Self-Published Books Pushed by Apple

Apple recently announced its new program of “Breakout Books” as reported in The New York Times.

According to the piece, “popular” self-published books will be featured under a banner on the iBookstore for the first few weeks, and then will become a regular feature.  Not mentioned in the article: exactly where these books come from. The piece interviewed Smashwords founder Mark Coker, who said the books “were nominated to Apple’s editorial team.”  Given the happy Smashwords/Apple relationship,  “were nominated” probably means “nominated by Smashwords.”

Smashwoods’ Reach Extends

Smashwords’ importance as a sales and discovery channel for self-published works is ever-growing. Mr. Coker recently also allied with many public libraries to make thousands of self-published ebooks available to the library market.

Can We Trust the Books?

The titles Apple will  highlight are selected based on: “criteria including sales performance and reader reviews” although the Apple “editorial team” has “final say” on the selections.

The world needs [Read more…]

A plea for the formation of a far more perfect publishing body; one that protects literature and may contribute to the bottom line, even if not signed by Benjamin Franklin.

Book Publishers, Collude!

We, the readers, in order to “discover” the most perfect books, establish the value of editorial, design and production skills, provide for the common defense of the critical mind, promote the general intellect, and secure the Blessings of  Quality Literature (known as “Content”) for ourselves and our Posterity, do suggest the establishment of an industry label for books published by the Professional Publishers of the World. [Read more…]

12 Random Penguin Merger Predictions

Sorry, I mean the Penguin Random merger.  I so like random penguin…

Of course the future may hold surprises regarding the Random House/Penguin Group blending…  (See:  Christie/Obama..)

But some writing is pretty visibly on the wall, saltwater wash notwithstanding.

1.)  Authors and agents will worry (justifiably) and object (fruitlessly).

As Scott Turow, president of the Author’s Guild, notes:  “Penguin Random House, our first mega-publisher, would have additional negotiating leverage with the bookselling giants, but that leverage would come at a high cost for the literary market and therefore for readers. There are already far too few publishers willing to invest in nonfiction authors, who may require years to research and write histories, biographies, and other works, and in novelists, who may need the help of a substantial publisher to effectively market their books to readers.”

2.)  Nothing visible will happen for a while.  Behind the scenes, the accountants and lawyers will get very busy. [Read more…]