Tag: publishing
What’s a Typewriter?
The Abrams booth at Book Expo America ’10.
I’ll give them an “A” for creativity, but really, what the heck is that thing? Wikipedia calls it a Typewriter. I mean, I know what a laptop looks like, and I still have a PC keyboard laying around someplace, but what is that big black thing with the paper sticking out of the top? What do you do with it?
What message does this send? A visual like this says one thing – we’re out of touch. Again, I can’t fault them for trying to stand out, but stand out they do, with a big piece of hardware that most people haven’t seen or used in decades. It’s fitting.
On Royalties and Advances
Since I’m in the business of paying royalties, not collecting them, I’ll refrain from a lot of comment on the whole royalty advance issue and whether there’s any rhyme or reason to it all. The discussion is interesting though, and a few folks are collecting their thoughts on the matter. Bookends, LLC attempt to answer the age-old question, “what’s the story with earning out royalties?”. The Sunday NYT book review section recently published an essay “About that book advance…“, which brought this thorough author perspective response from Mike Shatzkin. Finally, Evan Schnittman of OUP comments from the publisher side of the tracks.
Next Week – London
I’m heading to London on Friday for my annual trek to the London Book Fair. Besides the normal business meeting schedule, I’ve got plans to attend the following seminars:
- Strategies for digital publishing in a time of uncertainty (4/19 – Cromwell Room)
- Getting the best out of your digital deal: Commercial and legal issues (4/20 – Thames Room)
- Introducing the dedicated digital reading device to the UK consumer (4/20 – Cromwell Room)
- “Where’s the Money” Digital Keynote (4/21 – Cromwell Room)
I’m also looking forward to watching demos from LibreDigital and Code Mantra.
LBF is a more managable event than, say, the monster Frankfurt Book Fair. Rather than being spread across 8 buildings, LBF fits comfortably inside Earl’s Court. This years fair runs from 4/20 through 4/22.
Off to NYC
I’m looking forward to my trip to NYC tomorrow. This will be my third time attending O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing conference. Each one has been a worthwhile experience. I’m especially looking forward to this year since I’ll be participating in a panel on digital rights along with a few other folks in the industry. Of course, I’ll be ready for those impromptu meet-ups that often happen at these things. you never know who you’ll bump into!
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