ENTRIES TAGGED "community"
TOC Recommended Reading
This is Not a Comment (Derek Powazek, Powazek.com) Chastising all internet commenters for the actions of the loudest, craziest ones is no different that swearing off all newspapers because of Jason Blair. Silicon Valley's benevolent dictatorship (Rebecca MacKinnon, RConversation) The guys running Google, Apple, Microsoft, and many other companies represented at the Fortune Brainstorm are the benevolent dictators of the…
Build Sites Around Authors and Subjects, Not Publisher Brands
Michael Cairns at PersonaNonData expresses a desire to see publishers include a more comprehensive picture of authors and works: Publishers are best placed to build author-centric and subject/theme-oriented websites — not sites oriented around a "brand" that isn't relevant, but those that focus attention on segments of the business that remain relevant to consumers. Envision the Spiritual segment at…
TOC Recommended Reading
Sittin' Here, Watching The Market Go By (Booksquare) Since there has been significant interest in using the iPhone as an ereader, I was, well, expecting amazing things from the publishing industry. Hopes. Dashed. On a weekend when headlines were there for the grabbing and customers were searching for both toys and content, the publishing industry, perhaps practicing summer hours,…
"Lost" Builds Community through Book Club and Web Games
Intricate Web games and the new "Lost" book club are excellent examples of the community-building moves content creators can use to engage their fanbases.
Readers Already Picking Up the Interactive Slack
Harlequin announced this week the launch of Enhanced Edition ebooks, which link out to Net resources that augment the value and experience of the books. At Electric Alphabet, Kate Eltham notes that, in a way, this has already been happening by the readers, not by the publishers: Last year I read Spook Country by William Gibson … I remember…
Open Question: Do You Use Twitter?
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…
The Upside of Publisher Blogs
Booksquare's Kassia Krozser explains the benefits of publisher blogs: Just as authors need to better market themselves and their books, so do publishers. While the audience for a publisher website is diverse — authors, booksellers, journalists, agents, readers, and more — talking about books on your website the same way you talk about books in your catalog simply isn't…
Open Question: How Can Ebooks Improve the Reading Experience?
Expanding on a recent post by Seth Godin, TOC wants to know how you think ebooks and digital content can enhance the reading experience.
Huffington Post Goes Local in Chicago
The Huffington Post started as an aggregate political blog, but founder Arianna Huffington is now eyeing something bigger: local news coverage. Chicago will serve as Huffington's local guinea pig. From The Guardian: [Arianna] Huffington said the Chicago site would aggregate news, sports, crime, arts and business news from different local sources as well as contributions from bloggers in what…
Web Community Management Tips
As a reignited debate over user comments rages, we use the opportunity to look at time-tested community management tips.