All Episodes
BTB #146: At Digital Book World, A is for ‘Audience’
Next week, the two-day Digital Book World conference gets underway in New York City at a moment when – for better or for worse – the digital tide may become a tsunami for the book publishing world. Ahead of the first-time conference, Chris Kenneally spoke with...
Mythconceptions: Debunking the E-Book Hype with Danny O. Snow
The following is a preview of an upcoming interview with Danny O. Snow, founder of Unlimited Publishing, who promises to debunk several myths about e-publishing. The podcast will be released on Monday, February 8, 2010. In 2010, the long anticipated migration of...
BTB #145: Screen Culture: Covering The World In Words and Pictures
In 1000 days – sometime in 2013 – 11 billion square feet of digital screen surface will exist on earth, enough to cover the planet’s surface almost 50 times. For Peter Kaufman of Intelligent Television, the potential exists in the emerging global “screen culture” to...
BTB #144: Aims & Aimlessness of ‘A Good Talk’
Don’t expect A Good Talk: The Story & Skill of Conversation to improve your conversation skills, though it just may. For his new book, published today by Twelve Books, Daniel Menaker set out not to write a "how to" but a "what for" volume. He finds the mysterious...
BTB #143: Attention Authors: The E-book Marketplace is Open
Media coverage for the Kindle and iPhone make clear that the time for e-books has arrived. While many publishers are prepared for the opening of this new marketplace, authors are likely to wonder what’s in it for them. Authorlink CEO Doris Booth tells Chris Kenneally,...
BTB #142: Raccah: We Publish Authors Not Books
In the future, predicts Sourcebooks CEO Dominique Raccah, "Publishers are going to take more risks and authors are going to take that risk with them." As a follow-up to her PubWest conference keynote address, she spoke with Chris Kenneally about the evolution of...
BTB #141: Words of the Year from the Dictionary Man
At Merriam-Webster, the editors are always adding new words, of course, but now with online tracking technology, they can also tell what words we look up the most – something not possible before the Web. In 2009, this online vocabulary traffic took inspiration from...
BTB #140: For Book Sales, It’s Beyond the Bookstore
"Sales outside the bookstore is a great route to go for independent publishers," advises Scott Flora, who heads up the publishers trade association SPAN. "It could be corporate clients, it could be to educational clients, associations, museums." For independents who...
BTB #139: Netflix for Books?
That’s the pitch from BookSwim, which offers books for rent the way many of us rent DVDs. From “The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,” a how-to for getting published professionally, to “Superfreakonimics,” bestsellers and perennial hits are...
BTB #138: Chaos at Miami Book Fair: The Garfield Scenario
Advertising Age pundit and National Public Radio host Bob Garfield brought his own brand of chaos to the recent Miami Book Fair. Discussing his new book, The Chaos Scenario with Chris Kenneally, Garfield put forward his thesis that when it comes to the publishing...
BTB #137: Google Book Case: Wasoff Reviews Amended Settlement
Responding to concerns voiced by authors, publishers and the U.S. Department of Justice, the parties in the Google Book Search Copyright Class Action filed a revised settlement proposal on November 13, 2009. On December 10, Lois Wasoff returned to Copyright Clearance...
BTB #136: At MediaBistro, Jason Boog Learns What’s Next
A week ahead of the Mediabistro-sponsored E-Book Summit in NYC, Jason Boog tells Chris Kenneally that the audience can expect to learn practical information on how "you can start with the digital product, blend in video, blend in some audio elements, not to replace...