Entries Tagged 'Digital Publishing' ↓

Yesterday’s ‘Whole Shebang’ session at MWF was a full day of professional development for about 110 folks building a career in writing and publishing. Guests included publishers, agents, editors and authors who dished amazing facts and information about the Australian writing and publishing industry. I was honoured to provide a presentation too, and sat in on the whole day, absorbing the wealth of wisdom shared. Highlights? Let’s start with the publishers sessions:

Bob Sessions, the gentlemanly publisher of Penguin, gave an overview of Australian book publishing ‘at this crucial moment in its evolution’. He acknowledged the rise and rise of eBooks, but pointed out that last year in Australia, Penguin sold 7 million books compared to 500,000 eBooks – ‘we are not experiencing the end of the book, but a watershed in the history of publishing and writing’. While acknowledging the instant gratification of one-click eBook purchase, Sessions championed the pBook as a cultural artefact of enduring value: ‘our books on our shelves in our homes says something about our culture.’

Sessions shared a fascinating insight: multinational media conglomerates, which own newspapers, magazines and film studios, try to ensure that they also own a publishing house – like Murdoch with Harper Colllins – because they are hoping to mine gold: the million dollar success story that often begins with an author’s brilliant idea. ‘Some of the best ideas start in books – writers are the best ideas people.’

So for Sessions, no matter the format, a publisher is still an ‘ideas facilitator’ or a ‘cultural business person’, who must filter, tailor and fund ideas – ideas which begin with the author.

Sue Hines, Publishing Director from the Australian-owned Allen&Unwin made an impression, striding up to the lectern claiming: ‘I’m a revolutionary – bring on the future!’ Allen & Unwin now produce an eBook version of every book they publish (except pictorial rich ones, due to tech constraints). Their business model is that eBooks staff will be integrated throughout the publishing house, resourcing another process in the complex series of interlocking steps involved in publishing. She is adamant that the role of the publisher and editor will continue.

Hines sees the real challenge for publishers as how to sell into the electronic market, without the bricks’n'mortar shopfronts for customers to browse. Publishers need to develop ways to get customers’ attention online: ‘the revolution is here – now we just need to work out what the new world will look like.’

Hines’s shared an interesting observation from her international experience in publishing. Publishers tend to describe their roles in metaphors: in Australia, it used to be that publishers compared themselves to caring professions – handmaidens and midwives. When Hines asked her New York colleagues, no one used caring metaphors – instead they saw themselves as generals, quarterbacks and gamblers. But when she returned to Australia, she found it a rougher and tougher place. Australian publishers now see themselves as orchestra conducters, team players – gone are the midwives of Australian books.

Ending on a positive note, Hines stated that the ‘new world’ will give writers more chance of getting published.

Aviva Tuffield also had positive news and useful insights for Australian authors. Tuffield was hired as Fiction Acquistions Editor at Scribe in 2006 specifically to build an Australian fiction list, and has achieved incredible success. After spending the first 5 years just getting Scribe on the fiction publishing landscape, Tuffield has gone on to develop an amazing list: 3 out of 5 of Scribe’s top bestsellers last year were fiction.

Tuffield reported that Henry Rosenbloom, founder and publisher of the independent Scribe, has a philosophy of publishing ‘books that do good as well as doing well’.
Tuffield works to a broad brief of finding and publishing ‘quality fiction’. She said for her, it’s the writing that matters, especially that ‘the narrative voice is very important for a writer to find – it’s about communication with readers– a sense of audience’. Tuffield hunts for promising manuscripts via literary agents, but also scours literary journals and competitions (and not just the winners). She urged authors to get their work out there – ‘it’s both an art and a craft.’

Tuffield is also a big believer in ‘late-bloomers’: the Scribe CAL prize for over-35s closes on Sept 15. Last year, out of 530 entries, the winner was chosen – and a 72 year old woman from rural NSW achieved her lifelong dream of being published – and Scribe then chose to publish the two shortlisted winners as well. These odds are much better than those facing unsolicited manuscripts.

Tuffield concluded by emphasizing that one major strength of small publishers is the care and attention they give their authors. Small publishers have limited marketing budgets, so they rely on good reviews and word-of-mouth to drive sales – which means they will take the time and effort to work with each author on each project to make it the best possible book it can be.

All up, The Whole Shebang provided a great industry overview from the publishers presenting. Next, I’ll share the highlights from amazing presentations by Clare Forster, literary agent, and Tom Cho, author and grants write, among others.

But right now I have to head in to MWF to catch a crime panel!

Many authors who boost their platform through participation in online networking would be familiar with the publicity versus privacy conundrum. Last week,  Twitter reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over accusations that the social media site misrepresented the level of privacy security it offers users, evidenced in password theft and status hacks.

PC Mag quotes the FTC:

"Twitter deceived consumers and put their privacy at risk by failing to safeguard their personal information," the FTC said. "Twitter was vulnerable to these attacks because it failed to take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized administrative control of its system."

Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter must provide accurate information as to the level of privacy security it offers users, and must develop a comprehensive security program.

Tasty treats for your Friday brain…

From the noteworthy: ‘Vanity’ Press goes digital

Writer Karen McQuestion spent nearly a decade trying without success to persuade a New York publisher to print one of her books. In July, the 49-year-old mother of three decided to publish it herself, online…

To the informative: Author Platform

It has never been more crucial for authors to play a major part in marketing themselves – but it has also never been easier…

To the freaking hilarious: SlushPile Hell

A grumpy literary agent wades through query fails…

Have a great weekend of writing, folks. Then join us next Tuesday at the Writing Race with special guest, Lee Battersby!

Apple has introduced an opportunity for authors to self-publish through iPad. Titles need to be ISBn and in ePub format, among other requirements, but the iTunes Connect app gives individual content producers/owners the same access to iBookstore commercial traffic as the big publishers – like Hachette, Harper Collins and Penguin – who have signed up to publish on iPad.

Need inspiration? Favourite fry-ups this week:

Of tattoos and writing by Adam Rex

Mangels: the next Big Thing (The New Yorker)

For authors looking to protect or increase their findability (and therefore buyability) online, make sure you freshen the content on your website pages. Google is introducing their new indexing system Caffeine today, and one key difference is the ‘real-time search’ feature. It could change your page ranking, which affects your Google traffic. Here’s a handy picture Google have supplied, for the visual learners:

Is it just me, or does the Caffeine guy totally encapsulate the human brain after an espresso binge?

Have you given the National Library of Australia’s Trove a whirl yet? In five minutes of research, I confirmed a treasured ancestral rumour. Hit print and I had the evidence in hand, which I will share over coffee with an avid audience of brothers next week. The breadth and depth of information available, in part due to PANDORA’s partnership organisations, makes it a national treasure indeed. Writers, enjoy it now before The Great Wipe hits…

What’s The Great Wipe, you ask?

The Great Wipe hath irrayzed much of world culcha, butta few bits of licheracha haveth bn found – pleez help mi choose most bestest 2 exxibit – the curator of a history of the book 2/2/3010

if:book’s HOTBOOK uses this message from the future as the basis for an ongoing, interactive scenario, which teaches students how to ‘find their way to the best writing on the web, and to spot quality across different platforms and genres.’

Here’s some of the latest info from Chris Meade about if:book Australia. Check out the video of his interview with our very own Kate Eltham!

All the editors/proofers/indexers in the house, say YO! I’ve been gaining first hand experience in the labor-intensive, seemingly never-ending process of preparing a p-book for publication. Proofing ’til my eyes bleed, then proofing some more. But it’s all worth it – the 11th edition of The Australian writer’s Marketplace is nearly at the final hardcopy proof stage. And then it’s all over bar [insert many steps here and then...] the partying!

So I’m just going to post a few tasty links today – things that have been keeping me sane while I’m in proofing purgatory.

Chris Anderson of Wired raved about this presentation by Richard Eoin Nash (formerly of Soft Skull Press) on the future of books and publishing:

The 20th Century was about sorting out supply. The 21st Century is about sorting out demand.

Interesting article in The New Yorker on the structure and impact of e-book business models on publishers, authors, readers – everyone involved in the production and consumption of texts.

In (Amazon’s Kindle Content VP) Grandinetti’s view, book publishers—like executives in other media—are making the same mistake the railroad companies made more than a century ago: thinking they were in the train business rather than the transportation business. To thrive, he believes, publishers have to reimagine the book as multimedia entertainment.

I am in love with Embracing the Digital Book by Craig Mod, for its effortless beauty as much as its right-on content:

E-reader fundamentals: Ragged Right Text… I’m going to pretend I don’t even have to mention this. There’s something sociopathic about major e-readers not including this option.

And finally, something for booklovers who love their books as physical objects… and who move around a lot.

Want to understand the interwebz better, especially as it relates to writing and publishing? Then The Machine is Us/ing Us is compulsory viewing. Michael Wesch (a.k.a. ‘the explainer’), cultural anthropologist who explores the impact of new media on society, gives the history and future potential of a database-backed worldwide web in one 5 minute video.

A perfect example of Web 2.0 publishing is Such Tweet Sorrow, a Royal Shakespeare Company retelling of Romeo and Juliet via Twitter. Actors refer to thorough character treatments to improvise their own tweets of the classic tale in a contemporary setting. You can see the play @Such_Tweet. Read, reply, retweet – it’s more than a play, it’s a community:

@ LaurenceFriar: In my small town the big problem is family feuding. montagues & capulets. Would love 2 talk 2 others about how to deal with *that* problem.

Speaking of communities, you can join the AWMonline Writing Race crew tonight for your opportunity to write alongside accomplished and intriguing Australian author, Linda Jaivin:

Author Linda Jaivin

The story so far: eight books (six fiction, two non-fiction), many of which have been published internationally as well as in Australia and appeared on bestseller lists; countless published essays, short stories and other published pieces; several produced plays and a number of translations from Chinese including movie subtitles. I also write on art and culture and appear from time to time on television programs such as the ABC’s Q&A.

Linda will be working hard to meet her writing deadlines – join us to help meet yours!

You wouldn’t steal a policeman’s helmet and go to the toilet in it, would you?

… So says The IT Crowd in its spoof of anti-piracy warnings, brilliantly channelling consumer frustration with the hypocrisy of Digital Rights Management.

A New York Times ethicist entered this controversial territory when he penned a recent piece in which he uses the example of a generally law-abiding citizen who, when unable to purchase an e-book version of a title, purchased the hard copy and then illegally downloaded an electronic copy for convenience while travelling. The ethicist states:

Buying a book or a piece of music should be regarded as a license to enjoy it on any platform. Sadly, the anachronistic conventions of bookselling and copyright law lag the technology.

But although this rationalisation may gel with the feelings of many a consumer, piracy is still illegal – and, in this case, illogical. Nathan Bransford argues that encouraging piracy does not provide answers to the current transitional glitches in the rapidly evolving publishing industry:

The electronic era is full of possibility as well as potential downfalls, and I think we need to get past the idea that an electronic format is value-less relative to print. It has value. It is a different product. You can add that value yourself by converting something you bought, or you can pay for a new file.

While publishers resolve work flow management issues to enable cost-effective publication across a range of formats, the market is moving in to fill the gap. Pundits have argued for some time that e- and p-book bundling would be an effective commercial model.  O’Reilly have been offering bundles ahead of the pack. Now Barnes and Noble are trialling bundles:

Under the plan, B&N will offer customers who buy a print edition at one of their stores the opportunity to buy the e-book at a discount. Prices will be worked out in discussions with publishers, Lynch said, adding that B&N’s aim is to make the transaction with consumers as seamless as possible.

I love books in all their forms. Having spent pointless hours over the Easter weekend trying to locate e-books that are compatable with my e-reading device, geographic region, tastes, and wallet, I can sympathise with the compulsion to rationalise piracy – but, as a writer, piracy gives me great pause. It is more than just consumer pressure for equitable e- and p-book access that demands innovative strategies be employed throughout the production and distribution chain.

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Writing Race at AWMonline forums tonight, with special guest Captain, speculative fiction author Angela Slatter. Woot!

Anthony Mullins of Hoodlum has finished his article for the 11th edition of The Australian Writer’s Marketplace due out later this year, and it’s fantastic! You’ll be amazed and inspired by his take on the possibilities for writers in multi-platform storytelling. So today we’ll look at a few projects, just to just give you a taste of the huge depth and breadth out there.

Hoodlum’s award-winning narrative online accompaniment to British drama Spooks allowed viewers to log on after the show and participate in a range of activites that enhanced and extended their engagement with the program. The online narrative also fed back into the television show, creating an exciting interactive platform for viewers, and a fantastic opportunity for multi-platform storytellers to develop new creative techniques.

To advance your understanding of the technical and creative elements of interactive fiction, read this interview with Nick Montfort, author of Twisty Little Passages. As Bob Stein, founder of the Institute for the Future of the Book says, if you want to see the future of creative writing, look to the computer game creators of today.

For a beautiful example of the digital enhancement of print media, have a look at this mind-blowing Augmented Reality book – make sure you watch the video of Le Monde des Montagnes (World of Mountains) in action before you read the whole article, or it will spoil the magic.

From television shows and computer games with mass appeal, to eclectic high art projects … there are so many worlds to explore as a creative writer, if you keep an open mind to emerging technologies.

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Reminder: Writing Race tonight, 8-9pm AEST for AWMonline subscribers. Come along and get your Write ON!