ePublishing Week in Brief – May 13th ti 17th, 2013
ePublishing Week in Brief – May 13th ti 17th, 2013
Publishing industry roundtable plots a survival story
Serial entrepreneur and Financial Times columnist Luke Johnson could be excused for having a pessimistic outlook on the publishing sector, having “lost a fortune” following his purchase of the UK arm of Borders, the book chain in 2007.
At a roundtable discussion to launch this year’s Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, the co-founder of private equity firm Risk Capital Partners says he “passionately” hopes books continue to prosper.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/240be582-be07-11e2-9b27-00144feab7de.html#axzz2TYUHQWGF
Blogger writes about predatory publishing, is threatened with $1B suit
Citing India law, firm informs Jeffrey Beall he could face up to three years too.
Metadata librarian Jeffrey Beall runs the popular industry blog Scholarly Open Access. The site maintains a list of open-access journals and publishers that Beall believes engage in predatory practices. For journals and publishers these acts include things like spamming scholars or charging faulty fees for content. The site is known simply as “Beall’s list” to followers and its notoriety has earned Beall ink in places like The New York Times. (And yes, now he even receives pseudo-spammer journals who request to be featured on the site without really understanding.)
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/blogger-writes-about-predatory-publishing-is-threatened-with-1b-suit/
Point of Presence, an example of DYI publishing
Author Rick Clyne takes his story to the people
In days of yore in order for a fledgling author to have their work published they had to find a publisher who thought enough of their work or were somehow convinced that they would actually publish their book. That was not too hard if you were an ex-President or some famous or infamous person, but for most authors this was a miserable road that most often ended in failure. Some lucky or rich folks were able to hire an agent who would shop their book around, again trying to find a publisher to give them their break. Of course if you were lucky enough to get your first book published, it was easier to get the next one published too. Today the Internet, open source models and e-books have turned this model on its head (thank goodness).
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/83063
Publishing manager ordered to pay back $700,000
The former general manager of a printing and publishing company has been ordered to pay more than $700,000 after paying herself unauthorised lieu days and other payments.
Norah Laurence Tither, known as Laura, also had her personal grievance claim for unjustified suspension and payment in lieu of notice dismissed.
Mrs Tither was employed by Horton Media Limited (HML) as an office manager from September 1998 to April 2000, and then as general manager until March 2012.
An Employment Relations Authority determination said her role included managing banking and financial procedures for the company and a subsidiary, Waiuku Publishing Limited (WPL).
Turning the corner? E-book revenue props up publishing industry
BookStats, which calls itself “publishing’s most comprehensive annual survey,” released data Wednesday for book sales during the 2012 calendar year.
E-book sales are soaring — especially in genres like adult fiction and children’s/young adult — according to a new survey of the publishing industry.
BookStats, jointly launched in 2011 by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group,released select results Wednesday from the third annual report in its history. The survey covered the calendar year 2012.
“E-books grew 45 percent since 2011 and now constitute 20 percent of the Trade market, playing an integral role in 2012 Trade revenue,” BookStats reported via press release. “The most pivotal driver of e-books remains Adult Fiction, with Children’s/Young Adult also showing strong numbers.”
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865580104/Turning-the-corner-E-book-revenue-props-up-publishing-industry.html
Monroe native becomes sci-fi publishing phenom with ‘Wool’
When Publishers Weekly finally reviewed the dystopian sci-fi thriller “Wool” last month, its assessment was lukewarm. The reviewer called Monroe native Hugh Howey’s characters bland and his writing immature.
But it didn’t much matter. By the time the review came out, Howey already had sold more than half a million copies of his “Wool” stories, the saga of a post-apocalyptic civilization that lives in a giant underground silo. He even missed the review, because he was busy meeting fans on a book tour in Australia and New Zealand.
Howey’s self-published sci-fi hit, which took off as an e-book, demonstrates how digital technology continues to transform publishing. But his particular story has made headlines for another reason: When he parlayed his success on Amazon into a mid-six figure print deal with Simon & Schuster, he negotiated to keep the e-book rights.
Xyleme Announces Innovative New Publishing Tools for Its Industry Leading LCMS
Unique XML to Word and PowerPoint Services Expands Customization and Blended Learning Solutions
BOULDER, CO–(Marketwired – May 16, 2013) – Xyleme’s latest update to its XML-based Learning Content Management System includes a new set of publishing services for template-driven outputs to Word and PowerPoint. With this new SaaS offering, Xyleme enables clients to self-configure styling and layout options without any specialized skills.
“As recently reported by ASTD, over 60% of all learning is delivered in a classroom (including virtual delivery),” commented Mark Hellinger, President and CEO of Xyleme. “With this new service, we are driving down the cost of delivering customized content for corporations, academic institutions and professional training organizations.”
While XML is the standard model for multi-channel delivery, the ability to reuse and repurpose content directly to Word and PowerPoint has always been a difficult challenge. Xyleme’s new Microsoft® Integration Service enables fully automated publishing from Xyleme LCMS, with Word and PowerPoint templates created by non-technical users. Xyleme customers already using this new service include sales training and software developers, allowing them to customize outputs for individual clients with minimal effort.