Meanwhile over at if:book USA, Bob Stein proved portentious in his 2006 statement that ‘the truth of Wikipedia lies in the edits, rather than the surface article.’ James Bridle has now published a history of the Wikipedia article on the Iraq War that lays bare the politics behind the edits, usually hidden in the traditional encyclopedia approach.

And our favourite interwebs find for this week is indiebound.org:

The mission of the IndieBound Community is to help people across the United States share and find independently-owned businesses. By connecting indie-conscious people with local businesses, we’re working to strengthen the health of Main Street ecosystems across the United States. Learn more about the community’s philosophy here.

…they have a whole section for bookstores! Here’s wishing we get one for Oz.

Have a great weekend of writing, folks! I’ll be spending the evening tweaking my MS for my last YON tomorrow, with the most awesome Trent Jamieson, debut author of the amazing Death Most Definite. Huzzah!

At the recent BWF AWM Industry Masterclass, the publishers and agents present all agreed that the business model for eBooks is still emerging, so that the rate of authors’ royalty returns is not yet fixed. The ASA has prepared an issues paper on ‘E-book Royalties and Contracts’, which includes this recommendation:

For locally authored print books also selling as e-books, the ASA recommends that authors should aim for a minimum royalty return of 35% of the publisher’s receipts from the e-book retailer, OR an equivalent percentage that will achieve at least the same dollar return as the print book version at standard trade discount in conventional bookshops. Authors should receive as a minimum the same dollar amount from each e-book sale as a print book sale.

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Join the AWMonline Writing Race tonight to chat with and write alongside amazing author Steph Bowe – young writers are especially encouraged to come along and hear 16-year-old Steph’s amazing journey from blogger (Hey! Teenager of the Year) to debut author with Girl Saves Boy.

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!

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.

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!

Need inspiration? Favourite fry-ups this week:

Of tattoos and writing by Adam Rex

Mangels: the next Big Thing (The New Yorker)

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

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!

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.

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!