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May 25, 2006
Lulu notes "shortened life expectancy" for bestsellers
Here's an interesting Lulu.com press release via Boing Boing,
Life Expectancy of Bestsellers Plummets
In a lovely bit of PR framing Lulu founder Bob Young says "The plummeting life-expectancy of a fiction bestseller reflects the way that the publishing industry is unravelling, in an age of over-production, plus media fragmentation and now disruptive new technologies such as the Internet and print-on-demand: 'The publishing revolution is nigh.'"
Nigh?
I'm as much a fan of the Long Tail as anyone, and I think that the internet is creating all sorts of new opportunities for authors (including self-publishing authors) but I'm not really looking forward to a universe of 2 million new books published each year that go on to sell 1000 copies each, and I think that this Lulu statistic is shallow and misleading.
Why look at only the time spent at the top by the #1 book? Why not include figures like total books sold as a percentage of population? The time each novel spent on the top ten? Foreign rights and overseas publishing success? The number of movies or TV shows hatched from books? Overall author royalties?
There are so many other metrics of publishing success.
I'd see an abbreviated reign of books at #1 as being maybe something right with the industry, an improvement in distribution and opportunity, and evidence of a more interesting, and varied, culture, and a sign that the publishing industry despite all sorts of challenges (TV, the Internet, Gaming) is competitive and healthy.
Lulu seems pretty cool compared to many of the POD presses, they don't seem to over-promise and they have a book that I've actually seen on an Amazon category bestseller list, but blockbusters are alive and well, and I think that the larger than 10 million copy laydown of the last Harry Potter might be proof of that.
A more cogent analysis might suggest that culture moves more quickly these days, fads expire quickly, people read the next big thing more quickly.
Even more evidence of cultural fragmentation, didn't I hear somewhere that Pink Floyd fell off the billboard chart? No, Dark Side of the Moon has been on the chart for a (non-consecutive) 1500 Weeks! That's a while, eh?
Posted by matt at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2006
The "for Dummies" Authors' Unconference
A murder of crows? An exclamation of editors?
When it comes to collective plurals you can add an "unconference of Dummies authors," scheduled for November 3-5, 2006 at the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco.
Conference organizer, "for Dummies" author Dr. Alan Rubin, has spearheaded a unique event that will include multiple author book-signings (limited to 45 authors overall) and informational panels (how to land a Dummies contract? What goes with yellow and black?). The schedule is sure to be filled out soon.
I'll be on the agent panel Saturday November 4 (I'm told the topic is "What are agents good for?!?").
If you'd like to attend and/or participate in book signings and/or sessions, please contact Alan asap. His contact info is here. Alan has specifics on cost but it sounds to me like they're only charging enough to book the venue.
I'm told that multiple Wiley execs and editors will also attend.
I like the idea that these authors are banding together to create a sort of media magnet and PR opportunity for the brand. Good luck!
The rough schedule --
Friday, November 3rd
8-9:30 PM No-host cocktail reception
Saturday, November 4th
9-10:30 PM Titles, contracting
10:30-10:45 Teas and coffee break
10:45-12:15 Marketing
1:15-2:15 Agents
2:30-3:30 Breakout sessions-5
3:30-4:30 Breakout sessions-5
4:30-4:45 Tea and coffee break
4:45-5:45 Breakout sessions-5
2:30-3:30 Groups of authors at bookstores
3:30-4:30 Groups of authors at bookstores
4:30-5:30 Groups of authors at bookstores
6:45-7:30 No-host cocktail reception
7:30 Supper
Sunday, November 5th
9-10:30 Ask the Expert
11-12:30 Ask the Expert
Posted by matt at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2006
Amazon P.O.D. for O.O.P.
I knew that Amazon had purchased BookSurge and I also knew that that they had plans to launch their POD (print-on-demand) service but today is the first time I've seen
"I own the rights to this title and would like to make it available again through Amazon."
Which takes you here.
I know that a few other players really pushed for the OOP (out-of-print) market but I would venture that Amazon has a pretty good footprint for this kind of thing. I'm only surprised it took them so long.
Of course, they're offering the same POD service to publishers, The recent BEA news release is covered here.
Posted by matt at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2006
Get ready for Vista, someday
Via CNET, this would be funny if it weren't so sad in regards to the ongoing scheduling saga of computer book authors and publishers everywhere. Microsoft wants customers to "Get Ready Now," for Vista, which means they want you to upgrade your PC ahead of time and benefit from special offers when the product actually ships. But you know what happens when you upgrade, prices drop the next week, and the "Vista Ready" PC you buy in November is not as capable as the actual Vista machine you buy in January, February or March. Linked.
Of course, as befits an operating system that will ship in many different flavors, you can plan to be "Vista Capable" or you can be "Premium Ready." CNET quotes the specs -- "To be classified as Vista-capable, a computer needs an 800MHz processor, 512MB of memory and a DirectX 9-capable graphics card. Premium Ready machines need a 1GHz processor, 128MB of graphics memory, 1GB of system memory, a 40GB hard drive and an internal or external DVD-ROM drive."
Posted by matt at 9:51 AM | Comments (2)
May 17, 2006
Scary Books
I recently read The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, by James Howard Kuntsler, a grim analysis of what may happen to our modern civilization after we hit peak oil (which we may already have). The book feels flawed near the end where he spins off into all sorts of possible dystopias but in spite of that the message is often terrifying.
I also read John Barry's The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, a sort of Avian flu preview which was a great and again a scary read, and Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, another great book though plodding in places and not as compelling as his Guns, Germs and Steel.
I'm not sure why I'm in the mood for these bleak books but I'll make the publishing note that each has a great sub-title.
I had trouble sleeping while I was reading the The Great Influenza, and I slept even less while reading The Long Emergency. But which of these books is scariest?
If you check Amazon's "Customers who bought this item also bought" you'll find that only the readers of The Long Emergency are buying how-to books like When Technology Fails, or The Encyclopedia of Country Living, while readers of Collapse and The Great Influenza seem content to read a broad swath of popular non-fiction, like 1776 or Blink.
The Long Emergency wins.
Surprisingly, there's no activity on this book's wiki or forum though there's plenty of back and forth in the review section.
I'm going to read something light-hearted next.
Posted by matt at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2006
Electronic Soul Mates?
via Publisher's Lunch, I like this quote from a recent Jeff Bezos speech in Seattle, this via the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Linked.
"We have even looked at doing things like electronic soul mate where we say here is the person at Amazon who has the closest history to you in terms of purchasing, and by the way here are the five things that they have bought that you haven't."
That sounds very cool, but also kind of, I dunno, icky?
I like to think I'm unique, you know, just like everyone else is.
Of course I'm a voyeur when it comes to other people's purchase histories and I'm a huge fan of "Customers who bought this item also bought." And if I see you walking around the bookstore I can't help but check out your books.
For those with plenty of time on their hands, here's an MP3 of Jeff's speech, Linked.
Posted by matt at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)
May 10, 2006
Bowker tracks drop in US title count
Via yesterday's Publisher's Lunch, Bowker has a preliminary report that shows an 18,000 title drop in 2005 U.S. book production (the U.K. was up).
From the press release --
"Based on preliminary figures from U.S. publishers, Bowker is projecting that U.S. title output in 2005 decreased by more than 18,000 to 172,000 new titles and editions. This is the first decline in U.S. title output since 1999, and only the 10th downturn recorded in the last 50 years. It follows the record increase of more than 19,000 new books in 2004."
That's a pretty big drop and might illustrate what Tim O'Reilly discussed in regards to recent tech book market trends: sales growth is concentrated among bestsellers, and publishers are being more conservative.
Note too the comment about the rising price of paper impacting publisher decisions --
"In 2005, publishers were more cautious and disciplined when it came to their lists," said Gary Aiello, chief operating officer of New Providence, N.J.-based Bowker. "We see that trend continuing in 2006. The price of paper has already gone up twice this year, and publishers, especially the small ones, will have to think very carefully about what to publish."
I wonder too if this reflects some of the passage of a pent up demand for self-publishing and POD that helped to account for a 19,000 increase from 2003 to 2004. I have to imagine that plays a part.
Here's the rough stat sheet but the numbers don't exactly match the press release.
Posted by matt at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 3, 2006
Client news and notes
Congrats to Gary Bouton on the long awaited publication of Photoshop Elements All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies.
Congrats to Barrie Sosinsky, who co-authored Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Reparing Servers which was recently published by Que.
Congrats to Christopher Spencer on delivering his first book, The eBay Entrepreneur: The Definitive Guide to Starting Your Own eBay Trading Assistant Business, to be published by Kaplan Publishing in September.
And congratulations to Sue Jenkins, Michele Davis and Jon Phillips on the completion of Dreamweaver 8 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies.
Thanks for working with me. I'm proud to have been a part of your books.
Posted by matt at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)