I reblogged it mostly because I was impressed that a young woman in the publishing industry would be bold enough to fearlessly and intelligently state her opinion about the controversial subject of piracy in such a public forum. Whether one agrees or not with Marian, there is no denying that her candor is rare among young women, and for me, a cause for celebration.
Reading this quote from Marian’s blog, I can’t imagine she’s not representing many readers in her generation:
I’m poor, I understand technology, and I guarantee I can find any book online, for free, in 10 minutes or less. You can delete and sue all you want, but at the end of the day the internet is a wide and limitless place, meaning it’s a waste of time, money and energy to fight it. Embrace the change and find another way to make money without a) annoying your audience, b) suing your audience, and c) losing you audience by wasting cash on completely ineffective “precautions”.
My Tumblr automatically feeds to Facebook, and before I knew it, men from the publishing establishment were leaving comments that felt scolding about the post on my wall. Yes it’s controversial and it’s not the opinion of many (most?) people employed in mainstream publishing — but it’s an honest opinion by a young woman who’s brave enough to share it with us — and that’s RARE! A few women chimed in on my wall that a dose of honest opinion is good for us, her piece is smart, etc.
Here’s the bottom line for me — whether you agree or not with Marian Schembari’s views on piracy, she has given us a glimpse into the psyche of a Gen Y reader. I appreciate her honesty. I believe this is a gift. I think we should listen.
Theresa Brown, a nurse who has been writing for the New York Times’ website, and whose book about her first year of nursing (Critical Care) will be published by HarperStudio next June, 2010, has just posted an eloquent essay about one young patient, and what his treatment should teach us about “end-of-life care.” It makes us wish that nurses had a larger voice in the current health care debate, since they are often the ones actually delivering that care–and seeing its results.
I always say that Tumblr is like the dessert of the internet. It’s the last thing I check before I end the day because it always makes me feel good.
Turns out that feel-good vibe is intentional. Tumblr founder David Karp designed it that way. Not only can you only ♥ something (no “thumbs down” option), but you can’t leave a comment UNLESS you reblog it and leave the comment on your own blog, thus making the commenter take ownership of their words.
Genius.
By the way, I now find myself cruising the internet looking for the ♥ button when I like something.
Check out the new website (in beta stage), www.food52.com. It’s the brainchild of food writers Amanda Hesser (Cooking for Mr. Latte, The New York Times Magazine) and Merrill Stubbs, and it’s based on a series of year-round, weekly recipe contests—and HarperStudio will publish the cookbook that collects the winners at the end of the year.
The Keyword Search function in Google Analytics is one of my favorite features. “Porno” and “Animalsex” are consistently in our top 10 (thank you Isabella Rossellini)…and those searches often come from Turkey. Not sure what that means; I’m just sayin’…
Also of note here is that “haste yee back” is often in our top 10 search terms. Haste Yee Back is one of our most consistent commenters — and I have to say, always with a smile on his face, he’s got something sweet to say (Love you Haste Yee ).
Nurse Theresa Brown wrote another post for the New York Times‘ Well blog, where she chronicles one of the worst days she has ever had. It has given me some much needed perspective…remind me to never complain about the little things ever again!
I was preparing for a talk about the tools of the internet with Harper authors on Friday — and I came across this new site.
Kassia Krozser and Kirk Biglione are top notch in my book, and I’d sincerely recommend anyone who wants to know more check out this site and what they are offering.
I love what Kirk says on this video about Twitter.
Yesterday I came across Marian Schembari‘s blog post titled A Gen Y’s Reaction to Macmillan’s Piracy Plan on the Digital Book World site.
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