Publishing

,

E-Book Advertising Is Here

,

There was a piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about Harry Hurt III’s upcoming e-book. Hurt sought out many sponsors for his book, which sounds like it involved a lot of travel (i.e., is expensive for the author to write). The sponsors gave him money, equipment and products in exchange for ads inside the book and “significant product placement woven throughout [the book’s] narrative.”

Will readers mind the advertisements in the book? Is it possible to work product placement into your narrative seamlessly?

Is Self-Publishing the Book Equivalent of Demand Media?

Demand Media is what most would describe as a “content farm”: It’s the equivalent of factory-farmed chicken. The content is created and put out as cheaply and quickly as possible, but the welfare of those involved and the nutritional content is questionable. I don’t want advice from that kind of content source. And yet I have a hard time not getting these sorts of results in my web searches. Parallels can be drawn between what’s going on in publishing and Demand Media’s invasion of the web content world.

Our Futures in Publishing after the Digital Transition

Last week, James McQuivey, VP and Principal Analyst of Forrester Research, shared results and anecdotes from the Digital Book World/Forrester 2010 Publishing Executive Survey in a video (embedded below). The survey was about the attitudes and opinions of publishing executives regarding the digital shift in publishing. And although it revealed a great deal of enthusiasm for digital, there were some details about the transition that deserve a closer look.

The Revolution Will Be Open and Accessible!

On the trade side, we often forget that the shift to digital is affecting academic publishing as well. Recently, there’s been a lot of debate over how to handle journal publication and access to research. The business model is changing there too, as was evident during Open Access week, a global event, now in its 4th year, which promotes Open Access as a new norm in scholarship and research. I attended one of its events in Guelph that had me yearning to work on campus with academics.

,

Are Hardcovers Outdated?

,

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda is a runaway bestseller. I’ve seen it consistently rank as a top fiction title in bestseller lists for months. At first, I didn’t know much about the book, and like many I wondered how it managed to build up so much speed.

An article in The Globe and Mail on Monday tried to demystify this phenomenon.

,

Something for the Ladies

,
We in book publishing know that women make up a large majority of our market, but what do we do to cater to them? There are many ways for a publisher or bookseller to keep women in mind, but to cover them all today would be excessively long. You’re all busy people, I know. So I’ll focus specifically on packaging in this blog post.

,

Anthologize: Making Web-First Workflow Even Easier for Publishers

,

Anthologize grew out of One Week | One Tool—yes, one week—a project of the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University.

So, what’s all the fuss about? This is the extra step that’s been needed to make it extremely easy for any publisher to implement web-first workflow : all you need is WordPress and a plugin.

 

 

BookNet Canada is a non-profit organization that develops technology, standards, and education to serve the Canadian book industry. Founded in 2002 to address systemic challenges in the industry, BookNet Canada supports publishing companies, booksellers, wholesalers, distributors, sales agents, industry associations, literary agents, media, and libraries across the country.

 

Privacy Policy | Accessibility Policy | About Us

BOOKNET CANADA

Contact us | (416) 362-5057 or toll free 1 (877) 770-5261