Archive for the ‘Featured post’ Category
2010: A Publishing Odyssey
Über-agent Andrew “the Jackal” Wylie has hatched an audacious plot. Or maybe he has just seen the future. Either way, he has disintermediated the publishers he works with – for ebooks at least. With last week’s launch of Odyssey Editions, his Kindle-only ebook imprint, a range of his authors are now available digitally for the first time. To me, this seems inevitable. Many authors and their agents get the new digital realities – and, more importantly, the opportunities – while too many publishing discussions still focus on a protectionist response to the ‘threat’ of digital. If publishers won’t grasp digital, authors and agents will.
Do iPad or do I Kindle? – Part 2
Should authors and publishers publish for the Kindle, the iPad, or something else? Some of the current options are:
- Print – not going away in a hurry
- Publish for the Kindle and iPad via the Amazon Digital Text Platform
- Publish for the iPad via the iBookstore
- Publish via a third party ebook app like Stanza
- Publish via an aggregator like Smashwords, Lulu, Myebook, Issuu
If you are an author, my advice is to write, create accompanying audio and video assets and by the time you are ready to publish, there will be more than one route open to you.
Virtual contacts made Ward Wood Publishing a reality
Is Second Life still useful for authors and publishers? It depends how you use it, argues Adele Ward – who has recently used virtual contacts to make her new business, Ward Wood Publishing, a reality.
Are you too big for social media?
There are natural advantages to being a small, independent publisher when it comes to social media marketing. But, big or small, there’s a social media marketing strategy for you. Just keep it appropriate to your type of organization, make sure you engage your audience, and go for a personal voice – whether that is you and/or your authors.
iPadivity: Creativity and Productivity on an iPad
A new way of working merits the introduction of a new word – iPadivity.
noun [n] :
1. the phenomenon of increased creativity and productivity when using an iPad – and activity while doing the same
2. the generation of new ideas using an iPad
3. profitability from generating and using iPad apps
Four ways to make life easier if you self-publish
Self-publishing your book is now easier than ever. Self-publishing your book well, however, can still be a real challenge. You will often hear mutterings in publishing spheres that, “You can always spot a self-published book just by looking at it”. And in all fairness, it’s not too surprising, especially if you have chosen to do as much as possible yourself. I’m going to hazard a guess that it is unlikely that as an author, you have also trained and worked as a designer, typesetter, editor, proof-reader and marketer in between writing your book! It’s undoubtedly going to be hard to get the same effect as a publisher who has spent thousands on a book’s production. However, there are some basic things that you can do that will make your life much easier and help your book blend in with the best.
Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads
There is a lack of skills in the publishing industry to deal with new emergent paradigms. But it’s not just skills and structure that are lacking, but culture and attitude. In a period of accelerating change we need vastly more efficient methods of developing new concepts. In this post I want to share some thoughts about some of the changes that would be required for publishers to become more agile, generalist and collaborative in an age where we are all becoming publishers, authors, creators and consumers and as such all have a voice and opinion as well as the ability to implement our own ideas.
London Book Fair Digital Conference
Publishers get real about digital as they are told: “This industry doesn’t owe you a living”.
I was lecturing at Birkbek yesterday, on digital publishing, social media marketing – and men in their pants in Basingstoke. For this was the key takeaway message for me at this year’s London Book Fair Digital Conference, which I attended and live-tweeted last weekend: if publishers don’t produce digital content, such as apps, there are plenty of men in their basements in Basingstoke in their pants who will.
Publishing Twitterati Flock Together at the London Book Fair
The publishing Twitterati were out in force at the London Book Fair last night, for London Book Tweet – the official tweetup organised by the London Book Fair and Publishing Talk. Despite a little ash-depletion, 50-odd publishers, authors, agents, journalists, trade association representatives and other book trade folk squeezed a bit of tweeting-up in between ligging drinks at various stands and going on to the Canongate party. Many thanks to all who came, and to those who made it all possible with their creative contributions.
London Book Tweet – bring on the Twitterwall!
Are you at the London Book Fair on Tuesday 20th April? If so, there are still places at the London Book Tweet After Party! London Book Tweet is the official tweetup of the London Book Fair, organized jointly by the London Book Fair and Publishing Talk. The publishing Twitterati will be out in force, tweeting, drinking and networking with fellow publishers, authors, agents, journalists and other book industry folk – and we’d love you to join us!
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