Twitter – where talk is cheap, ideology is free and banality rules

By Darren E Laws

Twitter is a brilliant tool which if used correctly can elevate the profile of the sharpest marketer, generate interest in a brand, or even build a passionate army of followers and fans awaiting your every tweet. Sadly though much of what exists is truly banal and the very fact that a celebrity such as Ashton Kutcher – a genuine ‘D’ list actor and husband to Demi Moore – is the most popular person in Twit world, tells us more about the rise of this popular culture tool among the masses than almost anything else. So, will the burning bright light that is Twitter begin to fade soon or does it have genuine longevity and use in terms of social media and social marketing. Many think so and are placing faith usually only seen by religious zealots into the tool.

Popularity is one thing and maybe Twitter’s current explosion is due to a number of social trends current faced by the media; downturns in traditional revenue streams, declining free time and attention spans, plus an increase in reality celebrity culture have all no doubt paid a apart in its success. While many bloggers see Twitter as a natural extension of their art and the chance to refine their message into short and concise paragraphs, the majority of users see it more as an evolution from texting, and maybe it is this point which sticks in the craw of social media entrepreneurs. I recently heard one bright young thing in the world of PR/journalism saying that he now only accepts proposals through Twitter. The rush to look trendy and embrace Twitter is amusing and one can’t help but cast a cynical eye over the way media wishes to manipulate the tool.

The challenge for many has been trying to utilise the service and even make money from it; and these two elements go pretty much against the grain of the bulk of its users caught up with telling the minutiae of their lives in 140 characters or less.

It is possible to build an army of followers, most of whom are only interested in having you reciprocate allegiance. If this happens then is it worth having a couple of thousand ‘twitters’ as your ‘friends’?; in fact how do you being to differentiate between those truly interested in hearing your short missives and those who do not. And even if you can, how do you keep their attention without resorting to a blow by blow account of your oh so trivial life.

The art of a good tweet is obviously judged in the end by the rapture in which you hold the audience. Twitter’s strength and weakness both lay within the limitations of the service in terms of what it allows us to say and more importantly, how we say it. There are some excellent tools or apps being devised to broaden Twitter’s appeal but what we must never forget is that Twitter is another form of communication and as such companies see this as a media channel and thus a revenue stream. If this proves too difficult to excavate the interest of the rich, the famous and the powerful will also soon dwindle.

People love Twitter because they think that Ashton Kutcher (feel free to replace this celebrity with any celebrity of your choice) is talking to them and as such the proletariat are playing their part in the world’s largest and possibly ultimate reality celebrity experience. There is nothing wrong with this but unless we understand why people are using Twitter we could be wasting a lot of time and energy trying to influence an audience who really choose not to care. I dare say the return at the box office on Mr Kutcher’s next movie may be of as much interest to sociologists as it is to movie producers and business in general.

Paper or Pixel? The Challenges Facing Publishing

 

By Darren E Laws

Debate is raging over the quality and price of eBooks compared to their paper companions in certain parts of the publishing industry. Is all of this internalising actually missing the point and is this a ruse by publishers still unsure of how to deal with digital publications? There are some in the industry who think eBooks will 'blow over', that they are merely a 'passing phase', and there are others already writing the obituary of paper books.

We have witnessed the painful recognition of the music industry as it struggled for the best part of a decade over a similar question. In fact there are many industries that have been transformed with the introduction of the computer and the Internet to a global market. There are some industries though which are also failing to move quickly - or quick enough - to either recognise the impact and benefits or changes that will affect their performance or existence.

TV, radio, newspapers, movies, in fact all forms of information and entertainment mediums are having to rethink their approach and how to generate income from the opportunities that spring forth. So to some degree it is understandable that publishing is struggling to cope. Some publishers understand and are now developing platforms and content that is exciting with value added content given to the reader as a bonus, while others will never grasp what it means, other than a perceived notion that digital is a threat that will erode its long established foothold on the market.

The truth as always will lie somewhere between, with those who are brave enough to walk with the pioneers reaping the early benefit; but if for one moment you think paper books will disappear overnight you are as mistaken as those who refuse to accept the onslaught of digital technology in publishing. The love affair of the reader and a paper book will not be replaced by Kindle's, eReader's, mobile phones or whatever surprise Moore's law will throw at us, not just yet at least. Reading a book on a plane or a beach or just before bed can all be achieved with a digital device, but somehow paper has an intrinsic bond which for the foreseeable future will not be replaced. How long that foreseeable future lasts is dependent on how consumers embrace technology. I guess we already know the answer to that if we look at the recent history of technological advancement over the past twenty years.

The bookstore of the very near future will also be a digital repository holding millions of titles which could be transferred to digital devices or printed on demand, there and then in the store; but the physical contact and thrill of picking a book up and flipping through the pages as we decide whether to buy a book or not is an emotional decision. Scanning through a digital catalogue is a more clinical decision and one where choosing a title is a process that has already to some degree been made. But there are no guarantees, when I was growing up our high streets were littered with record shops selling vinyl records at first and then making the transition to cassette and CD, there was also a boom time with the introduction of home computers and software shops. Around the same time home video rental stores were popping up everywhere. We never dreamed that there would no longer be a demand for the content sold in these stores. All of these stores have virtually disappeared now.

Whether our emotional bond with the printed page remains is questionable, because there is a new generation of reader growing up who may just prefer digital delivered content, and as the transition takes place it may become a seamless period which is in tandem with the decline of high street sales. This is why bookstores will also need to provide digital services to consumers, because if they don't then it is clear that Internet bookstores are already well placed to fill the gap on all fronts.

So the challenge facing publishing is how to balance the onset of untested technology and delivery platforms in terms of consumer response and what to do if that response achieves its potential. This is quite a challenge and a very exciting time to be in publishing.

Why the Kindle DX is GOOD for Publishing

By Darren E Laws

The publicity the Kindle DX has achieved this week with its launch must have pleased Amazon and while one may argue about the benefits of the machine against the Kindle 2 the good news for publishers, authors and of course readers is the seeming acceptance of the eBook as a method of delivery. This acceptance is quite a leap for the media who have until now been cynical in its approach to digitally delivered content. Now maybe this is because in America where the Kindle is currently available the current economic climate has left many news and publishing houses teetering on the brink of financial collapse and I am not talking about small local companies here. Established and highly influential companies have felt the blunt and brute force of the recession and the impact this has had on sales and more importantly profits has led to a radical rethink about revenue streams. The same problem is confronting a lot of media providers in the UK, many of whom are now ready to look at new delivery platforms for their content.

The excitement of the Kindle DX in the States is mainly driven by the machine's ability to work with PDF as well as Amazon's own bespoke format. Many people argue that until there is a single format for eBooks that its progress will be hampered. I don't believe this to be the case where eBooks are concerned and I'll tell you why I think this to be so. We are now dealing with a far more sophisticated generation of digital users and I am not relating this to age but to education and choice. There are a number of different formats available for eBooks, some of these such as ePub for instance will dominate but newer kids on the block such as DNAML offer publishers, authors and readers a different experience with a more seamless blend of multi-media content, colour and audio as well as a choice of digital rights management (DRM). DRM is often seen as the scourge of the music industry and one of the reasons that piracy was so rife. The truth actually falls between (music) publishers setting unrealistic charges to deliver MP3 (or other format) content and a generation of Internet users who felt that file sharing was perfectly legal without thinking about the long term implications of mass piracy. There are still a significant proportion of people who want something for nothing and there always will be but the introduction of machines such as the Kindle will begin a process of education that introduces paying for content on a legitimate platform.

The challenge for publishers is to set the price for delivering that digital content at a level which is realistic enough to generate return on a business model that makes the process worthwhile but is viewed by readers as exceptional value for money. Once the general buying public recognise and see no difference between online digital book stores and their brick and mortar equivalent then the rise of the eBook will be an unstoppable force within the industry. People are already prepared to purchase every conceivable type of product from the Internet and many are already subscribing to receive the delivery of digital content in one form or another, be that music downloads or movies. The next logical step is books and news content and while it may be argued that this has been happening for years we are on the verge of something truly exciting with digital content being delivered to mobile phones, dedicated eBook readers and direct to computers. Does it matter which machine or which format this is happening in? I really don't think it does. We are now in a new era where choice can sit comfortably with content and how people wish to read that content. Publishers looking for a simple answer that will dominate the market do not understand how this new market is developing. There actually is room for this level of choice and different platforms. This is not a simple battle between Betamax and VHS or DVD and BlueRay or even BlueRay and HD DVD and the reason why this is the case is that the development of all of these platforms, formats and machine's has been independent of publishers and thankfully the small group of large publishers which dominate the high street bookstores. This in itself explains their reluctance to embrace the many different options available on the market today. They don't like the democratization of publishing one bit. The stuffy, inbred world of publishing is coming to its knees with a look of confusion etched on its face. Some are finally waking up to this new world of publishing, others will fall and die.

The future of publishing is exciting and we are entering a world where users will still want paper books and newspapers, how and where they actually get their content though is going to change radically. Bookstores are going to become digital repositories hosting titles from publishers all over the world, they will be able to send those digital titles to machines such as the Espresso Book Machine (EBM) to be printed in-store or direct to mobile phones and eBook readers through Bluetooth technology. Readers will purchase directly through websites downloaded to the reading machine of their choice and DRM will be sophisticated enough to allow content to be freely transferred between the different machines within a household or user. Is this future far away? I have already seen all of this technology working and as a publisher see nothing but benefit. For me it means our titles can fight for a place alongside that of much larger publishers. This just would not have happened even one year ago.

So bring on the Kindle DX and all of its successors. The machine itself may have faults but the one thing you cannot fault is that it is offering the market access to books and news content in a new and exciting form even if at the minute Amazon is only offering the product to America.

 

The London Book Fair 2009 – The Sleeping Giant Awakes

By Darren E Laws

It was fair to say last year's London Book Fair was a disappointment on a number of levels, the chief one being that I saw an industry which was ignoring all forms of digital publishing. I saw an industry that was happy and content with itself (with no good reason) and the sad fact was that if you wanted to find any nod toward publishing in the 21^st century you had to search really, really hard. What a difference a year makes. Maybe it is these recessionary times or maybe it is just that the sleeping giant has finally awoken but new digital technology was no longer hiding in the shadows. Like a gay uncle at a wedding it was out, proud, and reasonably loud.

It would be unfair and hard to judge exactly what the biggest single development was but for me as a publisher using Print On Demand (POD) it must have been seeing the Espresso Book Machine up close and personal. The exciting development being Blackwell's decision to purchase one of these fantastic machines and put it in their flagship store in Charing Cross. The machine has a much reduced footprint from earlier version and something which the makers 'On Demand Books' assure me will get even smaller over the coming years. It is without doubt impressive watching the machine print, cut, glue, bind and trim a book in front of your eyes in around five minutes. Even more exciting for customers of 'Lightning Source' (LS) is the agreement signed between On Demand and Lightning Source which will roll out to LS customers first in the US and then here in the UK soon after. What this means is that wherever you see an Espresso in a consumer outlet you will be able to print fresh copies of LS printed books as quickly as it takes to make a cup of coffee.

EBooks have really raised their game in the past year and the London Book Fair reflected that with an area set aside for digital publishing. It would appear that the industry is also recognising the fact that it is not enough to just build fantastic looking eBooks with multimedia functionality but also to start addressing distribution issues. One company whose software I personally like is Australian company DNAML who Desktop Author program is one of the slickest and easiest pieces of software to make excellent eBooks. Their decision to exhibit at the show comes at a time where there are more exciting developments happening to the software they develop and to the websites and platforms they are offering publishers and authors alike.

Other areas of interest are the mobile phone publishing platforms and it was good to talk to a couple of companies already advanced with their technology. One in particular, mobilebooks.com run by Austrian company, Blackbetty, is only months away from launching a new digital platform in the UK. Blackbetty is already in advanced discussions with major retailers in the UK and expects to roll out it service to retail outlets via its Bluetooth pods by 2010. Canadian company, Indigo, already have an integrated system which downloads eBooks to mobile phones over a variety of phone networks and the openness of discussions between these companies and willingness to talk about each other's platforms was refreshing and healthy.

On an entrepreneurial level there were companies offering promotional services for mobile and digital publishing. Dark Tower Solutions for instance provides a platform to deliver messages to an audience via short code text numbers. This offers publishers an opportunity to drive readers to their product via unique content such as authors reading chapters of their latest titles or short interviews or sample chapters, in fact anything which can be sent to the recipients' mobile phone.

Last year I left the show somewhat depressed and not overly optimistic for the future of publishing, this year, even in a recession, I have left the show with a renewed sense of hope. EBooks are being accepted, the public is becoming aware that they can read novels on mobile phones and eBook readers such as the eReader, Kindle or even the BeBook. POD it would seem is no longer a dirty word in publishing; in fact it is a clean, green word and being accepted by all publishing houses as a way to meet the demands of a changing publishing world. Let's hope the next twelve months sees continued development and acceptance.

Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing and the Magic Wand

By Darren E Laws

The reason the big publishers have big sales is that they get their books in front of people in many different ways and they have the budget and expertise to do it -whether that is in-house or hired agency. A heck of a lot of smaller publishers want and expect the same results and sales without investing in marketing, pr or advertising; or by doing it using low impact, free or cheap services.

But there is no magic wand except experience and knowing who your target audience is and how to talk to them. The old adage of only 50% of my advertising works, I just wish I knew what 50% does have some truth to it but in reality advertising is far more sophisticated than that. Have a marketing budget that is realistic to the results you want to achieve and use it wisely. Negotiate with all media to get the best deals and have a plan. Now in the midst of a recession is a good time to buy advertising space, skilful negotiation can obtain some excellent deals. Also have patience; it takes time and money to build campaigns that work. I know a lot of this will make many people think 'yeah, that sounds expensive' but real marketing should be an investment and that is why it is often best carried out by those who know how to do it. This is not to say that you cannot do a great job yourself as long as you spend time researching your audience and strategising how best to talk to them.

Everyone expects results in days now, and this may be the fault of the Internet. Whilst you can obtain a quick response from good PR, the best strategy is to make your advertising budget last and plan for the long term.

Double your money; screw the author!

By Darren E Laws

It would appear that the larger publishing houses are finally cottoning on to the fact that there could be money to be made from eBooks. I guess when you are in the midst of an economic depression, you are making swingeing redundancies, cutting marketing spend (suicidal!) and still paying authors million dollar plus advances and facing falling sales, you need to claw the money back somehow.

And what better way than to double your profits on eBooks overnight by cutting the royalty (in half) which it pays to authors. When I say authors I mean this more pluralistically as opposed to the very small minority who take the lions share with huge advances. Frankly, if they earned half the royalty it would be no big deal.

But the fact is that Random House among others feel it is fine to reduce the royalty rate it pays its authors just at a time when eBooks finally appear to have not only credibility in the market but also a platform and devices on which to read them; be they Kindle's or iPhones.

 

How surprising…

www.cnpublishing.co.uk

 

Welcome to the iliterati

By Darren E Laws

Does the level of literacy drop in a recession? Faced with increasing pressure to maintain profits, are publishers abandoning taking risks with new authors and plumping for the relatively safe and cosy celebrity lit novel or autobiography. A look along the books shelves would lead you to determine that is indeed what is happening, but the facts are that mainstream publishing has been venturing down this road for years; long before the recession reared its ugly head. To some degree, who blames them? They are after all businesses and need to run at a profit to remain in operation and if that means rows of ghost written fodder vomited out of the orifice of publishing for the general consumption of the iliterati, then who cares. Well, you should.

I am all for the democratisation of the Internet and the far reaching and positive impact it is having on publishing, but this current wave of literary gastro-enteritis pooping out of the backside of some of our leading publishers has little to do with broadening choice. Novels by 'D'-list 'celebrities' currently fill remainder book stores to the gunnels. Confirming that this is not what the public wants no matter how much the media tell us it is. Well, of course they would do that because, it invariably, they would argue, leads to increased sales. If that were true celebrity magazines and newspapers would not be having the appalling time they are with their own circulation figures. The days of hype are over and we face a new austerity the like of which we have not faced for many a generation. It may be argued that in these days of turmoil we need a ray of harmless light to shine upon the dreary outlook and yes of course we do.

So what is the answer – faced with a future of increasing inanity and the further 'dumbing down' of our population hardly begins to prepare us for life after recession or even how to cope during it. The irony of course is that publishing like no other form of art or entertainment is so pretentious and yet it is happy to perform fellatio on any passing trend. Could you imagine a mega rock group sending their new material to their label and waiting for some University grad to edit and rewrite the material before it is unleashed on the world, or an artist who has just finished a painting that took anywhere between two to five years to paint that was then reviewed by someone with no discernable interest in being an artist and repainted in sections until it was 'just right'. It just wouldn't happen. Pretentious doesn't even begin to describe an industry so beset and riddled with class anxiety and fear. But all of those crushingly conceited elements of the industry trip over themselves to publish the latest ghost written twaddle from the celebrity of the moment. There is no point in naming names because these people are disposable. The publishing industry picks them up sucks them dry (not that there is much sustenance in the first place) and spits them out or watches gleefully as they self-implode temporarily sending sales rocketing.

I dare say a ghost writer (and the irony of this is certainly not lost) has already been employed by Jade Goody's publisher to write the closing chapter on her short and ultimately very sad life. Do people want to read it? They do because the media tells them. Even if the event is covered step by painful step on (again the irony is not lost) 'Living TV'. I have no beef with the celebrity whoever they are; please do take the publisher for every single penny you can get, because one day this bubble – much like the banking industry – will burst.

On a personal note I wish Miss Goody peace and understand her reasons for doing what she is doing and there is a very positive message from Jade's personal tragedy in that many young women are having cervical smears. Please Miss Goody, take your publisher for every cent you can get and then some.

As per usual the hypocrisy of the class driven world of publishing which doesn't mingle easily with the great unwashed is prepared to exploit the masses for financial gain and treat them like idiots in the process. Welcome to the iliterati.

So where does this leave publishing in the 21^st century? Somewhere up its own arse but like a contortionist with its head buried in the sand. No change from the 20^th century then.