With TOC New York just over a week away, we sat down with O’Reilly online managing editor Mac Slocum to chat about our goals and hopes for the event. Here’s a small snippet of our conversation.
Mac asked: What are you most looking forward to?
Kat: Everybody at O’Reilly who is even tangentially involved with TOC knows that I’m very excited about LeVar Burton. I think that he appeals to people who are either into Star Trek the Next Generation or Reading Rainbow. He’s bringing the love to the geeks on the reading side and on the science side.
Joe: Our theme, the Change/Forward/Fast model. It’s all about experimentation. Doing things in a quick manner, identifying what’s working and what’s not and reinvesting in what’s working. That’s a mantra at O’Reilly and we want to project it onto TOC as well. It’s also an extension of an area you’re going to see a lot of at TOC, and that’s the agile development space. . . . It’s all about getting the minimum viable product, and getting it out there quickly, and getting feedback from the audience rather than investing a whole bunch of money only to find out that the original product idea was off the mark.
Beautiful ebooks, data application, exploding publishing’s borders, and other topics ensue as the discussion continues.
Cheers,
Kat Meyer and Joe Wikert
Chairs, Tools of Change
Rub Shoulders at TOC NYC 2012
TOC New York 2012 Offers Unparalleled Networking
Over 60% of past attendees tell us they come to TOC New York to meet other people and network with their peers. And who doesn’t love a good cocktail party? We’ve lined up some unique (and fun) events to get you meeting and greeting with one another, including a digital petting zoo, the Startup Showcase, and a not-to-be-missed party at the New York Public Library. Hope to see you there.
Hot Type
Kat & Joe’s Must–Reads
If You Got ‘Em, Charge ‘Em
A new Pew Internet survey shows that tablet ownership doubled–that is, rose by nearly 100%–during the winter holiday season. “Some 29%” of adult Americans are now thought to own at least one tablet. Meanwhile, across the pond, Amazon Kindle is said to be the UK’s most unused Christmas present.
A survey conducted by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk claims that 48% of Brits received presents for Christmas 2011 that they have still yet to use. Of those, the Kindle comes out on top, with 53% of those queried admitting that they still hadn’t downloaded any books to date. Mark Pearson, CEO of MyVoucherCodes, wonders: “It is surprising to see how many people have not used gifts they received almost one month ago; but I think we are all guilty of putting gifts to one side now and again. . . . but I must admit it’s difficult to find a reason for people having not charged iPads!”
Penny Smart
The 99-cent special rose, dropped, and is again gaining traction with ebook pricing, according to a recent Wall Street Journal piece by Jeffrey Trachtenberg. He writes, “A growing number of publishers are experimenting with 99–cent temporary prices on e–books, in hopes of persuading readers to sample a wider range of authors.”
Samsung Tab: Fail
“There is a reason,” writes Dan Rowinski, “that Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire are eating Samsung’s tablet lunch.” He offers a hint: “In Samsung’s mind, the real competitor is Apple. Actual sales say that Amazon should be considered the primary threat.”
Brick ‘n’ Mortar Without Borders
Writing recently on PaidContent, Laura Hazard Owenreports that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will “publish the print versions of all of the adult titles from Amazon Publishing’s New York-based division . . . and will distribute them everywhere in North America outside of Amazon.com. . . . Best of all from Amazon’s point of view,” Owen says, “Barnes & Noble will not get a penny from the e-book sales of Amazon Publishing titles.”
Just the Faktz
Not everyone jerks a knee at the new Apple iBook EULA. Mike Elgan has a new essay out on why he thinks that the emotional response to Apple iBooks ignores the critical response. “What’s strange about these emotional responses to Apple’s legalese is that they fail the reality test,” Elgan argues. “Apple’s iBooks author terms are neither greedy nor evil; they don’t mean Apple ‘owns you’; and it’s certainly not the worst thing Apple has ever done.” See Joe’s thinking about this topic below.
Striking the Balance
The tension surrounding the decision of whether an ebook is best used as an app, when to animate a book, and the costs of ruthless interactivity all occupy Theodore Gray. Gray previews his TOC keynote in this interview with Jenn Webb.
Best Weapons
Salon’s Sandip Roy reports on the specter that Salman Rushdie cast on the recent Jaipur Literary Festival in India. And that’s without even showing up. Gorgeously written (“Great crocodiles of school children in winter blazers. . . .”), Roy’s essay considers how, even “in his absence, [Rushdie] hovered over the festival like Banquo’s ghost. It was hard to find a session that didn’t mention the man. Even the posters lining the entrance seemed reminders of the guest who did not come to dinner. One quoted Lyndon B. Johnson: ‘A book is the best weapon against intolerance and ignorance.’”
Publisher’s Corner
The Occasional Rant from Our Benevolent Dictator
Joe sometimes surprises us by unfolding his lanky frame from whichever airplane seat it happens to be in (the man travels a lot) to offer a contrarian opinion, one that is cogent but surprising. And so it is here in reaction to Apple’s iBook EULA.
Appreciating Apple’s Intent Why all the fuss? Apple’s intent has never been to improve the book publishing industry. Just like Amazon and any other ebook vendor, Apple’s goal is to capture share of this rapidly growing segment. In Apple’s case, they’ve simply decided to offer an authoring tool that’s capable of creating some pretty darned cool products. If Amazon were to do the same thing and create a terrific authoring tool for .mobi or KF8 format would the industry be as upset? I don’t think so.
How is this any different from the App Store model itself? Developers are creating apps for the App Store and they know they’ll only run on an iOS device. They also realize they’ll have to go through Apple’s approval process before getting into the App Store.
Prior to the release of iBooks Author, the content creation and distribution model looked like this:
(1) Author writes material in favorite word processor.
(2) Author/publisher edits and converts that content into .mobi format for distribution on Amazon, EPUB format for distribution through iBookstore and others, etc.
The exact same model still exists today, even with the introduction of iBooks Author. That’s right. Apple’s EULA doesn’t really lock you into their distribution channel for your content. . . . All they’re really trying to do is prevent you from tweaking the output of their tool to create content for other distribution channels. OK, that’s kind of annoying, but far from the lock–in nightmare so many people are describing it as.
We are fortunate to have two late arrivals to the TOC speaking schedule, both of them from O’Reilly. Publishing tech specialist Adam Witwer and Sanders Kleinfeld, director of content and publishing services, are teaming up to present on brand-hot issue: KF8 and
iBooks Author.
Promising a one-stop crash course on these two topics, Sanders and Adam aim to address:
What is KF8, how does it differ from Amazon’s .Mobi format, and what new features does it add for Kindle Fire?
How can publishers add new features for Kindle Fire while maintaining backward compatibility with Kindle eInk devices?
What features does the new iBooks Author platform offer to publishers, and what distinguishes it from existing ebook publishing tools like InDesign, oXygen, and Sigil?
How does the IBA format differ from EPUB? Should publishers start producing books in both formats?
What are the implications of the iBooks Author licensing terms on authors and publishers?
What are the pros and cons of developing ebooks in KF8 and IBA formats?
How can publishers integrate these new formats into existing e-production workflows?
and the ever-popular MORE.
Audible Knowledge
The Latest from our TOC Podcast Series
Child’s Play!
These are fine times for children, for parents, for writers, for illustrators, for animators, for game creators, for musicians, for actors, for translators and for app developers—to name a few. Indeed, the chain of folks now connected to a children’s book destined for the iPad is far longer than the lowly two to three folks needed to create an old-fashioned kids’ book on plain old paper. In this videocast, Joe speaks with WingedChariot’s Neal Hoskins on the state of the children’s digital book market.
Our Weekly Nod to Rum and Handel
Method: Madness
Tucked far away on the Letters Of Note website—a delightful compendium of actual written letters—famed ad man David Ogilvy tries to explicate his method to a curious inquiry. Calling himself a “terrible copywriter,” he details a long list of the research and avoidance techniques he employs to trick himself into writing some of the best ad copy ever penned. We’re partial to this item:
“If all else fails, I drink half a bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone. This generally produces an uncontrollable gush of copy.”
