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IN THIS ISSUE:
Publishing Industry News
Marketing and Distribution
Trade Show News
BEA New York-Bound for Next Four Years
From Shelf-Awareness
BookExpo America will hold the show in New York City for the foreseeable future, yet will shorten the event to three days from four days and stage it midweek.
The 2009 show, which takes place May 29-31 in New York City, will not be affected by the changes. But thereafter, instead of being held in Washington, D.C. and in Las Vegas, Nev., the show will take place in New York City. BEA has booked space at the Javits Center through 2012.
The first day of BEA will consist of educational programming, and the exhibit floor will be open from 4-6 p.m. The following two days, the exhibit floor will be open all day. Organizers said that more changes will be announced shortly.
In a statement, industry VP and BEA show manager Lance Fensterman called the BEA changes "responsive to industry needs" and emphasized that BEA had been talking with many book industry representatives about "what type of change is most necessary to make BEA relevant in the years ahead" and to provide "a new vision" for the show.
Fensterman said, too, that changes "will provide the majority of our exhibitors with a cost reduction, as well as more flexibility in managing their presence at the show."
As for the site of the show, Fensterman stated, "New York City is also the publishing capital and we are anxious to build a strong identity between New York and BEA. There is a significant media presence in New York City and we would like to take advantage of this, not only by building media attendance, but by involving the media in a substantive way in our programming."
The shortened schedule is a matter of focusing on "quality, not quantity," Fensterman continued. "Shortening the show dates and trying to make the show fit into people's schedules conveniently and without being a burden is a positive step in this direction. We want to increase the quality of our programming by stripping away unnecessary sessions, and we want to extend some programming to the show floor so that we have a thoroughly interactive and engaging atmosphere from the moment the show begins to the moment it concludes. . . . We want everyone under one roof in a highly charged and stimulating atmosphere where there is enormous potential for creating influence, buzz, and general excitement about books."
BookMasters/AtlasBooks will be at the
BEA Friday, May 29th through Sunday, May 31st.
Our booth spans #3040-3055.
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Amazon Fires Up Kindle 2
From Shelf-Awareness
Amazon.com announced its new Kindle 2. Shipping later this month, the e-reader features a battery that will last two weeks, more contrast on the black-and-white screen than the previous iteration, faster wi-fi connections, more memory, a smaller size, and a function that reads the text aloud (not the audiobook version of the text). The new Kindle costs $359, the same as the old Kindle, and begins shipping February 24.
In addition, as expected, Amazon said that it will offer Ur, a new work by Stephen King, exclusively on the Kindle 2.
The audio capability caused at least some questions. Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, told the Wall Street Journal that this was "an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law." An Amazon spokesperson countered that customers would not confuse text reading with the audiobook.
BookMasters Digital Services offers dynamic e-content solutions to client publishers, both in the form of conversion and tagging of electronic files as well as distribution of the content into the e-marketplace.
With evolving technologies such as Amazon’s Kindle, the digital marketplace is seeing vastly increasing expectations and usability for the end-user. BookMasters offers a solution for publishers looking to keep up with the fast pace of this evolution. Read More ...
Book Marketing
Author 101
(from Author 101: Bestselling Book Publicity, by Rick Frishman and Robyn Spizman; FRISHMANR@PlannedTVArts.com or www.author101.com)
In publicity, your message is delivered through the media and through channels such as your networks and your contacts' networks. In contrast to advertising, you don't pay the media to deliver your message, but convince it to deliver it in its articles, reviews, and programs. The media may deliver the exact message you provide, or write or present information about your book in its own words, style, or format.
Publicity is effective because the public tends tp think of the information it gets from the media as news. So, it gives publicity more credence than advertising does, which the public knows is bought and paid for by advertisers. Advertising is perceived as being big on hype and short on truth, while information provided by the media is generally accepted as true.
Marcella's Magic
(Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble)
An impulse purchase for most subjects is rare. In few instances will customers walk into a section, see something that catches their eye, and just pick it up and buy it. There's usually some other connection that has been made with that customer through the author. That occurs through the author’s promotion.
Savvy Self-Promotion
(Penny Sansevieri, author of From Book to Bestseller, penny@amarketingexpert.com.
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bookgal)
A Layperson's Guide to Social Networks. With all the talk about MySpace, Facebook and a million other social networking sites it's starting to get confusing, don't you think? Well here's a quick guide on where you should be and which social networking sites to avoid:
MySpace: Ok if you're a garage band. No, seriously, try Facebook first. Facebook makes MySpace feel like you're riding a Vespa. With all due respect to our Vespa lovers out there...
Facebook: Simply fabulous, need I say more?
Linkedin: A bit hoity-toity but ok. Not as many applications as Facebook but a good place to get listed and to link to other folks you know or want to get to know. Strictly for the business professional.
Plaxo: Run fast, run far. While Plaxo might be a nice way to keep track of your contacts, it's not even in the running for a social networking site although the powers that be at Plaxo would have you think otherwise.
Twitter: While this is a great micro-blogging site, it's social networking applications (of which there are few) don't really live up to it being a good social networking platform. Still, you can Twitter and follow other "tweets" and make friends and share information. A good place to be.
Orkut: What? Oh, yeah, I was on here once. I think. I can't recall. Avoid it.
Marcella's Magic
(Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble)
When contemplating an in-store event, what bookstore people need is a little time to sift through the mail to see what it is that appeals to them that they want to follow up on. So in most cases, when you send the material, send them a jacket of the book and a press release. If you have a finished copy, and you want to send them that, do so. That's always good because nothing sells the book like the book itself. Then let the bookseller get back to you.
Upcoming Events
Publishing Business Conference and Expo
New York Marriott Marquis, Times Square
New York, NY
March 23-25, 2009
www.PublishingBusiness.com
Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Bologna Exhibition Centre
Bologna, Italy
March 23-26, 2009
www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it
Colorado Independent Publishers Association College 2009
Red Lion Hotel
Denver, CO
March 26-28, 2009
www.CIPAbooks.com
London Book Fair -
Earl’s Court
London, England
April 20-22, 2009
www.londonbookfair.co.uk
Society for Scholarly Publishing Annual Meeting
Baltimore Marriott Waterfront
Baltimore, MD
May 27-29, 2009
www.sspnet.org
Book Expo America 2009
Jacob K. Javits Center
New York, NY
May 28-May 31, 2009
www.bookexpoamerica.com
American Library Association Show
McCormick Place
Chicago, IL
July 9-15, 2009
www.ala.org
This calendar was up-to-date and accurate as of February 15, 2009. Information was culled from a number of sources. BookMasters cannot be held liable for the accuracy of the information within. Please visit the listed Web sites for more information.
