Mac Slocum over on the O-Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing blog offers up a neat twist to the debate of e-books vs. paper books… what if we had all been using e-books for the past few hundred years and paper books were just coming on the market? Would we all laugh at the paperback, or as the new kid on the block, would it capture our attention and spark a movement?
He lists out the benfits of the new unplugged book model: no need to buy batteries, lasts a loooooong time, ultra portable, ultra cheap, etc. All these things almost put the old e-book model to shame, huh?
Slocum calls it the flip test and it sure seems a good way to look at both sides of an equation.
Portico Managing Editor, Amanda Manning has penned a piece on a handful of our local bookstores. Her article is slated to run in the September issue. Manning has only called Birmingham home for a few years, so she graciously answered a few quick questions for me about her article and other bookish goodness.
Judges have cut the 112 entries for the 2008 man Booker Prize down to just 13 titles. The judging panel is made up of a Cabinet Minister, novelist, magazine editor, and a bookstore owner turned TV personality. The Book Shortlist will be announced September 9th and the winner October 14th.
I just started following Yale Univeristy Press on Twitter. Are there other cool publishers that I’m missing? Please pass along if you know of any.
It’s interesting to follow publishers as they move into new areas. It seems most are hesitant to explore things like Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, etc. So I’m glad to see some trying it out and doing a good job at it. And by good job, I mean sending stuff out other than “get 20% off book x this week”.
Press releases are ok, but if I’m following a publishers feed or engaging them via social media it’s because I’m interested in them on a topical level. So far Yale University Press‘ feed is doing that.
I just started following 