The New Face of Social Media
Social media continue to evolve, with Google Plus being the most recent conspicuous entry. Scholarly publishers may find these new platforms can be useful in evolving new forms of communications.
The Ticklish Problem of Pricing E-books for Libraries
As publications move to digital form, libraries are taking on a greater share of the total volume of publishers’ income. This inevitably leads to conflicts.
Letter from Eastern Europe: Some Reflections on the Evolution of Publishing
The growing economies in Eastern Europe are giving rise to a new set of publishing opportunities and also to increased competition on the global stage.
What We Can Learn From Harry Potter
The Harry Potter series will now be available as e-books. Among the lessons for publishers is the desirability of direct-marketing.
Setting the Agenda: Key Issues for Scholarly Publishing
What are the key issues for scholarly publishing today? Setting the agenda for productive discussion.
Stick to Your Ribs: The Editorial Fallacy
Revisiting a popular and important post — the editorial fallacy, that belief that more or better manuscripts can save you from disruptive change.
The Membership Business Model for Scholarly Communications
The membership business model for scholarly communications is built on a network of reciprocal relationships, where a member’s dues pay both for the privilege of publishing and the right to access.
The Rapture of Demand — Caring for Orphan Works Left Behind
The orphan works problem is not easily resolved, but it may not be such a big problem, as books mostly become orphans because there is little demand for them.
What’s for Sale? Moving from Selling Content to Monetizing Attention
At some point book publishers will begin to copy the Netflix model of selling by subscription. This changes the nature of the business from one where products are sold to one where publishers attempt to monetize readers’ attention.
What Upstarts Can Teach Established Presses
The strategies of established university presses can be enhanced by studying start-ups and slyly coopting some of their new and best ideas.
Creating a New University Press
The university press world is well established, but it is worth considering how one would go about a new press today. The key is not to do what the established presses do already, and do very well.
Brand, Context, and Containers: Publishing Into and Across the Digital Network
Established publishers don’t have the luxury of start-ups of ignoring existing operations, which makes it harder to fully engage with the Web. But an established brand can help create an extended marketing network.
Stick to Your Ribs — Why Publishers' Brands Matter
(Editor’s Note: Published just over a year ago, this post helped people from outside publishing houses understand some fundamentals of brand management and quality proxies. It’s as clearly written as anything you’ll ever see, and a gem from the archive.) […]
A Parable of Innovation in Publishing — A Mostly True Story
This is a parable of the role in innovation in publishing and makes the case that we should not criticize companies that try and fail to do new things.
Reflections on Google Book Search: You Can't Put the Google Back Into the Bottle
Despite the fact that the Google Books settlement was not approved, Google’s mass digitization has forever transformed the landscape of publishing, libraries, and the way we think about information.