ePublishing Week in Brief – September 9th to13th, 2013
ePublishing Week in Brief – September 9th to13th, 2013
Self-Publishing Is Growing Up
In a new attempt to keep up with the rising self-publishing industry, which increasingly demands to be taken seriously, Publishers Weekly is significantly beefing up its coverage of authors who go it alone.
The literary trade magazine has announced that PW Select, its quarterly-turned-bimonthly guide to self-publishing, will go monthly in October—thus essentially doubling its critical coverage of self-publishing authors by the most influential journal in the industry.
This, by most accounts, is a fitting response to the not-entirely-shocking proliferation of self-publishing in the e-book era.
“It’s really become part of publishing—that’s probably the bottom line. It’s certainly not stigmatized in any way,” Jim Milliot, co-editorial director of Publishers Weekly, told The Atlantic Wire in a phone conversation this afternoon. “Most of the major house are looking at self-published authors now.”
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/09/publishers-weekly-gets-hip-to-the-age-of-self-publishing/69244/
Storify Acquired by Web Publishing Services Company Livefyre
Storify, a digital storytelling tool used by journalists to surface conversations that originate on social media, has been acquired by the Web publishing services company Livefyre.
Livefyre plans to fold Storify into its StreamHub product, which offers Web publishers tools for commenting, live blogs, live chats and social media curation. A spokesman for Livefyre declined to disclose the terms of the deal, but it marks the company’s first acquisition.
Storify co-founders Xavier Damman and Burt Hermann, as well as other staffers from the company, are joining Livefyre, according to the company’s release.
“Livefyre powers mass-scale social curation for some of the largest media companies in the world,” Damman said in a statement. “Livefyre will provide the technology foundation to help Storify scale to meet enterprise customer demands. Together, we’ll take Storify to the next level and will fulfill Livefyre’s vision of powering social everywhere.”
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/storify-acquired-web-publishing-services-company-livefyre-152297
Self-Publishing on a Shoestring: Amazon’s Matchbook Program
In the catbird seat.
The way the Matchbook program works, is if customers buy a print copy of a book in the program, they get a deeply discounted or free Kindle version of the same book. It’s similar to what Amazon has been doing with their audiobooks, where anyone who buys an e-book, can order a deeply discounted audiobook version, as well.
As a customer, I love this idea. When I find a favorite book, I get greedy. I want the hard copy, the e-book and the audiobook. That way, I can read it at home, I can take it on the go with my Kindle, and I can listen to it in the car. Getting deeply discounted prices is a great deal.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiana-miller/selfpublishing-on-a-shoes_1_b_3911008.html
Publishing System Helps Writers Determine Audience Interest
InboundWriter wants to help big publishers and niche bloggers figure out how much demand there is for their idea in the Web ecosystem before they type a word or hit “publish.” At least that’s the idea behind the newest version of the startup’s software, which the company said will be used by Source Interlink Media brands including Motor Trend Magazine and which has garnered interest from major television networks.
The system considers the topic and the Web publication, and then scans the Web to see what has already been written about the topic and how well it has been “picked up”—whether it’s been seen by thousands of readers via social media and search engines or only a scant few. It can also weigh how well the article is written for the Web and measures a few other factors such as if it’s “evergreen” to ultimately determine if the post is worth the author’s time, the San Mateo-based company told Adweek. It gives more leeway to writers for highly trafficked sites—in other words, their ideas don’t have to be as original to be deemed publish-worthy by InboundWriter.
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/publishing-system-helps-writers-determine-audience-interest-152318
American Express to Sell Publishing Business to Time
Time is expected to acquire American Express Publishing in the fourth quarter, according to a joint press release issued by the two companies on Tuesday. Amex’s publishing division includes Travel + Leisure and Food & Wine as well as card-member magazinesDepartures, Black Ink and Executive Travel.
Amex had hoped to retain the publishing division it has held since 1968, company spokeswoman Marina Norville told American Banker. But since Amex became a bank holding company in 2008, it is subject to regulations that limit banks’ nonfinancial activities
http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/178_176/american-express-to-sell-publishing-business-to-time-1061964-1.html
Q&A: Advancing the Digital Publishing Model
CEO Elisabeth DeMarse offers insight into TheStreet, Inc.’s evolution.
As the online publishing market continues to grow and change, making smart and cost-effective adjustments are the key to success—it’s not all about ad sales. Here, Elisabeth DeMarse, chair, president and CEO of
FOLIO:
Describe why the content subscription model is so important to TheStreet’s revenue mix.
Elisabeth DeMarse: When I arrived at TheStreet over a year ago, my thesis was to grow lucrative high-margin subscription businesses and expand our customer base to include institutions. We’ve made significant progress transforming our retail investing newsletter business. Our core strategy is to put the right customer into the right product while improving overall user experience, which leads to higher renewal rates and longer lifetime value of the customer.
http://www.foliomag.com/2013/q-advancing-digital-publishing-model#.UjLssMbimDE
Meet The Micropress: The Publishers of Cartoon House
Currently, Cartoon House is the home to several roommates and to three “micropresses.” A micropress is, typically, a one-person publishing house that puts out a small but diverse line of comics by multiple authors. Several micropresses have launched in the last three years, and as with the zine boom of the ‘90s, the micropress is shaping up to have its movement this decade.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/58943-meet-the-micropress-the-publishers-of-cartoon-house.html