[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
July 29, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

17 new listings have been added to the TOC Directory in the last week, including:

• Courier Corporation
• Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library
• Goodreads
• Zmags
• Quark

Visit the TOC Directory to add your own listings and events.

News Roundup: Sony Reader Now Supports EPUB, Esquire Using E Ink on September Cover, What Authors Can Learn from Silicon Valley

Mac Slocum
July 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Sony Reader Now Supports EPUB and Digital Editions

The new firmware for the Sony Reader (model PRS-505) supports EPUB and Adobe Digital Editions. From MobileRead:

I can now confirm that this particular speculation seems to have proved out: the new firmware (available sometime today, July 24th) will include support for both epub and Adobe's Digital Editions. It will also include support for PDF reflow, which is something we've long been looking for. As an extra added bonus, the new firmware will support DE's DRM system for both epub and PDF. However you may feel about DRM, this support for it, along with PDF reflow, means that all those PDF e-books available from many public libraries are now in play on the Reader for the first time, so dust off those library cards, folks!

First E Ink Magazine Cover Coming in September

Esquire will use E Ink technology to declare "the 21st Century Begins Now" on 100,000 flashing copies of its September issue. David Granger, Esquire's editor in chief, discusses the first E Ink-driven magazine cover with the New York Times:

... on its own, the magazine will run out of juice after 90 days. Mr.Granger knows some will see the cover as a gimmick -- but he says he thinks the technology behind it, which has been used for supermarket displays but never embedded in a magazine, speaks to the possibilities of print. (Continue reading)

What Authors Can Learn from Silicon Valley

Sramana Mitra of Forbes.com sees parallels between author Elle Newmark's grassroots audience development and Silicon Valley's software process:

In Silicon Valley, we do alpha and beta products -- small prototypes of our vision -- and recruit a small number of customers to gain early validation of the products' viability. These alpha and beta products, along with early customer validation, help us sell our ventures to investors and raise millions of dollars in venture money.

In Newmark's case, she spent less than $10,000 of her own money to "bootstrap" her self-publishing effort, she found customers online, and then she recruited William Morris agent Dorian Karchmar as her "investment banker," who then got her Simon & Schuster as a "venture investor." Newmark's deal with Simon & Schuster is widely rumored to include a seven-figure advance.

Related Stories:

• See more publishing news and insight in the TOC News section

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
July 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

22 new listings have been added to the TOC Directory in the last week, including:

• Association of Canadian Publishers
• SharedBook
• Heminge & Condell
• Dakota Systems
• Content Data Solutions

Visit the TOC Directory to add your own listings and events.

[Announcement] TOC Resource Pages

Mac Slocum
July 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Here at TOC we try to remember that the concepts bandied about in tech culture don't always translate into the wider world. So, in an all-inclusive effort to straighten out the learning curve, we've developed a series of Resource Pages that provides introductory information to many of the topics we frequently cover.

The Resource Pages are a "living glossary" -- each page includes oft-updated links to TOC stories that mention a specific keyword or topic. Some pages also include links to external sites that offer deeper context and information.

We'll be adding to the Resource Pages over the coming months, and we also welcome suggestions for improvement or additions.

Call for Participation Now Open for TOC 2009

Andrew Savikas
July 21, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

The Call for Participation is now open for the 2009 TOC Conference, Feb. 9-11 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.

As usual, we'll be accepting proposals for 45-minute breakout sessions (or panel discussions), 5-minute "lightning demos", and for longer 3-hour workshop tutorial sessions. For the latter, we're looking for people who really know their stuff, and are prepared to engage the audience with hands-on, practical material.

Some of the topics we'll be exploring at TOC 2009 (and accepting proposals about) include:

• Ebooks
• Alternative business models for paid content - both online and in print
• Content for mobile/smart phones (that includes the iPhone)
• Web-based marketing and promotion
• New digital publishing and authoring tools
• Managing the human side of change and innovation
• Case studies of successful (or unsuccessful!) new publishing initiatives
• Riding the wave instead of fighting the tide, such as using file-sharing sites to increase sales
• Strategies and tactics for effectively using print-on-demand
• Moving beyond books: selling merchandise, community, experience, and other scarce goods in a world of "free"
• Strategies and tactics for incorporating ebooks into your publishing program
• Tools and challenges for an efficient all-digital workflow
• Revising your P&Ls for the economics of digital publishing
• Understanding and responding to the changing retail landscape

We received far more great proposals last year than we could possibly find space for, and in some cases while the material was interesting, it wasn't the right fit for the audience or the rest of the schedule. To increase the chances of your proposal being accepted, here's some tips:

• Include as much detail about the planned presentation as possible. The more we know about what you plan to present and why it matters, the better.
• Be thorough! If you are proposing a panel tell us who else would be on it. If you are going to have a product announcement or software release, let us know. If you feel this is something that hasn’t been covered at TOC before, let us know.
• Keep it free of marketing. Nothing annoys an audience more than an unexpected sales pitch.
• Keep the audience in mind: they’re forward-minded, professional, and already pretty smart
• Clearly identify the level of the talk: is it for beginners to the topic, or for gurus? What knowledge should people have when they come to the presentation?
• Give it a simple and straightforward title or name – fancy and clever titles or descriptions make it harder for people (committee and attendees) to figure out what you’re really talking about

We're keeping the CFP open until August 25, but I encourage you to submit your proposal before then. There's always at least a few "must haves" that roll in along the way, and as they do the number of slots available to other sessions shrinks -- so your best bet is to be a "must have" session (see the tips above).

Submit your proposal!

News Roundup: New Kindles Rumored, Free Ebooks with Embedded Google Ads, Web Publicity and Giveaways Boost Author's Profile

Mac Slocum
July 18, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Rumor: Two New Kindles Coming This Fall

Citing an inside source, CrunchGear says Amazon will release two new Kindles in time for the holiday season:

The first is an updated version with the same sized screen, a smaller form factor, and an improved interface ... The second new model, which is shaped like an 8 1/2 x 11-inch piece of paper, is considerably bigger than the current model. (Continue reading)

Free Ebooks with Embedded Ads Via Scribd-Lulu Partnership

Scribd and Lulu have joined forces to combine Scribd's iPaper format, a Flash-derived viewing technology optimized for bandwidth and speed, with Lulu content. From ReadWriteWeb:

Beginning this month on the self-publishing site Lulu.com, you will soon find a broad selection of some of the site's most popular free content made available via the iPaper format ... And thanks to iPaper's ability to embed [Google] AdSense ads within the documents, content creators will now have a way to offer free e-books that also have the potential to earn them an income.

Web Publicity + Free = A Fighting Chance

Sci-fi author Scott Sigler uses podcasts, giveaways and grassroots Web marketing to build interest in his work. We've covered Sigler in the past, but his recent interview with The Independent illustrates the value lesser-known writers can derive from Web-based brand building and free distribution:

Sigler's thinking -- and this is the revolutionary bit -- is that it's worth making commercial sacrifices to secure a fan base, because fans will always want physical copies of the books, even if they've already heard an audio version for free. (Continue reading)

Related:

• See more publishing news and insight in the TOC News section

TOC Recommended Reading

Mac Slocum
July 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Sittin' Here, Watching The Market Go By (Booksquare)

Since there has been significant interest in using the iPhone as an ereader, I was, well, expecting amazing things from the publishing industry. Hopes. Dashed. On a weekend when headlines were there for the grabbing and customers were searching for both toys and content, the publishing industry, perhaps practicing summer hours, was curiously silent. Not a single major initiative, announcement, horns-blaring call to check out these great offerings on iTunes.

Queue and Apple: Excitement over the newest iPhone (Print is Dead)

But when's the last time you -- if you ever have -- saw someone dressed up as a book itself? When's the last time someone posed as a dust jacket rather than as a figure posing on a dust jacket? Of course, this doesn't happen. Why? Because people don't love books themselves; rather, they love the characters and worlds found inside of books. So despite all of the talk of books being amazing technological devices, you never see people waiting outside all night in order to buy a blank one.

You Don't Build Communities, You Enable Them (Techdirt)

What the rest of the internet has shown is that you build community not by building a community, but by enabling a group of people to do what they want. And that can include commenting on the news, creating the news or sharing the news among many other things.

Related:

• TOC News
• TOC Analysis and Opinion

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
July 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

18 new listings have been added to the TOC Directory this week, including:

• WEbook
• Booksquare
• Jacketflap
• Kirtas Technologies
• Readdle

Visit the TOC Directory to add your own listings and events.

News Roundup: Foldable E-Reader Coming Soon, New "Libraries" Bring New Privacy Issues, Analyst: Digital Change Targets TV and Film

Mac Slocum
July 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Foldable E-Reader Launching in Europe This Fall, U.S. in '09

The New York Times takes a look at the Readius foldable e-reader:

... the Readius, designed mainly for reading books, magazines, newspapers and mail, is the size of a standard cellphone. Flip it open, though, and a screen tucked within the housing opens to a 5-inch diagonal display. The screen looks just like a liquid crystal display, but can bend so flexibly that it can wrap around a finger. (Continue reading)

New "Libraries" Bring New Privacy Implications

As Google, Amazon and others become de facto digital libraries -- and lawsuits emerge -- Jeff Jarvis wonders what this means for users' privacy. From BuzzMachine:

Any site with content -- Google, Amazon, a newspaper, a blog, an ISP -- is now the moral equivalent of a library or bookstore, two institutions that try hard not to hand over information on what content we seek and consume arguing that that would violate our First Amendment rights. The controversy in the telco immunity legislation is that those searches were made without warrants. In this case [Viacom/YouTube], there is a warrant. When I ran sites, we got subpoenas all the time and handed over IP addresses when ordered; that was company policy. I always found it troubling and as a result ordered that we would change our data retention policy and get rid of IP addresses as soon as possible. Should Google and other sites erase IPs and rely only on cookies without personally identifiable information?

Analyst: Digital Disruption Has TV and Film in Crosshairs

In the wake of Lehman analyst Anthony DiClemente downgrading a wide swath of the entertainment industry, paidContent.org provides some blunt analysis:

Boiled down, the core argument is basically: You saw what happened to the music industry and the dramatic fall-off in CD prices. You've seen what's happened to the broadcast TV and newspaper industries. Now it's time for it to happen to TV and filmed entertainment. Hopes that digital revenue might somehow make up for lost physical sales are misguided, he [DiClemente] says, and again, you just have to look back at the music industry. (Continue reading)

Related Stories:

• See more publishing news and insight in the TOC News section

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
July 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

20 new listings have been added to the TOC Directory this week, including:

• iCopyright
• WEbook
• AARTPACK
• RR Donnelley
• BBC Audiobooks America

Visit the TOC Directory to add your own listings and events.

Open Question: Will Genre Fiction Die Off With Traditional Readers?

Mac Slocum
July 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4) | Listen

In a recent Washington Post column, Jonathan Karp outlines a theoretical scenario where the convergence of technology, self-publishing and consumer taste will force traditional book publishers out of the "disposable book" market. Karp writes:

Many categories of books will be subsumed by digital media. Reference publishing has already migrated online. Practical nonfiction will be next, winding up on Web sites that can easily update and disseminate visual and textual information. Readers of old-fashioned genre fiction will die off, and the next generation will have so many different entertainment options that it's hard to envision the same level of loyalty to brand-name formula fiction coming off the conveyor belt every year. The novelists who are truly novel will thrive; the rest will struggle. [Emphasis added.]

On first blush this "generational" point makes sense: multitasking and abundant entertainment options don't mesh with the languid pace and time investment required to enjoy genre fiction. But -- playing devil's advocate here -- are hyperactive tastes a defining characteristic throughout a person's lifetime? Isn't it possible that today's texting teen will, at some point in his/her life, gravitate toward the long-form storytelling found in genre fiction?

Please share your thoughts in the comments area.

(Via Peter Brantley's read20 listserv)

News Roundup: Dual-Display E-Reader Prototype, Content Tracking Not Just for Takedowns Anymore, Indiana "Explicit" Law Struck Down

Mac Slocum
July 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Researchers Develop Dual-Display E-Reader

Researchers from Berkeley and the University of Maryland have built a dual-display e-reader prototype that uses traditional book-reading navigation (i.e. page turns, flipping the cover under, etc.). From the New Scientist:

The two leaves can be opened and closed to simulate turning pages, or even separated to pass round or compare documents. When the two leaves are folded back, the device shows one display on each side. Simply turning it over reveals a new page. (See video of prototype)

Content Tracking Tools: Control for Some, Distribution for Others

An article in BusinessWeek looks at various uses for content tracking systems, from command-and-control monitoring to partnership opportunities via broad distribution:

Just ask Sarah Chubb, president of CondéNet.com, owner of sites ranging from the Epicurious.com cooking site to fashion site Style.com to WiredDigital, the online arm of Wired magazine. A few years ago, Chub enlisted a team of people to scour the Web for unlicensed content use. Now she has a team that does the opposite -- figuring out how to get CondéNet's recipes, fashion photos, and other content onto up-and-coming blogs and social networking sites. Her team is using Attributor's [content tracking] system not to issue takedown notices but to spot new targets. (Continue reading | Related commentary)

Indiana's "Explicit" Law Struck Down

An Indiana law requiring retailers who sell explicit material to register with the state was struck down by a U.S. Federal Court on First Amendment grounds. From the Indianapolis Star:

The law would have required anyone who intended to sell sexually explicit materials -- which plaintiffs say could have included classic literature, as well as pornography -- to register with Indiana's secretary of state, pay a $250 fee and submit a statement with details about the materials. It would have applied to new businesses and existing ones that relocated or began selling the materials after June 30. (Continue reading)

Related Stories:

• See more publishing news and insight in the TOC News section