[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
September 30, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

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

• RenderX
• Creative Byline
• Altova
• Filemaker
• Bookstand Publishing

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

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
September 23, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

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

• MediaQuire
• Anko Publishing Software Limited
• Hachette Book Group USA
• Canon USA
• Eco-Libris

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

[TOC Community] How Does Digital Affect Territorial Rights?

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

Over on the TOC Community, David Henley poses interesting questions about rights and territories:

With the looming ebook and international POD availability, won't the traditional territorial rights market start to become shaky? Especially for publishers in countries like Australia whose main income comes from distributing US and UK owned content?

Related Stories:

• Join the TOC Community

News Roundup: Customizable Magazine Service Launches, French E-Reader Includes Subscriptions, Library Tags Online-Offline Recommendations

Mac Slocum
September 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Maghound Customizable Magazine Service Launches

Maghound, a customizable magazine service from Time Inc., is now available. From Folio:

The membership pricing is tiered-- three titles for $4.95 a month, five titles for $7.95, seven titles for $9.95, and $1 per title for eight titles or more. Memberships can be entirely managed online, as well as by email and phone, from changing magazine title selections to updating personal information and placing magazine delivery on hold for a temporary period. (Continue reading)

France Telecom E-Reader Includes Subscriptions

France Telecom's Read & Go trial service bundles e-reader hardware with a subscription to mobile content. From BusinessWeek:

The trial of the prototype will wrap up this month, and by 2009, France Telecom aims to start distributing the Read & Go in conjunction with a subscription-based news service of the same name. For a monthly charge similar to a mobile service plan, customers will receive an over-the-air stream of aggregated content from a wide assortment of information sources. Alongside the articles will be ads that help defray the cost of the service. (Continue reading)

Library Uses Tags to Link Online-Offline Recommendations

LibraryTechNZ mentions an interesting engagement of a European library with its community, something that bookstores could also do:

The library at the Hague in the Netherlands has introduced a simple form of tagging in real life. They now have two returns drop-boxes. One is for all items, and the other is for amazing books. Staff take the 'amazing' books and put them in the 'amazing books' display for visitors to browse. But they also tag them 'amazing' in the Library's collection database.

Related:

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

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
September 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

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

• Impelsys
• Darby Printing
• Kensai International Ltd.
• Shelfari
• MoFuse

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

StartWithXML: Why and How

Andrew Savikas
September 12, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Listen

XML-related sessions and tutorials have proven quite popular at our annual TOC Conference, and recent developments including the introduction of the Kindle, the iPhone 3G, and the IDPF's EPUB standard have made understanding XML more important than ever for smart publishers.

But to get the most from an XML workflow, it must be seen as much more than just a tool or a technology: there are serious organizational and cultural issues that are in many ways even more challenging than the technology itself. To better understand these issues and to help publishers deal with them, we've teamed up with the Idea Logical Company on a project we're calling "StartWithXML: Why and How."

StartWithXML is an effort to understand and spread the knowledge publishers need to move forward with XML. It's about the business issues driving the "why" of XML in publishing and the technical and organizational issues, strategies, and tactics underlying the "how" of getting started. The project includes:

• An open online survey meant to capture a broad overview of the issues surrounding XML for publishers.
• A one-day forum scheduled for Jan. 13, 2009 at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York. Through panels and presentations, you'll spend the morning understanding the "why" of XML, and the afternoon learning about "how" to move forward. (Space is limited, so save your seat now.)
• A research report that will include background info, case studies, best practices, technology and vendor profiles, and interviews discussing the factors that make a "StartWithXML" workflow both useful and tricky.
• An online conversation, including a blog, an open comments area for you to weigh in on the report's outline while it's in progress, and a general discussion forum (built out as a group within the new TOC Community).

Idea Logical CEO Mike Shatzkin is detailing the project at today's annual meeting of the Book Industry Study Group, which is providing support for the project and forum. Mike will be blogging on the StartWithXML website, alongside Brian O'Leary, Ted Hill, and Laura Dawson, who are all participating in the research behind the project.

We're trying to cast a wide net with the survey, so even if you're not currently doing much with XML, we want your input.

Related:

• StartWithXML Blog
• StartWithXML Event Registration
• StartWithXMl Discussions

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
September 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

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

• Digital Media Initiatives
• Impelsys
• Winston & Strawn
• Iofy
• Endeca

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

Join the TOC Online Community

Andrew Savikas
September 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

If you've been to the TOC Web site lately, you might have noticed the link up top labeled "Community." We recently did a quiet launch of a social networking site built with Ning. It's meant to provide additional ways to communicate and connect with other folks facing the same challenges around the future of publishing and paid content.

In addition to standard features like Forums and Member Profiles, there are also Groups -- public and private spaces for conversations on specific topics. You can also upload photos and videos, as well as "friend" fellow community members.

When you sign up, you also get your very own blog (we'll be featuring posts from members here on the TOC blog).

I'm thrilled to say that there's already a small but impressive membership list, including Peter Brantley, Joe Wikert, David Rothman, Mike Shatzkin, Laura Dawson, Michael Cairns, and of course Tim O'Reilly. There will be a lot of opportunities for discussion in advance of the 2009 TOC Conference, and we're also cross-posting our "Open Question" blog posts there for additional feedback.

Like any Web community, it's a work-in-progress, but we'd love to have you join the conversation. For the time being, we're moderating new signups to minimize spam. Also note that during signup, you're asked for your age and gender -- these questions are part of the Ning registration, and aren't seen by me or anyone else in the community unless you choose to share them.

News Roundup: Digging Around Amazon's Topaz Format, Twitter Novels, June Ebook Sales Up 87% Over '07

Mac Slocum
September 5, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Digging Around Amazon's Topaz File Format

Late Night Code is popping the hood on Topaz, that mysterious "other" file format used on the Kindle:

Mobipocket files purchased from Amazon have an AZW extension (which presumably stands for Amazon Whispernet - the name of the Kindle wireless download service). Mobipocket files from other sources will have a MOBI or PRC extension. Topaz files will have an AZW1 extension if downloaded directly to the Kindle, and a TPZ extension if downloaded from Your Media Library on Amazon.com.

Writing Novels with Twitter

ReadWriteWeb has a brief survey of mini serialized novels in the U.S.:

In Japan, mobile phone novels called "keitai shousetsu" have become so successful that they accounted for half of the ten best-selling novels in 2007. Here in the Western world several would-be novelists are attempting to use Twitter to create the same phenomenon. Some of the novels tweeted so far have been interesting and engaging, but others, sadly, appear to be abandoned. Will micro-format fiction ever take off here as it did in Japan?

June '08 Ebook Sales Up 87% Over June '07

Wholesale trade ebook sales accounted for $4.9 million in June '08, according to industry stats from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). This is an 87 percent increase over June '07. Year-to-date ebook sales are up 43 percent over last year.

Note: The AAP/IDPF stats aggregate information from 12-15 trade publishers and reflect wholesale sales figures in the U.S.

Related:

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

[TOC Directory] Recent Additions

Mac Slocum
September 2, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

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

• Diacritech
• Inera
• Combined Book
• Ecological Fibers
• Fibermark

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