A Marathon

My friend and one-time collaborator is running the London Marathon and is looking for sponsors. Here is his note:

After my 37 years in the business, I'm running the 2008 London Marathon for the UK book trade's welfare charity, BTBS. You can make a contribution at http://www.justgiving.com/michaelholdsworth [or see below if you don't like using a card online.] Since I did my last Marathon aged 50 (and before that, at age 40), 2008 - at 60 - is appropriate, I guess. As you will know, BTBS is a very small charity and every little bit helps proportionately much more!Best as ever - and thanks in advance for anything you care to contribute. Michael

So as my mother in law would say 'take the rubber-band off your wallet' and give him and the charity some help. If nothing else wish him well. Last year it was very hot.

Shared Book And Random House

In what I expect with be the first of many similar relationships, SharedBook has formed an alliance with Random House to create personalized versions of Children's books. The Pokey Little Puppy will be the first title in this new venture.

Utilizing SharedBook's Reverse Publishing Platform, consumers can now create a unique, personalized version of The Poky Little Puppy by using an online book-making template. Consumers can create their own version of The Poky Little Puppy complete with a custom dedication and also upload a personal photo to the front of the book. The book is then purchased and sent to the printer for on-demand output in laminated hardcover format.

I saw a sample of this product several weeks ago and other than the personalization the book is indistinguishable from a book found on the shelves of any bookstore. The binding, boards, ink and color qualities are all of a high level as you would expect from a product from Random House.

The price for a unique, personalized edition of The Poky Little Puppy is $25 in laminated hardcover format, which includes standard domestic shipping. Completed books arrive in 10-14 business days. Expedited shipping options are available for an additional charge.

I interviewed Caroline Vanderlip, CEO of SharedBook a few months ago and here is her interview.

Beah Strongly Denies Any "Poetic License"

Ishmael Beah strongly denies any of the assertions raised in The Weekend Australian's about the accuracy of his memoir/autobio A Long Way Gone. Here is the text of his statement released yesterday on his website.

FARRAR STRAUS AND GIROUX, BOOK PUBLISHERS
19 Union Square West
New York,
NY 10003
January 22, 2008
For immediate release

For months I told Bob Lloyd and The Australian’s reporter, Shelley Gare, through my publisher, my agent, and my adoptive mother, that unfortunately they were wrong, that the man they claimed was my father was not my father, and that my mother and brothers were not alive, as Lloyd claimed. Last week, when The Australian sent reporters to my home in Sierra Leone, they were forced to cknowledge that this has been a hoax.

Now The Australian’s reporters are trying to raise questions about the dates in my book, A Long Way Gone, regarding when the war came to my village. They offer as "proof" a man named Mr. Barry who claims to have been the head of the school I attended when I was young. I have never heard of a Mr. Barry. The principal of my school was Mr. Sidiki Brahima.

The war in Sierra Leone began in 1991. My story, as I remember it and wrote it, began in 1993 when rebels “attacked the mining areas” (my words from the book) in my village while I was away with friends. I never saw my family again. The Australian, presumably, is basing their defamation of me on reports that the Sierra Rutile Mine was closed down by rebels in 1995. But there were rebels in my region, my village, and my life in 1993. They attacked throughout 1993 and 1994 before closing down the mine.

Others from Sierra Leone can bear witness to the truth of my story.

Leslie Mboka, National Chairman of the Campaign for Just Mining in Freetown, was a counselor at Benin Home, the rehabilitation center in Freetown, Sierra Leone, which I entered in January 1996. He told this to my publisher, Sarah Crichton, on the telephone today:

“A gentleman named Wilson was here investigating regarding Ishmael Beah’s book, and I told him emphatically - emphatically- that Ishmael’s accounts are accurate and correct. Wilson was going to Mogbwemo to find out if Ishmael Beah’s family was alive. When he came back to Freetown, he said he couldn’t find anyone alive, and the man who said he was Ishmael’s father was actually just a relative. But then he asked, what about confusion with the dates? And I said, there is no problem with the dates.

The rebels made sporadic attacks on the mining communities between ’93 and ’94, leading up to and in preparation for the major assault in ’95. In fact, military personnel were deployed to the area because there were these sporadic raids. Ishmael was caught in one of the earlier attacks. I told all this to Peter Wilson. I told him everything that Ishmael wrote is accurate and completely factual, and I explained to him what was confusing him. I do not understand what his paper’s agenda is. I do not understand why they are trying to blackmail this brilliant and honest young man.”

Mboka was contacted by The New York Times when they fact-checked the excerpts of my book which they published. His testimony did not appear in The Australian’s reporting.

Beah and Publisher Sticking to it

As noted on Saturday, The Australian newspaper is asking some very pointed questions about material facts in the A Long Way Gone memoir/autobiography written by Ishmael Beah. Reports today in Publishers Lunch and Publisher's Weekly have not shed anymore light on the issue. Beah has written to the editor of The Australian (but it hasn't been printed) and the author, publisher and agent all stand by the story.

This article takes the questions minutely forward from the earlier two articles noted in the post below and also contains a quote from the creative writing professor who helped Beah write the book:

Creative writing professor Dan Chaon, who helped Beah produce the book, told The
Australian: "If it turns out there are factual errors, I wouldn't necessarily be all that concerned about it."

In his book, Beah says his home town, the mine where his father worked and his mother's town were all attacked in January 1993. He and a group of friends were then waiting in Mattru Jong for news when a Catholic priest was ordered by the rebels to deliver a message telling people in the town to co-operate with the rebels. Many people fled immediately; two weeks later, the rebels attacked from a surprise inland route, leaving only one unanticipated escape route on a footpath through a nearby swamp.

That is exactly what happened in 1995, according to the adult witnesses, internal records at the mine and numerous published sources.

More than likely there is more to come of this and there is more news expected today from the publisher.

Post: A Thousand Little Pieces?

Pearson Full Year Above Expectations

Pearson announced this morning in their routine trading update that the company continues to perform well and that they expect to produce record profits for the full year (2007). The elaborate that the company has seen both sales growth and margin improvement leading to strong case generation and improvements in capital employeed.

Management has noted that education is having continues to perform well competitively and that they will have their best year ever in this segment. Their other groups, FT Group, FT Publishing and Penguin also performed well due to growth in advertising, subscriptions and publishing program.

As a result of this operating performance they expect to report at or above the top end of market expectations even taking into account the weakened US dollar.

Scardino:

"This is another excellent performance across all our businesses and on all our financial measures. We have produced another record year and our third consecutive year of underlying earnings growth in the mid-teens or higher. Over this period we have changed the shape of Pearson, invested in our future growth and made the company more efficient and more resilient. Those moves make us confident that we will sustain our financial and competitive progress in 2008."

Press Release
Reuters

Quebecor Fails - Update

The banks have stepped in after the Quebecor was placed in receivership early Monday. The Globe and Mail says it best:

A rescue financing backed by parent Quebecor, run by Mr. Peladeau, and restructuring fund Tricap Partners was just too cute by a half for banks that had, until August, been willing lenders. Quebecor World carries $2.5-billion of debt. Mr. Peladeau misread the sea change in sentiment among lenders that has come with the credit crunch.

It is likely that the company will be sold up in the short term as soon as the existing lenders can get as much as they think possible for the debt they own. Existing shareholds - primarily Mr Pelaseau's holding company may get nothing.

Update:
A Canadian judge has agreed to allow the company to seek protection and the company is likely to receive the same protection this morning in New York.

An update and more background from The Toronto Star.

Blurb.com Sees Huge Self-Publishing Growth

I am a big fan of Blurb.com's publishing solution. I have used it a number of times to produce high quality photo books and I currently have three more elaborate projects I am working on. Not only is the software easy to use, it provides a powerful set of tools that enable a wide variety of layouts and customization. I recently recommended Blurb to someone who have completed a safari in Africa and I have been trying to get Mrs PND to include the product in her Interior Design business. Other products exist in this segment including mypublisher.com and picabo.com but I have found Blurb to be the easiest to use.

Blurb.com has released impressive figures on the number of titles they published during 2007. Approximately 80,000 titles were produced by this publisher during the past year which dwarfs the numbers of new titles published each year by traditional publishing houses.

“Blurb is redefining how success is measured in publishing,” said Eileen Gittins, Blurb’s founder and CEO. “For some, success is creating a book that helps raise money for a foundation, for others it might be selling 25 copies of one’s own book, and for still others it might be a marketing piece like an event book or portfolio. Unlike traditional publishers whose economics drive a focus on the best-seller, Blurb is expanding the book market to include books for millions of very small, niche markets.”

The market for these titles extends from people like me who produce one or two printed titles to others who may print several hundred to support a business or seminar program. The flexibility and variety enable all kinds of applications and it is entirely possible that the market is yet only partially satisfied. Driven by the continued growth in digital camera sales and the adoption of images into a much broader array of applications - from facebook to phones to blogs is likely that Blurb and other companies like it will continue to see rapid increases in usage. More people are taking more photos and using the photos in more places.

My family has boxes of slides from 40 yrs of travels; I am looking forward at some point to scan these and reinvigorate this family history. Over Christmas I went in search of this collection and found them somewhat discarded in a box in the attic. Not only are products like Blurb for current collections but with a little application they can be applied to older collections of images as well. Working with Blurb becomes a new type of hobby and since you can also add text as well is an increasing number of sophisticated self-publishers out there.

Other posts
Blurb and Self-Publishing
Blurb USAToday