Monthly Archive for March, 2011

Mark Your Calendars for Book Expo America

Published on March 31, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Erin L. Cox at PublishingPerspectives…

This year, Book Expo America returns to New York City’s Javits Center for events starting May 24th and, back by popular demand, the show will return to three full days in the exhibit hall.  With a little something for everyone, “the largest publishing event in North America” is sure to be a blockbuster this year.

For those looking to see the celebs:  Headliners for this year’s events include actresses Diane Keaton and Julianne Moore, media personality Jim Lehrer, and famed writers Katherine Patterson, Erik Larson, Anne Enright, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Charlaine Harris.

For those with an international focus:  The Global Market Forum, which is an international highlight each year, will focus on Publishing in Italy.  This year’s program will be produced with the support of the Italian Trade Commission and the Associazione Italiana Editori. More…

New York’s New School Takes on the Topic of E-books

Published on March 28, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Kathleen Sweeney at PublishingPerspectives…

Well, there’s certainly no shortage of opportunities to talk about e-books…So, curious about what is the newest of the new in e-publication trending, I attended the Center for Communication’s recent collaborative event with The New School, “eBooks: New Trends for a New Decade.”

Prepping myself for a multimedia presentation with the latest offerings in handheld wizardry, I found a room full of curiosity-seekers unexpectedly listening to three panelists onstage, old-style. Where were the gadgets? No iPads zipping around the room? What about a Nokia cell phone interface projecting a how-to for novel-reader usage? Or recent dazzle-worthy additions to the Institute for the Future of the Book? Alas, no gizmos.

Richard Eoin Nash, former publisher of Soft Skull Press and founder of Red Lemonade (and no stranger to these e-pages), offered witty repartee, including an observation that the “supply of content is currently infinite.” Bob Stein, Co-Director of the Institute for the Future of the Book evoked Marshall McLuhan’s predictions from the 60s, while Matt Shatz, Head of Content Relations at Nokia, foresees that globally, cell phones will be the e-reader to rule them all. Moderator Lisa Gallagher, an Agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, queried these e-pros on the best and the brightest in the e-field but met with many minimal response instances of “let me reframe the question…” More…

As Library E-Books Live Long, Publisher Sets Expiration Date

Published on March 15, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 1 Comment

From Julie Bosman in the New York Times:

Imagine the perfect library book. Its pages don’t tear. Its spine is unbreakable. It can be checked out from home. And it can never get lost.

The value of this magically convenient library book — otherwise known as an e-book — is the subject of a fresh and furious debate in the publishing world. For years, public libraries building their e-book collections have typically done so with the agreement from publishers that once a library buys an e-book, it can lend it out, one reader at a time, an unlimited number of times.

Last week, that agreement was upended by HarperCollins Publishers when it began enforcing new restrictions on its e-books, requiring that books be checked out only 26 times before they expire.

Economically as well as technologically, all books are not created equal. In a period of change, many factors are shifting in search of a new balance.

For more…