I suspect that few of you are aware that I’ve not posted a new edition of Book Biz in over a month. I try to post early each month but was unable to this December.
I had no sooner emailed the December newsletter to my publishing printing clients than we got an important telephone call from my daughter in Colorado.
As of December 2 we were officially grandparents.
We packed up the Conestoga wagon in record time and took advantage of the perfect weather (ie. dry) and arrived just hours after the mother and child got home from the hospital. Although I wasn’t able to stay in Littleton as long as my wife, it was a celebration of naps and nursing, cooking and cooing, diapers and…well more diapers
Initiation into grand-parenthood was seamless and painless.
Below, Myles Jacob Greenman is presented as my sole excuse for submitting my work after the deadline.
And if you actually were aware that the newsletter hadn’t been posted as usual, God bless you. I’d always hoped that someone out there was reading this.
Bonehead B&N Reaction
In what has to be the most misguided effort to thwart eBook piracy ever, B&N has removed eBooks from customer’s eReaders after the credit card they were purchased with had expired.
Given the missteps of the two largest eBook sellers in removing purchased eBooks from their customer’s readers, I often wonder how many people understand that, as of now, they can’t actually own the eBook that they paid for.
Digital Only Has New Requirements
Spurred by Newsweek’s conversion to digital only format, the Alliance for Audited Media has imposed new rules on what options their print edition subscribers are due after digital conversion and new circulation reporting requirements.
Twitter Fiction Festival
Ahhh, the power of 140 characters. Read the best of the submissions at the Twitter Showcase page. Interesting, but not exactly haiku
Government Work That’s Actually Government Work
Occasionally a print shop employee needs to have something printed for himself or his family. Often these little jobs can be run in a waste area of a sheet so there’s virtually no cost. Some employees refer to these jobs as “government jobs”.
But real government jobs have real costs. In Wisconsin, 64,600 Blue Books are printed every two years as a fact book about the legislators and information about the state: high school yearbook meets Info-Please-Almanac. Senators get 600 copies to give away, Reps only 350. Order your copy now for $7.30 plus shipping. The total cost to the state? $328,000.
In Mississippi the path to print shop profits was a little more obvious as Rep. Kevin McGee directed 258 contracted state printing jobs to his family’s printing company over a five year time period, amounting to nearly $350,000. McGee has resigned from the legislature and is negotiating the amount of restitution he owes the state.
Colbert on Copyright and First Sale
Stephen Colbert explains “first sale” copyright law to Colbert Nation.
BEA Tackles Flagging Attendance
In an attempt to recapture some of the bustle from days of yore, next year’s BEA will allow anyone (aka Power Readers) to spend Saturday browsing the exhibit floor in the Javits Center for a mere $49.
BMW Prints
Relief printing was probably the first print method to mass produce graphics without a pen and ink. BMW shows how it’s done in the 21st century.
The End of Printing Presses?
This month’s “The End of Something” award goes to this writer who contemplates digital delivery of all media.
What Sandy Taught Us About Digital Delivery
Superstorm Sandy reminded New Yorkers (and the rest of us) about what we lose with digital delivery and the benefits of paper and ink.
LightningSource News
While Grub Street doesn’t work directly with LightningSource or CreateSpace, we understand that they offer dirt cheap ultra-short run pricing (50 copies or so) and some ancillary benefits as well. LightningSource has just announced new capabilities.
Trees in Trouble
Rich Romano, the guru of the printing industry, points out that climate change is posing a serious threat to the world’s lumber/pulp supply.
Simon Schuster To Assist Self Publishers
Simon & Schuster is partnering with Author Solutions to offer self publishing services. The division will be called Archway Publishing. Simon & Schuster describes Archway as offering premium service at a premium cost. Self publishing for the 1%?
Thoughts on Self-Publishing Costs
Media Bistro/GalleyCat asked self publishers about their production costs and found zero was a common expense.
Final Thought
No person who can read is ever successful at cleaning out an attic. Ann Landers
