This week’s episode of This American Life, “Origin Story,” reveals surprising tidbits about how various institutions began. It also profiles one of the original Mad Men, Julian Koenig, who came up with Volkswagen’s iconic ‘think small’ campaign. We’ve all heard of the famous Hewlett-Packard garage, but I didn’t realize that Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin moved into a garage two years after they started what would become Google. Of course it’s now a corporate landmark and tourist attraction. Clearly, the garage is the sine qua non of any tech company (the image of two geeks tinkering in a dimly lit space is a million times more alluring than… two well connected guys hatching a business plan at cocktail party) but the show got me thinking: Is Twitter the new garage? The space where copywriters and techies test out ideas and prototypes. Or, does the most valuable innovation still happen behind a closed garage door?
We’re excited to hear about the launch of OR Books, another publishing imprint trying to reverse some of the more frightening trends in trade publishing. The more people experimenting with things like author profit-sharing, online marketing, print-on-demand, etc…the better. Here’s their introductory video:
The other day I was asked to speak on a panel at BEA. Before thinking for even a minute, I responded “Yes.” Then I read the email in full later on that night. Each panelist will have 7 minutes and 20 slides that will automatically advance every 21 seconds. After a moment of terror at what I’d just agreed to, I was inspired.
A little bit of digging into the concept lead me to Pecha Kucha, a style of presentation that was born in Japan and is spreading around the world. Turns out there are Pecha Kucha nights everywhere. Book lovers like 800ceoread are already deep into this Pecha Kucha movement — which then got me thinking that maybe it’s something that all authors should give a whirl when their book is published?
You can’t make this stuff up. Warner Music recently sent a random DMCA takedown notice to none other than Lawrence Lessig, the outspoken legal scholar and copyright advocate. The takedown notice was for? Lessig’s own presentation. Lessig announced on Twitter that he would, of course, fight back. As Cory Doctorow said “this should be good.” [Boing Boing]
It finally happened: The print on demand “ATM for books” device people like Jason Epstein and Ben Vershbow have been talking about forever launched last week in the UK. Some say the Espresso machine is the greatest change in book publishing since the printing press. The device is said to be the equivalent of 23.6 miles of shelf space, or over 50 bookstores rolled into one. I vividly remember an agent I respect sitting in my office a couple of years ago saying “if the Espresso takes off, publishers and editors will be dead men walking.” I am curious to hear what others think of that statement. Of course, since I had that conversation a couple of years ago, the conversation about the future of book publishing has turned sharply towards E-books. (Yesterday we felt the earth move, as Debbie would say, when we read about Amazon’s most recent acquisition). Apparently it takes five minutes to print a book on the Espresso machine. Is five minutes a long time in our digital world?
Senior Vice President of Symtio, Tim Close, answers a few questions:
1) What is Symtio?
Symtio (a division of Zondervan) is a comprehensive digital content and e-commerce platform. Its “retail 2.0″ approach means retailers have minimal inventory expense, and publishers gain deeper access to shelf space with higher margin. Symtio’s unique title cards and POS system integration mean there is a finally a bridge between brick-and-mortar retail and digital media. Perhaps equally important, Symtio has web services integration that allows retailers the first multi-channel approach to digital media.
Symtio also has launched a way for publishers to engage customers on a more direct basis through a white label e-commerce and content delivery platform. Any digital media format – ebooks, audiobooks, music, movies, software – can be delivered in a totally-branded and seamless environment under their own domain.
2) How do you see your role in the evolution of books?
We’re expanding the market for publishers, content providers, and traffic aggregators to enter into digital and engage consumers directly and in an open fashion. There seems to be too much focus on formats and niches right now, and that’s fostering the ability for some retailers to take control of markets and pricing. I believe the focus needs to center on how we can make digital books and digital media as convenient, accessible, and interesting for consumers as possible.
Digital consumers want their files to work on their devices of choice. It’s likely that DRM and closed systems stymie the ease-of-use factor and diminish the overall consumer experience. Moving toward an open system is what’s going to improve adoption and really deliver on the most important factor, which is convenience.
3) Can you download a Symtio book on your mobile phone, and if so, have you seen any growth in this area since you’ve begun?
Mobile is to ebooks what the iPod was the music. Our view is that the iPhone – perhaps even more so than the Kindle – brings ebooks into the mainstream. While it’s not all that likely that teenagers are going to walk around with a Kindle, there are millions who already own iPhones. But mobile as whole facilitates convenience and therefore is important to the growth of the digital book marketplace. Symtio offers several formats for smart phones, including the iPhone.
4) You’ve been in the Christian Bookstores since October 2008. What’s the response been?
It’s been very positive. We’ve sold through more than 75 percent of the catalog, which means consumers are not only shopping the bestsellers, but also browsing through the backlist. We’re expanding the catalog each month and are really encouraged by the velocity and quick consumer adoption within a relatively small marketplace.
5) How long until you role out Symtio in the non-Christian bookstores?
We’re working on some tests now for the mass markets.
I feel so guilty. I cancelled my $42 a month home delivery subscription to the New York Times. I’ve had it delivered since 1990.
Just one week on the Kindle and I couldn’t go back. It’s just so smooth and clean on the Kindle…….
I cancelled in stages. First the weekday, then I called back a few days later to cancel the weekend edition too. I felt awful when the operator asked me if I’d reconsider if they gave me a deal. ”It’s not you, it’s me,” I said. But then I remembered my conversation with an elderly gentleman at a dinner party on Saturday night and he told me he prefers to read it electronically too. I remember thinking “it’s doomed.”
I asked the Times operator to please be sure to mark on my record that I’d pay more than the $14 a month I’m being charged for the Kindle edition. In fact, I think they should charge for all electronic versions, I told her. Why should their hard work be given away for free?
I felt so awful…….but then I hung up and read Steve Rubel’s Micropersuasion blog this morning which says the Kindle is creating a moment of hope for the media — and I felt optimistic that the media might embrace the concept of working the Kindle.
The “Free” people are definitely loud — but that’s not to say they are right. Speaking now as s a consumer (and not as someone in publishing ), I do believe people should, and will pay for great content (The Wall St. Journal andConsumer Reports are great examples). It has value and should be charged for.
I’m sure I’m going to be stoned by the “free” people for saying this…….
…….but just one more thing: don’t miss David Carr’s column today. He says everything I’ve been thinking, better than I ever could.
This week’s episode of This American Life, “Origin Story,” reveals surprising tidbits about how various institutions began. It also profiles one of the original Mad Men, Julian Koenig, who came up with Volkswagen’s iconic ‘think small’ campaign. We’ve all heard of the famous Hewlett-Packard garage, but I didn’t realize that Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin moved into a garage two years after they started what would become Google. Of course it’s now a corporate landmark and tourist attraction. Clearly, the garage is the sine qua non of any tech company (the image of two geeks tinkering in a dimly lit space is a million times more alluring than… two well connected guys hatching a business plan at cocktail party) but the show got me thinking: Is Twitter the new garage? The space where copywriters and techies test out ideas and prototypes. Or, does the most valuable innovation still happen behind a closed garage door?
), I do believe people should, and will pay for great content (The Wall St. Journal and Consumer Reports are great examples). It has value and should be charged for.
