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The Casual Optimist Posts

Published October 22, 2008

Midweek Miscellany, Oct 22th, 2008

Having skipped Monday (thanks Amazon grid!), here’s a bumper Midweek Miscellany for your (digested) reading pleasure…

Publishers put on a brave face on the economic downturn in Frankfurt according to the Washington Post (thanks for link Stephanie!):

“While luxuries are increasingly unaffordable, most people still have enough money to buy a book, and booksellers could even use the opportunity to stage a resurgence”

Traditional book binders John and Ardis Mankin featured in the San Diego Union Tribune (via Shelf Awareness):

“Our main machinery is our hands,” said Ardis, 74. “Technology can’t do what we do.”

The Serif Fairy (pictured) for the junior typographer in all of us (via Design Observer).

The Legendary Mr. Typewriter: Reveries on Martin K. Tytell the owner of the Tytell Typewriter Company, in Lower Manhattan who died, age 94, on September 11th, 2008. If I could  type for tuppence and wasn’t a pathological re-writer, I would definitely use a typewriter…

‘Books for Bibilophiles’   in The Observer:

“At a time when bibliophiles are an endangered species, these books about books tell us why it’s reading that makes us human”

Literary agent Pat Kavanagh, “doyenne of the London literary scene”, has died:

“She had the values of an earlier generation. People like Kingsley Amis loved Pat. She was old school but she never seemed jaded. We all thought she would always be there, that she would never retire.”

Jonathan Ross revisits Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons for The Times (via LinkMachineGo):

“But what makes this a genre-transcending bona fide masterpiece is that… Moore and Gibbons… manage to deliver a devastating critique that cuts to the very heart of the pitiful, timid male fantasy that is the superhero genre at its purest and worst: muscular men and busty women in tight costumes solving all the world’s problems with a well-placed punch”

Over and out…

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Published October 21, 2008

On Being Skipped

GalleyCat pointed me in the direction of  a refreshingly frank essay by Andrew Wheeler, Marketing Manager for John Wiley & Sons, about books that are passed over, or  ‘skipped’,  by a bookstore:

“bookstores are businesses, not public conveniences. No store has the responsibility to carry every book published… I market books for a living, so I can tell you an unpleasant truth: the order for any book, from any account, starts at zero. The publisher’s sales rep walks in the door with tipsheets and covers, past sales figures and promotional plans, to convince that bookseller’s buyer to buy that book. In many categories… the chain buyers say “yes” the overwhelming majority of the time. But not all the time. Sometimes, that buyer is not convinced, and the order stays at zero.”

None of what Andrew says will be news to any one working in publishing — skips are an accepted, if unpleasant, part of the business — but, as Andrew notes, authors on the receiving end of skips are outraged by them, and I’m sure more than a few debut authors will be shocked to discover that there is such a thing and that it happens frequently enough to have its own terminology.

In most cases agents or publishers don’t discuss the possibility of skips with their authors before they actually happen — no one wants to be that pessimistic about a book’s chances! But that is not to say we should be less than forthright about the realities of business, or pretend that this doesn’t happen.

I recently had an exchange with a freelance publicist who told me with all confidence that he was going to book his client-author on national radio and television. Knowing the book, and having had some experience of the challenges of book publicity, I just about spat out my coffee. Charitably he was naively optimistic. Uncharitably, he was bullshitting me, and probably his client, to justify his hourly rate.

A publicist, however good he or she is, cannot guarantee an author publicity any more than the greatest sales rep can guarantee sales or prevent the dreaded ‘skip’. You can charm and you can twist arms,  but ultimately the decision lies with someone else — a producer, a book review editor, or a buyer — with a set of priorities different to your own. To pretend otherwise, leaving things unspoken  or offering overconfident assurances is a disservice to your author, and will probably bite you in the ass in the long run as a publisher (or freelance publicist).

Authors, unsurprisingly, have a tendency to be smart people. By and large they don’t want to be left in the dark, or have their hopes unrealistically raised. Sure they should take some responsibility — ask questions and educate themselves  — but we should  be honest and upfront about how the book business works, putting books in their proper context and giving an author a realistic sense of what is possible.

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Published October 15, 2008

Midweek Miscellany Oct 15th, 2008

Are New York publishers going through some kind of existential crisis?

A chill wind is blowing through publishing according to Leon Neyfakh in the New York Observer. He’s marginally less apocalyptic than some, but he’s still pretty gloomy:

“A frost is coming to publishing. And while the much ballyhooed death of the industry this is not, the ecosystem to which our book makers are accustomed is about to be unmistakably disrupted. At hand is the twilight of an era most did not expect to miss, but will.”

On the other hand…

Old-fashioned publishing is booming for Marvel according to Fortune Magazine:

“There’s a few interesting messages in this, not least of which is the reminder that new formats of media don’t necessarily replace old, and that some habits don’t change as quickly as people think.”

Former CEO Peter Olson  discusses his exit from Random House in Portfolio magazine:

“I think concerns about the book business dying are overdone. Storytelling—the generating of content for all kinds of media—is essential. Books play a key role.”

On a more cheery note…

Children’s Books That Designers Love: Kids books with “insanely cool typography” by  Bruni Munari and Cas. Opt. favourite Paul Rand (pictured).

Liz Thomson and Nicholas Clee, former editors of Publishing News and The Bookseller respectively, have launched BookBrunch an “information site and daily news service for the book industry.” (via Me And My Big Mouth)

Designer Stephen Bayley interviewed by his son Bruno for Vice Magazine. I rather liked this line:

“Heritage is important but you must also build the heritage of the future. The best idea ever on history was in an Italian novel The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which was published posthumously. It had this line about the decline of a Sicilian dynasty: “If you want things to stay the same, they are going to have to change”. That is entirely my view. Without change everything is stultified.”

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Published October 14, 2008

Monday Miscellany, Oct 13th, 2008

A belated Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving and a belated Monday Miscellany (on Tuesday)…

An interesting  Q & A with George Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of Borders Group, on HarperStudio’s The 26th Story Blog:

“I do not agree that it’s all doom and gloom in the book business… I think people are always going to want books…they will always want to be entertained and informed by books and I do not see that changing.  It’s true that the format books take may change over time and evolve, and the places where people buy books and how they access them have changed over time and will change further, but books themselves will always be part of our culture and our world in my opinion.”

Marketing in Tough Times. The American Booksellers Association ask successful booksellers to share their advice on marketing  during the economic downturn.

Book-lined stairs (pictured) designed by Levitate Architects for a space-challenged London apartment, as seen on the lovely Apartment Therapy (via image bookmarking site FFFFound).

50 of your favourite words on the BBC online magazine (as inspired by Ammon Shea’s book READING THE OED). I’m rather partial to ‘metanoia’ – “the act or process of changing one’s mind or way of life” – myself…

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Published October 10, 2008

Generous Criticism

“Being generous in speaking of another’s work doesn’t mean “heaping praise”. It means delivering the critique from a place deeper than the insignificant nitpicking that comes so easily, deeper still from a place that harbors no envy, and even further down where the critique is offered in a genuine effort to improve the project, to the benefit of the discipline as a whole. Everyone wins.”

I came across Nam Henderson’s  Archinect op-ed on ‘Generous Criticism’ via Michael Surtees DesignNotes.

Design blogs, like DesignNotes, Design Observer, Ace Jet 170, Grain Edit,  and Swissmiss – to name just a few – are such an inspiration. The breadth of the design community’s interests, the generosity, willingness to share, and sheer enthusiasm for what they do is remarkable.

I wish I saw more of this kind of online dialogue about publishing.

The best lit-blogs, like ReadySteadyBlog, and Sarah Weinman’s blog, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, rightly save their enthusiasm for writing and writers. But blogs that concern themselves with the business of books lack that kind of energy.

Although there are notable exceptions –  James Bridle’s booktwo and Shelf Awareness come to mind – the book business seems to have very little to say for itself, and even less that is positive. We hear so little  about the agents, publishers, editors, designers, publicists, sales reps and booksellers who just nail it. Instead our conversations are dominated by  hell-in-a-handcart pessimists or told-you-so digital evangelists. We link to the same gossipy controversies and angry rants. We take cheap shots and wonder why we’re being marginalized by things that are more fun.

We seem short generosity and lacking in curiosity.

Publishing is not perfect, but we do some great stuff. Of course we should be critical, but we should do it to improve what we do, not to tear it down. To go back to Nam Henderson:

“we should, as a community of professionals, be able to expect respectful commentary, considered and generous… if something is bullshit, SAY SO… If someone is skating by on laziness, call them out and challenge them – positively – to make a better effort. And challenge yourself, in every critique, to be generous: reflect on what you’re seeing in the bigger context…, identify the elements that are good, apply the logic of the good parts to the overall scheme to see where improvements can be made. Think about how much effort you would want a critic to put into a comment made to you.”

I can’t say I am without fault. I’m as snarky as the next guy. But I hope — and strive — for something better.

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Published October 6, 2008

Monday Miscellany, Oct 6, 2008

‘Celebrity’ authors, including A.M. Homes and Jonathan Lethem, create “Flash Fiction” stories inspired by images from Diesel’s fall ad campaign (pictured). (Thanks Siobhan!)

Live and Learn: Heather Reisman. The founder and CEO of the Indigo chain of bookshops in Canadian Business magazine:

“I do believe a new paradigm of values is emerging. It rejects sweatshops. It is about fair trade and building family-friendly and environmentally friendly organizations. I think caring capitalism and sustainability will prevail. I know I sound optimistic, but why not?”

Why Are Literary Readings So Excruciatingly Bad? Michael Carbert in Maisonneuve Magazine:

“The only way to experience the kind of readings many of us are eager to attend is for everyone to demand more of themselves.”

Publisher as Brand? Kate Eltham of Electric Alphabet discusses HarperStudio and wonders whether publishers should spend time  and resources on their own brand identities. (via Tools of Change for Publishing)

Tech Tips for the Basic Computer User from David Pogue at the New York Times. A useful list that also just happens to start with an anecdote about a Book Editor…

LATE ADDITION:

Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers: Part two of Motoko Rich’s series on ‘The Future of Reading’ in the New York Times (click here for part one – Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?)

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Published October 3, 2008

Bookshop Memories

Some Bookshops I Have Known, a lovely post on The Guardian Books Blog by Alistair Harper:

Rationally, I should not get falsely romantic about the idea of the bookshop. As Orwell wrote in Bookshop Memories, they can be deeply depressing places attracting the needy and unhinged. Also, it’s not as if the internet has stopped individuals, as opposed to corporations, selling books. I like to imagine that a modern version of Helen Hanff’s 84 Charing Cross Road is happening over email right now thanks to some purchases over Abe books.

But I can’t help the false romance. It’s through different bookshops I’ve frequented that I can mark out the different moments of my upbringing.

Link

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Published October 3, 2008

AIGA: 50 Books/50 Covers

AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts) has posted their inspiring selections for the 50 Books/50 Covers of 2007 design competition on their Design Archives site.

The elegant cover pictured here is from The Mechanical Bird, a collection of poetry by Asa Boxer, published by Vehicule Press. It was designed by David Drummond of Canadian firm Salamander Hill Design (based in Elgin, Quebec) who have some other great book designs on their website.

Link to 50 Books/50 Covers

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Published October 1, 2008

Midweek Miscellany Oct 1, 08

Great book covers and  design by pioneering graphic designer Erik Nitsche on Flickr  . (Via Ace Jet 170 who has more Nitsche images).

On the subject of Flickr , the San Francisco Chronicle visits the offices of the popular photo site and talks to Director of Community Heather Champ:

“I can’t think of any successful online community where the nice, quiet, reasonable voices defeat the loud, angry ones on their own.”

Photo District News considers the market for limited edition photography books.

10 Things Epublishers Should Do For Readers : a nice wish list from Dear Reader.

And Kassia Krozser has further thoughts on moving from Print to E on Booksquare:

“eBooks are not going to be the next big thing; they’re going to be a thing. A part of a complex mix of reading choices. With that in mind, let’s think about ways we can blend ebooks into the publishing culture without pain.”

Publishing is Dead, Long Live Publishing:  Hugh McGuire  responds to that New York Magazine article on the Huffington Post:

“There’s been much teeth gnashing and lamenting over the impending collapse of the publishing business… Well, the traditional publishing business might be in for a rough ride, but I think we’re poised to see a flowering of a new kind of independent writing, book-making and reading, driven by the web but rooted in the old-fashioned book.”

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Published September 30, 2008

Mickey Smith – Volume

Volume by artist Mickey Smith is a lovely photographic tribute to bound periodicals and professional journals in public and private libraries:

The irony and graphic quality of repeating titles fascinate and draw, no matter how mundane, from known to obscure, from Vogue to Blood. I focus on simple, provocative titles that transcend the spines on which they appear.


(Thanks Siobhan!)

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Published September 30, 2008

Are E-Books Shovelware?

Introducing his five-part series BASIC Principles of Online Journalism (discussed last week), Paul Bradshaw notes:

It shouldn’t have to be said that the web is different, but I’ll say it anyway: the web is different. It is not print, it is not television, it is not radio.

So why write content for the web in the same way that you might write for a newspaper or a news broadcast?

Organisations used to do this, and some still do. It was called ‘shovelware’, a process by which content created for another medium (generally print) was ‘shovelled’ onto the web with nary a care for whether that was appropriate or not.

It was not.

With Peter Kent of DNAML recently suggesting  on the O’Reilly TOC blog that publishers treat e-books like software, and many e-books just digitalized versions of their print edition, are e-books falling into the category of  ‘shovelware’?

Certainly trade publishers have tended to think of the e-book as a ‘format’ — a cheaper, more convenient way to read text than an ordinary book that requires little amendment — rather than an entirely different ‘medium’ with new rules and possibilities.

Andrew Gallix, editor-in-chief of 3:AM Magazine mulled some of this over in The Guardian last week:

Bar a few notable exceptions (Penguin’s wiki-novel or We Tell Stories project), traditional publishers have used the internet as a glorified marketing tool providing them with new ways of flogging the same old same old: e-books, Sony Readers, digi-novels, slush-pile outsourcing… So far, the brave new world of digital literature has been largely anti-climatic…

I don’t think you  don’t need to embrace Gallix’s avant-garde e-lit leanings — or see e-books as completely detached from print — to appreciate that if they simply reproduce what’s already available, e-books are not really reaching their potential.

At the very least, authors and publishers should consider how the digital reading experience differs from that of print, whether this is producing new texts specifically intended to be published as e-books, or providing additional digital content for existing texts.

Thinking about Bradshaw’s  principles — brevity, adaptability, scannability, interactivity, community, and conversation — seem like a good place to start.

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Published September 29, 2008

Monday Miscellany Sept 29, 08

James Bridle of booktwo.org puts his money where his mouth is and launches the entirely print-on-demand, web-based publisher Bookkake: “Bookkake is a project born… of my desire to see publishing move with technology and survive as the guardian and helpmate of literature.”

Faber Books’ on Flickr: “We’re gradually uploading some of our favourite covers, photos and various other ephemera from our archive. Our archivist uncovers new material every day – we hope you enjoy his discoveries as much as we do!”

The 7 Sentence Online Marketing Plan and 4 Myths About Internet Marketing from Monique Trottier of So Misguided and Boxcar Marketing.

Five Ways Amazon Can Improve the Kindle from Gadget Lab on Wired.com: “The rumblings in the ground are pointing to an imminent Kindle 2.0, a successor to Amazon’s loved but flawed e-book reader.” Lots and lots of comments. (Is planned obsolescence going to be a problem for the e-book reader in the long-term? Anyone?)

The Muxtape story – or how the music industry is conspiring to alienate fans and kill itself? There’s almost certainly a lesson for the book industry in there somewhere…

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