Times are changing. Readers now behave differently than ever. They read different things and in different new ways. And now, they no longer want simply to read – they want to write too. They want to be publishers of their own thoughts and own ideas. Each one of these wannabe individual Publishers (somewhere deep in their heart) want to be bigger than the New York Times (and probably Wall Street Journal put together). There is no debate. Print publishing is under fire. Dramatic changes in reading habits have hit print readership badly. This has pushed print circulation and ad revenues down. Increasing competition from new media channels for eyeballs and the ad budgets have made life difficult for the circulation and ad sales departments in the publisher’s office. Increasing production and distribution costs have further squeezed the margins in print. This is no epitaph. It’s a simple idea for print Publishers. Stop thinking in terms of ‘print’. Print is simply a tool. A tool that has worked wonderfully for over past 400 years. Read More>>

There’s no resisting the trend. To survive, magazine businesses are compelled to diversify beyond the printed page, whether they want to—or know how to—or not. They’re also compelled to stare down the harsh realities of rising paper, ink and distribution costs, as well as increasing competition from online-only and other competitors. So where are publishers who are combating these challenges successfully turning for help? In many cases, to vendors known mostly for putting ink on paper in the first place—their printers. “A good printer is your partner, not just your supplier,” former DLG Media Holdings COO Dana Spain-Smith recently told... Read the rest of this post

Queen’s Wood Press is pleased to announce the publication of its inaugural collection of innovative new fiction. The collection, entitled Out of the Woods: Stories, features the work of selected up-and-coming authors from the north London area and is attractively illustrated with original linocuts and drawings. The nine stories exemplify the diversity and range of new talent represented by Queen’s Wood Press, each story displaying a distinctive narrative voice. A representative of the publisher commented, ‘We’re extremely proud of Out of the Woods and think it does an excellent job of showcasing some of our best authors. It is aimed... Read the rest of this post

This paper draws upon research on women's employment in the UK book publishing industry. Contrary to public opinion that publishing offers exceptional opportunities for women, the survey revealed that although women make up 60 per cent of the workforce, men were more than twice as likely to become managers and more than 5 times as likely to become directors. Processes contributing to gendered occupational segregation and the operation of dual labour markets are analysed in terms of “pressures” and “preferences”; mediated by a traditionally informal approach to personnel practices. Structural change is creating polarisation into large conglomerates and small specialised... Read the rest of this post

The artist Harland Miller praises the winning jackets of the inaugural Penguin Books Design award I'm not a big fan of design for design's sake - Philippe Starck toothbrushes, for example - but as Oscar Wilde sagely observed, "Only superficial people don't judge by appearances." When it comes to covers, the old adage about judging a book might not be true. For a long time I thought that a good cover was simply a good title, and vice versa. It's one reason why I have an undying love of old Penguin classics. When the novel is called The Great Gatsby... Read the rest of this post

The Future of Media Report for 2007 just went a live a second ago in PDF format, a little less than a week away from the Silicon Valley and Sydney based Future of Media Summit. This article provides an overview of the key concepts, issues and research results showcased within this interesting yearly media report. The report opens by surveying significant developments in the media landscape since June 2006. Here we are given an overview of the previous year, and the changes that made 2006 important for media publishers, networks and consumers. Read more>>

Spooks, snoops and secret agents: they’re everywhere When the cold war ended, in 1989, there was one group of people who faced an immediate problem. For almost half a century, thriller writers had used the conflict between East and West as the backdrop for novels that pitted ideologies and friends against each other. At a moment when nobody had heard of Osama Bin Laden, authors such as John le Carré and Len Deighton suddenly found themselves in a world where the old certainties had disappeared. Traditional enemies George HW Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev met in Malta and declared that hostilities... Read the rest of this post

Publishers are everyone's favourite whipping post. We don't pay our authors enough, books are too expensive, and no one likes the ones we love most. Now, on top of it all, we are revealed to be fools. Yesterday the director of the Bath Jane Austen Festival reported that he submitted thinly disguised versions of Pride and Prejudice and two other Austen favourites to 18 UK publishers, and every single publisher turned them down. Publishers turn down masterpieces every day and miss the opportunity to publish great bestsellers. Last year I missed Freakonomics. And there are other great books that I... Read the rest of this post

For a comprehensive list of contacts withing and around publishing: Click here.... Read the rest of this post

Coming soon: The most inclusive reader's catalog in the world, at your fingertips. Buying a book could become as easy as buying a pack of gum. After several years in development, the Espresso - a $50,000 vending machine with a conceivably infinite library - is nearly consumer-ready and will debut in ten to 25 libraries and bookstores in 2007. The New York Public Library is scheduled to receive its machine in February. The company behind the Espresso is called On Demand Books, founded by legendary book editor Jason Epstein, 78, and Dane Neller, 56, but the technology was developed six... Read the rest of this post

So, you find yourself walking around Waterstone’s looking for your next inspiring read… and POW! Look Jodie Marsh has published a biography!! Oh and right next to it big brother winner Chantelle Houghton too… Oooh! which one to read, which one? It’s ridiculous, I’m all in favour of biographies about people who can actually count beyond 10, but why does anyone care about the life stories of two reality TV reprobates? Ones famous for wearing a bunch of belts as an outfit and the other for representing the ultimate stereotype of a dumb blonde… can they even read and write?... Read the rest of this post

Witches, wizards, Magical trees, flying cars, Hippo-griffs, Magic dragons, House-elf called Dobby and swotty little magical braniacs fighting dark evil forces… Yes… Harry Potter Madness is upon us… with Rowling’s final installment weeks away… Potter mania is set to take the world by storm! Imagine it… It’s Monday morning and you are sardined on the tube again. You can barely feel your feet as half of London has trampled all over them you’re nice new suit is getting the crimpled treatment by the ignoramus behind you... and smack!... the 5 year old trapped In a grown up’s body behind you... Read the rest of this post

Danuta Kean of The Guardian explains what makes a book a success Imagine you're a bestselling author. How do you see yourself? A chick-lit star, posing for Hello! with celebrity friends at your glamorous book launch? Propping up the bar in Soho House, an ageing lit-lad making ironic observations to the arm-candy at your side? Whatever the fantasy, it is doubtful it involves days spent developing repetitive-strain industry in a book warehouse as you sign 1,000 books an hour, or weeks schlepping round the provincial bookshops of Britain meeting booksellers more interested in the famous footballer scheduled for a signing... Read the rest of this post

When it comes to the craft of writing, bestselling novelist David Lodge finds much to celebrate, analyze, and confess. In this absorbing collection of seventeen essays he ponders the work of writers he particularly admires, current and past trends in literary style, and the mechanics of the craft itself. Revealing, enlightening pieces on Graham Greene, James Joyce, Kingsley Amis and Anthony Burgess are interspersed with personal reflections on Lodge’s own artistic and technical struggles. His insights into the contemporary world of publishing, and mass culture in general, are both trenchant and refreshing. As entertaining as it is edifying, this collection... Read the rest of this post

Purpose – The paper seeks to encourage both LIS teachers and LIS students to experiment with more interactive methods of teaching and learning. The example is taken from a series of seminars at Humboldt Universität Berlin, Department for Library and Information Science.

Bridget Jones Syndrome - Snap out of it! Ever fancied yourself as a bit of a Bridget Jones? Well the movie certainly put women in publishing on the map... portraying us as ditsy young females, unlucky in love and losing the battle with the bulge!!! Don’t get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed the movies... I mean why wouldn’t we enjoy watching a plump Rene Zellwegger portraying us all as feeble, granny pant wearing, bad decision making females who are basically a danger to ourselves if we so much as walk out the front door! And hello what’s with the messed up sequel... enough of that! Agreed we’ve all found ourselves working monster hours, drinking too much and fooling ourselves that this diet will indeed work... well it would if we didn’t suddenly find ourselves comfort eating krispy kremes after a hard day in the office meeting impossible deadlines and trying to manage unmotivated co-workers.

Overworked and underpaid – where’s the glamour in that? You’re out having drinks after work one night and a friend introduces you to Aaron the accountant – well, why not. Most post-work drinking establishments are crawling with Aarons, Marks or Grahams all behaving boisterously and flashing their cash! Anyway, after listening to 10 minutes of self-praise Aaron asks you what you do for a living, you reply ‘I work in publishing!’ Aaron smugly replies ‘Aha... very glamorous... all those publishers lunches eh! Lucky you’ So you find yourself mustering a fake smile and suddenly wishing the little guy would flutter away somewhere, but alas, he stays and decides to interrogate you with ‘So, fancy yourself as a bit of a Bridget Jones, eh?’

I think I can honestly say I have had my fair share of nightmare interviews while working in this industry. With the publishing business hosting a range of ‘interesting’ people from all kinds of backgrounds and cultures, you can always guarantee a rotten apple in your portfolio of interviews from hell! Not to mention any names because, well let’s face it, if I do this piece will not get published, despite the gallant efforts from all those concerned at publishthis! But top of my list of interviews from hell saw me travelling into Central London to an office where it seemed that if I so much as sneezed too loudly I would receive a deadly blow to the solar plexus from a manager who I can only describe as reminding me of something from the planet Tatooine. The only thing that I hate more than being interviewed by more than one person? A panel of three people who act like they have just been allowed out on day release from the Maudsley hospital on Denmark Hill.

Håkan Nesser who is a Swedish author of crime fiction novels. He has been translated in many languages but there are only two novels available in English.If you are looking for action, Carambole is then not the kind of detective... Read the rest of this post

The PubMed Central (PMC) National Advisory Committee was established by the National Institutes of Health in 1999 to guide the development of a new, open-access digital repository of biomedical research reports. Headquartered at the National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information, PMC has achieved significant technical accomplishments, including a recommended publisher document type definition for digital archiving, but little interest in the use of the new digital archive has been shown by the medical publishing community. This article chronicles the evolution of the initial concept from digital publisher to digital archive and includes issues related to technology and the culture of scientific communication.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00907320410519504

The PubMed Central (PMC) National Advisory Committee was established by the National Institutes of Health in 1999 to guide the development of a new, open-access digital repository of biomedical research reports. Headquartered at the National Library of Medicine’s National Center... Read the rest of this post

<strong>Bill Hibbert</strong> discusses how new types of publishing (electronic, particularly) are about to make major changes in the media-related industry. Contends traditional approaches to the business will not work in the digital era. Investigates the traditional and new publishing technologies/industries, including the Internet, and wonders what the future holds for publishing and media companies with regard to regulations. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/

Bill Hibbert discusses how new types of publishing (electronic, particularly) are about to make major changes in the media-related industry. Contends traditional approaches to the business will not work in the digital era. Investigates the traditional and new publishing technologies/industries,... Read the rest of this post