Publicists and marketing associates, would you like to take credit for a job well done? Of course, you do. But how?
Apple Holds the Key to Fixing E-Reader Problem
The fact that you can’t show off what you’re reading is a big problem with ereaders. People keep bringing it up.
A few people are probably relieved because they can now comfortably pull out their Harlequin romances on ereaders without fear of judgment. But what about all those people who want you to know what they’re reading, who read a book just to be seen reading it? And what about all those love connections we’ve lost, you know the ones, when sparks fly as you ask how she is liking that book?
Calling Human Resources
According to who you follow on twitter, facebook, friendfeed, google reader, blogspot—oh, you get it—we either live in the Information Age, the Digital Age, the Age of Persuasion or, my latest fav, The Age of Curation. Naturally the thing that makes all of these “ages” possible, and short lived, is the internet! A posting on Microsoft recently made me think of a new “age”—the age of information bloat. How do we unbloat it?
Making Smart Acquisitions
It’s fall. The book fairs have everyone scrambling to buy rights to the next big book. You, the editor, want to buy something great before yearend, something that will make the publisher think you’re a genius. But before you come running into the boardroom screaming eureka, make sure you have facts to go with that instinct.
Da PubFight Is On!
I’ll admit it I’ve never won PubFight, I’m last in my fantasy baseball pool and I didn’t win my hockey pool either, but hope springs eternal. Tis a new season and all past out-of-stock-transgressions are forgotten. My new mantra this year…’Keep’em in stock’.
How Ladies Find Books: Tips for Online Book Matchmaking
We at BookNet Canada talk a lot about metadata, sometimes ad nauseam. Accurate and thorough metadata is the best way for consumers to find out about a publisher’s book online. Some people think, “Well, that’s great for online. But we know that a lot of books are still sold in brick-and-mortar stores.” True, but that doesn’t get you off the hook, especially with women. Women looking for their next favourite book will find their perfect match online.
How Does Your Garden Grow?
When I read the word perennial I immediately think about gardening. Doesn’t everyone? I don’t know a lot about gardening and I know less about perennial philosophy, but I do know perennials vs. annuals. Perennials come up year after year and so involve less labour and less investment. Annuals appear annually, are labour intensive and cost you money each year. The same applies to books, and a new research study by BookNet looking at Perennial Bestsellers attempts to examine those lovely perennials.
Do Sales Make an Author Overrated?
On Tuesday, Alex Good and Steven W. Beattie gave another good stir to the CanLit pot by listing who, in their opinion, are the ten most overrated fiction writers in Canada. Now, I’m not going to take sides; BookNet Canada officially loves all books equally. But working for BNC, whose SalesData service tracks approximately 75% of the Canadian book market, does make you wonder about “real value” in publishing.
Vending Machine Dreams
Something tells me that humans are sentimental beings or perhaps it is that when there is a disruption we like to hang onto something we think is undisruptable. The problem is we don’t really know what is solid enough to hold onto. Is a vending machine solid enough? The reason I am thinking this right now is thanks to an article I saw on a 100 year old butcher shop adding a vending machine so that they can serve their customers 24/7.
I began to think about the number of times I’ve passed my local bookstore in the morning on the way to the train. I stare in the window and think “I would buy that right now,” but I can’t because the store is closed.
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.
