Welcome to Writer's Weekly World Review for the week ending June 24, 2011.
It was hard to narrow it down to just the top five for the week this time around, but check out what's happening below:
1) What happens when you combine low eBook prices and a great review in a newspaper? Try a 2,000 % increase in sales over just a few days: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/newspaper-review-boosts-ebooks-amazon-sales-rank-2000_b32857.
2) Many of us don't have the time nor ability to go to myriads of writing seminars, conventions, and more. Writer's Digest however has just announced they are bringing back their tutorials, which are online. Continue you education, broaden your literary ability, and all from the comfort of your pajamas! Note, it's not cheap, but compared to conferences, pretty good. Also, there are lots of "previews" so you can still learn in bite sized pieces:
3) Do you like book signings? Have you ever happened upon one by sheer happy accident? Well, the days of easily accessing your favorite author may be ending as a more European approach is on the horizon in the US: Paid author signing and readings. That's right. Want to see you favorite author? Pricing begins at $5. Are we going to stay free and accessible, or follow Europe? The market will decide:
http://www.edrants.com/paid-author-events-the-future-of-independent-bookstores/
4) St. Marks is an iconic bookstore of American literary culture. And it looks to be on its way out. They just let go all part-time employees and cut hours back on the full time. Now they and others are pleading for people to not buy online. I don't feel comfortable with the begging personally. I am sorry, but innovation has come, and most people prefer ease of access online more than they would the expertise of a great book store clerk. I love book stores, but I don't see that begging will help many of them:
5) One of the biggest news items was the announcement by J.K. Rowling of "Pottermore", an online community and marketplace centered around a single franchise. I was speaking with someone about a similar concept just the other month (maybe even posted about it here?), so I find it interesting to note it was already being developed. That is to say, the next big experiment would be marketing a franchise AND social media into a single comprehensive website and shop. There are many possible outgrowths of this, so we'll have to see how they play out. There are many news stories on this, but if you haven't already seen it, why don't you get it straight from J.K Rowling in a very creative 2 minute video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5DOKOt7ZF4
Like I said, lots happening this week!
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2 comments:
Thanks for keeping us all updated on the latest in the writing world. I love brick and mortar stores, but with 6 kids, visiting them is more of a luxury and most of my book purchasing happens in a practical manner online.
Great rundown of what's going on out there, Matt.
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