If you read the many social media advice pages, you could be forgiven for thinking that all you need for success with social media is to learn some tricks and tips for Facebook and Twitter (or any one of the latest social networks with a buzz). This is a bit like saying if you learn to use Microsoft Word, you will have no problem being a successful writer.
–“3 Epiphanies about Social Media Marketing for Books” by Lisa Buchan in Publishing Perspectives
Archive for the 'digital publishing' Category
Social Media Marketing for Books
Published January 29, 2013 digital publishing , e-books , social media , writers , writing and reading 2 CommentsDigital Book World 4
Published January 21, 2013 digital publishing , e-books , future of publishing , writers , writing and reading Leave a Comment
A new study from
Digital Book Word and Writers Digest
I wasn’t able to attend this year’s Digital Book World conference in person because of the kid’s tonsillectomy. (It went well!) But at the last minute someone sent me a link for live streaming and on-demand access. I haven’t made my way through all the sessions yet, and it’s already been worth the money. I especially like the ability to pause, rewind something interesting and watch the sessions on my own schedule.
The “What Authors Want” study from Digital Book World and Writers Digest was a really informative piece, and several of the smaller sessions have led to ideas for new projects and investigations.
My picture is in the “paper”!
Published February 26, 2010 digital publishing , e-books , future of publishing 2 CommentsTags: books, conferences, democratization, digital, ebooks, means of production, O'Reilly, publishing, Publishing Perspectives, TOC 2010, TOCCON
(Original photo courtesy of James Duncan Davidson)
When I was a kid, my family used to squee when anyone got their picture in the newspaper, no matter the reason.
So I loved that my face showed up in a digital “paper,” Publishing Perspectives, this morning. See, here I am, circled.
Squee!
Also, the Perspectives discussion piece poses an interesting question. Are the many recent book conferences creating a “paywall around best practices” to keep the democratic means of production (read: publication) out of the hands of the masses? Or are the conferences the result of old industry leaders paying for the seeds of new industry innovation so they don’t become obsolete?
Maybe it is an attempt at the former, but the tone of the sessions leaned toward the latter. I learned a lot of specific and useful information, but I also heard a lot of ego-stroking (e.g., the new way needs you and your content) and pitches for products aimed at the pub biz market.
Several of the sessions and keynotes were from folks who had innovated at somewhat of a distance–or even completely separate–from the business. If they can do it with sweat equity, why not anyone else?
The tools of change are out there, free for the learning. A conference is just a filter, a way to cut through some of the noise on the way to finding out what you want to know.
My personal TOC
Published February 25, 2010 digital publishing , e-books , editors , future of publishing , publishing models , Readers , writers Leave a CommentTags: analytics, Angelina Ward, Bob Carlton, books on iphones, Chris Brogan, conferences, customer service, future of publishing, iphones, LibreDigital, mobile phones, niche, publishing, seo, social media, technical books, technical publishing, TOCCON
There are a lot of solid wrap-ups for the Tools of Change for Publishing conference making the rounds today. DBW’s webinar chose TOC Take-Aways as today’s topic, though technical problems and catch-up work prevented me from listening. Mark Coker had a piece, as did Publishing Perspectives. [Update, 2/27/10, a few more TOC links: an insightful observation about the value of chance and open-mindedness at conferences from Debbie Stier; Kirk Biglione’s DRM slides; Don Linn’s observations; and a summary of Tim O’Reilly’s speech on Teleread.]
I’m still working my way through my notes, which are way more detailed than usual, thanks to typing them instead of writing them. But I do have some personal take-aways from the conference.
1) It’s really fun to take your computer into a room with free wifi and interesting speakers. I took notes, looked up URLs as they popped up on the big screen, added books to my Goodreads to-read list as they were mentioned and had my RSS feed right there for reading should I get bored, which only happened once or twice. I wish actively using your device was socially acceptable at every conference.
2) Social media is the new SEO, especially when it comes to selling more books via word of mouth. I found the panels by Bob Carlton, Chris Brogan and Angelina Ward to be immediately applicable in my daily business.
3) Analytics will become (or have already started to become?) the new sales numbers. The amount of information that will soon be available…I mean, you can actually know if the book was bought and not read. Or, if the reader started, but then lost interest at page 20. As one presenter put it, you’ll know the multiple differences between those who read at 2 am in bars and those who read at noon during lunch. Talk about niche markets.
4) Technical guys who can create their own version of xml, automate all of their publishing systems (e.g., turn a 2-day process into a 37-second process), publish all of their royalty data for everyone to see and make money…well, they make me wish I could write a book about code and publish it with them right now.
5) I don’t like to feel that my content is brought to me by sponsors. I found suspicion creeping in every time there was a product related to a presentation, even when some of the products were ones I want to try.
6) Mobile is everywhere, even in emerging markets. The coverage is only growing. So who needs ebook readers?
7) And the most important point: It’s all about the customer–know them, meet them, talk to them, engage them, give them all the information you can, give them their choice of devices and formats, add value for them. Then maybe you can publish what they will pay to read.
Finding 1000 True Fans
Published January 28, 2010 digital publishing , e-books , future of publishing , piracy , publishing models , writers Leave a CommentTags: 1000 true fans, book pirates, direct to consumer, fandom, jaron lanier, kevin kelly, piracy, the millions
The conversation surrounding The Millions’ interview with a book pirate is fascinating.
Within the civil and well-written discussion, someone linked to The Technium, a blog by Kevin Kelly, and his post about gathering (and nurturing) 1000 True Fans. He posits that an artist can make a living wage if they cultivate a small but dedicated fan base and have direct interaction with their customers.
Later, in a follow-up post, he provides some of the monetary information he received from artists attempting this method. The results were not really a living wage.
However, both of his posts were written in 2008, and dovetail nicely with that other 2008 classic Here Comes Everybody. Now, since it’s 2010(!), and mobile and Web technologies are even more a part of everyone’s lives, surely there is someone making a living wage off their work through direct fandom.
The two examples of cultivating fandom that I can think of (Coelho and Doctorow) are also dependent on the old media systems as a launching pad and support structure. I’m betting there are some self-published or digital-only authors who have nailed this formula for supporting their work.
Jaron Lanier, a musician featured in Kelly’s post, has been looking for musicians who fit the following criteria:
The musician’s career is not a legacy of the old system (such as Radiohead). The musician has not merely gotten a lot of exposure, but is earning a living wage. I’ll define a living wage as a predictable income sufficient to raise a child. Finally, most of the musician’s income derives from sources that would still be robust in an “open” world that is highly friendly to massive, unregulated file sharing. These include live performances, paid ads on the musician’s website, merchandising, and paid downloads (like iTunes), but does not include label contracts, movie soundtrack placement, and other revenue streams that rely on old, declining media.
If you know of any authors who fit Jaron Lanier’s definitions (or if you are one), leave a comment! Let us know how it’s done.
#DBW–day 1
Published January 26, 2010 digital publishing , e-books , editors , future of publishing , Harlequin , Twitter 4 CommentsTags: angela james, carina press, DBW, Digital Book World, future of publishing, Harlequin, panels, publishing
So not only did I miss what seems to have been great discussions at Digital Book World today, I have been nearly offline for the last week and a half catching up on reading for work.
Now that my deadlines have loosened their grasp just a bit, I scrolled through as many #dbw updates on Twitter as I could handle.
I was especially impressed to see Angela James’ (@angelajames) impact on the New Business panel.
amywilkins: Heehee RT @IrisBlasi Audible gasp from the audience when @angelajames said Carina’s books have no DRM–across the board. #dbwnewbiz #dbw
booksquare: RT @rilnj: RT @calreid: #dbw @angelajames No advances, 30% royalty/cover price & no DRM. R. Nash howls “you’ll be pirated!” angie: probably.
Love the gasping visual! And I’m intrigued by Angela’s response to accusations of letting in the pirates.
The DBW webinar last Thursday dealt with piracy, in a limited way (focused mostly on O’Reilly titles.) But the guest researcher, Brian O’Leary, said the initial data shows that the most pirated titles are also the titles with the most sales. Correlation? Causality? It’s unclear. (If I remember correctly, he said that the titles that were the most pirated also had 2/3s more sales than titles that were not pirated.) It seems to lazy-ol’ me that when it’s easier to buy than to steal, people will pay for the convenience, if for nothing else.
Also, aren’t publishers always giving away free reads? Like dope pushers, they know a good book will bring the addicts back for more. Samples, excerpts, advanced review copies, and libraries. Free e-books, just from anecdotal evidence, seem to do the same job. So maybe encouraging piracy is a good thing?
And then the conversation took a turn:
IrisBlasi: Discussion about ebooks getting heated. @angelajames offers to “take it outside.” #dbw #dbwnewbiz
A duel at dawn? Thunder Road? If only… It was probably more like, “Time’s up. If you want to keep chatting let’s go outside.” In any case, I can’t wait to read more about this panel from Angela and others who were there.
A few other updates stood out that were not Carina Press-related.
concentricdots: Most crucial message for publishers from #dbw today is STOP marketing products and START cultivate customers. Use the tools of change
This is where social media comes in, I suppose–but only when done right. IMO, Harper Studio’s blog is an example of the publisher getting it right. I read their blog because the posts are interesting. The blog writers, who all work at Harper Studio, cover timely topics related to publishing, media, entertainment, editing and, of course, their books. But when they do get around to writing about their books, the posts are about more than just what’s coming out and why it’s great. Instead they discuss something cool or personal that is related to their books.
Those blogs that only say “see this book/interview/author”? Ugh.
charleenbarila RT @IrisBlasi: Mindshift: Publishers are not selling the book, we’re selling the author.-@R_Nash #dbw #dbwnewbiz
Is this really a mindshift for publishers? Hmm. Isn’t that what happens with those blockbuster names like Nora Roberts, James Patterson, etc.? Harlequin folks always talk about “growing the author.” The assumption is that authors will always write more than one book, and future books will be just as good as, if not better than, the one that first caught an editor’s eye. Holding that assumption as true, an author’s audience should grow as she becomes known by more readers. Other publishers don’t think this way?
geogeller we are in the business of selling experiences, food for imagination #dbw #140conf @jeffpulver @chrisbrogan @garyvee @lizstrauss
I love this! Reading is always about the narrative experience for me, even for non-fiction. Now we readers can add to the imaginary world with other virtual experiences. Like that time when I was ten and I baked scones to go with my Philippa Carr novel–except way better.
nyefwm RT @alicepope: Sara Nelson: One of the truisms in publishing is that publishers don’t spend money promoting their backlists. #dbw
As someone who works on backlist quite a bit, I found this truism interesting. If publishers don’t spend money promoting those older titles, and authors have nearly forgotten that they wrote those books, how can editors best help get the word out? Homework for me!
Digitize me!
Published January 14, 2010 digital publishing , editors , future of publishing 10 CommentsTags: books, DBW, Digital Book World, digital publishing, editing, editors, multi-media, narrative, Tools of Change, webinar
So I listened in on my first webinar today, a roundtable discussion hosted by Digital Book World. Today’s topic was about editors’ roles in the digital publishing space.
I learned several things:
1.) There is an awesome “new” blog called The New Sleekness. It has a lovely look and very interesting publishing punditry.
2.) I wish I had a winning scratch-off ticket so I could go to the Digital Book World conference. My budget dictated that I choose between Tools of Change and DBW, and a colleague I greatly respect suggested TOC. But the DBW organizers have impressed me with their ability to be everywhere I go and to talk about everything I’m most interested in. Do you think they’d let me check coats or clear tables in exchange for a free afternoon of conferencing?
3.) Stories are stories are stories. One participant, when discussing the role of a multi-media editor, said that many book editors look at the digital space (video, Web sites, etc.) and think, “That’s something else. That’s not what I do.” But others are beginning to think about their authors’ stories in a more integrated way.
Every editor I’ve ever worked with analyzes all stories, whether in TV, film, books or online. Most of us also see narrative arcs when others don’t (the beauty of the right political timing, for example). Once you learn to find and manipulate narrative, it’s hard to stop. Maybe multi-media editing is just an extension of this, with different tools.
4.) There is passion out there in this new publishing world. Book lovers are called lovers (and not buffs) for a reason. We love reading. We love stories. We love words. Most of all, we love to share all of that with others. The greatest boon of combining books with digital media is the ease of connecting with other book lovers and sharing our passions.
5.) If you want to go digital, love to learn. So, count me in for the next webinar, and this upcoming February talk with Richard Nash and Colin Robinson.
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