Getting you up to date...

I know I need to get back to publishing questions, but first...

There are a couple resources on the web you should know about. If you don't read Mike Hyatt's blog (www.michaelhyatt.com), you're missing one of the really good publishing blogs. And my friend and fellow agent Rachelle Gardner's blog (www.cba-ramblings.blogspot.com) just was named to the list of 101 best writers' blogs by Writers Digest magazine. And my buddy Steve Laube, also a literary agent, has begun doing some blogging over at www.stevelaube.com/blog. He recently had his own take on the just-completed ICRS convention, and I thought his musings on "the benefits of the show for our agency" were really good. Check these out. 

One last note on my ICRS ramblings... I've had several people note that The Message Ball (nothing more than a soccer ball with Bible verses printed in very small font) was a hit with retailers. However, it's just a regular soccer ball -- unlike the Magic 8-Ball, it won't give you wisdom on life decisions. One wag suggested a marketing slogan: Kick their balls for Jesus. This could really catch on. 

For authors interested in solid marketing information, check out the good stuff Antonio Crawford is doing at www.topbooksales.com. He has created an "author first-aid kit" that I think is great, and his book on social media is timely and practical. Highly recommended (and no, I don't get a kickback if you buy them -- I just happen to be a fan). And you should take a look at the words of Tangle.com's president, Jason Illian, at www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php, Good stuff here. 

BIG NEWS: In case you haven't heard, Barnes & Noble is going to come out with their own e-reader, and word is the price is going to be a low $99. They're partnering with Plastic Logic, and the plan is to quickly roll out a half-million digital titles (300,000 of those will be public domain books, and the rest will be newer releases). At this point the files aren't compatible with the Sony e-reader (which, um, makes no sense, since the Sony simply readers Word documents and PDF files), but they say that will be resolved down the road a few months. I've been predicting for a long time that somebody would come out with an e-book under $100, and that it would create a bunch of digital book readers. 

The other bit of e-book news is that, apparently, everybody is mad at Amazon. It seems that someone illegally loaded some books onto a Word platform and sold the titles (including Orwell's Animal Farm) to Kindle users, even though they had no right to do so. SOME folks are mad that happened. OTHER folks are mad that the people at Amazon didn't catch it. And still OTHERS are mad because, once discovered, they simply deleted the book from people's Kindles. Which raised a new issue... It seems when you buy an e-book on Kindle, you don't actually "own" it. You are "licensing" it, so they can take it away without your permission. Interesting.. (And if you want to read more interesting stuff about e-books, take a look at this article: www.idealog.com/blog/an-ebook-experiment-stirs-up-conversation.)

Hachette did something interesting -- working a system called Open Book Technology, they gave away 38 books on their website recently. The demo is really cool (take a look at The Heretic's Daughter at   http://snipurl.com/mbw7o -- I love how it looks). But when my buddy Wendy Lawton (an excellent literary agent) asked them why they were giving books away, and if perhaps that was like giving away the store, somebody in management responded with, "People will always buy books." 

Um... I don't know who you are answering Wendy's question, but you're a moron. As Wendy pointed out, imagine if the music industry had just said, "We'll give away our music, and hope people will still buy our CDs." For crying out loud, the biggest crisis facing nonfiction publishing right now is that everything apparently can be found on the internet for free. Nonfiction publishing is all about providing solutions to problems (i.e., "I'm overweight, so I need a book that helps me know how to get healthy" or "I can't communicate with my teenage daughter, so I need a book that will show me how to improve our conversations"). These days, there's a mountain of information online about any topic. That's hurting book sales. Giving away new books doesn't seem to help that situation. Geez... 

Okay, enough. I'll be back to your writing and publishing questions in a day or two. 

Comments

[Judith Robl]

Chip,
Thanks for getting us some really cool links to needed information. As usual.

I already read Michael Hyatt and Rachel Gardner, but I didn't know about Steve Laube's blog. And I hadn't heard about Antonio Crawford and Jason Illian.

You stretch my boundaries and enlarge the pegs of my tent. Thank you.
Judith

[sibella giorello]

You're right, Chip. When the Internet first appeared, newspapers decided to "join" by giving away their content free on the Web. The hope was the free readers would become subscribers. The reporters scratched their collective heads -- "But you're giving it away FREE, who would anybody PAY?" -- management insisted it was an excellent idea. Twelve years later, we see how well it all worked out. Most of those reporters -- and the managers who led them over the cliff -- are looking for jobs.

[genny]

Thank you for all the great information, Chip. I've subscribed to Rachelle Gardner's blog for a while now, but I look forward to checking out the other links. Have a great weekend.

[Harmony]

Well... I sure would love to have an e-reader. I've always wondered would it would be like - if I would like it or not. I don't like reading pdf files on my computer, but I thought an e-reader might be different. And if it's that cheap, I may think about buying one.

[Bonnie Grove]

Wendy Lawton (who you mention in this post) also blogs along with her other Books & Such agents and a publicist. It is a fantastic blog - truly a beacon of sensibility and calm in a world of knee-jerk bloggers. She's at http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/