Author Archives: PT Editors

Mike Shatzkin on Cloud Computing and Publishers

Mike Shatzkin is the Founder and CEO of The Idea Logical Company, Inc. Cloud computing is the term for using computing resources that don’t sit on your desktop, but reside somewhere out on the Internet. The computer resources in “the cloud” could be storage capacity—hard drive space where you are storing data bits that you…Continue Reading

Book View, September 2008

PEOPLE As was anticipated, Marie Toulantis has resigned from her position as CEO of BarnesandNoble.com. She had been with the company since 2002 and will continue to serve as a consultant. Tom Burke, VP E-Commerce, and Kevin Frain, CFO, have temporarily assumed her duties. They report to Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio. Marjorie Braman,…Continue Reading

No Time to Read? No Problem!

Would you read them on the ferry? Would you read them on a Blackberry? As silly as it sounds, these are the types of questions that the folks behind DailyLit, Bit o’ Lit and Random House Audio’s “Make Your Commute More…” campaign have started taking very seriously. Each contender has respectively come up with some…Continue Reading

Al Greco Explains Open Access Book Publishing

Question: What is “open access” book publishing? What impact will it have on the book publishing industry? Expert: Albert Greco, Fordham University Graduate School of Business Administration, Professor of Marketing (see above). Author of The Book Publishing Industry, coauthor of The Culture and Commerce of Publishing in the 21st Century Answer: “When librarians and academics…Continue Reading

Summer School’s in Session: Our Annual Roundup of Pre-Professional Publishing Programs

University of Denver Publishing Institute (founded 1976) Contact: Director Joyce Meskis. (303) 871-2570; e-mail pi-info [at] du.edu 2008 dates/length: July 12–August 7 (four weeks) Cost: $4,150 Number of students: 95–100 Notable faculty: Dominique Raccah, Sourcebooks; Roger Scholl, Doubleday; Susan Moldow, Simon & Schuster; Carl Lennertz, HarperCollins; Larry Kirshbaum, LJK Literary Management; Bob Miller, HarperCollins; Kris…Continue Reading

Book View, August 2008

PEOPLE Rodale President Karen Rinaldi announced that Colin Dickerman and Pam Krauss have been named VP, Publishing Directors. Dickerman will join effective September 2 and will be responsible for Rodale’s narrative nonfiction list. He was most recently Publisher of Bloomsbury USA. Krauss will join effective August 25 and will oversee the illustrated list, including cookbooks….Continue Reading

How Are Book Sales Figures Derived?

Question: Book Industry TRENDS 2008, just published by the Book Industry Study Group, reveals that total book sales in 2007 (excluding standardized tests) were $37.26 billion. How was this figure derived? Expert: Michael Healy, Executive Director of the BISG Answer: “BISG has been publishing Book Industry TRENDS for more than thirty years. Over that time,…Continue Reading

Book View, July 2008

PEOPLE HarperCollins announced a new management structure following Jane Friedman’s June 4 resignation and the appointment of Brian Murray as President and CEO HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. Michael Morrison was also promoted to President and Publisher, U.S. General Books and Canada, and Victoria Barnsley has been promoted to CEO and Publisher HCUK and International, overseeing the…Continue Reading

Social Media Marketing: Putting Money Where the Mouths Are

PT thanks New York–based marketing consultant Rich Kelley for his reporting. Can you get a good ROI in social media? That was one of many questions on the minds of hundreds of publishers and advertisers at the International Advertising Bureau’s Leadership Forum on User-Generated Content and Social Media in June. Speakers and panelists agreed on…Continue Reading

Déjà View? BookVideos.tv Relaunches

Hoping to shake up the world of online book marketing, today TurnHere unveils a new, expanded version of its BookVideos.tv site. And yet, while the promotional video platform has undergone many changes to presumably improve its functionality and overall consumer experience, only time will tell whether the bond forged between authors and readers through studio-quality…Continue Reading