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February 6, 2012 • 3:37 pm 1

Go read This | For the First Time In History, Print Is Optional. Now What? | Publishing In the 21st Century

Interesting paragraph in a very interesting piece by Richard Curtis:

More significantly, by electing not to print a book at all, these so-called legacy publishers put themselves in danger of losing the very thing that defines them. What profiteth a publisher to gain the world and lose its soul? Today Random House is a completely different species from independent e-book publishers like Open Road.  But by becoming a pure e-book publisher, the playing field is leveled, and the difference between Random House and Open Road becomes simply one of scale.

via For the First Time In History, Print Is Optional. Now What? | Publishing In the 21st Century.

Filed under: Books, , , ,

October 6, 2011 • 2:37 pm 1

Go Read This | The New Value of Text | booktwo.org

A powerful piece by James Bridle, I agree with most of it, though some grates a little:

Finally, the text still requires context. As publishers spin up their digital and print-on-demand backlists, more and more is published with less and less context. These efforts amount to land-grabs and rights-squatting, without adding value. Works without TOCs, indexes, author bios, footnotes. Placing work in context is one of publishers’ primary tasks, stretching out to commissioning introductions, assembling background material, supporting biographies and critical studies. Design belongs here too: good book design, appropriate book design, as important now as it has ever been.

via The New Value of Text | booktwo.org.

Filed under: Books, , , , ,

July 24, 2011 • 3:45 pm 0

Go Read This | What’s a book? It’s whatever you want it to be — Tech News and Analysis

In case you missed it, stop thinking book or ebook and think, content and the many ways to sell it:

This kind of “format shifting,” in which a newspaper or magazine takes content that has already been published and reformats it for the Kindle or some other device, makes a lot of sense. That content can theoretically reach readers who might never have picked up the newspaper or magazine, or who missed it when it was first printed, or who want to read it in book form while sitting on their couch or at the beach rather than on a computer. And if the cost is low enough, they will be willing to pay for that convenience.

via What’s a book? It’s whatever you want it to be — Tech News and Analysis.

Filed under: Books, , , , , ,

July 24, 2011 • 3:43 pm 0

Go Read This | Unbound: The Crowdfunding Cargo Cult | Mssv

Great piece on Unbound, all of which I agree with, by Adrian Hon:

Where Kickstarter is transparent, Unbound is bafflingly opaque – although this coyness may stem from publishers’ reluctance to talk about hard numbers even when they’re raising all their money from the public. Transparency also applies to creators; on Kickstarter, they write their own project descriptions and film their own videos, allowing their personality, experience, and trustworthiness (or lack thereof) to shine through, and from the earnest amateurishness of some efforts actually helps convey how much they could use the money.

Unbound writes project descriptions for their authors. They’re slick, but they’re also soulless (which is odd, since if anyone ought to be able to write well, it’s authors) and distancing. This leads to another issue – do successful authors like Terry Jones even need the money? After all, they’re asking for a lot – £10,000 at a minimum, and much, much higher in most cases – so you want to be sure it’s being used wisely.

via Unbound: The Crowdfunding Cargo Cult | Mssv.

Filed under: Books, , , , , ,

July 11, 2011 • 10:17 am 9

Rejoycing in the literary luminaries of Paris | The Post

Kevin power reviewed A Little Circle Of Kindred Minds: Joyce In Paris by Conor Fennell in The Sunday Business Post this weekend. It was a smashing review (which, as the publisher, I heartily agree with), here’s a flavour and a link:

Conor Fennell’s excellent new book – the first publication from Green Lamp Media – is bursting with similarly memorable anecdotes.

A Little Circle of Kindred Minds (the title is from Joyce’s story A Little Cloud) is thoroughly researched, cleanly written and full of sharp-eyed critical insights.

But you could just as easily enjoy it as a compendium of literary gossip, a guidebook to artistic Paris or even as a potted history of how various Irish artists responded to the policies of the nascent Irish Free State.

via Rejoycing in the literary luminaries of Paris | The Post.

You can buy the book for €19.99 for free delivery worldwide here, or in Kindle ebook here.

Filed under: Books, , , , , , , ,



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