Old habits are hard to break. Just ask the Big 5 trade book publishers who just can’t seem to walk away from a business dependence on print books. Sales reports and reader surveys agree that readers continue to enjoy print book over e-books. The reasons for that...
No one likes to see you bringing problems to the workplace – unless he or she is a reference librarian. Once upon a time, reference librarians assisted patrons to find something – usually in a book. In 2016, the job is to work out what the problem is, then find the...
In journalism, August is as close to a slow season as it ever gets in the newsroom. This week, though, that changed in a hurry – with flood waters inundating Louisiana; war raging on in Syria; and fires roaring through southern California. Even the book world came...
With the New York Public Library setting the standard, more and more public librarians will begin spelling “books” with an “e.” Public libraries, of course, have offered e-books on loan for a number of years, but few readers – and not very many publishers – were ever...
“The future is already here, it’s just not very evenly distributed.” That acute observation from author William Gibson, the cyberpunk pioneer, captures the predicament of our age, when new technologies overlap with the many that are already established. The lucky...
Latest sales reports from the Association of American Publishers show clearly the direction for e-books: Down. “Are publishers finally getting a handle on what’s driving the decline? After the first quarter of 2016, I would think, yes, they would have,” reports Andrew...
In an unconventional political year, no one should expect conventional party conventions. As the Republican gathering in Cleveland this week gives way to the Democratic meeting coming to Philadelphia next week, that is the only reliable prediction. Politics and...
In a highly-charged political year like 2016, every issue is viewed through glasses with one red lens and one blue. About the only thing non-partisan on Capitol Hill is the menu in the cafeteria (at least, now that Freedom Fries are history). This week, politics...
Sometimes, all it takes to get everyone’s attention is to raise your voice. When it comes to audiobooks, Amazon has announced it’s taking just that approach, and pumping the volume on Audible, which it owns. On Wednesday, the Amazon subsidiary unveiled Channels, an...
When voters across the United Kingdom choose to Leave the European Union rather than Remain, questions were raised that may go without answers for weeks, months, and even years. The catch-all term for what lies ahead of the Brexit referendum is “uncertainty.” From...
