We’re rolling out http://aboutobo.com this week! It’s an information site for their forthcoming “Oxford Bibliographies Online”. Based on the product site, we designed and produced the entire site in only a few weeks. It’s even built using Wordpress as a CMS which will make it easy for the publisher to update and edit.
We just shipped off the new “Audio Download Center” for McGraw-Hill. It came out pretty nice and allows for students to buy audio downloads in DRM-free, MP3 format at a bargain price. The CD version of the products are around $30 – $50 each, and these MP3’s are going for around $5-$6. Pretty nice.
We also used the “Wimpy Button” to share some sample tracks. Worked like a charm… Check it out here.
A few months ago we put together a Wordpress site for John Wiley & Sons with a custom template modeled after their main site. Instead of a one and done job, they were able to reuse the design for multiple sites!
This does a few things —- carries a consistent brand across different products, keeps costs REALLY low, and cuts development time in half (back to the low cost again). We love it and we’re glad to be a part of this new initiative.
Everyone else is doing it, so why not Barnes & Noble too? That’s the talk following last week’s CTIA at least, where mysterious “insiders” were reportedly abuzz about the possibility of a B&N e-book reader that, like the Kindle, would supposedly be tied to a cellular carrier for some Whispernet-like connectivity.
Original? Not really. But it is a good indicator for Amazon, writers, and the publishing industry.
People that like to read will spend money on a device like the Kindle. And, my little brain tells me people with an eBook reader read more than they did B.K. (before Kindle). Will producers work harder to supply this dedicated group of customers with low cost, high quality, and timely material?
Or, will the eBook format continue to be an after thought for the majority of publishers? Late or limited publication availability? Will they continue to hit readers with the same pricing structure based on a model that is not relevant to digital publishing? Is it possible to release eBooks 2 months before the print book comes out instead of 3 weeks after?
If done right, there’s a lot of money to be made, and all they have to do is think of the customer. Hopefully a lot was learned from when the music industry made this shift a few years ago.
It’s still early. But, “it gets late early out there.”
If you are doing the same things you were doing 5 years ago to advance your career or business, take 4 minutes and watch this video:
Competition and the speed of change is even shocking to those of us that work with technology. What are you doing to keep pace? Do you have the right skills? The right foundation? Maybe this is the year to build it.
We’re happy to launch a new blog today for John Wiley & Sons! The idea of this site is to provide stories from today’s headlines and show how they apply to the lessons and concepts in the bestselling text, CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS.
What a fantastic way to build a relationship with the professors that are using the text in class – helping them prepare!
If we could smash a bottle of champange on the homepage, we would!
Slack- Budgets are cut. Projects are canceled. Time is becoming available. Instead of staring at CNBC with all this “slack time”, take a tip from Seth Godin. Fantastic post.
The Future of Creative Entrepreneurship – Merlin Mann’s 43folders chimes in with an inspiring article on “artistic entrepreneurship.” That’s a killer phrase I’ve never heard before and the article is powerful. Reminds my of the DIY attitude of Fugazi and Black Flag!
Fast-forward to the early 21st century: the publishing industry is in distress. Publishing houses–among them Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Doubleday and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt–are laying off staff left and right. Random House is in the midst of a drastic reorganization. Salaries are frozen across the industry. Whispers of bankruptcy are fluttering around Borders; Barnes & Noble just cut 100 jobs at its headquarters, a measure unprecedented in the company’s history. Publishers Weekly (PW) predicts that 2009 will be “the worst year for publishing in decades.”
To me, this is what the publishing industry has been waiting for. Not the guys that want to continue what they’ve done for the past 20 years, but for the ones that believe it can be better.
There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the news how this is the “worst year for books“. Personally, I’m trying not to buy in to the bad news. If you watch this interview with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, you’ll learn that 10% of all books Amazon sells are through the Kindle. That’s a remarkable number for a few reasons.
The publishing folks I know quickly disregard the Kindle (thought this was DOA)
I’ve only ever seen 2 Kindles “in the wild” (mine was one)
It’s an expensive machine ($359 before you get your first book)
Despite this, I’m proclaiming it a success. We don’t know how many units have been sold, but if you read reviews from folks that own Kindles, they quietly rave. Why quietly? Maybe it’s because they are dropping close to $400 on a device that really does one thing really well (displays text). That might be a little embarrassing (especially if you’re a techie that shows off how his/her iPhone can do back flips).
Plus, it’s centered around reading. You won’t see an iPod-esque, action-packed ad around a guy reading Stephen King’s UR. In fact, one spastic colleague I told about my Kindle blurted out, “That’s so dumb! You read books?!” Took him a few seconds to realize what he said, but it eventually sunk in and he went on to declare how many websites and manuals he read each day. Apple’s Steve Jobs even told us that “the fact is that people don’t read anymore.”
Despite these opinions, still, 10% of all books going through Amazon are direct to this device. Plus, now you can get your Kindle books on your iPhone!
So, who’s the big winner? I think there are a few: Authors, Amazon, publishers, and entrepreneurs. If this device continues to spread…
Publishers will see an increase in existing sales
Authors will have a real option in self-publishing
Amazon gets deeper control of the whole distribution chain (and are a sneeze away from controlling production)
Entrepreneurs have another option for spreading their message(s).
So, don’t get caught up in this “worst year ever” stuff. There’s a ton of opportunity out there!
There’s no easy way to start a new blog. Sure, you should have an idea of the topic you’re going to cover, and maybe even a keystone piece in your back pocket. It’s not even breaking the ice and putting up the “first post.” Really, it’s knowing that you’ll have to do it everyday (or at least every week) in order to eventually find success. Are you ready for that kind of commitment? Hell, am I?
I’m Paul and I’ve been working in the “tech” business since 2000: building websites, advising individuals and business on everything from hardware & software choices, and helping the “technically challenged” get plugged in to the technology that is right for them. Prior to that, I worked in the book publishing industry. For 10 years. Through the “dot com” boom. After the bubble burst. And during the emergence of “Web 2.0″. One thing about publishing, though everything was changing at around it, it pretty much stayed the same.
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. In fact, one spastic colleague I told about my Kindle blurted out, “That’s so dumb! You read books?!” Took him a few seconds to realize what he said, but it eventually sunk in and he went on to declare how many websites and manuals he read each day. Apple’s Steve Jobs even told us that “