Archive for 2009
December 26, 2009
BTB #142: Raccah: We Publish Authors Not Books
In the future, predicts Sourcebooks CEO Dominique Raccah, “Publishers are going to take more risks and authors are going to take that risk with them.”
As a follow-up to her PubWest conference keynote address, she spoke with Chris Kenneally about the evolution of publisher-author relationships. Raccah describes a business partnership that is meant to be long-term. “We’re not interested in a one book deal with a specific author. We’re interested in what’s four books look like? What’s next? What’s your vision for your future? And we’ll create that with you, but we’ve got to have a clear game plan of success before we go forward.”
December 23, 2009
BTB #141: Words of the Year from the Dictionary Man
At Merriam-Webster, the editors are always adding new words, of course, but now with online tracking technology, they can also tell what words we look up the most – something not possible before the Web. In 2009, this online vocabulary traffic took inspiration from Michael Jackson, H1N1, the economy, and, of course, politics.
John Morse returns to Beyond the Book to count down with Chris Kenneally the top ten list. Merriam-Webster.com now exceeds 1.3 billion individual page views per year, or about ten lookup requests per second. During peak hours, this traffic may increase to more than 100 requests per second.
December 20, 2009
BTB #140: For Book Sales, It’s Beyond the Bookstore
“Sales outside the bookstore is a great route to go for independent publishers,” advises Scott Flora, who heads up the publishers trade association SPAN. “It could be corporate clients, it could be to educational clients, associations, museums.”
For independents who want to avoid returns (and the associated problems 
around cash flow), these non-bookstore sales have many advantages, he tells Chris Kenneally in an interview recorded at the recent PubWest Conference.
December 18, 2009
BTB #139: Netflix for Books?
That’s the pitch from BookSwim, which offers books for rent the way many of us rent DVDs. From “The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,” a how-to for getting published professionally, to “Superfreakonimics,” bestsellers and perennial hits are all available for monthly fees.
As BookSwim’s Eric Ginsberg explains, think of it as an online library where you pay for a subscription but never for any fines. With the publishing world still sorting out Kindles and Nooks, BookSwim reaches audiences who want to read “real” books but who don’t have room for real booksheleves.
December 13, 2009
BTB #138: Chaos at Miami Book Fair: The Garfield Scenario
Advertising Age pundit and National Public Radio host Bob Garfield brought his own brand of chaos to the recent Miami Book Fair. Discussing his new book, The Chaos Scenario with Chris Kenneally, Garfield put forward his thesis that when it comes to the publishing world as know it, the end is near.
“The chaos is affecting not just newspapers, but broadcast, cable, magazines – just the old media world across the board,” Garfield said. “And it doesn’t have anything much to do with the recession, although that’s exacerbated problems because of the soft advertising market. It’s a structural problem and it’s the result of the digital revolution.”
December 10, 2009
BTB #137: Google Book Case: Wasoff Reviews Amended Settlement
Responding to concerns voiced by authors, publishers and the U.S. Department of Justice, the parties in the Google Book Search Copyright Class Action filed a revised settlement proposal on November 13, 2009.
On December 10, Lois Wasoff returned to Copyright Clearance Center to explain in detail the most noteworthy changes, and to assess their potential impact on rightsholders and their works. The one-hour interview with Chris Kenneally covered the Scope of Works Covered; Treatment of Unclaimed Works; Rightsholder Representation Within the Book Rights Registry; Economic Terms and Additional Revenue Models; Changes to Address Public Policy Concerns; and the Revised Timeline for Court Action.
A highly-regarded intellectual property attorney, Wasoff also called out the new deadlines for action by rightsholders who may or may not choose to participate in the settlement.
Podcasts of all previous CCC webinars with Lois Wasoff and Beyond the Book’s Chris Kenneally are available on copyright.com, including complete transcripts.
December 6, 2009
BTB #136: At MediaBistro, Jason Boog Learns What’s Next
A week ahead of the Mediabistro-sponsored E-Book Summit in NYC, Jason Boog tells Chris Kenneally that the audience can expect to learn practical information on how “you can start with the digital product, blend in video, blend in some audio elements, not to replace the printed word, but to augment it.”
A month into his new post as GalleyCat editor and host of Morning Media Menu, Boog reveals, “I feel like I’m one of the luckiest people in publishing. It’s such a warm community, and it’s just cool to be here at this moment as publishing’s changing… No one really knows what’s going to happen next, and it’s fun to be able to talk to all these different people who have good ideas about what will happen next.
As for the year past, Boog gives Kenneally a rundown of best and worst stories for 2009 (PDF).
December 4, 2009
Special Podcast: SIIA Executive Face Time
As part of an online series presented by the Software & Information Industry Association, CCC’s CEO Tracey Armstrong sat down earlier this week with Hal Espo, President, Contextual Connections, LLC, a NYC-based consultancy in digital services and applications. She described the origins of Copyright Clearance Center, and looked ahead to the future, too. “This is a very interesting time for licensing and intellectual property. You can’t look at the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal on any given day and not see an article about intellectual property… One of the biggest drivers of that is technology.”
In January, SIIA Information holds its annual Industry Summit in New York City. The two-day conference offers strategic guidance to senior business leaders representing publishers, content technology companies, bankers, analysts, bloggers and press.
December 1, 2009
Tomorrow’s Innovations Fueled By Today’s Information
Even as Copyright Clearance Center creates and shapes solutions meeting the information needs of rightsholders and content consumers well into the next decade, CCC is taking stock of its last fiscal year in the company’s just-published 2009 annual report (PDF).
“The corporations and academic institutions we license require rights over a broader and more diverse set of content than ever before, and we will continue to add rights to meet that need,” notes President and CEO Tracey Armstrong.
In response to demand from corporate and academic customers, CCC also reports that the number of its education programs on copyright doubled in FY09.
November 29, 2009
BTB #135: A Book Report From Sara Nelson
“Publishing as we know it will die if changes are not made,” observes Sara Nelson, one of the industry’s leading pundits. Now with O, The Oprah Magazine, as its books director, Nelson is a former editor-in-chief at Publishers Weekly.
Unlike many, though, she doesn’t blame the digital revolution. “I don’t even think that Google, per se, is the culprit. It’s not that simple. I think that publishers need to think about the business model in which they operate… – in other words, advances against royalties.”
