Publishing Links for the New Year

by rundy on January 2, 2011

in Publishing

As of November 2010, ebooks still have a ways to go. According to a Forrester survey, more people used laptops than any other ebook reading device. If laptops and their smaller sibling the netbook are combined, nearly 50% of ebooks were read on a computer rather than a specialized ebook reader. This is not a testament to how great the reading experience is on a laptop, but rather an indication of the hurdles for ebook readers.

Also, in spite of all the hoopla in 2010 about ebook readers, only 7 percent of U.S. online adults currently read e-books. That number will surely grow in the coming year.

More: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/and-the-most-popular-way-to-read-an-e-book-is/

Over at idioplatform.com Andrew Davis gives his take on the future of publishing. Snippet:

One of the most significant risks to publishers, much more important than a fall in demand for traditional products, is that their position in the value chain could be removed entirely. [...] To start to provide a route out of confusion, there is a two-step change of focus that must occur. Firstly, publishers must start to consider their business to be community management, not shipping books. Publishers that have built direct relationships with their most active, vociferous, and passionate customers, have an opportunity to maximise lifetime customer value. Secondly, it’s vital to shift the focus from monetising content, to monetising that community. Digital content, in most instances, is trending downwards in price.

The truth is that there will not be as much money in the selling of content as there has been. That’s a result of content ubiquity. The lie is that most publishers have to go bust. There are a myriad of potential revenue streams when communities are the source of monetisation.

Of course tied up in the article is a sales pitch for Idio’s services, but that doesn’t mean the man is without a point.

More: http://idioplatform.com/2010/10/the-future-of-publishing-like-minds/

We’ll see where the publishing world goes in the new year.

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The Optimism of Skip Picard

by rundy on September 22, 2010

in Publishing

I have been meaning to post a link to this article for awhile. Skip Picard, CEO of Ingram Book Company, wrote an optimistic piece about the future of publishing, and books, for The Daily Beast. He makes the worthwhile point that since the high sales of the Kindle and iPad the sales of hardcover books has actually gone up. His view can be summed up as follows:

Finally, Johannes Gutenberg can relax. Long into the future, the printed book will continue to survive because of its portability, durability, and flexibility. Many readers will prefer to read printed books for a variety of reasons that will endure. Though massive print runs will decline, today’s print technology allows a book to be manufactured and delivered within 24 hours of placing an order. I foresee a future when all of the electronic devices will have a button to press when you decide you really want that hardcover or paperback copy mailed to your home. Because no matter how exciting the world of enhanced media books becomes, I suspect there will be some like me who want it both ways. I may love my new iPad, but I still look forward to reading that relic of the past, the good old-fashioned, printed book.

It is nice to find a few sane heads in the publishing world.

Full article: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-28/the-future-of-books-ceo-ingram-skip-prichard-feels-confident/

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Upgrading Ubuntu

by rundy on September 10, 2010

in Life



I upgraded my computer operating system this week.

On one of my computers I run the Linux distro Ubuntu. I have been using Ubuntu for a number of years, and I have been very happy with it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to rehabilitate an old computer—for free—to be used as a word-processing, wed-browsing, and e-mail computer. Canonical, the company which releases Ubuntu, supports the operating system with program patches and upgrades. Every version of the operating system is supported for a set number of years—then you must upgrade to a newer version, (still for free) or use your current version unsupported.

When I went to install some patches/upgrades on my programs I saw a new version of the Ubuntu was ready for install. There was a moment of hesitation because I had no complaint over my current version of Ubuntu, and there is a part of me that firmly subscribes to the adage, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, after a moment’s pause I went ahead and clicked the install button. I figured a new version should be at least a small improvement over my current version, and I thought it best to not be left behind in the dust of unsupported software.

The installation went very smoothly. I notice no real difference in the functioning of the new Ubuntu—since I was satisfied with the old, this is a good thing. This sad, there were still a few points that made me less than 100% happy.

In a nutshell, the problem is that the new install was too presumptuous. I was not happy that my Ubuntu theme (visual skin) was changed. At the very least the install should have asked if I wanted to change, or stick with what I had before. I managed to quickly change it (mostly) back to how I had it visually before, but I shouldn’t have needed to do this. Second, my IM client was changed from Pidgin to Empathy. Empathy is supposed to be an integrated client, slimmer than pidgin, and the wave of the future. It does appear to be lighter in memory use than Pidgin, but the program is still rough, and feel like a functional step back from where I was. Worse, I wasn’t even asked if I wanted to do this. It was presumed. Finally, a number of programs were un-installed, and it seems like for no good reason. When the new install began a long list of programs that would be removed was presented to me. I quickly scanned the list and concluded that most of the stuff was just crap that should be removed. But my old IM client? And my FTP program? Shouldn’t you have presumed that I wanted to keep those instead of presuming that something I had installed should be uninstalled? And as a last insult, it appears that Apache is no longer configured, or at least not set to load on start. Which means I must go back and reset that up again.

In short, everything about the new version of Ubuntu appears to work well, but the installation process was far to presumptuous. I am left feeling like some stranger when rummaging through my belongings, and “cleaned up” and threw stuff out without asking me. I can get everything back, and set everything right, but it is annoying that I must do that.

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Publishing Statistics

September 9, 2010

You might call them depressing statistics, but they are facts and worth keeping in mind when you contemplate publication. The short story is this: Less than 2% of published books will be commercially viable. For a full breakdown of the stats: http://jessiemac.com/blog/2010/08/09/i-am-a-writer-should-i-get-a-book-deal-self-publish-or-self-distribute/ The following article takes a broad look at the publishing world today, but [...]

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Wylie’s War

August 4, 2010

The big news rocking the publishing world is that Andrew Wylie is thumbing his nose at the publishing companies.(1) The Wylie Agency (run by Mr. Wylie) signed an exclusive ebook deal with Amazon.com to release to release 20 title on the Kindle, with the possibility of more. Everyone in the industry–publishers, agents, and even authors–are [...]

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Salon Interview With Clay Shirky

July 27, 2010

Early in July Salon put up a February Barnes & Noble interview with Clay Shirky. This is a man on whom is heaped the praise, “Shirky has emerged as a luminary of the new digital intelligentsia, a daringly eclectic thinker as comfortable discussing 15th-century publishing technology as he is making political sense of 21st-century social [...]

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Where Ebooks are Today

July 23, 2010

A few links to give an un-scientific snapshot of where ebooks currently stand in the book market. Mashable.com(1) has an article up asking readers which they prefer more, ebooks or physical books. Being a tech leaning website I expected ebooks to score well with all the techno-phile readers. After all, people who avoid computers aren’t [...]

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Fearing or Embracing the Publishing Future

July 21, 2010

It can be interesting to read through articles in the publishing industry and see how different people, and companies, are reacting to the changes in the publishing world. An example of a more embracing attitude would be David “Skip” Prichard the c.e.o of Ingram Content Group. Prichard’s attitude is that, “New players don’t know what [...]

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Amazon, Author Royalties, and Ebook Pricing

July 12, 2010

I recently came across an article that gives a peak at the underside of the ebook publishing world. This falls under the category of “See How Much We Were Ripping You Off”: SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday it is now offering do-it-yourself authors and publishers royalties of about 70 percent on their e-books. The [...]

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Idea Logical Ebook Opinion

July 2, 2010

Mike Shatzkin over at the Idea Logical Blog (http://www.idealog.com/blog) has his own opinion about the future of ebooks. In his view, he sees a more aggressive adoption of ebook readers. He sees an estimate of 50% of book sales being ebooks in 5 years as low. My current views are more conservative. I do agree [...]

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