hugh Howey Calls A Ceasefire
‘No Need To Come Out On Top’ It’s time to back off a bit on the arguments for self-publishing. In a classic example of “burying your lead” — along with a hatchet –the author-activist Hugh Howey quietly has signaled a stand-down to his supporters this week And he’s doing it with the note of generosity… Read More
UK author income survey: Another publishing bombshell
The topic of our Friday #FutureChat this week, 11 July, will be the ALCS survey news. Join us live on Twitter at 4 p.m. London time, 11 a.m. New York time, 8 a.m. Los Angeles, 5 p.m. Berlin, 3 p.m. GMT. Brace for impact The key survey revelations commissioned by the UK’s Authors’ Licensing & Collection… Read More