There are still a few seats available for the TOC Executive Roundtable, slated for Monday, Feb. 13, in New York City. This Roundtable is an intimate gathering of C–suite publishing experts who meet to discuss our industry’s most pressing matters. Eric Reis, author of The Lean Startup and curator of our new Lean series, will discuss agile methodologies for publishing, but be assured—this isn’t a one–way conversation. If you’d like to be invited, please drop us a line and we’ll try to accommodate you. jwikert@oreilly.com
Does Amazon Prime spell the end of the local mall? It won’t happen immediately, and there will always be some need for in–person shopping but Amazon Prime is already having an impact on the local shopping experience.
Serendipity is overrated
Jason suggests that what you “discovor” at a brick–and–mortar store is often what the vendor or their supplier want you to discover and this experience can easily be recreated with the “people who bought X also bought Y” model.
Coming Soon to a Location Near You: The Amazon Store? Rather than continuing to use BestBuy and other stores for showrooming, Jason talks about the possibility of Amazon creating their own specialty retail presence where you could touch and feel big–ticket items and have them shipped to you the next day.
We don’t think that Joe is alone in being concerned, and his concerns are being heard. By thousands. Because NPR called Joe up this week to discuss Amazon’s so–called predatory nature. He hesitates to use the term lightly, but responds, “I could have sworn we had rules against predatory pricing. I just don’t understand why that’s not an issue—because that’s got to be hurting other device makers out there in trying to capture this market.” What are your thoughts? jwikert@oreilly.com
All Your Documents Are Theirs
As you may have heard whispered, Apple released its revolutionary new “Garage Band for eBooks,” the iBooks Author program, last week and the end user license agreement (EULA), not the product itself, caused quite the kerfuffle. Ed Bott immediately took to ZDnet, describing the EULA as “Apple’s mind-bogglingly greedy and evil license agreement” and starting a nice hearty row. “I have never, ever, seen a legal document like the one Apple has attached to its new iBooks Author program,” Bott exhales. At issue is whether the content created by the program can be sold freely or if any single thing created on iBook must first be proffered for sale to Apple. The kicker? If they turn it down, the creator is precluded from shopping it elsewhere. There’s good news, however, if you live in France. Vivre livre!
The Fog of More
Joe alerts us to a new publishing perspectives blog, titled From the Whiteboard and put out by
Firebrand Associates. In the introductory posting, they invite “our readers to comment and challenge everything we write. None of us in the industry has all the answers, but through dialog, we may find ourselves seeing a clearer picture.” We appreciate that kind of clear–eyed optimism in these murky times.
Doomed I Tell You, Doomed
Kat writes: “The obsession with death and doom in our industry never ceases to amuse and amaze me. It’s got to be our literary bent. The melancholia of the wannabe author in all of us: We see death (and in it, beauty) everywhere. Here’s the first ‘Death of’ publishing-related piece I’ve seen in 2012. While I possibly missed an earlier one, it’s definitely reassuring to see this one. The way I look at it, proclamations of imminent demise reveal nothing save there’s still some life left out here.”
Publish or Perish
Author Todd Sattersten is trying an interesting experiment with us, treating his newest book as a startup itself. In a recent Radar conversation with journalist Jenn Webb, Sattersten honestly rethinks some of his initial assumptions about this project. “The big lesson,” he says, “is that when you commit to release early and often is that you have to do it. Readers expect to see new material frequently, and I could be doing a better job sticking to the writing.”
Last week, the tables were turned and Joe was the subject of an interview, not the interlocutor. Here’s a short excerpt of his discussion with ALA Tech Source about technology and pubic libraries.
ALA TechSource
Some public libraries are looking at ways they can be developers of content, helping people in their communities publish content of interest to their communities. . . . what opportunities do you see for libraries?
Joe Wikert
Just as publishers are being forced to reinvent themselves in the digital age, I think it’s important for libraries to do the same. Part of that means being prepared to completely abandon any and all of the services you provided before. I like the thought of libraries helping their patrons learn how to effectively develop content, but it shouldn’t end there. I think they should also serve as a resource to help them distribute that content. This is a big hole that’s missing in the self-publishing space, and libraries have an opportunity to step in and do something about it. . . .
Top 5 Trends in Publishing
Hint: Not three-martini lunches and corner offices. It’s startups, innovation, agility, and . . . oh—read and listen for yourself as Kat and Joe discuss what has them interested.
Married to the Mobile
Joe talks with Gurvinder Batra of KiwiTech about that company’s publishing–specific approach. Batra argues that many publishers think development costs for the second platform (e.g., Android) should cost about half of the development costs of the original one (e.g., iOS). But, he says, that logic is wrong.
The Hierarchy of Book Publishing (The Top 100) has something to delight, startle, and offend readers who favor all genres. Tim O’Reilly is name–checked, and no publishing trope, truism, or cliche is overlooked. For a small taste, we offer the wit of No. 10:
10) The Chairmen, Publishers, and Editor–in–Chiefs (still)
Sonny Mehta, Knopf–handsome, smokes, drinks, spent time in Australian jail, rarely talks or responds to email
Michael Pietsch, Little Brown–not as handsome as Sonny, practitioner of Bikram, mostly clean track with minor indiscretions (smoking a bone with Keith)
Jonathan Galassi, FSG–complicated, a poet
Karp, S&S–now wants to be addressed only by his last name, a real Yenta
Do they have one at Harper Collins?–(checking on this)
