Archive

Free: PDF vs. MP3?

In among all the recent interest in free I wanted to pick up on something I mentioned in passing (I think during a question) at RRO a couple of weeks back.
We have an increasingly broad range of options these days for electronic reading devices - be it the basic (phone, computer), dedicated (Kindle, Sony Reader), […]

Published: February 13, 2008. Read more →

Free (conomics)

We’ve long, long, long-since argued that giving books away for free online is a great way to market them.
However, not all - in fact very few, possibly close to none - of our clients agrees, despite some great anecdotal evidence from the like of Corey Doctorow, Seth Godin and now, as fate would have […]

Published: February 11, 2008. Read more →

Reaching Readers Online - 2008

Update: All of my files from the presentation are available for download here
I’ve been asked back to The Bookseller’s Reaching Readers Online seminar, which takes place at the end of this Month.
There’s some really interesting people looking like taking part, including those within the publishing industry (from Penguin, Little Brown and Headline) and within the […]

Published: January 10, 2008. Read more →

Fair Trade Books?

Being green is high on the publishing agenda these days, thankfully, although which agenda is up for some debate.
The mainstream UK publishing industry has dipped a toe in the water with the no-returns initiative, and shouting about printing on recycled (or at least sustainable) paper. Both have had mixed successes and are far from being […]

Published: October 18, 2007. Read more →

Freeconomics: Radiohead vs. Publishers

As we all know, last week Radiohead did something interesting. I’d like to acknowledge that it was a very smart (and lucrative) thing for an established band to do - and to use it as an entry point into debate about the future of the book and its distribution online.
To recap, from our perspective […]

Published: October 9, 2007. Read more →

How big publishing companies should innovate.

If you work for a big publishing company, and want to find ways to innovate, then read this article from the Press Gazette. Now. [Link via BookTwo]
As we know, (book) publishing is desperate to find successful new commercial models online. But how many publishers are really innovating? And if they are, how many are set […]

Published: July 8, 2007. Read more →

Jelinek publishes online

Brilliant.
“I find the Internet to be the most wonderful thing there is,” Jelinek said in an e-mail interview with The Associated Press. “It connects people. Everyone can have input.”
Jelinek, 60, has been posting chapters of the new book, “Neid” (German for “Envy”), as she writes them. The first two chapters of the work she describes […]

Published: July 5, 2007. Read more →

Vic Keegan on the Future of Book Sites

I’m sure you’ve all seen this, but well worth a read. It’s about new social media sites around books and reading, and Vic’s article is an overview of the “new start-ups fighting for attention in this fledgling space in an attempt to become the dominant provider”
Where is all this leading? As these book sites get […]

Published: June 21, 2007. Read more →

Steal These Books? I’m not bothered…

Freakonomics and The Long Tail were two books which successfully used the web to market the ideas behind them, and ultimately the products. How did they do this? Well, of course the books and authors themselves were of a very high standard, and had the support of accomplished and professional PR companies. But also, the […]

Published: March 29, 2007. Read more →

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