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TOC Recommended Reading
Mac Slocum
October 16, 2008
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In Defense of Piracy (Lawrence Lessig, Wall Street Journal)
The return of this "remix" culture could drive extraordinary economic growth, if encouraged, and properly balanced. It could return our culture to a practice that has marked every culture in human history -- save a few in the developed world for much of the 20th century -- where many create as well as consume. And it could inspire a deeper, much more meaningful practice of learning for a generation that has no time to read a book, but spends scores of hours each week listening, or watching or creating, "media."
Where is everybody? (Joe Wikert, TeleRead)
"If you build it, they will come" only works in the movies. If they really want to succeed Borders needs to do something beyond just making all this technology available in the store. Where are the in-store events (e.g., come let us help you research your family name, come see the latest e-book technologies, etc.)? How about signage in other areas of the store that promotes the tech kiosk area?
Mass book digitization: The deeper story of Google Books and the Open Content Alliance (Kalev Leetaru, First Monday)
Both projects offer the ability to search within a particular work, but only Google offers the ability to search across its entire collection. A search across the OCA archive only searches titles and description fields, not the full text of works. The OCA system thus offers a document-centric model, while Google offers both document and collection-based models, allowing broad exploratory searches of its entire holdings: the equivalent of being able to "full text search" a library. The importance of this difference cannot be understated in the limitations it places on the ability of patrons to interact with the OCA collections.
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Report: No Kindle Launch in UK This Year
Mac Slocum
October 16, 2008
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Europe's complicated mobile landscape will prevent the Kindle from launching in the UK this year, reports The BookSeller:
In an interview with The Bookseller, Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon in the UK, said it was not yet clear when the Kindle would launch in the country ... "In Europe it is a minefield as there are so many [mobile] operators. If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday in Spain, unless we have signed deals in Spain it is not going to work on that beach."
Sony's Reader does not include mobile or Wi-Fi connectivity, which may have expedited its recent launch in the UK.
(Via Jose Alonso Furtado's Twitter stream.)
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An On-Demand Night at the Opera
Mac Slocum
October 15, 2008
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The Metropolitan Opera is letting its inner geek run free. Performances will soon be available as pay-per-stream feeds and subscription packages through The Met's Web site. From the New York Times:
For $3.99 or $4.99 per streamed opera, users will have a six-hour window in which to listen to or watch a production, once it has started. A monthly subscription for $14.99 brings unlimited streaming, while a yearly subscription costs $149.99.
On the surface this seems like a no-brainer: serve a passionate audience while expanding the boundaries of "experience." Major League Baseball uses a similar model with its online offerings, and it's done quite well.
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[TOC Directory] Recent Additions
Mac Slocum
October 15, 2008
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20 new listings have been added to the TOC Directory in the last week, including:
Visit the TOC Directory to add your own listings and events.
Open Question: How Can Publishers Capitalize on Hot Topics?
Mac Slocum
October 15, 2008
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You can't fault Newsweek and Amazon for cashing in on pre-election interest with a series of Kindle-only candidate biographies. There's certainly nothing wrong with profitable aggregation of content, either. But the efficiencies gained from ebooks, e-readers and print on demand raise secondary questions I'd like to explore with the TOC Community:
- Can long-form content (print or digital) effectively capitalize on trendy subjects?
- Is there still a market for quickie books? Can they compete with Web content?
- Should publishers use Web/digital as a testbed for hot topics, then provide long-form content down the road? Or, will this technique spread them too thin?
Please share your thoughts in the comments area.
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[TOC Webcast] Why Publishers Should Care About SEO
Mac Slocum
October 14, 2008
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Tools of Change for Publishing will host a free webcast with search engine optimization (SEO) expert Jamie Low on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. eastern (10 a.m. pacific).
Jamie will use a conversational format and live search queries to examine SEO elements and techniques, including:
- how publishers can get ranked for specific queries related to their content
- why some pages earn top spots in search listings and others fail to advance
- how to evaluate SEO strategies that will support real-world business objectives
Slots are limited, so register for free today.
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Newsweek Repackaging Candidate Coverage for Kindle Bios
Mac Slocum
October 14, 2008
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Newsweek will aggregate its coverage of John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden into four Kindle-only biographies. From Amazon's Kindle Blog:
The book-length biographies contain archived reporting and commentary from Newsweek's coverage of the candidates from the magazine's award-winning political correspondents. Each biography takes readers through the lives of the candidates, from their personal beginnings to their political breakthroughs.
The $9.99 books will be available for download tomorrow. Amazon previously released Kindle biographies of both prospective first ladies.
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Joe Wikert Joins O'Reilly Media
Andrew Savikas
October 13, 2008
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We couldn't be happier to announce that Joe Wikert has joined O'Reilly Media as the General Manager of the O'Reilly Technology Exchange (OTX) division, which publishes our flagship "animal books."
Readers of this blog know we're big fans of Joe's work on his Publishing 2020 and Kindleville blogs. Joe's perspective is very much aligned with our own, and we're thrilled to add him to our list of innovators who believe in re-inventing the future of publishing. From the press release:
"Joe brings deep experience in technology publishing to his new position, but perhaps even more important, he embodies the innovative, adventurous 'alpha geek' spirit we believe is key to succeeding in today's publishing environment," said Laura Baldwin, O'Reilly COO and CFO. "His vision of the future of publishing is very much aligned with O'Reilly's. I'm delighted to bring his leadership to our flagship OTX division as we focus on building new ways to disseminate information to today's technologists."
The OTX division, which publishes O'Reilly's storied "animal books," serves the developers and system administrators who have been a key O'Reilly constituency throughout the company's 30-year history. Wikert is spearheading the expansion of the OTX publishing program into a broader offering that spans print, online, and in-person products and services.
Joe is already a member of the advisory committee for the 2009 TOC Conference, and stay tuned for more from him here on the TOC blog. Welcome Joe!
BBC Shifts Conversation Style: Go Where They're Already Talking
Peter Brantley
October 13, 2008
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I think this deserves to be pondered. BBC News is moving away from merely hosting comments to inciting discussion in a variety of formats and locations. From Reportr.net:
For the US presidential debates, it [the BBC] has opened channels on video services Qik, 12Seconds and Phreadz. Some of the videos were subsequently edited and posted on the BBC News website.
The purpose, explains [BBC Editor] Matthew Eltringham, is "to join in conversations wherever they were happening rather than expect people to come to us and host them on the BBC's platforms."
This is a major change in the BBC's approach to user-generated content. It signals a shift away from the idea that the BBC should host the conversation. [Link added]
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Overestimating the Home Page
Mac Slocum
October 13, 2008
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Brett Crosby from Google Analytics says a home page is often mistaken as the most important part of a Web site. From TechRadar:
Where are your visitors landing, bouncing, and viewing? It's often assumed user experience begins on the homepage, and this misconception drives many an ecommerce site to waste hours of design work in the wrong place. Search engines dig deeper into ecommerce sites, bringing visitors to not just 'electronics', but also televisions, MP3 players or sat navs. Analytics data will tell you where your real 'homepages' reside, so you can focus your design work there.
Crosby's point applies to content-based sites as well. Visitors often enter through an individual story page or blog post, not the home page. This is why there's value in serving up related posts, embedded links and call-outs to other features and tools on story-level pages.
(Via Jeremiah Owyang's Twitter stream)
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Readius Rollable E-Reader at Frankfurt Book Fair
Mac Slocum
October 13, 2008
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The Readius rollable e-reader will be presented at this week's Frankfurt Book Fair, according to the Readius official blog. First announced in July, the Readius is a cell-phone-sized gadget that includes a five-inch rollable E Ink display.
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Publishers Rush Economic Crisis Books
Mac Slocum
October 10, 2008
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The Economist says book publishers are rushing to cash in on the economic turmoil bubbling up across world markets:
Like any good bank in the pre-crash days, some publishers are splashing out to secure talent. Penguin's American arm has been particularly eager, bagging four inky-fingered "stars" in the past month, reportedly at a cost of over $2m in advances.
The Economist notes that long publishing deadlines may prevent book publishers from capitalizing on the current flush of consumer interest (and worry), especially if the situation stabilizes. But traditional publishing's burden is Web publishing's gain: Beet.TV says The Wall Street Journal's impeccably timed Web redesign coincided with record traffic, and there's been a surge in interest for NBC, BBC and Reuters Web properties.
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First Frontlist O'Reilly Ebook Bundle (Including EPUB) Now Available
Andrew Savikas
October 9, 2008
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With today's release of iPod: The Missing Manual, Seventh Edition, by J.D. Biersdorfer and David Pogue, we're beginning the release of nearly all new (frontlist) titles as ebook bundles. SharePoint for Project Management, by Dux Raymond Sy, will be available tomorrow, and Web Security Testing Cookbook, by Paco Hope and Ben Walther, will be available next Tuesday (Oct. 14)
As with our pilot program, each bundle will include Web-optimized PDF, EPUB (for your Sony Reader or iPhone), and .mobi (for your Kindle) files. These ebook bundles will generally be available up to two weeks before the printed book is on store shelves (most of our books are also available on Safari Books Online before they're in stores).
As always, these files are DRM-free, and customers receive free updates to reflect any published changes in the book (more info on the bundles here). There are several other ebook projects and experiments in the works that I can't talk about just yet, but stay tuned between now and February's TOC Conference for updates (I can say that we'll be rolling out bundles for most of our backlist titles during that time frame).
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TOC Recommended Reading
Mac Slocum
October 9, 2008
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The Future Is A Foreign Country (Timo Hannay, Nascent)
As with my journey to Japan, my personal response to all this internet-enabled weirdness was one of almost unadulterated joy. The fact that it is disrupting publishing is, I think, the single most important reason that I've come into the industry. How boring the last 550 years since Gutenberg have been. Until now.
Ok Entrepreneurs, Time to Step Up (Brad Feld, Feld Thoughts)
When I look back at the dotcom apocalypse that was 2000 - 2002, I realize some of the best companies I've ever been involved in were created during that time. In the midst of this, I remember the endless stream of "the Internet is over" and "the information technology business in now a mature business and there will never be innovation again." Yeah - whatever.
Watching Books (Richard Curtis, TeleRead)
As successive generations accustomed to being diverted by watching, rather than by reading, enter the editorial workforce, impatience with printed text is demonstrably increasing, as we can see in the sharp decline of newspapers and magazines. Books require a commitment of time and attention that we either don't have or aren't willing to give. The temptation to skip or skimp is strong. One editor confessed to me, "I tend to scan manuscripts on screen rather than read them the way I do a printed text." We must therefore ask ourselves whether instead of reading books on screen, we are watching them.
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The Digital Generation and E-Readers are Tied Together
Mac Slocum
October 8, 2008
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Over on Radar, Nick Bilton from the New York Times R&D; group weighs in on the future of paper and e-readers:
A common response to the prospect of an eReader is, "But I love the feel of paper, I love a good book in my hands." I can empathize with that sentiment, but I don't think the digital generation can. If it's not a touch screen, or hyperlinked, or instantly available at the press of a button, then it's not worth their time. And as soon as a reasonable iPod-like replacement comes along, paper won't be worth the publishing industry's time either.
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