Tim O'Reilly announced today that the annual conference will be suspended and the company will no longer run its digital publishing conference in New York. Since 2007, the O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference has been the seminal event for professionals and companies engaged with the challenges and opportunities of new publishing technologies and business … [Read more...] about O’Reilly Tools of Change Conference Discontinued
Tools of Change
Flipick Release Updates, Remains in Beta Launch
Many start-ups are operating now under the model of launching a beta period to encourage new users to try out the platform with the express purpose of learning from the user feedback before attempting a full launch. GoodEReader first profiled one such company at this year's Tools of Change event in New York; Flipick, the Mediawide company that allows publishers to create ePub … [Read more...] about Flipick Release Updates, Remains in Beta Launch
Net Minds Looks at Revitalizing Self-Publishing
There's no doubt that the face of the publishing industry is changing, and quite possibly that it has changed more in the last five years than over the entire course of its history. As digital publishing and self-publishing became more the norm rather than an arena relegated to tech geeks or authors who couldn't find publishing deals, the industry in every facet has had to race … [Read more...] about Net Minds Looks at Revitalizing Self-Publishing
Tools of Change – Closing Keynote – Thrillbent Comics
Mark Wald of Thrillbent participated in the closing keynote speech of the Tools of Change conference in New York. He said that "Comics have a problem in the digital space because they are in portrait format almost exclusively. They tend not to work well in landscape mode, which is how they are displayed on tablets and laptops. Many comic pages are too large and dense to … [Read more...] about Tools of Change – Closing Keynote – Thrillbent Comics
eBooks vs. Web Apps for Interactive Content
Bill McCoy of the IDPF and Sanders Kleinfeld of O'Reilly discussed whether web apps or an ebook format was better for publishers. McCoy pointed out that publishers needed to scale and they were in the business of making multiple titles. Because of this they need tools that will scale with the enterprise. On the whole, he said, design and content are best handled by designers … [Read more...] about eBooks vs. Web Apps for Interactive Content
The Elusive “Netfix of eBooks”
Travis Alber of Read Social moderated a session on ebook subscription services. Included were Christian Damke of the German company Skoobe, Justo Hidalgo of the Spanish company 24Symbols, and Liza Daly of Safari Online. All three said there is a definite market for a "Netflix" of books and consumers are more than willing to pay for the ability to rent a book online. … [Read more...] about The Elusive “Netfix of eBooks”
Publishers as Booksellers?
At any event in publishing, there are commonalities or themes to the discussions and panel presentations. Sometimes the themes are outright and printed in the program, but other times they are nothing more than running commentary or buzz generated by attendees throughout the event. One of the often-discussed topics among exhibitors at this year's TOC is the concept of … [Read more...] about Publishers as Booksellers?
Tools of Change – Booksellers and Change
Oren Teicher, American Booksellers Association. Booksellers represent a combination of the old and the new. ABA is the trade association of the independent bookstores and was founded in 1900. Independent bookselling has changed a lot in 15 years and is seeing a reniassance in the US with an 8% sales growth in 2012 as compared to 2011 (in book unit sales). For most of 2012, we … [Read more...] about Tools of Change – Booksellers and Change
Flipick and Solutions for ePub, InDesign
Flipick, part of the Mediawide group of companies, allows publishers to create fixed layout ebooks directly from InDesign in the ePub3 standard. Those InDesign files can incorporate interactivity for publication that are embedded in the ebook. "The software is in a beta stage," said Flipick's representative at this year's Tools of Change conference when talking to … [Read more...] about Flipick and Solutions for ePub, InDesign
eBook Discovery Enhanced with NetGalley
Before ebooks emerged on the reading scene in such a big way, publishers had to rely on mailing out print editions of advanced reader copies of their buzz-worthy titles to book reviewers, hoping to generate consumer interest in upcoming books. Printing and shipping these ARCs proved costly and sometimes fruitless. Just as digital publishing has had a major impact on the way … [Read more...] about eBook Discovery Enhanced with NetGalley
Tools of Change – Afternoon Keynote With Jeff Jaffe
Jeff Jaffe, CEO of WC3 spoke today at the Tools of Change conference in New York. His main point that he tried to get across during his keynote was "that publishing = web and web = publishing." Web people tend to understand this concept, but many people in the publishing industry do not. 20 years ago the web came into being and became an additional form of publishing, but no … [Read more...] about Tools of Change – Afternoon Keynote With Jeff Jaffe
Goodreads’ CEO Otis Chandler Presents Data on Book Discovery
One of the most pressing obstacles for authors, publishers, book sellers, and industry watchers is that of book discovery. With so much content on the market, both from traditional and self-publishers, how are readers expected to connect with great content and more importantly, continue to be consumers? Otis Chandler, founder and CEO of Goodreads, spoke at a presentation on … [Read more...] about Goodreads’ CEO Otis Chandler Presents Data on Book Discovery
Tools of Change – Publishing in the Age of Globalization
The workshop was presented by Edward Nawotka, Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He said that the story of the last 5 years in publishing is the story of Apple, Amazon, Kobo, and their internationalization. Kobo announced a deal with a Brazilian company and the night of the launch party Google opened its Brazilian ebook store and 35 minutes later Amazon opened one of … [Read more...] about Tools of Change – Publishing in the Age of Globalization
The Digital Book Market: A Segmented Approach
This was a panel on the education market. Jim Hamilton from InfoTrends spoke and said that the overall printed book volume is in decline. By "printed book" he means books printed on the old-fashoned printing press. Run length is declining and more custom books are being printed. Digitally printed books, however, are increasing as market forces drive printing to one-off, and … [Read more...] about The Digital Book Market: A Segmented Approach