BookMachine Weekly BookWrap: publishing stories from around the web
On BookMachine over the past couple of weeks it was all Fitba, Shades and Gray as Cargo announced three new signings, there were 6 Questions for Jon Reed and we asked Should Children’s Books Come with Age Certifications?
In the news it was announced They’re Making Another Hobbit Film Now, and while Steidl launches book-scented perfume, Fifty Shades beats Harry Potter into submission on Amazon.
We had a guest post from Kathy Meis on why It’s a Brand New World, and if you find yourself in Edinburgh over the festival period, do amble along to BookMachine Edinburgh – 17th August.
Elsewhere on the web, while it’s obvious Publishing times, they are a-changin’, it’s ‘Essential’ for Publishers to Take Risks according to HarperCollins Chief Digital Officer .
A thread of discussion this week centered around Why social media isn’t the magic bullet for self-epublished authors (according to the Guardian). Joanna Penn countered over on Futurebook that Social isn’t a magic bullet, but it can sell books, while Mike Shatskin argued Just because the author does a lot of marketing doesn’t mean the publisher can’t help. Kate Wilson of Nosy Crow has a fine answer to the question What is a publisher for?
Meanwhile, in tech-startup land, Hiptype wants to be the Google Analytics for ebooks and iPad publisher Inkling expands to iPhone.
As Four Smashwords authors make the New York Times Bestseller List, Bob Stein suggests we should: “Build conversations around books”. Have Google managed to jump start the 7-inch tablet format? Here’s 5 Reasons Why I Ditched My iPad for a Google Nexus 7.
And to close the BookWrap for this week,why not leisurely check out The Periodic Table of Typefaces or look back at Reading Rage Tuesday: Ebooks vs. Paper Books.