by Candy • Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 08:13 AM
Who loves Dinosaur Comics? I’m not sure how Ryan North manages to use the same dinosaur clip-art day in and day out to such compelling effect, but whatever it is, it sure is made of awesome.
In the past few days, T-Rex has attempted to write romance novels. Et voilà: Part I, and Part II. Make sure you hold your mouse over the panels for alt text heeelarity.
By the way, isn’t “Going Oral” an Ellora’s Cave title already? If it’s not, it should be.
by SB Sarah • Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 09:01 AM
Crystal Jordan sent me a very interesting link - an interactive ad demonstrating how the Mini Cooper can whipslap winter, using a pleather-clad woman whipping, stroking, and otherwise dominating a very sport blue Mini.
So: those in the BDSM world - is her whipping technique at all accurate? Or is she faking it?
by SB Sarah • Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 07:42 AM
A down market for real estate bugging you? Hold a writing contest and give away your house as the prize. Beach front property in Yachats, Oregon, no less.
Note to self: someday, hold a writing contest with a BIG HONKING PRIZE.
Of course, the 1099 of the house value will drive your taxes to levels that will make you wanna hide under a table, and I wonder if such booty is subject to capital gains, but nonetheless. Brilliant idea. And wow, gorgeous town.
by SB Sarah • Saturday, June 07, 2008 at 01:46 AM
In a Friday Op-Ed in the NY Times, Paul Krugman examines technology and the profitability of the ancillary market for publishing in light of the advancing market share of the ebook.
He cites the the predictions of Esther Dyson, who in 1994 predicted that digital content itself would not be the source of profit for emerging companies; instead, services and support surrounding the content would be the actual revenue-generating aspect of business. Comparing technology and software distrubution to the Grateful Dead business model, in which “enough of the people who copy and listen to Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance tickets,” Krugman states that there’s a need for publishing to prepare itself for the coming market change, brought about partially by ebooks and their popularity.
Once again the industry of books and music are compared to one another - which is always a rocking good time, because while they have some finer points in common, among them being structurally bugfuck crazy, the two models are very, very different. However, ancillary market profit might be one of the areas that the two medias come to share. The question is, how?
Music sales from “touring, merchandising, and licensing” are becoming mainstays of band profit as “downloads… steadily undermin[e] record sales.”
So, what about books? BEA was all about eBooks, baby, and ebooks are the new market for books. Touting the Kindle-Aid, Krugman draws a parallel between downloaded music and downloaded, aka pirated, books.
How will this affect the publishing business? Right now, publishers make as much from a Kindle download as they do from the sale of a physical book. But the experience of the music industry suggests that this won’t last: once digital downloads of books become standard, it will be hard for publishers to keep charging traditional prices.
I wrote recently about the price tag of ebooks but my problem with the price has nothing to do with the comparative $0.00 sale price of ebooks from pirate sites. For one thing, I like good reading and know that snagging a free book means one less byte of good writing for me in the long run. For another, the formatting is often atrocious, the quality crap, and did I mention the immediate satisfaction vs. future quality reading thing? Yeah. Threaten me with the absence of good books from talented authors, and I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll even clean the sink trap (*ew ew ew ew*).
Krugman points out that newspaper attempts to profit by ancillary subscriptions for content they otherwise give away have backfired - and that free vs. subscription prejudice from consumers works both ways. Count me among those who get very ornery when a magazine I subscribe to prevents me from reading that same content I already paid for on the publication’s web site. (Consumer Reports, are your ears burning? The only reason I pay twice is because you’re a non-profit and your recommendations never fail me).
However, with publishing attempts to market books in innovate ways, the free ebook is making many, many consumers happy, and if it’s working appropriately, then one free download that’s professionally sanctioned (and professionally formatted, please, kthxbye) can make a world of difference in creating new fans and new customers of an author’s backlist of product.
But here’s the part that really made me stop and ponder:
Indeed, if e-books become the norm, the publishing industry as we know it may wither away. Books may end up serving mainly as promotional material for authors’ other activities, such as live readings with paid admission. Well, if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, I guess it’s good enough for me.
This is the part where I wonder, “Hmm. Do romance readers figure into dire predictions of the death of publishing as we know it?” How many readers here and at other sites swear by paper books, the tactile experience of them, and the pleasure of shopping for them, trading them, borrowing them, and keeping them for rereads?
Books as promotional materials for other activities? I’m confused. I’m still rather startled at the degree to which authors are asked to make themselves in to celebrity representatives for the sales of their own books, and that they allow greater access to themselves for the sake of a voracious readership that wants more, more, more between the issue of each new book.
If you’re a reader like me, you read fast and eagerly, and the finish of one excellent book is a sad event soothed only by the anticipation of the next adventure in a new book, with luck also a good one. Reading is among my very favorite activities (right up there with sleeping, eating pastry, and drinking wine). So whether I’m reading an ebook, or a print book, I’m still after the book, not the promotional reading. I’m a solitary person by nature; I don’t have any desire to sit in a room with other people to listen to my reading. I want to read by myself in the quiet. I’m not after the author and I’m not after the experience of reading-as-interaction. I just want the reading of the book, in any form. And while I do blink at the equal price of ebooks, I still buy the ebook or the paper, because I want to read.
I agree with Krugman that the markets that intend to profit from digital media will have to alter themselves mightily to create new functioning models that account for the sizable difference between pages and bytes. But am I alone in thinking that so long as there are books to be read, there will be folks like me paying for them?
Thanks to SonomaLass for the link.
by SB Sarah • Friday, June 06, 2008 at 12:54 PM
So a few folks have pointed out the hiss and snarl that’s going on at the Amazon.com page for JR Ward’s newest book,Lover Enshrined. If I had to sum up my reaction to some of these reviews, I’d have to say, “What the crapping damn hell is going on here?” I’ve never seen an Amazon review section where there’s roughly the same number of reviews for each level, from five stars down to one. The laudatory reviews proclaim it a bold new direction for the series; the one-star reviews are ready to sit on low benches and mourn the passing of their favorite series from auto-buy to never-again.
Combine that with the email asking me if I’ve read it yet, and the comments here and there that have mentioned readers who are dying to discuss it and I’m officially curious. So, then, let ‘er rip.
Caveat 1: If you don’t want spoilers, don’t read the comments.
Caveat 2: I politely ask that you refrain from one habit that really makes me feel squidgy: don’t presume to know what Ward was thinking or what motivated her. It’s not about the author; it’s about the book. If you didn’t like the book, please explain why. If you’re disappointed, ditto. But please don’t make statements about how she’s only in it for the money, she’s scamming the public, yadda yadda. I’m not trying to host a slamfest about Ward. I’m honestly curious why rabid fans are heartbroken about the book. Because damn, there’s some rabid heartbreak out there. They’re emailing me. They use a lot of vowel of anguish. Or, ahnguihsh. Or sohmthingh.
Candy adds big words: “The distinction between author and book may feel artificial sometimes, because the author is the creator of the work, and any critique of the book is necessarily a critique of the author’s work, which in turn reflects on the author’s (perceived) abilities. But focusing on the text, interpretations, reader expectations and reader reactions is ultimately a much more fruitful enterprise, because nobody knows Ward’s intentions other than Ward herself.”
Within those boundaries, you want to bring forth your opinion? Want to discuss? Bring it on. I want to hear what you have to say.
