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Sunday, August 08, 2010

SFU Digital Strategies: Jenna Newman on Google and the Future of Books

Jenna shares her knowledge of Google and the Future of Books at the SFU Digital Strategies, Digital Publishing workshop.

Now, explaining the mysteries of Google’s

* Partner Program
* Library Project
* Google Editions

Google has the engineering quality and the data quantity to make them the leader today. Having more books means more content to index, more knowledge and more possible results. Plus, more pages to serve up with advertising, therefore more possible revenue for Google.

Google Book Search is possible because the scanned book data is integrated into general search results.

Partner Program targets publishers or rights owners (writers).
* Materials are indexed (from digital files from books that are digitized—printed books are scanned)
* Publisher decides what books are displayed and what percentage of the book can be displayed
* Material is browse only
* Buying options are available and the publisher can set the priority order of the buy links (i.e., publisher site listed first, then Amazon or other)
* Revenue stream is text ads

Google Book Settlement
* Started as the library project. They scanned entire library collections.
* Included books published up to 5 January 2009, includes orphan works, public domain works
* Google said “we’ll scan, you get a copy and we’ll get a copy too”
* Google will sell full-text access, which is why this is under review in the courts, read here “opt-out class action”
* Revenue streams: text ads, individual consumer purchase, institutional subscription fees
* Revenue share with the Book Rights Registry (which doesn’t exist right now)

Book Rights Registry
* Cost to run will be deducted from the publishers’ 60% revenue share
* In the partner program, there’s the publisher-Google relationship. In the settlement, the program requires you to pay for this additional level.
* In the partner program you can also see the insights (traffic, sales). Here, that info goes to the registry.
* The settlement has explicit rules that might attempt to overrule the existing author/publisher contract

The Settlement
* Because it’s opt-out, Google can now scan all the books it comes across regardless of whether the publisher/rights holder ignores Google or if rights holders have died or gone out of business.
* The settlement is the “other” category, it covers whatever is not covered by other agreements
* The settlement is not yet approved
* Books published after Jan 2009 are not part of the settlement

For Google, books are a giant database to be mined for content pages to index.

The deep mining of this data set means Google’s optical recognition software learns as it goes, making it the best.

Google Editions
* Not launched yet, concrete details
* Digital bookstore, not just discoverability (Partner Program), this is about sales
* Books are included by request
* Agency model pricing: 37-63% split
* This is the extension of the Partner Program. Users discover the books through Google Book Search and then buy via Google Editions
* Google will sell ebooks in whatever format and whatever geographic region where rights are held

The settlement is the default agreement and applies to eligible books (pre-Jan 2009) whenever another Google agreement isn’t already in place.

Google Editions may be combined with the Partner Program.

Regardless of the agreement, books will show up in Google Book Search.

Hey Publishers
* strengthen your own presence online
* optimize your site for search
* if you haven’t opted out of the settlement then claim all your books before 31 March 2011 (if you don’t claim your books, you get no cash payments)
* scan your own books (Google doesn’t give you a copy)

What now?
Full Google Books Settlement is available but don’t start at the beginning. Skip to Appendix M or N for the highlights.

(Joy’s insight: Google is creating incentives for rights holders to figure out how to sell your content more effectively.)

Saturday, August 07, 2010

SFU Digital Strategy: Christoph Kapp

Today I’m speaking at the SFU Summer Publishing Workshop on Digital Strategies.

Speaking now ...

Christoph Kapp, Manager, Library & Digital Services, Special Sales, Custom Solutions at Login Canada on markets and strategies for digital publishing.

Why focus on libraries?

Mount Pleasant Library ca. 1925

Example of a university library annual budget: $14 million
Majority goes to journals.
Libraries are places of discovery, connection, sharing.

$500 million a year is spent on content.

Libraries are in transition. As materials move online, libraries are no longer about paper books. This has initiated changes in the library environment and across Canada.

Librarians are not ...
Librarians in Smocks

Librarians are experts.
* Highly Trained
* And experience in training others
* Customer focused
* Matchmakers
* Quality Seekers
* Value Seekers
* Results oriented (usage is important, not just making content available)
* Sustainability oriented: Not just eco, but sustainable usage goals, ROI
* Strategic partners

UK - London - Bloomsbury: British Museum - Reading Room

Digital Content trends in Canadian libraries

Content of corporate libraries is not quite 100% but many are providing 90-100% digital vs. printed materials for their members. Their organizations are digitally publishing their reports and studies, etc. Corporate librarians are therefore well ahead of others bringing content online.

University libraries are catching up. They have a larger collection to oversee, which has slowed them down.

K-12 is the slowest to adopt digital. Many of the relevant teaching materials are not digital. Plus there are issues of availability/accessibility to funding for digital materials. Books and basketballs are easier to pitch for than funding for databases.

Card Catalog 2/30

Religious and private schools are slightly ahead.

Hospitals were slow to uptake but the spike is significant.
* Digital packages for ebooks are more readily available.
* Consolidation in the health care sector means that digital is a cost effective measure.

(Monique’s aside: I wonder what this means about Kindle and other mobile reading devices, or even content sent via the tv sets available at bedside. Devices walk but I wonder about materials distributed as a tv signal…)

Old infrastructure of hospitals (lovely brick walls, cables vs. air signals) also affects the possibilities in this market.


Challenges
Money is not the challenge. They have the budget. Proving the demand for your content is the challenge.

Coimbra - University Library Interior

The typical challenges fall into these categories.

Old-school digital: Can you get investment in new tools? If the current system is “good enough”, this is a customer issue that you have to leap.

There are so many digital options: The customer can be overwhelmed.

There are types and standards: ebooks, databases, DVD/CD/Audio, OEM/systems/gadgets, integrated and custom/bundles, file standards (pdf, xml, OeB, ePub)

There are platforms: aggregators, publishers, libraries

Aggregators are an option because publishers didn’t build their own platforms (where/how customers get access). So the aggregators built the platform and bought licenses from the publishers.

(Monique’s aside: Yet another thing publishers didn’t do for themselves, making their business/revenue dependent on a third party. Hello Google. Hello Amazon.)

There are pricing models: single download, subscription (concurrence, unlimited), perpetual (access forever—by paying a higher amount, you have access forever), local-load (started at Stanford, this is where UofT has invested in own infrastructure, they own and house and control that content), other

(Monique’s aside: how do you “control” and price your content? Local-load is an interesting spin because it’s the closest thing to “ownership” of the print book. Custom course packs look really interesting in this model.)

Scholar’s portal is owned by 22 Ontario universities and they can buy and access all the materials in this system. So 1 sale to the portal, with access to all. This creates interesting legal issues. The contracts define the usage.

(Christoph’s aside: Precedent setting Master license is coming soon with schedules for reference, trade, rate, and for textbook use. So far, it’s been 1 or nothing licensing. This is a totally different business model. It’s not open access, it’s 1 use at 1 time. When it’s not material adopted for courses, then it’s more open. This provides the content but manages the demand vs. the supply.)

Then there are periods: one-time, annual, multi-year, mix

(Christoph’s aside: California matters in publishing because it’s a good model to look at for Canadian publishing. Studying what happens in California is indicative of what might work in Canada. Similar population make-up.)

Content Is King. Or is it?

In libraries, “Content Is King” is re-written to “Usage Is King.” Librarians need to prove that the content is being used.

(Monique’s aside: Librarians want the People’s Prince, not the Inaccessible King.)

Collect, measure, analyze the usage = Deci$ion to buy.

Once again, this great info is from the SFU Digital Strategy session by Christoph Kapp, Manager, Library & Digital Services, Special Sales, Custom Solutions at Login Canada speaking on markets and strategies for digital publishing.

Now beautiful library photos:

Saturday, July 31, 2010

35 Books Up for Grabs

I pulled 35 books off my shelves that I’m sending to another home. If you’re in Vancouver and want to stake a claim on any of these, let me know. Some are already claimed, but have a peak at GoodReads for what’s available.

Monique’s book montage

 

   

A Spot of Bother

   

Stud: Adventures in Breeding

   

The View From Castle Rock

   

Mistress of the Sun

   

The Possible Past

   

Taking Things Seriously: 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance

   

The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism

   

Skim

   

Gifted: A Novel

   

Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil

   

West End Murders

   

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

   

The Blue Jean Book: The Story Behind the Seams

   

Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning

   

Audition: A Memoir

   

Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business

   

Boys and Girls Like You and Me: Stories

   

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and our Health—and a Vision for Change

   

The Little Stranger

   

The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods

 


Monique’s favorite books »
 

 

I’ve got another 18 that I want to recommend. In no particular order:

Lavinia by Ursula LeGuin to Boris who I think enjoys a good fantasy yarn and maybe hasn’t read LeGuin. If that’s true, then he definitely needs this book.

Public Art in Vancouver by Steil + Stalker to Sean who is involved with public art in Vancouver and may not have a copy of this great book, which I think would be an even better iphone app.

Taking Things Seriously by Glenn & Hayes to Rachael who has enough books I’m sure, but this one is quirky and might give her some fun photography inspiration.

The Big Why by Michael Winter to Darren who likes reading and should definitely get some Canadian writers under his belt.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave to my mom who will be interested in this fiction that could be true about a Nigerian girl who’s seeking refuge in Britain and the only people she knows is a couple she met on the beach in Nigeria while they were on holiday.

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks also to Darren, in case he doesn’t like Michael Winters. This book is esoteric enough to be of interest, at least for a couple of chapters.

Audition by Barbara Walters to Jen, who I think would be interested in the celebrity memoir of Walters and the twists to her character that this book reveals.

The Order of Good Cheers by Bill Gaston to James, who should read Gaston because I think he’ll like the local settings and Gaston’s sense of place and character.

The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard to any of my geeky, interweb friends who want to claim it first.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters also to my mom because she likes these historical novels and because I like Sarah Waters.

Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel to Rachael who took me to the CBC Book Club to see Martel.

Duel by David Mulholland to Greg who was my high school English teacher and my next-door neighbour. This book is smart enough for him to enjoy.

Small beneath the Sky by Lorna Crozier to my grandma because she likes reading and she might like this Saskatchewan memoir since that’s where she grew up and because prairie girls stick together.

Jew and Improved by Benjamin Errett to Julie, not because I want her to convert but because, of all my friends, she’ll enjoy this exploration of religion, ritual and faith.

 

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Book Review: Madame de Stael by Francine de Plessix Gray

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Madame de Stael: The First Modern Woman by Francine Du Plessix Gray is a beautiful book. I picked it up in McNally Jackson in Soho. Lovely. And the writing is, of course, equally fabulous.

What I love about bookstores are these types of discoveries. If McNally Jackson wasn’t such a gem of a store, and didn’t have interesting tables of books and little nooks to display staff favourites, then I would not have purchased this book or even known about it. Thank you McNally.

Madame de Staël was a legendary conversationalist. Schooled by her mother and well versed in the salon by the time she married, Madame de Staël was known for her intelligence, enthusiasm and eloquence—and natural conversation skills, unlike her mother’s, which were quite forced.

De Staël was passionate about politics, women’s rights and her father. The first part of the book details her childhood at the hands of her demanding mother and how she doted on her father, who was Louis XVI’s minister of finance. I just got into the section about her marriage, many affairs and motherhood then I misplaced my book! It’s lost somewhere in Florida so I have another on order from McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg (the parents of Sarah McNally, who runs McNally Jackson in Soho). Until then I shall have to wait to read about her battle of wills with Napoléon Bonaparte and the epic tales about her salon.

In the meantime, could everyone go find a gem in their local bookstore please. I would like them to remain in existence—both the gems and the bookstores.

Friday, June 11, 2010

The Internet Is Made of People

The internet is made of people and today my favourite person is Maureen Johnson. She writes books and she has a manifesto.

The Manifesto is this:

The internet is made of people. People matter. This includes you. Stop trying to sell everything about yourself to everyone. Don’t just hammer away and repeat and talk at people—talk TO people. It’s organic. Make stuff for the internet that matters to you, even if it seems stupid. Do it because it’s good and feels important. Put up more cat pictures. Make more songs. Show your doodles. Give things away and take things that are free. Look at what other people are doing, not to compete, imitate, or compare . . . but because you enjoy looking at the things other people make. Don’t shove yourself into that tiny, airless box called a brand—tiny, airless boxes are for trinkets and dead people.

Please read her full post. If you don’t and you consider yourself a brand, it’s just you and the baby seal.

Full post.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Oprah’s Favourite Women Authors: Constance Kellough

Oprah picks 17 of her favourite women writers, including one of my Boxcar Marketing clients, Constance Kellough, author of The Leap.

Constance Kellough
Constance Kellough is the president of Namaste Publishing, the publisher that brought us Eckhart Tolle. In her book The Leap, she proposes that consciousness is a reality anyone can enter at any time. The key is stillness, not silence. The Leap promises to help you stay present with the physical realm in a profoundly deep way. As the Zen masters say: Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

“This is a book of crystalline vibration…The Leap assists humanity to purposefully, passionately and compassionately support our leap into a new reality.” Ann, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

 

Monday, February 22, 2010

Grand Finale of the W2 Real Vancouver Writers’ Series

This is the last week of the Olympics and the Grand Finale of the W2 Real Vancouver Writers’ Series!

So far, we’ve had 3 straight weeks of enthusiasm, great writers and standing room only crowds. If you’re interested in going, better get on it.

Here’s the details:

Date: Wednesday February 24th
Location: W2 Culture + Media House 112 West Hastings Street across from the refurbed Woodwards Building.

Doors open at 630
First Reader 710ish
Hosted by Sean Cranbury & Hal Wake

Program:

Opening Remarks: Sean Cranbury

Introducing Honoured Special Guest Michael Nichol Yahgulanaas who will showcase a video/interactive discussion about his work.

From there we will go to a streamlined line-up of 5-7 minute readings from our writers including two breaks.  Like this:

Rhonda Waterfall
Weldon Hunter
kc dyer

Break

Steven Galloway
Leilah Nadir
Alex Leslie
Caroline Adderson

Break

Leanne Prain & Mandy Moore aka The Yarn Bombers
McKinley M Hellenes
Timothy Taylor
Brad Cran

Here’s a great video from week 2 about the series: http://realvancouverwriters.com/2010/02/19/cool-video-about-w2-real-vancouver-writers-series/

Plus, Sean says, “we will be giving away some amazing prizes during the evening.  There’s a cash bar, too and great art and photography on the walls.”

(Thanks for the email update Sean!)

Friday, January 22, 2010

Hardback Leather Case for MacBook and MacBook Pro

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http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook/gallery/

Oh yes, this looks nice. Thank you for the link Craig Riggs.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Kate Inglis on the Daily Grommet

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Daily Grommet recently had the chance to host Kate Inglis on their blog (http://blog.dailygrommet.com/2009/12/14/an-interview-with-kate-inglis/) and give a few lucky commentators a copy of her book!  Lucky fans. If you missed the draw, you can grab a copy at most bookstores.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Preview: The Dread Crew by Kate Inglis

Author Kate Inglis is one of those people who you meet and never want to leave. I’d move in next door if she didn’t live on the opposite coast. But aside from being lovely, she’s a great author.

Her first book, The Dread Crew is an imaginative tale of filth, friendships and backwoods pirates. It’s the story of a boy, a crew of dirty, warty, natty, rude, pugnacious, revolting, disgusting pirates who show up demanding things from the villagers that they hoard.

The Dread Crew is one of those tales that starts in the woods when a mother is walking with her restless tot, home is still a ways away, and there’s nothing fueling the walk expect whatever story she can pull from the air. Anyone who’s a mom knows how this works, but few of those stories actually find their way to the published page.

As Kate says, “it occurred to me that writing something silly was highly speculative, a debatable spend of martial and mothering time. I shrugged. I kept it to myself because I thrive in the pressureless void of low expectations. I hadd 15,000 words before telling my husband—with my mouth full, behind my hand—that I was writing a novel. A three-year spell of insomnia was my groundswell. Getting published was an accident.”

Listen to my audio preview of the book: (MP3 6 MB should play with Google Reader)


image

 

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Enter to Win a Copy of the Reading Is Sexy Calendar

Follow me on Twitter or become a fan of the Boxcar Marketing Facebook page to be entered into the draw for a Reading Is Sexy Calendar.

I’ll make the draw on December 16 and promptly mail you the calendar. I have 2 calendars to give away, 1 for the Twitter followers and 1 for the Facebook fans. So yes, you could get more than one chance to win.

The 2010 Reading Is Sexy Calendar promotes literacy and raises funds to help kids and adults with dyslexia. Proceeds go to the Canadian Branch of The International Dyslexia Association.

Buy the calendar.

You can look at my lovely mug for all of January.

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See Emme’s behind-the-scenes photos.

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Buy the calendar.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Reading Is Sexy Calendar

Attention Readers: This calendar is hot.

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The 2010 Reading Is Sexy Calendar goes on sale this week to promote literacy and to raise funds to help kids and adults with dyslexia become literate.

Buy the calendar.

I sat down (virtually) with Emme Rogers to talk about the calendar.

Who does the calendar supports?

The Canadian Branch of The International Dyslexia Association
http://www.interdys.org/
http://www.idaontario.com/

Our goal is to promote literacy and raise funds to support those with dyslexia.

What was the impetus behind the idea?

Back in the spring, Ian Martin (http://www.twitter.com/IanAMartin) was starting up his publishing house, Atomic Fez Publishing, and was trying to goad me into saying “Reading Is Sexy” as often as possible on twitter. This sparked the idea for doing a “Reading Is Sexy” calendar promoting literacy.

Initially the calendar was supposed to be shot “calendar girl” style, like the one Bryne Pen did on Salt Spring to raise funds and awareness for The Land Conservancy. Alas not all our models understood what I meant by that, so it will likely be our theme for next year.

We chose the International Association of Dyslexia as our charity because they interact with Emme online (@onbida) and Emme is dyslexic. That said, she is one of the lucky kids who had access to help, so she has never treated her dyslexia as a crutch, but rather as her secret superpower.  It is why she looks at the world in a different way, is not limited to typical rules dictating how things work, and has approached life with perseverance, hard work and problem solving.

Who is Emme?

Emme is the girl next door. You know the one. She was the Tomboy who always out climbed the boys to reach the most precarious limits of the tree in the yard. The one who you just gave the ball or the puck to on the soccer field or hockey rink for fear of her side tackle or crosscheck. The one who loved making mud pies, but wouldn’t be caught dead at a tea party.  You know the one.  The one whose Mom couldn’t watch what she was up to for fear that she’d have a heart attack. That girl.  The one whose friends you didn’t mess with, not because she was manipulative, but because she hated injustices and wasn’t afraid to say so.  Just ask the boy next door.  Maybe he’ll pull out the photo of the black eye he was sporting the day he was a ring bearer.

We’ll Emme’s all grown up now and she’s no longer “Leo the Late Bloomer.”  A homosexual drama teacher has taught her how to put on makeup. Somewhere along the lines she lost her fear that her bum is too big and she wears fitted clothes now.  And, if wonders will ever cease, she actually likes to put on a party dress, minus the runners and hockey jacket.

So in essence, Emme represents that secret hidden voice in many of us women—the things that go through the heads of our mothers, girlfriends and ourselves—the only difference is that she says these things aloud, and rather then be embarrassed about these thoughts or insecurities she screams them aloud for all the world to hear. 

And yes, she’s a total character and given her tomboy past finds it totally hilarious that she is now seen as Vancouver’s / Canada’s gal-about-town and go to girl on all that is hot and sexy in this lovely world of ours.

Who’s in the calendar?

Photographers

If you’d like to support the Canadian Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, please buy the calendar.

And if you’d like your calendar signed by the men and women of “Reading Is Sexy”, please come out to the Launch Party and Literary Celebration on Thursday.

Local: Gudrun Wine & Cheese Bistro (150-3500 Moncton Street, Steveston, BC)
Date: Thursday December 3, 2009
Time: 7 pm until late

Stop by for author readings, calendar signings by the models, and the auctioning of some of Robert Shaer’s photos from the shoot. Plus Gudrun goodies, wine and beer will be on sale.

Oh, and have a closer look at Miss January.

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I’m reading Andrew Zuckerman’s photography book, Creature.

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See Emme’s behind-the-scenes photos.

Buy the calendar.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

New Books from Random House of Canada Ltd.

I had a sneak peak at some new books from Random House of Canada Ltd. and these are my favourites:

See the list on Amazon’s Listmania


1.  Ossuaries by Dionne Brand (poetry)
“Dionne Brand’s mesmerizing new collection of poems is about human zoos; bones, culture, the fabric of our times.”
Brand is awesome, I’m sure to love this one.

2.  Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen (poetry)
“Leonard Cohen’s classic book of contemporary psalms is repackaged. As lovely as the first publication 25 years ago.”
It’s a beautiful package.

3.  Tea Time for the Traditionally Built: Book 10 by Alexander Mccall Smith
“The 10th Precious Ramotswe novel is as adorable as the first.”
Precious is precious. I love this series.

4.  The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
“Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this bestselling tale of a family haunted by the past - and perhaps more - has received ecstatic reviews around the world: Waters is exceptional!”
I really, really liked Fingersmith and have been meaning to read more Sarah Waters. This is it!

5.  Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health by Rick Smith
“How the toxic soup of our lives is killing us.”
Do I need a book to tell me this? No, but it would be interesting to know how to better navigate the world.

6.  Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail
“Good food grown in small spaces.”
I have herbs on the balcony and am ready for more.

7.  Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
“A heart-in-mouth conspiracy novel about the fragility of social identity, the corruption at the heart of big busunderbelly of the everyday city.”
A dark, twisted book with quirks that are sure to be my style.

8.  The Waterproof Bible by Andrew Kaufman
“Kaufman can’t be missed.”
All My Friends Are Superheroes is a brilliant book. I must read this one.

9.  Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
“Angels are big this year. A book to watch.”
Monique’s prediction: angels, oil an religion. We’ll be as fascinated by these things in 2010 as we were by vampires in 2009.

10.  The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag: A novel by Alan Bradley
“Flavia is back.”
For Sweetness at the bottom of the pie, this young detective is by to thrill me with her fascination of poisons.

11.  Dahanu Road: A novel by Anosh Irani
“Anosh is dark humored but one of my favs.”
Gawd, I love him.

12.  Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
“Taxidermy!”
Life of Pi guy gets every stranger with taxidermy in this novel. Yes, please.

13.  Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath
“Nobody likes change but a wet baby—and even then.”
From Made to Stick comes Switch. I won’t switch. I’ll stick.

14.  I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
“The internationally bestselling true story of the remarkable ten-year-old Yemeni girl who dared to defy her country’s most archaic traditions byfighting for a divorce.”
This story just seems unbelievable!

15.  Boom! by Mark Haddon (young adult)
“I’ll have whatever Mark’s having. Love his work.”
Positioned for young adults, I think this will be a killer hit with adults too.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre Wins The Giller

imageThe winner of this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize, the most coveted Canadian fiction award, was announced last night in Toronto. And the winner is ... Linden MacIntyre.

The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre is a story of crimes and cover-up in a Cape Breton Catholic church.

Scotiabank Giller Prize news announcement

Of the winning book, the jury remarked:

“The Bishop’s Man centres on a sensitive topic - the sexual abuses perpetrated by Catholic priests on the innocent children in their care. Father Duncan, the first person narrator, has been his bishop’s dutiful enforcer, employed to check the excesses of priests and, crucially, to suppress the evidence. But as events veer out of control, he is forced into painful self-knowledge as family, community and friendship are torn apart under the strain of suspicion, obsession and guilt. A brave novel, conceived and written with impressive delicacy and understanding.” 

See Amazon’s Giller Prize page where the books are available for purchase.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Amazon and Wal-mart Price Wars

New Yorker, Nov 9, 2009)

Price wars typically hurt the retailers involved, and often times their suppliers, especially if the cost cutting is shared by the two parties. The Amazon and Wal-Mart recent decision to deeply discount a key group of titles just seems like a race to the bottom. What are they really trying to achieve with this? The suggestion in the New Yorker article is that deeply discounting a select group of things brings people to the store, and then you can sell them more stuff once they’re there. This has been the Wal-Mart model for years. Appear to be “the lowest price is the law” (on a lot of things) and you get people there for the discount, but once they’re there, they aren’t going to price compare, they’ll just purchase the non-discounted products as well.

What the two companies appear to be fighting over is a selection of bestsellers, but James Surowiecki argues that it’s really customers.

So you might wonder why Wal-Mart recently decided to start its own price war, taking on Amazon in the online book market. Wal-Mart began by marking down the prices of ten best-sellers—including the new Stephen King and the upcoming Sarah Palin—to ten bucks. When Amazon, predictably, matched that price, Wal-Mart went to nine dollars, and, when Amazon matched again, Wal-Mart went to $8.99, at which point Amazon rested. (Target, too, jumped in, leading Wal-Mart to drop to $8.98.) Since wholesale book prices are traditionally around fifty per cent off the cover price, and these books are now marked down sixty per cent or more, Amazon and Wal-Mart are surely losing money every time they sell one of the discounted titles. The more they sell, the less they make. That doesn’t sound like good business.

Not good business, if you’re involved in selling books and you’re not Amazon or Wal-Mart. For the two behemoths, they’re only taking a hit on about 10 titles and the impact on revenue is minimal, if they can bring in other sales. The price war is also worth the publicity. Wal-Mart certainly wasn’t top of mind yesterday but I’m thinking about them today. (Nasty thoughts, but thoughts nonetheless.)

Read the full article: New Yorker, Nov 9, 2009)