What If Books Just Aren’t It Anymore? Why don’t we start with the assumption that social media and the web are taking over because people actually enjoy them and go from there? Baldur Bjarnason Baldur Bjarnason does seem to actually enjoy getting het up about things. And he’s good at it, too. People generally like… Read More
An Author Speaks Directly To Publishers: Kathrin Passig’s Commentary In Berlin
‘You’re Giving Amazon Another Advantage’ I know you’re all very nice people that are a pleasure to work with, and I know you do things in this roundabout way because you love talking and I even love talking to you… But when you offer workflows that are slower, less functional and more complicated than what… Read More
From Boston's #TheMuse: Whatever happened to 'author-ity'?
When Everybody Publishes, Is Anybody An Authority? The Muse and The Marketplace has opened on Friday, 1st May, with of authority in digital times was followed Friday (1st May) by our weekly #FutureChat from The Bookseller’s The FutureBook. The Muse annually draws some 800 attendees and is produced by the highly respected Grub Street creative writing center,… Read More
When envious eyes aren't smiling: #FutureChat recap
‘Beware blanket dismissal.’ All endeavors need innovators in this changing environment. #BabyBathwater Ron Martinez’ cautionary comments arrived on the #FutureChat hashtag after our weekly live session had closed on Friday. But his point is a good one. To put together his tweets in sequence; Empathize a moment. Innovators are Promethean: may bring a benefit, but… Read More
Publishers' Forum in Berlin: 'Reconstructing Publishing'
The 2015 edition of Publishers’ Forum opened Monday (27th April) in Berlin with a determined tagline and programming to match: “How to Reconstruct Publishing: Competing Visions, Channels, and Audiences.” Produced by German publishing software maker Klopotek, the day was launched by welcoming comments from that company’s Klaus-Peter Stegen and by Global e-Book co-author Rüdiger Wischenbart (pictured), who is in… Read More
Music For Writers: Q2 Music And Nadia Sirota On a Roll — ‘Meet The Composer’, Season 2
Accelerando Toward A Major Stretch Goal As of this moment, only a very small subset of the world listens to it. But if Nadia Sirota and her friends listening to her in 70 countries have anything to do with it, that will change and keep changing. t Sirota is talking about “contemporary classical music,” the most nearly… Read More
Monday: Berlin’s ‘Senior’ Publishers’ Forum Convenes In A Digitally Youthful Industry
‘The Most Senior In Continental Europe’ There are, it turns out, myriad ways to structure and calibrate the discussions and debates and conversations that go into a good publishing conference. Rüdiger Wischenbart This year, one of the most interesting contextualizations awaits us in Berlin. There, international publishing specialist and consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart is at the helm… Read More
'No bookshop is an island': ALLi launches #Authors4Bookstores
At IndieReCon: Launching #Authors4Books Standing in this beautiful new Foyles store to launch ALLi’s Authors For Bookstores campaign, for a moment we can fool ourselves that reports of the decline of bricks-and-mortar bookshops are greatly exaggerated. The Alliance of Independent Authors’ (ALLi) Debbie Young (pictured)took to the floor of Friday’s IndieReCon event in London shortly before we… Read More
Music For Writers: A Royal Welcome For Two Composers
‘I Could Talk About It For Hours’ Even if the Royal String Quartet’s performances of these works of Paweł Szymański and Paweł Mykietyn weren’t exemplary, the sheer enthusiasm of cellist Michal Pepol alone might put these performances right over the top. When New York Public Radio’s free 24/7 streaming service Q2 Music chose the quartet’s new… Read More
Fat startup: Eric Ries and his Lean Startup programme go wide
Eric Ries asked for $135,000 on Kickstarter. He got $588,903. That’s not lean. And Ries, a man with a ready sense of humor, cracks up at the suggestion that he’s doing too well to fit into his famous “Lean Startup” gig anymore. “Here’s the thing,” he says. “When you launch a Kickstarter campaign, there’s something great… Read More