Quiet Qualms, Important Inquiries Most major ebook retailers have suffered anemic or declining sales over the last 12-18 months. The gravy train of exponential sales growth is over. Indies have hit a brick wall and are scrambling to make sense of it. Mark Coker In a way, Mark Coker of Smashwords may be saying what we… Read More
The FutureBook's Big Idea for the 'Ethical Author'
Presenting ‘The Ethical Author Code’ — for writers of all stripes. Among Big Idea proposals in The FutureBook’s (#FutureBook14) final session of the day on Friday in London, Orna Ross’ presentation of the “Ethical Author” programme is the one that may trigger the most controversy among writers. Offered as “an author programme facilitated by the Alliance… Read More
Music For Writers: Something Of Jeffrey Zeigler’s Life
‘A Scary Move, A Necessary Move’ “When it was announced that I was leaving Kronos,” says cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, “half the people I spoke to said, ‘Wow, you’re really brave.’ And the other half said, ‘Wow, you’re really crazy.’” If anything, Zeigler’s bravery arrives with a bravura that can make you crazy: Something of Life is… Read More
#PorterMeets Alastair Nash: 'Barriers falling'
Alastair Nash is among featured speakers who will bring especially astute messages to publishing from other, nearby sectors on Friday (14th November) in Europe’s busiest publishing conference, The FutureBook , at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. Bookings will close Tuesday the 11th, so hurry to secure your seat. We are fond of… Read More
Are we still not 'prepared' for digital progress?
Three signal keynote addresses open The FutureBook Conference in two weeks, from : George Berkowski, author of How to Build a Billion Dollar App: Discover the Secrets of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs of Our Time Carla Buzasi, Global Chief Content Officer with WGSN Tom Weldon, CEO, Penguin Random House UK in conversation with Bookseller Editor… Read More
Music For Writers: In Not-So-Dire ‘s_traits’
‘A Sentence Swimming In Uncertainty’ A generous and “generative” heart beats at the conceptual center of composer John Supko and media artist Bill Seaman’ssweetly addictive new release, s_traits, on the Cotton Goods label. The work is among the most writerly studies yet in our series on contemporary composition for authors. The work stands, almost imperceptibly, on a vast… 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
Getting Past The ‘Bookstore Barrier': Freethy And Ingram Go Into Print
‘Without Giving Up Digital Rights To One Of The Big Five’ The best-of-the-bestselling Amazon Kindle Million Club independent authors today is announcing a partnership with one of the recognized giants in book distribution: Ingram is providing a full-service sales and publishing team that will also be instrumental in selling, printing and distributing the books worldwide as… Read More
Waiting for the pundits to vote on Amazon's new 'Kindle Scout'
The name of the new programme rolled out, it seems, at 3:01 a.m. Eastern time in the United States today by Amazon is “Kindle Scout.” And the way to understand that name is to think like a reader: Amazon is inviting you to be a “scout” for something called “Kindle Press.” My colleague Sarah Shaffi… Read More
At Frankfurt Book Fair: Between creativity and commerce
Books are a business. Books are an art. And we’re all caught in the middle. Developing a creative relationship with money will make you more aware of that underlying pattern and will also surface your values, what’s most important to you in life. Surely, you’d say, this is the writing of one of our many… Read More