Category Archives: Publishing Business

Remembering Why Digital Matters

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Last February, I left the AWP conference swelling with optimism that the “digital future is currently up for grabs” and that literary presses and magazines had an opportunity to act swiftly and capture the attention of a broader audience to forge a more widespread literary culture. Since then, I’ve slowly climbed down from my optimistic peak. Amazon continues with its evil plot to take over the world. Big publishers have yet to crash and burn. And literary publishers have not magically conjured a widespread literary culture. Lately, my disillusionment has forced me to reconsider my belief in the importance of the digital adaptation of literary publishers.

But last week some obvious writing advice struck a chord to help me remember. I happened across a blog for beginning writers with a post on how to negotiate the tension between writing from your soul and fitting in with market trends. Rachelle Gardner’s advice, of course, is to do both: “It’s important to be yourself in your writing, find your unique voice, do your own thing . . . But if you want to be published, a certain degree of paying attention to the marketplace may be helpful.” This wisdom is constantly echoed in the academic creative writing world: The best writers are the most voracious readers. Understand the personality of the journals you submit to. Find your idiosyncratic point of view. Just write, keep writing, and things will happen.

Just as most writers strive for a balance of both fitting in and being themselves, so too most publishers need to balance following the movement of the industry and upholding their values. Though the literary wonderland of my dreams may never become a reality, my original conviction stands: literary publishers need to keep up with digital developments or risk becoming irrelevant. The best literary publishers, like the writers they publish, are the most voracious readers. They understand the personality of their readers. They find their idiosyncratic point of view. They just publish, keep publishing, and things happen.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded of that which we already know.

Amazon Ignites Indie Fury

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Amazon’s December 10th “Price Check Day” offered customers up to three 5% discounts (of no more than $5 each) for using Amazon’s mobile app to scan and report product prices from brick-and-mortar stores. This is a clear move to propel the trend of show rooming, where shoppers find products first in-store, then purchase them at a discount online.

The announcement of the promotion sent independent booksellers into an outrage. Amazon is flaunting its state sales tax evasion that makes it impossible for tax-obligated brick-and-mortar bookstores to compete with Amazon’s pricing (see this statement from the Retail Industry Leaders Association). MobyLives identified this as Amazon taking “its standard of predation to a whole new level.”

As reported by Johnathan Easely for The Hill, Senator Olympia Snowe, the ranking member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship, called for Amazon to cancel the predatory promotion: “Small
 businesses are fighting every day to compete with giant retailers, such 
as Amazon, and incentivizing consumers to spy on local shops is a 
bridge too far.” Amazon has made no response to Snowe, and seemingly intends to launch the app internationally.

Unfortunately, there appears to be little consumer awareness of or concern for Amazon’s tax evasion and illegal predation practices, as the comments in this article at The Verge illustrate: “People wouldn’t use physical stores as showrooms if they’d price it decently; overhead my behind.”

The funny thing? Though the indie book world was the first to speak out against it, the Price Check discount didn’t actually apply to books. Regardless, Price Check Day has brought much needed attention to Amazon’s unethical practices, which I hope will ignite further action against them.

The Metadata Burden

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Digital publishing gurus have been harping on the importance of metadata for at least a year now—but it seems a lot of publishers have been slow on the uptake of making metadata a priority.

At the first ever Metadata Perspectives conference a few weeks ago, Fran Toolan of Firebrand Technologies argued that the lack of attention paid to metadata is indicative of a continued “print mentality” in publishing that is impeding digital development. (via Publishing Perspectives)

Sourcebooks Editorial Manager Peter Lynch echoed the familiar call to “create and support a company culture centered on metadata,” and offered practical strategies for spreading metadata responsibilities throughout a company, rather than relegating the task to the production and IT departments. (via Sourcebooks)

These conversations got me thinking about my own experiences with metadata as a summer intern for a small publishing house where print was still very much king.

We did utilize an extensive title management system, but I was the primary person responsible for maintaining its data. The associate publisher would enter a title’s basic information early on in its production (title, author, series, ISBN, author bio, initial summary), and then I would do the updating as a book’s production progressed. When early reviews and blurbs came in, I selected and inputted the quotes that would be featured on the title’s Amazon page. I linked the book to previous titles by the author and competitive titles. I created generic publicity plans to satisfy distributor requirements.

I’m not trying to present myself as incapable, but when a book’s print cover is proofed by at least three people after the designer, compared to an intern generating a significant portion of a title’s metadata unproofed, there’s a statement being made about the publisher’s attitude toward digital publishing. And I would venture to guess that this attitude is not exclusive to the press where I interned.

Our lack of attention to metadata was also noticeable from the customer end. During my time with the press, we were notified (usually by the author himself or the distributor) about several errors that made it onto Amazon, including incorrect cover images, inconsistencies in titles, failure to upload descriptive information, and once even a misleading, obsolete synopsis. Many of these errors were caused by metadata that was entered at a very early stage of a book’s development and never updated. As an intern who wasn’t even at the press for a full production cycle, it was impossible for me to keep track of all the small changes in a title’s information that had occurred over the course of its publication.

Overall, suffice it to say that the management of metadata at this small press was sloppy. Some of this can be attributed to the bulky title management system that made errors easy to make—it required saving and reloading with every step, was very finicky about formatting procedures for descriptive information, allowed only one person to access it at a time, and was prone to crashing. But really, these are small obstacles to accurate, complete metadata, not barriers. If a publisher were to do as Sourcebook advises and build a “company culture” that emphasizes metadata as much as print, the metadata issues would resolve themselves.

Thoughts from a Publishing Grad Student

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Maleri Sevier is a graduate student at the NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing. She attended the six week Summer Publishing Institute in June/July 2011 and is now pursuing a Master of Science in Publishing: Digital and Print Media. I was connected with Maleri due to my own interest in publishing graduate work, but I thought her perspective as a fresh voice in the field would be of interest to many currently trying to navigate the capricious publishing domain.

1. What drew you to the MS in Publishing program at NYU?

The initial draw of the NYU Publishing program was that it actually existed. I was fairly certain that I wanted to pursue a degree in publishing because it seemed like the best way to merge my degrees–English Literature and Finance–in a way that I found fulfilling. There are very few publishing programs in the U.S., and with the publishing industry centered in New York City, it seemed like the ideal place to learn about publishing.

2. How do you feel the publishing program is preparing you for a future in such a rapidly changing field?

The NYU publishing program is really on top of updating its courses to stay aligned with the changing industry. For example, I am in an interactive media class in which my professor has said that the content he is teaching this year is entirely different from last year’s content. I think that Andrea Chambers, the program director, does a wonderful job of making sure the content her students are learning is up-to-date and relevant. Most of the classes I am in require that we read news about the publishing industry outside of class, and we discuss recent developments and changes during class. I think this type of discussion is very stimulating and forces us to confront the reality of the changing industry and challenges us to find new and innovative ways to share published materials.

3. Describe the greatest insight the Summer Publishing Institute gave you into the future of digital publishing.

I think the greatest insight about the future of digital publishing that the Summer Publishing Institute gave to me is that digital publishing is not going to be the end of the print publishing industry–it will just change it. I am a strong advocate for print publishing, as it is my preference to hold and read a physical product. After hearing from the many industry professionals who visited SPI, I have more comfort in the fact that the print industry won’t be diminished entirely. Digital publishing really just expands the ways that readers interact with content–it doesn’t usurp print publishing.

4. What piece of advice about digital publishing do you think is most important for literary presses and magazines?

I think one of the most important things to keep in mind when publishing digitally is to make sure you are posting on a regular basis. If you find people who enjoy the content you are producing, they are going to want to come back for more. It is important to meet that demand and to keep the voice of your content consistent and compelling.

5. What platform are you reading on? What do you like or dislike about it, and how do you see your reading habits changing in the future?

Right now I am reading good old-fashioned books. I don’t have a Kindle or a Nook or an iPad or a Kobo, but I have been considering buying some type of e-reader. I’m not sure at this point if I want something multi-functional or if I want just a dedicated e-reader. I’m sure I’ll eventually have some type of e-reader, just for the convenience and ease of use, but for right now I am content with lugging around books in my purse! I’m also waiting for the day when publishing houses decide to include a digital copy in all of their print copies so that I can buy both together and switch between the two as needed. I also really see the benefit of using an e-reader for news reading, which is something I do mostly online.

Update on Push Pop Press: The Possibilities Have Ended

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Well, it looks like Push Pop Press’s first release will also be its last. The e-publishing startup has been acquired by Facebook, which intends to adapt Push Pop’s e-book platform for integration with Facebook’s design.

Coincidentally, I compared Push Pop Press to Facebook in my original post, arguing that e-books still have a long way to develop before they offer the level of interaction that makes Facebook so appealing. But apparently Push Pop’s design was plenty appealing to Facebook, and now instead of contributing to the development of interactive e-books, Push Pop Press’s innovative technology will merely provide some bells and whistles for the already thoroughly interactive social networking powerhouse, Facebook.