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Publishing

Librarians Versus The Search Giants

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You want a hot discussion? Put librarians, Microsoft, Google, and Bob Stein from the Institute for the Future of the Book on a SXSW panel to talk about issues surrounding book digitization (and call the panel “Revenge of the Librarians”). An hour wasn’t nearly long enough for the conversation – and the diverse audience proved that the issues surrounding digitization aren’t limited to a small segment of the population.

Starting with the ideas of what happens after books are digitized and what the impact of a shrinking pool of knowledge might be, the panel started by discussing the elephant in the room (let me say that it was refreshing to see open back-and-forth dialogue between the panelists, unlike the normal nicey-nice stuff you see): Google’s book-related programs — Microsoft’s project isn’t online yet, so escaped detailed scrutiny. Dan Clancy, of Google, explained the various components of the initiative.

The goal for Google and Microsoft (other than making money, and that’s what corporations do) is to build indexes of authoritative works that will provide resources during search. To do this effectively, they need to have a lot of books digitized. This is an expensive and time-consuming process.

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Blogs to Books: Still Not Busted

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For those who thought the blogger-to-book phenomenon had passed, we bring you this from Publisher’s Lunch:

“Gawker Media’s The Gawker Guide to Conquering Media, a humorous, inside look that pulls back the curtains on the horror stories, unspoken rules and power players in big media, to Peter Borland at Atria, in a pre-empt, by Daniel Greenberg of Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.”

As soon as the ‘loper team can hire a ghostwriter, we will be shopping “The Medialoper Guide to Ruling the World”.

Can Google Save The Publishing Industry?

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Publishers know they’re in a tough place when it comes to Google’s Book Search and Library initiatives. For all their posturing about copyright violations and compensation, the truth is that Google is doing the publishing industry a huge favor.

Here’s how I see it. First, there are a lot of books out there. All I need to do is look around my desk to prove this. There are more books published each year than anyone realizes. Most of these books fly so far under the radar, they don’t even register. This costs the publisher money, hurts the author, and don’t forget the trees. Pulping books doesn’t do much to clean the air.

Second, even if a consumer (I’ll use myself as an example) is aware of many of the books being published, there is no way I can discover what’s inside them, short of living in a book distribution warehouse. My local bookstores cannot keep up. Amazon’s program to “Look Inside” is great if I know what I’m looking for, but if I’m doing research, I’m using Google. I am. Sometimes maybe I go to Yahoo!, but mostly I’ve segregated things in my mind: Yahoo!, news; Google, research.

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Sports Illustrated Demonstrates The New Media Model

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I’m not sure how it happens that I’m the ‘loper who’s writing about this story, but life is funny that way. Yes, kids, it’s time for the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. For those of you who remain blissfully ignorant, this issue should not be confused with a catalog.

This year, fans of Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue will have an abundance of choice when it comes to formats for viewing the bikini-clad supermodels. In addition to the magazine, which appears on newsstands tomorrow, and on the Web site at sportsillustrated.com., fans will also be able to purchase any of eight specially produced videos from iTunes.com, Apple’s online store, for $1.99 each, or download content to a cellphone or to a hand-held device, through a partnership Sports Illustrated has made with American Greetings Interactive.

American Greetings Interactive? Partnership? Must puzzle that one out. Later. Let us instead dwell on the idea that avid readers* of the issue can get their swimsuits in any format they wish.

* – Surely, someone buys the issue for the clever captions.

Go Online, Young Man!

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The costs of print publications continue to rise, so it’s no surprise that Time Warner has rethought its entry into the crowded “lad mag” market (someone please remind me: where in the United States do men call themselves lads?). Why not go directly online?

THE long-awaited on line ‘zine for lads that has been under development at Time Inc. for a year, Officepirates.com, is slated to debut on Feb. 22, Media Ink has learned.

The project, which was envisioned as a weekly magazine but scrapped, is being edited by former Maxim and Details Editor Mark Golin. It will be online only and will debut with advertisements from beer, automakers and fashion advertisers.

  • Time Inc. Lad Mag Heads For Small Screen (Please Note: If you click through to the article, you will undergo some of the more onerous, odious, irritating registration ever. And that’s before you have to deal with the inevitable pop-ups.)

If A Book Doesn’t Need To Be A Book, Why Waste The Paper?

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I am a sucker for radical concepts mixed with a dose of paranoia. Hmm, I wonder why? The Times Online has published an article with a great central thesis (the kind of central thesis that requires ending the paragraph early because I want to let this idea stand alone before getting into what might be the bigger topic):

First, we stop publishing books that needn’t be books. People who don’t really read don’t really need books so let them have Jordan and Becks in lots of other ways. Audio, animated-audio, that is, audio with pictures is just about right for most celebrity publications.

Publishers, someday, you are going to look back at those words and see the beginning of the beginning. Why do all books have to be in printed, bound format? Especially those books designed to capture the pop personality of the moment? These are not books designed to sit on shelves, to be picked up, reread, passed between friends, shared among generations. There are many books that are the literary equivalent of paper napkins. I say start with the genre known as celebrity autobiographies (and I use the prefix “auto” advisedly).

You’re starting to see publishers playing with the traditional book format more and more (see: McSweeney’s Wholphin). Why not take it further — clear the shelves of books that will be remaindered almost before they’re unboxed. You will feel better for it.

Almost immediately after her call to arms, Jeanette Winterson sees the dark cloud, the downside of digitizing rather than printing (I did promise you paranoia):

There are whole teams of bearded computer nerds advertising their services to retrieve ancient pieces of work filed in the 1970s. The discs and machines are obsolete. This will go on being the case. It will be easy for governments to control thought by controlling access to information. Anyone can pick up a book — the 1970s already need specialist knowledge and equipment — so bad luck if you left the key to the universe on a floppy disc the size of a 78rpm record.

This is why Kirk, when he reads this, will argue for the need for open standards when it comes to digitizing the past and the future. Locks and keys and proprietary formats will only make the future more expensive — I’d rather spend my money on new shoes than decrypting the manual that will save the world.

HarperCollins Tries Online Publishing On For Size

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There is growing consensus in the publishing community that certain types of books really lend themselves to online ventures. O’Reilly Media has implemented “Rough Cuts”, where readers can access books about new technology while the manuscripts are being written. In a world where people can master the software before the traditional publishing timeline sends a book to market, this new approach represents both great customer service and increased market share.

HarperCollins, looking, oddly enough, to old media models for inspiration, has launched an advertiser-supported program. Readers get the content for free. Remember when you didn’t have to pay to listen to songs? Think pre-Napster.

Why is this revolutionary? Only because it shouldn’t be. To quote Jane Friedman:

“We hope this pilot will demonstrate a win-win for publishers, authors and search engines. The new era does not need to be a zero sum game,” HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman said Monday in a statement.

It’s a nice article, right up to the point where I remember that journalists seem to have lost the ability to analyze statements:

There has been disagreement in the publishing community over the effects of making material available on the Internet. Some worry about online piracy and about readers simply downloading the text, as opposed to paying for it.

This is where the author neglects to point out that consumers will happily pay for content — if it’s delivered in a manner they can readily use. He also neglects to point out that there are legitimate anti-piracy methods available to publishers. The music industry could never wrap its mind around the idea that consumer desires could co-exist with industry desires; I hope the publishing industry doesn’t make the same mistake.

These are not trivial considerations. No one model will fit all sizes; the key to success in the future is serving the maximum number of consumers in the maximum number of feasible ways. That means not assuming anything about the end user. Because as fond as I am of M.J. Rose (and I am), her statement in this article doesn’t necessarily pass the smell test:

But several writers, including marketer Seth Godin and science fiction author Cory Doctorow, have made a point of offering free content online, believing that it helps sales. M.J. Rose, a marketing expert and author of “Lip Service” among other novels, praised HarperCollins for its “smart” initiative.

“We all know that readers don’t want to read the whole book online,” Rose said. “But as Seth Godin proved with `Unleashing the Idea Virus’ — people will start a book on line and if they get hooked — click over and purchase it.”

There is no proof — mostly because it hasn’t been tested — that readers don’t want to read the whole book online. Currently, online texts don’t have user-friendly features, like bookmarks. If I could bookmark stuff at Project Gutenberg, I would. I might even pay for a “My Project Gutenberg” feature because I access classic literature often enough that it makes sense to me. It might be an innovative way to support a great initiative while providing cool service.

If I were a self-help, non-fiction-of-a-certain-bent (say diet books, for example) person, I’d want to access the whole book online at my convenience. Heck, look at the O’Reilly example. “Rough Cuts” might prove to accelerate the adoption and maturation of many programming techniques (not to mention teaching your mother to work her DVR, if they go in that direction). The key is to remember that each consumer is going to interact with media in a way that works for that particular consumer — it is no longer the right of the content providers to dictate the terms of consumption. The generation behind the generation behind me already has inherent assumptions. That is where publishing should be looking.

Meaning books as we know them won’t die. But books as we know them might become the productions their authors envision. And HarperCollins shouldn’t view one experiment in isolation. They see the future, and it’s not going to be a slam dunk. At first.