All Episodes
BTB #309: Copyright & The Cartoonist
From his studio in Seattle, “The Oatmeal” cartoonist-humorist Matthew Inman posts online his views on everything from Sriracha hot sauce to designs for “how a movie theater should be laid out.” But when he discovered his work re-posted to Funnyjunk, an...
BTB #308: STM E-Books Forecast 2012
Across all of book publishing, the journey from print to digital is about much more than form factor. In the professionally-focused STM sector, publishers of scientific, technical and medical texts face are reckoning with seismic shifts in the way their content is...
The Week Ahead 07.20.12
A publishing giant finds one solution to the business challenge of self-publishing authors. Meanwhile, just in time for Olympics gymnastics, an industry tally of book sales in 2011 shows a business in the middle of a back-flip. In reviews, we learn about another...
BTB #307: Profit and Publishing
Two words that have an increasingly antagonistic relationship – “profit” and “publishing.” But Red Hen Press, based in Pasadena, California, has made a virtue of being a not-for-profit. Founded in 1994 to publish and promote literary works often overlooked by the...
BTB #306: Copyright on the Continent Update for July 2012
In Washington, the political stalemate continues – and with the November 2012 elections approaching fast, hopes dim of opening up the legislative logjam. Meanwhile in Europe, copyright law, at least, is seeing plenty of changes, with the prospects looming of a...
The Week Ahead 07.13.12
Here’s a book publishing riddle for 2012: When is a book not good for a bookstore? “Earlier this year, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced a licensing agreement with Amazon to publish and distribute adult titles under the New Harvest imprint,” explains Andrew...
BTB #305: A Golden Age for Self-Publishing?
The wild growth in e-books and self-publishing has spurred a fiery debate over the future direction of the industry. While some argue that the growing mountain of books makes it harder than ever for any single title to succeed, people like Keith Ogorek, author of 7...
BTB #304: Textbooks Should Be Great Books!
In her keynote presentation for the 25th annual conference of the Text & Academic Authors Association (TAA), author Joy Hakim declared, “Textbook writing is, or should be, an artistic task. What we do is very important. We need to do nothing less than write great...
The Week Ahead 06.29.12
In Anaheim this week, the gathered members of the American Library Association conference heard why libraries may be more important than ever, even in the throes of the digital publishing revolution. But what the librarians think – and what they think the publishers...
BTB #303: Educational Publishing In Russia, a BEA Global Forum
Earlier this month at BookExpo America 2012, the day-long Global Market Forum examined Russian publishing trends, including for educational publishing. A pair of Moscow-based publishers joined two Americans for a frank and lively discussion, moderated by CCC’s Chris...
The Week Ahead 06.22.12
Billed as the world’s largest event for the library community, the American Library Association conference underway in Anaheim features appearances from the likes of Dan Rather and Gaby Rodriguez – he, the famous news anchor; she, the 17-year-old trickster who staged...
BTB #302: At Yale, Publishing Summer School
Having trouble keeping up with the fast pace of change in publishing? Well, maybe it’s time for summer school. Now in its third year, the Yale Publishing Course – held in consecutive one-week sessions on the Ivy League school’s New Haven campus beginning July 15 –...