Trendspotting 2013: Brendan Cahill

BRENDAN CAHILL
PRESIDENT AND CEO
NATURESHARE 

2013 will be remembered as the year that everything came together.

Since the dawn of the current Device Age, media consumption has been headed to a Manifest Destiny that experts have called “Convergence”: a new reality in which consumers can access any type of media they want, anywhere they want, through a spectrum of interconnected devices.

Forrester’s year-end report confirms we are on the precipice of that moment. 50% of cell phone owners now have smartphones—rich media can be delivered to them everywhere through high-speed LTE and proliferating WiFi availability.

From a device perspective, we are at the apogee of a significant evolution. The iPhone 5 represents a kind of Platonic Form that all other smartphones will coalesce around. There will be incremental improvements in memory, speed, weight, and camera technology, but the essential look, feel, and most importantly usage for media consumption has reached a plateau that media producers can rely on to be the standard for some years to come. Tablets are being massively adopted—Forrester notes they’ve doubled to almost 20% penetration in 2012. Amazon’s value-priced Kindle tablet is helping to fuel the post-PC shift by bundling access to hours of free media content with Amazon Prime service. And at some point this year (we know this because of the recent leaks to the Wall Street Journal) we will have the full Apple TV experience.

For consumers, Convergence means access to a media feast unlike anything previously imaginable—in breadth, depth, and richness, with information and entertainment from books to music to visual arts to film/TV to games.

But what does this mean for media companies, and in particular book publishers?

  • Greater, smarter interactivity: Interconnected devices and software technologies like HTML5 will increasingly enable experiences beyond the “DVD extra” model of added image, audio, or video content.  We’ll see new combinations of previously separate “ebook” and “app”-type experiences including 2-screen synchronized audio/video, geolocation, and social communications that will be “baked in” rather than “layered on” to the reading experience for fiction and nonfiction.
  • More partnership opportunities: Technology companies across the hardware/software spectrum have come to realize that great content is the Final Frontier of differentiation, and book publishers have this in spades. The great stories, authoritative information, classic and contemporary brands that you’ve built and nourished over decades are uniquely valuable, and new partners will come knocking in 2013.
  • New business models: One-time content-for-cash transactions will be increasingly less of what publishing is about in the 21st century. Creating ongoing relationships between consumers and content libraries, with incremental value-adds for incremental cost, and innovative advertising/merchandising partnerships, will be more and more common.
  • More intense competition: The resources necessary to enable these new interactivity, partnerships, and business models will be considerable. Amazon’s recently launched publishing arm and the announced consolidations among what had been the Big 6 are only the beginning. Outside players including private equity and technology companies will become a greater part of the landscape, creating both threats and opportunities.

DIY IP: How Publishers Develop, Exploit and Deploy Their Own Intellectual Property

While authors have always been – and will continue to be — the driving force behind popular children’s characters, more publishers than ever are now also looking in-house for the ideas that will eventually become the next Fancy Nancy or Hunger Games. Original, publisher-generated intellectual property (IP) is nothing new—Alloy has long perfected this model with franchises like Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, behemoths like Disney have developed books that turn into franchises, and franchises that spawn endless books… and then there’s Nick, Sesame Workshop and other longtime content creators.

But original IP is becoming increasingly prominent in children’s publishing. “Especially for kids, there are so many ways to exploit properties right now,” says Devereux Chatillon, a lawyer for Callaway and Zola, “and the margins for print publishers are getting squeezed so much that opportunity and necessity have combined.”

While original IP may not be anything groundbreaking, it does lend itself uniquely to the children’s market. “Children’s entertainment is all about characters and stories,” explains Eric Huang, Publishing Director, Media and Entertainment, at Penguin UK, as a reason why children’s original IP can be particularly compelling. Jonathan Yaged, President of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, agrees, describing the role of stories in kids’ lives: “A fundamental part of being a kid is experimenting and roleplaying, particularly for preschool and early grade-school children… For older kids, the stories and characters become more aspirational. Even in the most fantastical settings, the best stories and characters encourage kids to expand their worlds and try new things.” Of course, Eric Huang also adds, “Owning IP or representing commercial rights for IP is also more important in the kids market because of the potential for merchandise and licensing is around kids brands.”

“Publishers’ business models are changing dramatically because of the rise of digital,” says Devereux Chatillon, “putting pressure on them to find other markets.” But the good news about this is, as Jess Brallier, SVP and Publisher of virtual world Poptropica, puts it, “One can be more reckless, wonderfully so, with one’s own IP.” This idea is exemplified with Macmillan’s new series of preschool apps called Play and Learn with Wallace.” Not only will each app teach reading and counting skills, problem solving, and hand-eye coordination, but the apps can also be combined with one another through a “Super Shuffle” mode that will join multiple apps in endless combinations, without the worry of author rights. Read More »

Copyright and Technology 2012: Keeping the Pirates at Bay

With a keynote by Robert Levine, journalist and author of Free Ride, about how the proponents of consumer access to free content are often those who use that content to sell advertising, this year’s  Copyright and Technology New York conference began.  A few in the audience were from book publishing – MIT’s Bill Trippe moderated an interesting panel on DRM (including Open Access, epub3*, watermarking, etc.) – but many more were from music, copyright litigation and technology companies.  Presented by Gothamedia and Bill Rosenblatt’s GiantSteps, the daylong conference covered copyright, DRM, Artists Rights movements, and of course, Piracy, in sessions that focused on the issues from both tech and legal points of view.  Piracy was the focus of several panels, including one devoted to “the post SOPA/PIPA world,”  where one panelist  casually mentioned that Google queries re pirating books have doubled in the last year.  Thomas Sehested from MarkMonitor (a sponsor) pointed out on another panel on piracy data collection that with the rise of tablets, “ebook piracy is on the fast track.”

As panelists who track the pirates faced off against those, like IP lawyer Jim Burger (who once ran Apple’s Computer Law Dept.), who argued that piracy is free marketing, several argued that companies like Amex, that advertise on pirate sites, should be boycotted.  With file sharing sites consuming 30% of internet bandwidth in Asia and Europe and 15% in the US, everyone agreed that piracy would not be stopped, merely curbed.  However, when MarkMonitor’s Thomas Sehested revealed that the vast majority of illegal downloads carry viruses – “We have to wipe our computers daily” – several in the audience suggested that a campaign to alert the public might be the most effective way to dissuade downloaders.

Other innovative approaches to piracy – much of it inadvertent, especially when images are grabbed (one audience member noted a panelist had “stolen” his graphic for his presentation) – included retroactively approaching the pirate to request payment.  Getty ImagesOffir Gutelzon said several of its clients had seen real success with this approach.  Who are the biggest offenders in digital image piracy?  “Large corporations,” he admitted with a shrug.

*DBW’s writeup of Kobo’s epub3 plans: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/kobo-to-fully-support-epub-3-by-third-quarter-2013/

People Roundup, December 2012

PEOPLE

Anthony Ziccardi left his position as Deputy Publisher of Gallery Books, Threshold Editions and Pocket Books. His last day was December 3.

Julia Pastore has joined Demos Health as executive editor where she will help grow their list of trade health and self-help titles. She was a Senior Editor at Crown Archetype and Harmony Books. She can be reached at jpastore@demoshealth.com or 212-845-9985.

Anna deVries has been named Senior Editor at Picador. She has been in publishing for over 10 years, including seven years in the editorial department at Scribner.

Michael Cairns, Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Research Development at SharedBook, left the company. He is the author of the blog Personanondata and can be reached at his consulting company, Information Media Partners, at: michael.carins@infomediapartners.com

Patrick Mulligan has left Gotham Books to focus on his own business, Pop Chart Lab, where he is Co-founder and Editorial Director.  He may be reached at patrick@popchartlab.com

ICM Partners has set a strategic alliance with the Sagalyn Agency which will be renamed ICM/Sagalyn.  As Variety noted: “Sagalyn is a prosperous boutique run by Raphael Sagalyn, who reps a roster of more than 100 authors. The agency largely focuses on non-fiction writers, including journos, academics and business leaders, though it does rep some fiction heavyweights as well.”

Amazon announced it will launch Amazon Publishing in Europe from its EU headquarters in Luxembourg. Victoria Griffith, who headed Amazon Publishing in Seattle, will move to Luxembourg in early 2013, and in her place, Larry Kirshbaum, Publisher of Amazon Publishing New York,  now assumes editorial leadership for Seattle and New York.  Daphne Durham,  was promoted to Editor-in-Chief, reporting to Kirshbaum.  Philip Patrick now heads business development, rights and sales across all imprints.  Read More »

Let’s see how far we’ve come: The Ereader War 5 Years Later

The Kindle turned five this past month, and it’s almost astounding how the market for ereaders and tablets has expanded since the first model hit Amazon’s storefront. A couple of weeks ago, we posted a chart showing the dizzying number of models currently for sale, and as we head into the holiday season, reviewers acknowledge the wide array of offerings while never seeming terribly blown away by any of the new devices. Everybody seems to have their missteps: the iPad Mini lacks the screen quality of the iPad 4 with Retina display, the Nexus 10 still has a way to go with usability, and the Nook HD is great for reading but still not an exemplary tablet. In fact, many reviewers admit that price will be the deciding factor this holiday season, with more than enough options for every budget. In a recent piece for the New York Times, David Pogue confirms this premise that it’s all a pretty level playing field when he says, “You know the old photographer’s adage, ‘The best camera is the one you have with you?’ You could say the same thing about your tablet.”

So which tablet is reigning supreme five years after the Kindle’s big debut? Read on to draw your own conclusion:

“The Barnes & Noble Nook HD ($199 for 8GB, $229 for 16GB) has the best hardware of any 7-inch tablet in its price class. It’s light and well built, with a grippy body and an absolutely stellar screen. As long as you use it to read Barnes & Noble’s books, it’s spectacular. But tablets nowadays do a lot more than that, and the Nook HD doesn’t. That makes the Nook HD a great reader’s tablet, but not a leading tablet overall.”

Sascha Segan, PC Mag (11/1/2012)

“While Apple is busy pushing a smaller tablet to take on Google and Amazon’s 7-inch offerings, Google is thinking big.

The company has teamed up with Samsung for the new Nexus 10 tablet, a direct competitor to the full-size iPad… The Nexus 10 is a solid entry into the category, with excellent hardware and a stunning screen.”

Heather Kelly, CNN (11/2/2012)

“Finally, the physical e-reader is similar to The Paperwhite and Sony Reader, with a slightly tacky back. It’s nice, but the Nook still rules in the field of ergonomics. One design win is the physical button to activate the screen illumination; it’s at the top of the e-reader next to the power/sleep button. It’s really nice to be able to light the Kobo up without having to mess with on-screen menus.

Like the Paperwhite, however, Kobo’s Glo has no page-turn buttons. The Nook does, and it’s one of the device’s best features. It’s something I personally want on all e-readers, whether they light up or not.”

Roberto Baldwin, Wired ( 11/2/2012)

“With impressive specs, the Nexus 10 seems like a special tablet, at least on paper.

When put through a real-world test, Google’s latest tablet performed well for the price but not enough to brag about to friends.”

Salvador Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times (11/3/2012)

“So long, iPad 3. We’ve had a fun time these past eight months and I’m sorry to see you go. With your Retina display and speedy A5X processor, you’ve served me well. And it’s not you; it’s me. See, almost two years ago, I dumped the first iPad model in favor of a smaller model. Even though you trounce the new iPad mini on some specs, portability is pretty high on my list of desired features and, well—as I said in January 2011—size matters.”

–Kevin C. Tofel, GigOM (11/6/2012)

“Yes, the iPad mini starts at $329 while the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD each offer $199 price tags. Apple can make a good case that the higher cost of the mini buys you that lighter, thinner design, two cameras instead of one and a superior selection of tablet apps. (It can’t readily justify charging twice as much for a storage upgrade.)

But set those prices aside and think of how you’d actually use a tablet. If your answers revolve around reading, whether on the Web or in e-books, the Nexus 7 should be your first choice. If apps outrank text, go with the iPad mini.”

Rob Pegoraro, CNN Money (11/ 7/2012)

“At the end of the day, which eReader you choose will really depend on several factors. Price is one, to be sure, but you’ll also want to think about size, backlighting, and the ecosystem. Whatever the case, it’s a good time to be a consumer, because we are offered a lot more choice than when the original Kindle was the be-all and end-all of e-book readers.”

Michael Kwan, Mobile Magazine (11/22/2012)

 

Bonus Quote:

“I hope you Apple Geniuses are up to snuff because I’m pretty sure my iPad’s busted. No matter how much I use it to check email, surf the web, or tag photos on Facebook, I’m still gnawed at by a horrifying emptiness that no amount of fiddling with your magical gadget can fill.

Is it too much to ask that the mere act of owning your products fill me with utter, unbroken contentment? I think not.”

Sam Weiner, McSweeney’s

International Publishers Talk Turkey at the Istanbul Book Fair

Beginning this year on Saturday, November 17th and lasting the following week, through Sunday, November 25th, The Tüyap Istanbul Book Fair is incontestably Turkey’s largest book business event—it boasted over 500,000 visitors this year, and more than 500 registered Turkish publishers, agencies, and organizations. Now in its 31st year, the Fair is a production of the Turkish Publishers Association, along with other governmental and non-governmental organizations.

For the first 25+ years of its existence Tüyap functioned primarily as “a cultural festival” where Turkish publishers could “sell their books directly [to the public], learn readers’ opinions—and recent changes in opinion—first hand,” says Deniz Kavukcuoglu, Cultural Fairs General Coordinator. But as the Turkish book business has grown, the Fair is becoming a professional fair also. The biggest contribution to the Fair’s new professional profile, says Kavukcuoglu, has been to officially establish it as an international fair in 2010. From “hardly any” international attendance three years ago, Tüyap played host to 40 international publishers—primarily from Europe and Asia—in 2012.

The number of titles published in Turkey grew by more than 20% percent between 2010 and 2011, and given that 45-55% of all titles published in Turkey annually are translations, the chance to use Tüyap to set up meetings with international publishers and to buy and sell rights has been key for the growing Turkish publishing industry.

Read More »

Who’s Scouting Whom: Literary Scouts Contact Sheet 2012

The 2012 version of our annual Who’s Scouting Whom Literary Scout Contact Sheet remains largely the same as last year’s. The most notable change among the 14 agencies listed is the growth of the Erin Edmison / Peter Harper venture and Liz Gately Book Scouting, both of which have more than doubled their roster of clients in the past year. Each scout’s clients are separated by country or region, and representation for children’s titles is denoted where applicable. We also include the handful of TV and film studios represented by the scouts in our roundup.

While in Frankfurt, the PT editors noted particular enthusiasm at the International Rights Directors Meeting over the number and range of titles Chinese publishers are buying. While one or two scouts on our list have added Chinese clients to their lists this year, there does not seem to be as great a number as one might expect, given the international trend.

Please click here or on the image below to download the PDF of the Publishing Trends 2012 Literary Scouts Contact Sheet:

Click on the image of the chart above for a full PDF version of the 2012 Literary Scouts Contact Sheet.

People Roundup, November 2012

PEOPLE

Sandy disrupted our office (and schedule), so here’s an update on the last few weeks’ news:

It has been announced that Steve Perrine, Publisher of Books, is leaving Rodale. Also as part of the announcement, it has been said that he and David Zinczenko, SVP and Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health and General Manager of Rodale’s Healthy Living Group, are leaving to to team  up on a new venture.

Wendy Bronfin, who was Director, Product Management for Nook at Barnes & Noble, is leaving to become SVP Consumer Products and Marketing at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on November 26.

Former Crown Executive Editor Heather Jackson has rejoined the company as consulting Editor-at-Large for the relaunched Harmony imprint and Sydny Miner has been moved into the position of Executive Editor for Harmony (after acquiring in the past for Archetype and Three Rivers Press).  Leah Miller has been hired as Editor (she was previously at Free Press).

Longtime Crown Editor and Executive Charlie Conrad was laid off earlier this week, after 22 years at the company (first Bantam Doubleday Dell and then Random House Inc.). Spokesperson David Drake tells us “the change did not involve a broader reassignment of responsibilities or roles within the Crown trade publishing editorial team led by Molly Stern.” Conrad’s titles have been reassigned to other editors. He’s looking for a new editorial position and can be reached at rock1230@gmail.com.

Peter Berkery, Jr. has been named Executive Director of the Association of American University Presses (AAUP), starting March 1st. Berkery was VP, Publisher of the US Law division of Oxford University Press (OUP)  and will succeed long-time AAUP Director Peter Givler.

Maria Modugno will join Random House Children’s on November 26 as Editorial Director, Picture Books, for the Random House and Golden Books group. She was VP, Editorial Director at Harper Children’s.

Martha Levin, EVP and Publisher of Free Press, who left Free Press in early November, may be reached at mlevin004@nyc.rr.comDominick Anfuso, VP Editor in Chief, has left as well may be reached at dominickanfuso@gmail.com Free Press comes under S&S and Jon Karp. Stacy Creamer, VP Publisher of Touchstone, now reports to Susan Moldow. 

James Attlee has joined the University of Chicago Press as UK Editor-at-Large. Previously he was Sales and Rights Director at Tate Publishing.

Ben George has joined Penguin as an Editor. He was co-founder and Editorial Director at Lookout Books of Wilmington, NC and Editor of the literary magazine Ecotone.

Clay Smith has joined Kirkus Media as Features Editor, reporting to COO Meg Kuehn. Most recently he was Literary Director of the Texas Book Festival.

Allison Hollett has joined Osprey as US VP, Sales and Marketing, where she will develop and manage all aspects of the company’s marketing and publicity efforts working out of Osprey’s New York offices. Hollett, was previously Director of Trade Sales and Marketing for the Taunton Press replaces John Tintera, who will now oversee US sales and marketing for Watkins Publishing.

Liate Stehlik announced that Catherine Felgar has joined HarperCollins as Publishing Operations Director, managing the Morrow and Ecco lists in both digital and print.  She was at Cambridge U. Press and succeeds Kim Lewis. Ashley Garland has joined the Ecco as Publicity Manager. She was previously with Ballantine.

Jeff Pinsker has been named VP, Scholastic Inc., and President of Klutz a division of Scholastic, Pinsker will assume his new responsibilities December 3, 2012, and will report to Ellie Berger, President of Scholastic Trade.  Pinsker was most recently CEO of INFINITOY.

Kirsten Neuhaus has been hired as Director of Foreign Rights for adult titles at Foundry. For the past three years, she has been running her own agency. Also at Foundry,Rachel Hecht, who joined the agency in 2011, has been promoted to Director of Foreign Rights for children’s books. She was previously a YA scout for Mary Anne Thompson Associates.

Macmillan announced that Dominic Knight has been appointed Chairman of Palgrave Macmillan UK and US and takes on a new role of Executive Director, Business Programs for the Macmillan Group.  Sam Burridge has also been promoted to Managing Director, Palgrave Macmillan Scholarly, effective 1 November 2012.  Burridge joined Macmillan in 1995. Burridge will report to Dominic Knight, who moves into the new role of Executive Director, Business Programmes, with responsibility for corporate change strategy within Macmillan.

Ginger Curwen is returning to publishing, joining Julia Lord Literary Management as an agent representing mysteries and thrillers. Curwen previously worked at HarperCollins, the American Booksellers Association, Bantam, and Random House.

John Groton has left Innodata. He can be reached at jgroton@gmail.com.

University of North Carolina Press Editor-in-Chief David Perry intends to retire in March 2013. He was named Editor-in-Chief in 1995. Read More »

Comparing Ereading Devices: A Visual Guide

While the past couple of months have been filled with press conferences with big presentations announcing the latest tablets and ereaders on the market, many older models from the major players have left the market with little fanfare. The iRiver Story seemingly disappeared as soon as it hit the shelves, and Nook has simplified its ereader options by focusing on the Simple Touch and doing away with its classic model. Even the iPad 4 is replacing the very recently released iPad 3. All these changes in device offerings come on top of ever-changing price wars with Barnes & Noble announcing some cheaper prices on its Nook Color and Nook Tablet, just in time for the holidays. In addition, Sony just recently threw its hat in the ring on the retail front when it announced its iOS ereading app, meaning that not only are there a wide variety of new devices on the market, but that each of them have their own ecosystem now, too.

Are you getting dizzy keeping up with the ereader wars? So were we. To help clarify what’s out there, we did a roundup of all the major available devices, for your convenience in the chart below (which you can download as a print-ready PDF by clicking on the image):

Click on the image of the chart above for a full PDF version of the ereader device roundup chart.