Any time the word Google is attached to anything everyone reacts like it is the second coming. Google opened access to the public domain titles they have scanned as if as Mr Charkin points out there aren't enough opportunities to get these already. Here thanks to a link at Library TechBytes is a vblog from Mobuzz tv that takes a surprising view point in support of the library catalog.
Also, I still wonder about those 'out of copywright' titles with introductions penned in the fifties, sixties and seventies. What's with that?
And since we are on the topic (Google), you may have seen this both really cool and kinda frightenting view of the future c2014. Well now they have updated it by a year. Here is the link to EPIC2015. Off to the Google Grid...
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
US Open, Andre Agassi and Video Line Calls
The US Open has been great so far, with one of the best and most exciting games played in recent memory between Baghdartis and Agassi. Agassi's match with Blake last year was pretty good to but this one was a true classic. Watching it live until 1:30 in the morning and jumping around the living room was exhausting.
Agassi has said this is his last tournament and I wonder if he is going to publish his biography in the coming years. He is certainly a personality that could move some units. Whereas he has traditionally been very closed about his upbringing and sporting life, he recently expressed more of himself in an article in Sport Illustrated.
This year marks the introduction of video line calls. A player gets to challenge via instant replay a set number of calls per set. When I heard about this it seemed to me games would become similar to The Price is Right with the fans screaming advice to the players. In fact, the implementation has been far better than that, but I am not a fan of introducing this type of technology into sport. I don't approve of goal line video or the camera used in cricketfor runouts. I don't want to seem old fashioned but the ref is as much a part of the game as are the players. The ref gets it right and wrong just like the players and as such the human element adds to the enjoyment and frustration of the game. If we wanted it perfect we should put a bunch of robots out there who never put a pass wrong, always score and are never bowled. Now how much fun would that be to watch? Sure England would have beaten Portugal in the European championship but it is the element of chance and unpredictability that makes sports so fun and interesting.
I can almost guarantee that someone is going to say the technology used to predict where the ball landed isn't good enough and will want improvements. Next thing you know there won't be any refs actually at the games they will all be in a dark room watching remotely as a computer makes the decisions.
Agassi has said this is his last tournament and I wonder if he is going to publish his biography in the coming years. He is certainly a personality that could move some units. Whereas he has traditionally been very closed about his upbringing and sporting life, he recently expressed more of himself in an article in Sport Illustrated.
This year marks the introduction of video line calls. A player gets to challenge via instant replay a set number of calls per set. When I heard about this it seemed to me games would become similar to The Price is Right with the fans screaming advice to the players. In fact, the implementation has been far better than that, but I am not a fan of introducing this type of technology into sport. I don't approve of goal line video or the camera used in cricketfor runouts. I don't want to seem old fashioned but the ref is as much a part of the game as are the players. The ref gets it right and wrong just like the players and as such the human element adds to the enjoyment and frustration of the game. If we wanted it perfect we should put a bunch of robots out there who never put a pass wrong, always score and are never bowled. Now how much fun would that be to watch? Sure England would have beaten Portugal in the European championship but it is the element of chance and unpredictability that makes sports so fun and interesting.
I can almost guarantee that someone is going to say the technology used to predict where the ball landed isn't good enough and will want improvements. Next thing you know there won't be any refs actually at the games they will all be in a dark room watching remotely as a computer makes the decisions.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Healy New BISG Executive Director
Congratulations to BISG in the hire of Michael Healy to the Executive Director position. Having worked with Michael on ISBN matters - he succeeded me as Chair of the International ISBN committee - this is an exceptional choice. Michael succeeds Jeff Abraham who rebuilt BISG into relevance and is now with Random House.
Monday, August 28, 2006
International Number: India, China & Turkey
India is the profile nation this year at Frankfurt and as the industry gears up for representation there have been a number of articles on the subject of Indian publishing. This article in the Indian Business Standard suggests that while there has been some change since the last time India was the guest of honor at Frankfurt many of the same issues remain. The local market is still problematic - although it must be stronger than 20 years ago. The middle class in India is significant and has rapidly growing wealth. External markets however are underleveraged and the article calls for more translated titles to open up Indian publishing to the west.
India is also publishing a broader array of products in addition to trade fiction etc. This article surveys some of the new illustrated titles on the way. Introduced with a Seinfeld reference. Gotta love their sense of humor.
Cambridge University Press purchased Foundation Press and formally entered the Indian publishing market.
Here is a little more background on children’s publishing in the South. Interesting to see Scholastic is a player.
Here is an article in the Guardian reporting on preparations for Frankfurt.
In China, Jane Friedman is quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying Harpercollins wants to expand into China. It is the Beijing Bookfair this week.
Lastly, in Turkey, there seems to be an issue on censorship. Not satisfied with simply banning a book that they don't agree with, publishers there are changing some well know Western books. For example, "In Dumas' Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan while on his way to see Aramis is stopped by an old woman who explains: “You can't see him right now. He is surrounded by men of religion. He converted to Islam after his illness.” At least the government seems to be acting reasonably.
India is also publishing a broader array of products in addition to trade fiction etc. This article surveys some of the new illustrated titles on the way. Introduced with a Seinfeld reference. Gotta love their sense of humor.
Cambridge University Press purchased Foundation Press and formally entered the Indian publishing market.
Here is a little more background on children’s publishing in the South. Interesting to see Scholastic is a player.
Here is an article in the Guardian reporting on preparations for Frankfurt.
In China, Jane Friedman is quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying Harpercollins wants to expand into China. It is the Beijing Bookfair this week.
Lastly, in Turkey, there seems to be an issue on censorship. Not satisfied with simply banning a book that they don't agree with, publishers there are changing some well know Western books. For example, "In Dumas' Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan while on his way to see Aramis is stopped by an old woman who explains: “You can't see him right now. He is surrounded by men of religion. He converted to Islam after his illness.” At least the government seems to be acting reasonably.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Zoom Cloud
There is some new script on the right of my page that I just added. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not - although I think the technology is really great. I am having second thoughts about Blogger mainly because of the limitation on classification. I will likely change to something more robust. I really didn't know where I was going to go with blogging and thinking about better navigation to content was the least of my concerns when I started. Anyway, this ZoomCloud is a neat half way house for visitors to quickly find some of the content I have produced over the past several months. Let me know what you think.
While I am at it, on the right there is also a link to my web calendar where you can see all kinds of media events and conferences. A feature I had added to it allows you to download a vfile into Outlook - no retyping. If I am missing any conferences there is a submit form. I am happy to add. (Although under no circumstances will I add the Arsenal FC annual shareholders meeting).
While I am at it, on the right there is also a link to my web calendar where you can see all kinds of media events and conferences. A feature I had added to it allows you to download a vfile into Outlook - no retyping. If I am missing any conferences there is a submit form. I am happy to add. (Although under no circumstances will I add the Arsenal FC annual shareholders meeting).
News: Amazon's Digital Platform. Book Pricing. Harlequin. Cody's Bookstore.
There is an interesting article in The Economist this week about what Amazon is up to and how they face a very real threat of being disintermediated relative to digital music, video and book content. Some of this story has been discussed before because in their last financial report they recorded significantly less net income because of materially higher spending in technology. Analysts have speculated that the company is readying itself for the provision of non-physical content and they are building some type of platform (my term) for delivery of this. The unsaid aspect of The Economist article seems to imply that since no one at Amazon is talking about this that some announcement is imminent.
I thought this article about comments made by Sumner Redstone was relevant to book publishers and their approach to pricing. Publishers are too rigid in the manner in which prices are set and managed. As digital publishing becomes more prevalent and deeper knowledge and understanding of how markets work - via The Long Tail type analysis - these trends should almost force a rethink about how books are priced. It would seem to me, that a rigid approach to pricing results in lost revenue. As we all know, airlines are masters at the yield curve and this is not to say publishers should be that sophisticated but if they adopt more flexible approaches to pricing it could result in all kinds of impact on remainders, returns, the second hand market and so on. For example, could a publisher 'recover' a portion of the used book market by offering new copies at market rate prices (plus a small premium for new)? This would be long after initial release of the title. Would buyers by willing to pay a little more than the used price for a new book especially if they knew that in doing so the author would receive a share of the purchase price whereas with the used copy they do not? This idea is not a new idea nor is it a panacea but I think it suggests some market testing.
Harlequin.
I hate to harp on this, but this company with one of the strongest brands in publishing and with a huge market opportunity staring them in the face still seems weak kneed and hesitant.
My other blog on this.
Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley a famed independent for many years closed recently. Here is a perspective on what went wrong. It reflects more than a bookstore issue.
Lastly, watchers of the Booker List will note three Australian authors made the long list. As far as I can gather - no comment from The Australian newspaper regarding their 'gotcha story' about Patrick White and the in ability of great Australian writers to get published.
I thought this article about comments made by Sumner Redstone was relevant to book publishers and their approach to pricing. Publishers are too rigid in the manner in which prices are set and managed. As digital publishing becomes more prevalent and deeper knowledge and understanding of how markets work - via The Long Tail type analysis - these trends should almost force a rethink about how books are priced. It would seem to me, that a rigid approach to pricing results in lost revenue. As we all know, airlines are masters at the yield curve and this is not to say publishers should be that sophisticated but if they adopt more flexible approaches to pricing it could result in all kinds of impact on remainders, returns, the second hand market and so on. For example, could a publisher 'recover' a portion of the used book market by offering new copies at market rate prices (plus a small premium for new)? This would be long after initial release of the title. Would buyers by willing to pay a little more than the used price for a new book especially if they knew that in doing so the author would receive a share of the purchase price whereas with the used copy they do not? This idea is not a new idea nor is it a panacea but I think it suggests some market testing.
Harlequin.
I hate to harp on this, but this company with one of the strongest brands in publishing and with a huge market opportunity staring them in the face still seems weak kneed and hesitant.
My other blog on this.
Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley a famed independent for many years closed recently. Here is a perspective on what went wrong. It reflects more than a bookstore issue.
Lastly, watchers of the Booker List will note three Australian authors made the long list. As far as I can gather - no comment from The Australian newspaper regarding their 'gotcha story' about Patrick White and the in ability of great Australian writers to get published.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Album Liner Notes Books
As a teenager, I like many buyers of record albums, used to pour over the album cover devouring the artwork and learning all the lyrics for the songs - assuming they were printed on the cover. Sadly, with the advent first of the CD and now with music downloads the art of the Album cover has diminished. I have over 1,000 CDs which are all loaded into CD carousels. I have saved the liner notes that came with all the CDs but these all sit in a drawer. There is really no useful way to access these which is a shame because the content in the liner notes add a lot to the experience of the music. I have long thought that there is a different model for the written content that typically went along with music. As music is increasingly vended online would music retailers such as HMV and Virgin be interested in published products that supported the music? Selling this book could do two things - raise the average price paid per unit and possibly bring consumers to retail stores. Each album collection, when released would also be accompanied by a book that provided much more published content than just the liner notes. The book could include interviews with each band member of aspects of the recording process, interpretations of the lyrics, photos of the recording sessions and detailed session notes. Mr. Pete Townsend has been blogging about many things but also the recording process for new Who album; it would be great to include this material - and perhaps something from Roger in a complimentary published product. Lastly, back to my existing CD collection, I would purchase a book of all the liner notes from all the Neil Young albums together with (perhaps) interviews with Neil, critical essays/reviews and session notes. This to me would be a much more practical way of interacting with the music I enjoy listening to. How about it publishing folk?
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
ShakespeaRe-Told:
BBC America - which is a premium channel over here - is broadcasting adaptations of four of Shakespeare's plays. So far, we have watched Much Ado About Nothing which was excellent. Macbeth and Midsummer Night's Dream are in the Tivo and The Taming of the Shrew is on next week. Apparently, The BBC produced a similar 'updating' for The Caterburry Tales last year and these four shows are a result of that shows success. I don't recall Canterbury Tales being broadcast here but I may have missed it. The BBC 'hand selected' several screenwriters and actors to 'radically revise and update' the Bard's plays. If the first one is anything to go by then these shouldn't be missed; they have really bought these plays to light for potential new audience.
(A search for a clip turned up this funny clip of The Beatles doing Midsummer; why or when I have no idea but I have never seen it before).
(A search for a clip turned up this funny clip of The Beatles doing Midsummer; why or when I have no idea but I have never seen it before).
Monday, August 21, 2006
Cybersex, Secondlife and Myspace
In the office this week we got on a discussion about how books are represented on social sites like myspace and game sites like secondlife. I hate games but I have been interested in the secondlife phonom where you can literally create a new you and there exists a trading network that includes everything from real estate to clothes. So I signed up for secondlife to try to see how books were represented in the game.
Anyone for CyberSex? Predictably, sex plays some part in the content available. Derivations of the For Dummies series include CyberSex for Dummies and Escorting for Dummies. I have no idea whether these are official Wiley titles - what are the chances? A search on bookstores and books found a few store locations and navigating to them was relatively easy. Content including the above was not significant in choice. Some other titles covered topics specific to creating an identify within the game and some additional sex titles. One store was selling e-books which were on 'display' enabling the ability to page turn and review the content. In all the book stores were underwhelming but I expect the customers were engaged elsewhere in the game and within this context books aren't particularly interesting. I suspect some enterprising person will think up a unique application connected to the game.
On Myspace there are many bookstores represented with profiles with their ranking determined by the number of friends. Atomic books is typical of the stores that have profiles. It is difficult to say how many there are but clearly this is a viable method of advertising/PR to a very targeted group of consumers to whom it can be hard to introduce to books. Leftbank books located in Seattle is also similarly edgy; they describe themselves as 'anarchist' booksellers. Some stores look like they do more to promote retail than others.
Searching 'groups' for 'books' and 'mystery books' results in a few groups dedicated to reading but the result set is also 'polluted' with results that clearly have little if anything to do with books. There are over 5000 profiles returned for 'books' but only eleven for 'mystery books'. Lastly, I searched for library and I was unexpectedly surprised. Librarians have seen the virtues of setting up a myspace profile for their libraries and they use it to engage the young adult community. This is exciting because it shows that some libraries are willing to experiment and engage a target audience on their terms. Hannepin County Library in MN is representative of the libraries on myspace. Central Falls Public library (a Hannepin friend) is also a great site. Myspace definitely represents an opportunity to engage. Here is their note for the summer reading program:
Hannepin allows myspace creators to add the a script to their web pages that provides a search box on their web page:
As I mentioned on another post it will be interesting to see if the influence of Harpercollins will result in any changes on the myspace site that effects more support for books and reading. The viral nature of some of the video advertising Harpercollins is experiementing with is perfect for the myspace environment and I can't believe they are not looking at how to take advantage.
Laslty, to bring this full circle, a number of enterprising individuals have established a Secondlife library. It is still a work in progress but it will be interesting to see how this evolves. Will content vendors make their content available via database license to the Secondlife Library?
Anyone for CyberSex? Predictably, sex plays some part in the content available. Derivations of the For Dummies series include CyberSex for Dummies and Escorting for Dummies. I have no idea whether these are official Wiley titles - what are the chances? A search on bookstores and books found a few store locations and navigating to them was relatively easy. Content including the above was not significant in choice. Some other titles covered topics specific to creating an identify within the game and some additional sex titles. One store was selling e-books which were on 'display' enabling the ability to page turn and review the content. In all the book stores were underwhelming but I expect the customers were engaged elsewhere in the game and within this context books aren't particularly interesting. I suspect some enterprising person will think up a unique application connected to the game.
On Myspace there are many bookstores represented with profiles with their ranking determined by the number of friends. Atomic books is typical of the stores that have profiles. It is difficult to say how many there are but clearly this is a viable method of advertising/PR to a very targeted group of consumers to whom it can be hard to introduce to books. Leftbank books located in Seattle is also similarly edgy; they describe themselves as 'anarchist' booksellers. Some stores look like they do more to promote retail than others.
Searching 'groups' for 'books' and 'mystery books' results in a few groups dedicated to reading but the result set is also 'polluted' with results that clearly have little if anything to do with books. There are over 5000 profiles returned for 'books' but only eleven for 'mystery books'. Lastly, I searched for library and I was unexpectedly surprised. Librarians have seen the virtues of setting up a myspace profile for their libraries and they use it to engage the young adult community. This is exciting because it shows that some libraries are willing to experiment and engage a target audience on their terms. Hannepin County Library in MN is representative of the libraries on myspace. Central Falls Public library (a Hannepin friend) is also a great site. Myspace definitely represents an opportunity to engage. Here is their note for the summer reading program:
Summer Reading Program Current mood: excited.
Our Summer Reading Program has officially begun! So if you're a kid (or the parent of a kid) between 6 and 12 years old stop by and sign up to read and win prizes! To kick off our program, Katie Latimer (check out http://www.katielatimer.com/) will be here Wednesday, June 28th at 2p.m. to tell stories. She's a native Rhode Islander who's been telling stories since she was thirteen. In 1998 she won the National Youth Storytelling Olympics and has been captivating audiences throughout New England every since!
Hannepin allows myspace creators to add the a script to their web pages that provides a search box on their web page:
Need to find a book or other library materials but are busy on your MySpace page and don't want to leave? Don't worry you can now add the Hennepin County Library catalog search box right to your MySpace. It's fun, it's easy and you can have the convenience of the library on your own MySpace page. Instructions for adding the library search box:
http://www.hclib.org/teens/MySpace/AddCatalogsearch.cfm
As I mentioned on another post it will be interesting to see if the influence of Harpercollins will result in any changes on the myspace site that effects more support for books and reading. The viral nature of some of the video advertising Harpercollins is experiementing with is perfect for the myspace environment and I can't believe they are not looking at how to take advantage.
Laslty, to bring this full circle, a number of enterprising individuals have established a Secondlife library. It is still a work in progress but it will be interesting to see how this evolves. Will content vendors make their content available via database license to the Secondlife Library?
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Old Gunter Grass
In our media intrusive world it is astounding that no one found out that Gunter Grass was a 17 year old Nazi. Admittedly, who of recent generations could really understand what was going on in Nazi Germany in 1944, but... given the circumstances of those years wouldn't the experience be indelibly stamped on your cortex. Not to be forgotten.
Grass is a 20th century master. Why did he expect no one to think his decision to keep quiet about his SS call-up to go un-noticed? And why the SS? His biography is on sale today and is expected to sell out immediately. He will make a few bucks (Euros) but I tend to agree with this opinion in the IHT; that this is less about money than about him dealing with the inevitable likelihood that after his death some cub reporter is going to find the evidence. I guess he believes that his comments and arguments while he is alive regarding this experience is better than nothing at all and could help mitigate the inevitable reversionary review of his master-works. His initial public comments and I suppose his narrative that it was some impetuous action of a boy who wanted to get out of the house seems to me to be a little gratuitous. But who am I to say. The fact he kept this quiet all these years seems more than accidental and particularly calculated. If he joined the regular army and then 60 years later told everyone he wanted to defend his country I am not sure anyone would have paid too close attention.
Grass is a 20th century master. Why did he expect no one to think his decision to keep quiet about his SS call-up to go un-noticed? And why the SS? His biography is on sale today and is expected to sell out immediately. He will make a few bucks (Euros) but I tend to agree with this opinion in the IHT; that this is less about money than about him dealing with the inevitable likelihood that after his death some cub reporter is going to find the evidence. I guess he believes that his comments and arguments while he is alive regarding this experience is better than nothing at all and could help mitigate the inevitable reversionary review of his master-works. His initial public comments and I suppose his narrative that it was some impetuous action of a boy who wanted to get out of the house seems to me to be a little gratuitous. But who am I to say. The fact he kept this quiet all these years seems more than accidental and particularly calculated. If he joined the regular army and then 60 years later told everyone he wanted to defend his country I am not sure anyone would have paid too close attention.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Audio Book Publishers Report: MediaBay, Audible
MediaBay reported their financial results this week. MediaBay has over 75,000 hours of audio content distributed through our consumer brands, Soundsgood.com, AudioBookClub, Radio Spirits and Radio Classics. Content is distributed on the internet via digital download subscription services, websites, mail order, retailers, and even via a cell phone (ring tones) offering. (What is that? Just a few words per ring? TO BE!, TO BE!). MediaBay are also MSN Music’s exclusive provider of spoken word products for downloading via the Web, and have a growing list of digital distribution partners that include Real Networks, Loudeye, and XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. MediaBay has been in business for 12 years.
MediaBay has had some reported financial difficulties recently and unfortunately, their financial results are not great for the first half 2006. Net sales were $2.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2006, down from $5.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005. The company made a strategic decision to migrate thier business model to one based on digital distribution through partnerships with MSN, Yahoo, AOL, etc. so their content is available via these music services. As a result revenue comparisons year on year are misleading. Net loss applicable to common stockholders for the six months ended June 30, 2006 was $15.7 million, or $1.49 per diluted common share, compared to a net loss of $22.2 million, or $4.36 per diluted common share for the six months ended June 30, 2005. With allowence for extraordinary items their net income was virtually the same as last year which will not be enough to raise their market cap. This is important because it is currently at $3mm and NASDAQ issued them a warning in June that they needed to raise their value to over $5mm. The press release doesn't mention this or what their plans are and they have until September 25th to comply. The company retained a Banker in February for the generic 'review of strategic options'. Since the press release on the results was sparse I am thinking something is brewing.
Some of MediaBay's digital content partners include BBC, Blackstone, CBS Radio, Harper Collins, Hay House, Oasis, Penguin Audio, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Sound Room, and Zondervan.
Audible Inc. reported their six month numbers in late July which were better with revenues for the six months up over $10mm versus the same period last year. Net income however was significantly lower than the same period last year due to higher royalty payments. Audible has benefited significantly from its relationship with Apple and the IPOD. It should be interesting to see if there is any negative impact to the Audible business model if the new IPOD is equiped with with an e-book reader as most people expect. Audible may be a legitimate channel for Apple to work with in suppling them with ebook content from publishers. Apple wouldn't have to deal with the toublesome publishers directly. Audible's stock price is slightly higher than their 12mth low but half their 12 mth high. Other stats are in the press release.
Here is a little more on Audio books from a prior post.
MediaBay has had some reported financial difficulties recently and unfortunately, their financial results are not great for the first half 2006. Net sales were $2.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2006, down from $5.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005. The company made a strategic decision to migrate thier business model to one based on digital distribution through partnerships with MSN, Yahoo, AOL, etc. so their content is available via these music services. As a result revenue comparisons year on year are misleading. Net loss applicable to common stockholders for the six months ended June 30, 2006 was $15.7 million, or $1.49 per diluted common share, compared to a net loss of $22.2 million, or $4.36 per diluted common share for the six months ended June 30, 2005. With allowence for extraordinary items their net income was virtually the same as last year which will not be enough to raise their market cap. This is important because it is currently at $3mm and NASDAQ issued them a warning in June that they needed to raise their value to over $5mm. The press release doesn't mention this or what their plans are and they have until September 25th to comply. The company retained a Banker in February for the generic 'review of strategic options'. Since the press release on the results was sparse I am thinking something is brewing.
Some of MediaBay's digital content partners include BBC, Blackstone, CBS Radio, Harper Collins, Hay House, Oasis, Penguin Audio, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Sound Room, and Zondervan.
Audible Inc. reported their six month numbers in late July which were better with revenues for the six months up over $10mm versus the same period last year. Net income however was significantly lower than the same period last year due to higher royalty payments. Audible has benefited significantly from its relationship with Apple and the IPOD. It should be interesting to see if there is any negative impact to the Audible business model if the new IPOD is equiped with with an e-book reader as most people expect. Audible may be a legitimate channel for Apple to work with in suppling them with ebook content from publishers. Apple wouldn't have to deal with the toublesome publishers directly. Audible's stock price is slightly higher than their 12mth low but half their 12 mth high. Other stats are in the press release.
Here is a little more on Audio books from a prior post.
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