Recently on this site I have been reporting on the general downturn the global economy is having on the publishing world. Just a couple of weeks ago I reported on job losses at Lulu.com and unfortunately those losses continue as reported in the New York Times and many other news organisations. The NYT story is…
Google Book Search Settlement Agreement
Google have finally settled their lawsuit with a group of authors and publishers. Below is the full statement released. Today, Google and the group of authors and publishers who were plaintiffs in the US Google Book Search lawsuits announced a groundbreaking settlement agreement. This settlement, on behalf of a broad class of copyright holders, opens…
HarperStudio’s ’26thstory’ & The Biting Edge
Last week I posted an article on the current state of publishing and the challenges ahead. One of the more innovative publishing imprints is HarperCollins’ HarperStudio. I have been following their blogsite for some time now and always find their posts and views to have a real edge and reality on what is going on…
Lulu UK Sheds 24 Jobs
The credit crunch continues to bite deeper with news from New Media Age that Lulu are to make 24 workers redundant from their uk offices. That represents a 25% reduction in staff, including Cristel Lee Leed, European Vice President, and six other senior employees. You can read the full New Media Age article at the…
Amazon Finally Moves on UK Print on Demand Market
It looks like Amazon has finally made their move on the UK market for books published by digital print-on-demand technology. This very much follows what Amazon has done in the United States in conjunction with their own printer Booksurge. At the moment, there is already a court action in process by US POD publisher Booklocker…
The Fine Print of Self Publishing (Third Edition) by Mark Levine
About two years ago when I started researching self publishing and subsidy publishers, I came across an interview by Ron Pramschufer with a lawyer called Mark Levine on Global Talk Radio. I think this must have coincided with Levine’s first edition of ‘The Fine Print of Self-Publishing’. I was fascinated at the time that someone…
Publishing Industry – Change or be Damned?
Over the past month, there has been considerable debate about the current state and future of the publishing industry across the internet on writer’s forums and blogsites. Some of the discussion was sparked by Boris Kachka’s recent article in the New York Magazine. A lot of the criticism of Kachka’s article seems to centre on…
Adventures with Lulu – Part 3 Filigree & Shadow
Yesterday I received the book proofs back of my latest book Filigree & Shadow from Lulu. Although you are advised by the Lulu site to order just one proof copy of your book before you finalise and approve any revision, like Academy, my last book with Lulu, I actually deliberately ordered five proofs. The choice…
POD MAGAZINES FROM MAGCLOUD
We have grown used to POD Subsidy and POD self-publishing over the past 15 years. Well, now a company called MagCloud are offering a print-on-demand service at no set-up charge. Purchase costs on each magazine are set at 20 US cent per page for submitted PDF files. This is the first time I have come…