Booksquare

It is not surprising that Amazon has told publishers that it’s their POD (print-on-demand) service or no sales through Amazon. It is surprising that, well, anyone is surprised. Did y’all think Amazon was buying Booksurge for the fun of it? What other outcome did you expect?

Readers don’t care if a book ships from a massive […]

It’s like we invented the written word, and we decided to only write books.

Anyone cringing? Feeling a twinge of guilt? Sort of thinking “that’s me, that’s what I’m doing”? Then, “But, hey, books are the be-all and end-all of storytelling, I’m cool.”
No worries, mates! That quote wasn’t directed at you. Jane McGonigal was talking to […]

Though I hesitate to make predictions, I’ve always been a bandwagon sort of girl, so here is mine for 2008 (what? too late? never.): 2008 will be the year that ebooks go mainstream. In the ten years I’ve been writing about epublishing and ebooks, the dual stories of the ubiquity of ebooks and the death […]

Bubbling under the surface of various discussions about entertainment media is the question nobody in the industry wants asked: what is the value of what we’re selling to our customers? With physical media, it’s easy enough to point to a book and say, “You get all that and more!”

The device I choose today might be […]

I am cranky. You’ve been warned. So I’m minding my own business, or, rather, minding other people’s business as I cruise the Internet when what has to be one of the dumber notions to cross my screen appears. Given the stuff I read online every day, this is really saying something.

Devices don’t make pirates. Unreasonable […]

Last week’s reception for Amazon’s Kindle was, to put it kindly, rough. I admit it: I was expecting something more exciting. Something more egalitarian. Something I could put on my Amazon Wishlist. Good thing I’m an eternal optimist. I really do think a good e-reader is important to the world, and here are two reasons […]

Some of your are thinking, “Why is she so obsessed with this strike?” Others, I hope, are seeing the appropriate parallels between what is happening with the Hollywood writers and you. Authors are surely noting that these writers are fighting for better compensation. Publishers are seeing that, as with music, creative talent has leverage.
It is […]

Nothing like the first Monday after a lovely vacation to get the creative juices flowing. Hmm, that is so not true. The Monday after a lovely vacation is spent contemplating the possibility of the permanent vacation. Why, oh why, must we work to eat? Shouldn’t life be free?

It’s all about the mailing list.

Alas, life […]

[BS: The BS team is taking a well-deserved rest cure, but that doesn’t stop the fun around here (nothing stops the fun around here). We asked Malle Valik of Harlequin to discuss her company’s recent decision to release their full frontlist in ebook format. More specifically, we asked her to address the question of “who […]

It is not a surprise that traditional entertainment companies are turning to the Internet to find new talent. In fact, the surprise would be if they weren’t. Not only is the web a great place to showcase talent, but it also gives editors, agents, producers, whomever the opportunity to observe fan reaction.

Self-publisher works for […]