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.
Continue reading Magazine Mentions B’ham Bookstores
One of my favorite new online services is back online with a new twist. Wowio.com is an online service that lets you read books for free or for pay. All you do is sign-up for a free username and then you can access all of the books uploaded by wowio‘s publishing partners, in an ad supported window. Or if you like, you can buy a pdf copy of the book and download to your desktop/pda/laptop/e-book reader/etc.
I’m not sure how the new partnership models will work out for the publishers, but if Wowio can have another year of growth, like they did last year, then they could become a force to be reckoned with (and no doubt the model for many copycat services).
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.
Today’s 13 titles are listed below…
Continue reading Man Booker Big List
I just read about the LA Times dropping their dedicated books coverage and eliminating staff. Not 10 minutes later I read about The Birmingham News and its plans to trim staff (which is a much nicer buyout deal than handing out pink slips).
I understand the competition and strain that newspapers are under. Plus, your larger news organizations are not the most nimble when it comes to redirecting content and adopting “new media” techniques. But they have to learn, and quick. Trained professional journalists are too valuable. I read a ton of blogs and websites. Most of them are good. But I still depend on the professional filters that journalists provide. There is too much noise and it’s nice to know that some folks are out there sorting through it for us.
At a minimum, I think every new organization that lets a reporter go should host them a blog for as long as they want to write. That seems fair to me! Think of all the extra traffic they’d get from content that they don’t have to pay for (except for the $5 in annual hosting fees).Plus, it would be a good way for them to get their feet wet in the digital age. I just don’t want all these skilled book reviewers and news hounds to go away. If they are over 50 and still doing their jobs it’s because they love and are good at it.
Why would you throw that away? New media or traditional print?
So that’s my contribution to the world this week. Give everyone a blog. Everything should be much better now.
