Open Question: Should Publishers Develop Software Apps?

Mac Slocum
July 21, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6) | Listen

Book publishing's response (or lack thereof) to the iPhone 3G and the App Store has stirred up an interesting question around publishing and software development: namely, should publishers create their own software applications?

Sara Lloyd from thedigitalist says a focus on content, not software, is key:

Interestingly the price of apps [in Apple's store] is already plummeting as free apps get more highly and more frequently rated and the paid-for apps drop down the ratings. Perhaps this suggests even more strongly that the App is not The Thing; it is merely a container or a channel for the content, which will still be The Thing.

On the other side, James Bridle from booktwo.org says publishers are the natural source for e-reader apps:

Most ereader technologies are built by techies who put the technology before the reading experience: the combined skills of typesetters, print designers, editors and technologists that only publishers possess could, with the right direction, produce a far superior ereader app than any we've seen so far.

What's your take? Should book publishers move into the software domain? Please post your thoughts in the comments area.

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)

Open Question: Do You Use Twitter?

Mac Slocum
July 1, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4) | Listen

Mediabistro recently conducted an informal round-up of publishers and authors who use Twitter to publicize titles and interact with readers. Within TOC, we use Twitter (plug: follow us here) to exchange quick bursts of information and story ideas, and we've also found it to be a surprisingly effective beat coverage tool -- breaking stories and new memes often appear on Twitter before they hit the blogosphere and mainstream media outlets.

This anecdotal evidence suggests Twitter is gaining steam in the publishing world, but is that really the case? Are you using Twitter? Have you even heard of Twitter? Please share your thoughts in the comment area.