Archive for the 'Written Word' Category
Author Seth Godin Goes Non-Traditional 23 Aug 2010
Seth Godin has been the author of 12 books that have been released the ‘traditional’ way, which is to say, by a publisher in hard copy, but he’s vowed his latest book is the last to be done that way. He doesn’t specify what alternative method he’ll use, just that the publisher route is too [...]
Alternative Publishing 22 Jun 2010
i09 has an interesting read on author Robin Sloan’s attempts to use the internet as an alternative publishing avenue. Sloan recently raised $13,500 in donations to release his novella free-for-all in PDF format, not bad. He’s also released books for editing on Twitter, sold his books on the Kindle with the caveat that he would [...]
Artistic Sexism 18 May 2010
Where are all the female writers and directors? raises some interesting questions and not just the one in the title. Why are there fewer female artisans? Is it purely a perception issue: they are out there but we haven’t heard of them? Is it because there are fewer? Is it because they are not recognised [...]
E-Book Pricing 1 Mar 2010
I’ve read a couple of posts about e-book pricing of late. The latest was from The NY Times, which has a decidedly US slant (as you’d expect), but previously was one from the BBC. I’ve written about this before as well, and stated that the three things that are stopping e-reader and e-book adoption are: [...]
Will E-Books Mean Cheaper Textbooks? 11 Feb 2010
So I’m reading an article over at CNN where ten tech luminaries (their words) are commenting on the future of reading and I stumble across this from author Jeannette Walls: I think electronic readers and tablets are going to have a huge impact on the textbook business. Some textbooks cost more than $100. What student [...]
The Google Book Fiasco 4 Sep 2009
I don’t understand all of the furore about Google’s plans to digitise out-of-print books and their settlement with authors to allow them to proceed. A legal suit started in 2005 halted progress but a settlement was reached in October 2008 and authors have until today to opt out of the agreement if they so wish. [...]
Signing Off Your Email 5 Aug 2009
There’s an interesting article on The Washington Post about how to sign off in email. Personally, I tend to go with: Regards (of some sort) – for formal communications Cheers/Thanks – if I’m asking for something or otherwise want to be nice Just my name – for short emails I got a newsletter recently where [...]
The Future for Books 22 Mar 2009
Slate has an interesting piece on the rise of Amazon’s Kindle (now on its second version). For those who don’t know, the Kindle is a competitor to the likes of the Sony eReader, offering the ability to read books, newspapers, blogs and other written material on a screen that is of a quality comparable to [...]
Pratchett on Fantasy and Sci-Fi 14 Nov 2007
After finishing Hogfather recently I was hunting on You Tube for clips from the Hogfather special that Sky showed last year to see whether it was worth buying it (I probably will, but a cheaper single-disc version seems to be due later this month so I’ll wait). Anyway, I stumbled across a BBC interview with [...]
Status Update 21 Jul 2007
Just back from my brother’s stag week in Amsterdam and the final Harry Potter book is now out. So: Yes, I have bought a copy. Yes, Asda are selling it for £5.00 despite the wholesale price being £10.74 Yes, Asda did still have plenty in stock, despite selling 250,000, half their order, before 9am (but [...]