So has the ipad changed the game?

I have been doing quite a bit of abstract thinking that may or may not form itself into a post. It involves capitalism, and the television show "Hoarders," and our culture of consumption, and Fahrenheit 451 (which I'm only now reading for the first time - I know, I know), and the future of books. There are many strands floating around that may or may not coalesce.

For now, I was interested to see today's article by Julie Bosman in the NY Times on e-books made for use on the iPad. Bosman covers new products, though publishers have not universally settled on a new term for such products:

In the spring Hachette Book Group called its version, by David Baldacci, an “enriched” book. Penguin Group released an “amplified” version of a novel by Ken Follett last week. And on Thursday Simon & Schuster will come out with one of its own, an “enhanced” e-book version of “Nixonland” by Rick Perlstein.

Now I have to confess that my sister now has an iPad. Her husband bought her one for their anniversary, calling me first to discuss. I did not steer him away from it and even talked about some of the positive features. I guess some part of me wanted someone close to me to buy it, play with it, and report back. She opened the gift last weekend and we talked about it on Monday. I told her how I sat next to a man on a plane from Houston to Boston who sat quietly flipping "pages" for the entire flight, his attention rapt. Near the end of the flight, he flipped the thing over and worked on some PowerPoint presentation. I also mentioned the article I linked to in my last post. I also emailed her information about the Dr. Seuss products available for the iPad - adapted from the books, for my six year old nephew. (It turns out he doesn't like Dr. Seuss, which may be insane, offensive, or awesome - I haven't decided.)

I chatted with her today and she said she's enjoying the iPad, but her experience does give one insight into its uses by someone who is not typically considered an early adopter of anything. They went through a ton of Youtube clips, some of which she said were hilarious but others of which confused her, in that they were painfully boring and tedious and yet highly rated and commented upon. Such is the world of the new, unedited media, hm? Thanks, crowd-sourcing!

But we also talked about this article, which I had just read, and about publishers embedding videos into e-books, and we agreed that those were two different parts of one's brain that would be competing. "Either I'm watching a video or I'm reading a book. I don't want both." She suggested maybe our brains are just trained that way because we have read so many books, and maybe younger people would find videos in books a lot more appealing.

In reading this piece, I see that Bosman mentions how,

Grand Central Publishing, part of Hachette, released an “enriched” e-book version of Mr. Baldacci’s latest novel, “Deliver Us From Evil,” in April to coincide with the hardcover release. The e-book producers borrowed from the film industry and included “research photos taken by the author, deleted scenes from the manuscript, an alternate ending and other special features,” Hachette announced in March.

When I read that, I thought about how I do look to see if a dvd has "extras" when I'm thinking of buying it, even though I rarely sit and watch director's cuts, or commentary (except on John Waters' movies, which are always good). Are we now going to raise the bar with books, and demand that an author writing a narrative isn't enough? "Oh, her novel doesn't have a trailer, and 'writing-of' segment, a series of photos so I know what to imagine for various scenes? Forget it!"

I don't know, though. I admitted to my sister that I do go online to see author websites sometimes, and I have been known to read a Q&A with the author at the back of a Harper Perennial paperback. It does make one wonder if this is the way the publishing industry is going to change, by adding capacity by seeking out employees who can think up and create these extras. That would still be a creative enterprise in service to the author's work.

But this is all iPad related. We've all heard about companies coming forward to do this kind of work but they've been given a bigger market as the iPad has rolled out. As Bosman quotes in teh article,

Brad Inman, chief executive of Vook, said his company is working with 25 publishers to create multimedia books. “The iPad brought this to life,” he said. “Everyone knows now that they’ve got to put their toe in this water.”

So... where does this leave other readers, most especially the biggest and loudest of them all, the Kindle? Well, Bezos is now announcing a cheaper version, a "mass market" type of deal. As Geoffrey Fowler reports in the WSJ,

The new Kindle features a screen with increased gray-scale contrast, a battery that lasts for a month, and a slightly smaller size. It will come in two flavors: one with Wi-Fi and 3G Internet connections selling for $189, the other with Wi-Fi only for $139. The latter will be among the cheapest wireless-equipped e-readers on the market, at least for now.

Hm. Too little, too late? And everything Bezos says sounds sleazy. His quote here, "People will buy them for their kids. People won't share Kindles any more." It's like he's not sophisticated enough to code language so it's not quite so desperate.

But then, in explaining why the Kindle doesn't have the bells and whistles of a table like the iPad.... oh I hate to say this... Bezos makes my same point!

"For the vast majority of books, adding video and animation is not going to be helpful. It is distracting rather than enhancing. You are not going to improve Hemingway by adding video snippets," he said.

Oh God that smarts.

As Christopher and I have both said, at some point, I just think these guys are trying to tell me I want, or even need something that I really don't. You know what? When I watch a good movie, I don't need extras. And when I want to read a book, I don't need something electronic. I just need to grab something made largely of paper and open it, and sometimes stuff it in my bag or under my arm, and take it on a train or plane or on a walk. (My sister pointed out, "I'm not sticking this thing in my beach bag, that's for sure.") These stories fill the "pages" of our newspapers, but at some point, is it a bunch of noise about nothing?

I mean that on a happy note, but in case you're not happy yet:

Thanks to Adele Enerson at Mila'sDaydreams for this ridiculously cute "bookworm."

[PS I would be grateful if anyone in North Carolina, in particular Wilmington, can tell me why this post on the Kindle debates from last May keeps getting hits from your region. Any clues? Thanks!]

Quick Recommended Reading

Just wanted to point folks to Scott Kirsner's piece in the Ideas section of the Boston Globe today, with the headline, "Kicking Back with a good e-reader." Kirsner, who covers technology for the Globe as a columnist, takes B&N's Kobe, a Kindle, and an iPad on a weeklong vacation to try out each one, and makes some interesting finds. While I take issue with any journalist parroting back Amazon's press release regarding the number of e-books they've sold compared to hardcovers - self-serving stats to be sure - I do appreciate the overall level-head-ness of this piece. There were multiple times when, as I read it, I almost spilled my coffee and/or started sputtering various curse words, but generally, as I kept reading, I was calmed. One such example: when Kirsner says that, in keeping with this experiment, he was going to stay out of any bookstores, doing all his book purchasing online to have the full digital experience. But then he comes around as his son forces him into the Where the Sidewalk Ends bookstore in Chatham, on the Cape, and he also talks up the Harvard Bookstore back in Cambridge. Phew.

I appreciate his ultimate conclusion, but in fairness to him, I have to make you all read it to get there. Enjoy!

More Poetry Recommendations

A few months ago, we posted a "contemporary poetry starter kit" as provided by Jeff Gordinier, which seemed to attract a fair number of readers. Nice for us, great for contemporary poetry! So recently, when a friend on Facebook put up the following status:

Hey poetry folks: Looking for a heap of new books to burrow through. Any recent favorites?

I thought I'd share the recommendations mentioned. I was very pleased to see someone whom admittedly I don't really know asking for new poetry titles. At one point, he specified, "Specifically, folks, I'm looking for brand new books of poetry by living, breathing, and most likely socially awkward writers. BOOYA." Keep that point in mind in looking at this list, though every rec may not meet that qualification. I put some covers in when I could, some of which (including Myles' and Kunin's) are fantastic.

Here 'tis:

My Vocabulary Did This To Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer

Mindfield: New & Selected Poems by Gregory Corso

Two Minutes of Light by Nancy Pearson

Sleeping It Off in Rapid City: Poems, New and Selected by August Kleinzahler (this one the original poster knew, and loved apparently)

The Irrationalist by Suzanne Buffam (review here)

The Wasteland and Other Poems by John Beer

Geoffrey Nutter's Christopher Sunset

Rachel Levitsky - any of her books, but especially Neighbor, pub'd by Ugly Duckling Presse (Q&A here - did Ugly Duckling disappear? website not working, which is sad as it's described as a non-profit art & publishing collective, but site seems to no longer exist - ??) (it does exist, and link works! see comments)

The McSweeney's Book of Poets Picking Poets

Amy Gerstler's Dearest Creatures

Eileen Myles' Sorry Tree (orig poster said this was his favorite books of her's)

The Sore Throat and Other Poems by Aaron Kunin

Elisa Gabbert - no title mentioned, but try the most recent, The French Exit

I personally am curious about Sleeping It Off in Rapid City, the Myles, and The Sore Throat. You?

More Shots at Amazon

Colin Robinson of the maverick new publisher OR Books does a nice job on GRITtv explaining how far Amazon's (bad) tentacles go into the publishing business:

Scary but important stuff. I really appreciate what these OR Books folks are up to, and look forward to seeing more.

PS - For those who prefer to read rather than watch, here is a fantastic article with the same point by Robinson, in the Nation. In addition, today's installment of the always-reliable Shelf Awareness includes a round-up of article's around Amazon's bullying tactics.

Texas-style

I'm not posting from Texas, where I was not born but where I spent many years. (To be Texan, one can't just be born there, but must have family roots.) But I am posting upon returning back to the Northeast from a trip down to Texas, to Austin specifically. It was a good time - but hot... so effin' hot... why do you have to get so HOT, Tejas?

Anyhow, I'm happy to report that we did manage a trip to BookPeople while in town and it is as amazing now as when I lived in Austin over ten years ago. I have to commend this fantastic store for one thing in particular (though they do so much right): staff recs. Holy crap. There are great staff recommendations all over that massive store. You Austinites are lucky for a lot of reasons - bats, food, music - but never forget you have one of the best indies in the country right in your fair - very hot - city.

I also read Daniel Woodrell's novel Winter's Bone en route to Tx, in anticipation of seeing the movie this week (I hope). The charming novelist/poet Scott Heim recommended Woodrell to me and I immediately went out and got Tomato Red from the library, only to wonder why I hadn't read this guy. I then bought Winter's Bone and it was pretty amazing, folks. (Try to get the non-movie tie-in version, as the cover of the original paperback (right) is charming. In fact, they had it up at BookPeople as a staff rec!)

But there's more TX connection here!

It seems Tomato Red had somehow gone out of print. Fear not, good readers. An indie out of the Lone Star State has come to our rescue. Busted Flush Press out of Houston is reprinting the novel, and I highly recommend you grab a copy when they are ready. (The Press's blog said it was at the printer on June 30th.) It seems the Press was started up by David Thompson, assistant manager for Murder by the Book, an indie mystery book shop in Houston, to reprint crime classics, but they now also do anthologies and even original novels. Their selection looks mighty good - Woodrell got me looking, now others have me interested. This is a press to watch, folks. Thompson et al must be good if they are bringing some Woodrell back.

Politics aside, Texas ain't all that bad. Some great things come from there!

Economics for Publishing 101

I mislead with this headline. I'm not providing such a lesson, but rather require it. Please advise on good sources.

The reality is, everyone has their own opinion on how publishing can move forward in a way that is financially secure. 90% of it is probably bunk, or at least iffy conjecture. I certainly don't have an answer but find a certain logic, and/or perhaps comfort, in simplifying.

This article by John Standerfer in the Huffington Post (a high school classmate of mine!) raises the issue that corporations have become so efficient in modern-day America that they don't need as many employees. As we all wait to come out of the Great Recession, we have to stop staring at employment numbers and hoping the unemployment drops magically. He brings up this uncomfortable example:

According to their most recent annual reports, Amazon generated $24.5 billion in sales with 24,300 employees while Barnes & Noble had $5.8 billion in sales with 40,000 employees. Amazon is generating over $1 mm in sales per employee while Barnes & Noble is generating less than $150,000. Put simply, for every million dollars in revenue Amazon takes from Barnes & Noble, Amazon hires one person and Barnes & Noble lays off seven.

Yikes. No, I'm not entirely sure what this means, but it can't be good.

There are quite a few comments below this article debating its validity, as ever in our modern internet-based media, and some good points are raised. Manufacturing has shrunk so dramatically in this country, but it didn't just vaporize: it moved to developing countries, where corporations could find much cheaper labor and more lax regulation. This is a bit beyond the example provided here however, regarding Amazon and B&N.

(I kind of love this point by "worldsfairdesign" (whose avatar may be Herbert Marcuse?), which is just so cranky and, as someone happily not ensconced in corporate America, seems so true:

Bottom-line is that the vast majority of the American middle class hasn't produced much of anything of value for about 30 or 40 years. Don't tell me consulting for a marketing firm that handles PR for an entertainment company is valuable. It doesn't warrant making five figures any more than being a CEO warrants making six.

Apologies for the tangent.)

So what does this mean for publishing? I don't really know, but I do know this comes back to the point many have made about the value of humans in the whole publishing and bookselling world. There is something people appreciate about the anonymity of Amazon, and no one can question the convenience, and the endless incentives (free shipping, anyone?!). But it comes at a price. It isn't entirely increased efficiency - though Amazon has mastered that, as covered by Ted Striphas in his book, The Late Age of Print - but also the wonders of the internet, which cuts down the need for store space - and store staff. Yes people like the physical space of a bookstore, so often replicated in movies and tv shows, but are they willing to pay for it?

I know I've gone on and on about labor before, but it does worry me. And something not addressed here is the massive amount of accumulated wealth in this country - the rich have become much, much richer - and yes, I'm looking at you, Mr. Jeff "$4.3 billion worth" Bezos. It's time to DISTRIBUTE that WEALTH, billionaires! It's hard to look at that amount of wealth alongside struggling independent bookstores and important independent presses that are getting by on nothing, with employees making pennies (trust me, I speak from experience) and having to cut corners while fatcats question their bottom lines, telling them they should dry up and die if they can't find a market. That's not even to mention public libraries facing horrible cuts, to employees, to hours, to branches. I know this is simplistic but on some level, so is the problem: $4.3 billion here and bookstore or library closing there (or here or there), it doesn't take a math genius to find imbalance.

Well now I'm angry. At least I have BookPeople ("A Community Bound by Books" - great slogan) to look forward to for the coming weekend in Austin, TX. I'm also happy to hear of any used bookstore recommendations there.

One for the Road!

As we (Americans, anyway) all get ready to hit the beaches and parks and backyards to celebrate July 4th, I wanted to quickly post about something fun that caught my eye.

Stephen J. Gertz over at BookTryst posted here about Bibliopulp from the Heldfond Book Gallery in San Franciso. (Great site design, too.) These are faux pulp covers geared around book collecting, for the hipster geek in all of us. $25 for one of these bad boys!

My two favorites are this one:

and this one:

Happy July 4th!

Another Bookstore Model

In today's Shelf Awareness, there is mention of a new non-profit bookstore. The viability of this idea has come up on this site before. In lovely downtown Spartanburg, SC, it's happening, folks.

The Hub City Bookshop has now opened its doors, filling its 2,000 square foot space with new and used books. It's quite an operation, from the ways it's described in this article from the local paper (Trevor Anderson reporting). It is in the 82-year old Masonic Temple Building, which also includes a 275-seat auditorium that the store can use for events and will soon include the Little River Roasting Co. and a Cakeheads Bakery, making it quite a hub, indeed. It is associated with Hub City Writers Project, which sounds a bit like Boston's own Grub Street, with classes for new writers taught by published writers, events, and other community-oriented projects.

But back to the bookstore - from the article:

“As far as we know, nowhere else in the country is there anything like this,” said Betsy Teter, executive director of the Hub City Writers Project. “We think this could be a model for a new trend in the way to keep independent booksellers alive.”

I'll be curious to see how this works out, and I certainly wish the Hub City Bookshop the best! Now folks, I've been down to Spartanburg, and I can tell you... well, I'm just real real pleased to see a bookstore going in down there, because I didn't find a whole lot to love in the town. But hey, I was just there for a conference, for a few days... a few sweltering June days.

I wonder if there is anything else quite like this around...?

Galleycat Frustrations

I have aired my complaints about Mediabistro's Galleycat blog before. I guess it's always easy to go after the biggest players in the game, who post so much that they're bound to put up stuff that isn't agreeable to everyone, but this one-two punch really rubbed me the wrong way today.

First, at 12:03pm, Jason Boog posts this story on Fox News Chicago trash talking libraries, questioning why we even need them when we have "the internet and e-books." Boog nicely calls foul.

But then, at 1:23pm, Mark Byrne posts this story about the wonders of the non-profit Open Library, where folks from around the country - or the world? - can check out e-books. Fine, fine. Byrne points out how this could challenge Google's monopoly on e-books and, though he doesn't say as much, this reminds many of us of debates wherein librarians were irritated that we all let Google - a private company - scan everything, meaning they now have it all and can offer it back to us in whatever form they, as a private company, want. Anyway, Byrne ends with a point that annoys me, as he celebrates this Open Library initiative:

Much as we love brick-and-mortar libraries, we can't help but imagine how much money we'll save on late fees when our eBooks automatically return themselves.

Hey, look, it's a joke. I get it. It's a nerdy joke, so I should love it. Right? Well, not so fast. Because Byrne is playing right into the mentality of "e" standing for "easier," and that's just not necessarily the case. I have no problem with Open Library but I think with all of these digital initiatives, which we are seeing of course at publishing houses as well, we need to be careful not to set up a black or white paradigm. Jokes about the expend-ability of the old "brick-and-mortar libraries" are not that amusing in the context of massive lay-offs of librarians and shuttering of smaller branch libraries - something I know we here in Massachusetts are seeing all around us.

And can't someone at Galleycat watch posts as they go up, so we don't have one celebrating and defending libraries followed by another that jokes about the convenience of a massive online library, in place of the bricks-and-mortar?

(I was actually at the Boston Public Library just today, and was reminded once again of how that courtyard is one of Boston's best kept secrets, but you didn't hear that from me.)

Busted!

I know this is old news by today's standards, but I am pretty impressed with Nathan Ihara's article in L.A. Weekly titled, "Tyranny of the New: Why the future of books might be old books." This is a simple article, but one of those that I read and wonder if Ihara tunneled into my brain to get his idea.

And his idea, his point, is that publishers are always pushing new pubs as the best books ever, so good they'll blow anything you've read right out of the water. But Ihara doesn't buy it, and he calls them out by saying, "all the middlemen along the way — the publishers, publicists, critics and book sellers — know the truth: The book they are hyping probably is not the book you ought to read, not even the book you would most enjoy reading. That book lies hidden in the back of the bookstore, or perhaps not even there. It is 10-, 20-, 35-years-old. However good it is, no one talks about it anymore. You might not have heard its title or its author's name." BAM.

Ihara goes on to explain why this happens, that we all want to feel we're moving forward and the endless march of exciting new fiction and revelatory new non-fiction is evidence that yes, there are yet new things to explore and discover. But then he does his magic trick, throwing together the sound argument he has just made - luring us bookie technophobes in with that line about the bookstore, that dog! - by bringing up the opportunity offered by the digital future:

The potential for the iPad to contemporize and repackage novels is endlessly exciting. Novels could get the full "Criterion Collection" experience and come with a wealth of supplementary information: a comprehensive history of a novel's covers, links to online book communities, reviews, biographies, photgraphs, authors interview, short stories, etc. Zeitgeist would come included.

Now wait - when did Apple get to this party?! And how dare you give Jobs et al good ideas for what they can do with books! (I should note that I was getting on a plane last weekend and as I walked through first class - ahem - I saw no fewer than THREE ipads.)

Yes, I do think Ihara is offering something fun and intriguing here, but I also must salute him for offering resources now available for those of us who prefer to find our reading material not in the review sections in newspapers - though those are important and I do *not* want to see any more cut - and not in the "just published" section of Amazon, but more idiosyncratically, with no regard for how recent but instead how fitting for our own quirky literary sensibility. Ihara mentions The Second Pass, which offers "spirited reviews of older books," and The Neglected Book Page, which "contains essential gleamings from our literary amnesia." I'll add both sites to our sidebar, which needs cleaning up anyhow.

I won't even get into the mind-blowing that was the Association of American University Presses meeting in Salt Lake City last weekend. Too much, too soon. Too many ideas, too many experiments, too many talking heads - almost all of whom are worth listening to, but at the expense of my sanity. I'm still sorting through it all. For now, I just want to take a moment to slap Nathan Ihara on the back and thank him for this article, before I dive into my massive pile of old books purchased at a library sale recently and find some gem.... most likely published before I was born.

To old books!

(Thanks to Shelf Awareness for including a link to the article way back on Monday, when it came out!)

Rhetoric vs. Reality

I felt justified in my thinking when I read these "six takes from academics" on the e-book reading experience, from The Chronicle Review. Not all six takes are against electronic reading devices, but mind you, I'm not entirely against them, either. But some of these folks offer observations that fit with some things I've been thinking, or raise issues that have concerned me, as well.

My sister recently called to ask me what I thought of e-books, and about this new Kobe eReader coming out at Borders in particular. She had gift certificates to use there, adding up to a good sum, and this thing was going to be much cheaper than the Kindle. She explained that she's been buying tons of books lately, and not books she felt the need to display - ie, paperback fiction, perhaps even at the level of Nora Roberts (not that there's anything wrong with that). I said I could see her point, and that I've assumed that these devices could be useful for folks like her, who read a lot of throwaway fiction. (This is not to say the writing is bad in such novels necessarily, but just that the editions readers like her purchase are not made for display, ie they're mass market. And the term "throwaway" is not literal - library donations, selling to Goodwill, and more are all likely.) She liked the idea of being able to increase the font size, so when she cannot use her glasses, such as when she's having her hair dyed (I know, I know), she can compensate for her poor vision with the device. She is not looking to mark up these books at all.

But then the conversation went somewhere that I found troubling. She pointed out that people she knows often borrow books from each other. My other sister wanted her to bring the third book from some trilogy when they meet for vacation, and a friend recently asked to borrow another book of her's. She did not mind, however, that she couldn't share books on these e-readers, generally speaking. (You can do limited lending on B&N's the Nook, I believe). Here she was part of this reading community, and yet she was still thinking more of personal convenience rather than community needs (ie, lending). My frustration was balanced by talking to my mother, who had pointed out to my sister, she reported, that she herself would never bother with such a device as she reads three books a week, and does not want to pay for them, in e-form or p-form. She goes to the library, and this system works very well for her. Ain't mothers so often right? This is a classic case of not overthinking a system that works.

So after this rare family discussion on something so near and dear to my (professional/blogging) heart, I then read these "six takes," and first up, a provost and professor of classics from Georgetown has all kinds of interesting observations on the technology not quite being there yet. He articulates his points so well. Two in particular:

1) He lists some books he's bought for his Kindle, and confesses: "I've read chunks of all of them on the Kindle at odd moments, but not a lot of any of them yet."

2) of the Kindle store: "...still feels like the old B. Dalton, with best sellers, schlock, and not much selection. It has no Nabokov, and only three Sebald volumes, for example."

He feels the devices mean well, but they have not caught up to match the sophistication with which he reads, and even the way those of us who are not professors read.

The rest of the takes are mixed, but on the whole, the message is that the technology just hasn't gotten there yet, despite the assurances of all the sellers. Some take issue with the selection of e-books available, as noted above, while others express disappointment that publishers have not found a way to use the technology more creatively. As these are all academics, they almost all express frustration with not being able to interact with books in the way they are accustomed, even just putting in simple notes. Could this just be a learning curve?

I suppose what I liked about this article was that you didn't see some underlying message of technology = superiority. It did not seem infused with some corporate interest. These takes are honest grapplings with this technology, with assessments that are negative and positive.

But most of all, I loved that all the folks take their books and their reading so seriously. Perhaps it's time to do something similar with other types of readers?

Another Shop on the Block

I just wanted to send word out for those who didn't hear that another great bookstore is going up for sale, though this time not in Boston or in Western Mass. It's the quite legendary Politics & Prose in Washington, DC, as reported in the Washington Post. It's not due to the economy, per se, but more a matter of the two owners, Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade, deciding to pass the baton. In fact, they explain that they turn a profit - this is hardly a sinking ship.

Start the bidding!

Afterlife of books

Two somewhat disparate things are on my mind today, though I may be able to link them up. We'll see how that works out.

First is this post over at Writer 2.0 by writer extraordinaire Pagan Kennedy, who explains that authors can get the rights to their books reverted back to them if the book in question has been out of print for at least 6 months. (Christopher wrote about Kennedy's launching of Writer 2.0 briefly here.) As Kennedy rightly points out, this is standard small print in publishing contracts.

I really appreciate this practical information for authors. Kennedy takes you through the steps - when you know it's been out of print for at least 6 months, write to the publisher and formally request the reversion of rights, and then it's all yours. There are, however, some bumps. First of all, books can go out of stock but not be out of print, meaning the book is not available if someone wants it, but the publisher is happy to take back orders and not declare it "o/p," out of print, quite yet.

Kennedy says, "Eventually, if publishers are smart, they will begin to change the rules and hold onto book rights forever. But for now, the system works to the author’s advantage." But... many publishers are getting wise, and are seeing the potential for the so-called "long tail." They can keep the book "o/s," out of stock, but make it available as a print on demand. This is a tough one. In one sense, it's great because it keeps the book available for new readers, and print on demand has improved in production quality, generally speaking, a great deal. (The interiors are much less smudgy in appearance and even the covers reproduce pretty well.) On the other hand, though, this means the publisher may be reluctant to revert rights, preferring to make that little bit of cash off each sale of the POD (print on demand) version and paying the royalty to the author.

The author could pull in more money with the rights reverted if she were to go, as Kennedy advises, to a place like Smashwords or Scribd. The author can manage things in an easier way. But the book will no longer have the imprimatur of the publisher's name on it. Is that a problem? If you have a catalog of books, like Kennedy, you may feel confident in your own name as a brand, but others might want that publisher branding visible. If you're published by an activist press - South End Press, for example - or an established literary, independent press - let's say Graywolf Press - and you don't have other books to sell alongside your own, you might rather stay with these institutions so your book remains for sale next to big names in your genre or political position.

The second thing on my mind these days is something that is not a new phenomenon necessarily, but it's been made more efficient by technology. Ya see, a friend of mine has recently become obsessed with library book sales, which he watches out for at this site, which lists them all. I can appreciate a good library book sale so I have joined him at a few, or gone after he mentioned them even if he couldn't. I hit Somerville, Needham, South End, and Dedham sales. What I have seen at these sales is troubling.

Yes, most of the folks are people from the communities, mostly women, mostly older, who are probably patrons of the library, some of whom may have even donated books for the sale itself. There are also families stocking up on cheap books for the kids. Then there are academics and readers of varying ages - I'll put myself in this category - who are looking for interesting fiction and quirky and/or scholarly non-fiction.

But then there are the scanners.

People go to these LIBRARY sales - offered as a way to help the meager budgets at these community public libraries - and scan all the books with handheld scanners to see if any of them are worth money. They then stock up on those books - first editions, rare copies - and buy them for nothing, only to resell them. To or in a used bookstore? Online? At Amazon? I have no idea, but I do know this unbelievably sleazy. A quick google search finds a discussion of this going back to 2006, with some folks talking about doing it in the late 1990s. I guess I'm just now seeing it so visibly.

One man in Needham was particularly irritating. He was in his 30s, I'd guess, with the classic shlubby look of a man living in his parent's basement, making pennies on Ebay and feeling like a real mogul. My friends and I sat in the corner of the sale room to go over our findings, to see what we were going to keep and what to put back. (Mind you, hardcovers were mostly $2, paper $1, mass markets $.50.) We looked at this massive pile near where we chose to sit and found a couple more. This guy then comes over and points out that those are HIS books - there must have been about 150 - 200 in this corner. He asked we put back anything we pulled, including a hardcover of Helter Skelter my friend had, which this guy recognized as one of HIS. He then returned to scanning every single book in the sale. My friend commented that this was "uncool," all this scanning, and he didn't even look up, just answering "whatever" as he returned to this task. We happily went back and stole Helter Skelter and multiple paperbacks from his pile, most of which we had no need for, but hey, it was worth the $4 or whatever it was (and we let the woman taking cash keep the change, for the library).

Now he could do the right thing here, which would be offering this service to the library ahead of their sale. He could scan the collection and help the library sell the valuable books separate from the rest, making some extra money. But he didn't care. He was being such a nasty little capitalist and banking off used books on offer from a community library. We were all enraged.

I guess there is a connection that goes back to all my rambling in the past, that we need to think collectively to get through tough times - both on a larger economic level, as the unemployment rate remains disastrously high, and in publishing, with books. This is not to stop e-books (necessarily) but to say as we move to the digital realm that we cannot lose perspective, and use technology in a way that's so exploitative of weaker parties. We should also be careful in labeling the good guys and the bad guys. Publishers that keep books "in print" by keeping them available may be doing the right thing in some cases, using POD technology to keep a stable of books that belong together for sale alongside one another. And we could use book scanning technology to be charitable instead of trying to make enough money to buy a new Playstation 3 - which would be even more fun to play on the big tv in the living room but my MOM says she has to watch her shows. (That was another dig at the Dedham scanner - I'm telling you, he was a total ass.)

Most of us in publishing, whether editors or authors or booksellers, are not going to make much money, so can't we share what little there is out there more fairly?

The Story Behind the Names in Our Digital Future

Let me start this post by saying I'm a bad blogger. I'm such a bad blogger. It's been weeks since my last post. (And yes, for those of you that can spot evidence of a Catholic upbringing...) As I have said before, if I could get this day job / salary / healthcare situation taken care of - ie, get salary and healthcare without the non-blogging day job - then I would be at your beck and call, reader.

But back to the point of this blog...

I followed a link today from Book Ninja to get to a Wall Street Journal article that is not, as of right now, restricted, that fits the usual formula for omg-self/digital-publishing-will-overthrow-the-establishment articles that happens more and more frequently.

In this case, this article by Geoffrey Fowler and Jeffrey Trachtenberg uses the lede these articles always use: author rejected by mainstream publishing houses self-publishes and reaps major rewards - big sales, movie option, glory. The author here is Karen McQuestion, with her first novel, A Scattered Life. I suppose this is available heuristics - the media always finds these isolated incidences and puts them out there, to please... whom? The authors? Well sure, but that's not enough reason to publish these stories. To annoy publishers? Well there's no good reason for the WSJ to slam Random House et al. What about the folks providing the self-publishing tools? Ah, now we're getting somewhere.

See, providing the tools for authors to publish their own work is big business, and e-books provide even lower risk for these places. They can move you from manuscript-on-Word-on-your-laptop to published "book" - digital edition - in very little time, and they can set the rates, with the "publishing" process remaining something of a mystery to the writer who is thinking of Karen McQuestion and her ilk. Will that be me now?!

If anyone doubts the viability of this business, here's an excerpt from the article that shows how many big kids are jumping into the pool:

Apple last week announced a digital self-publishing program for its iPad giving 70% of revenue to authors, similar to Amazon's formula. Last month, Barnes & Noble also announced a service called PubIt!, allowing authors to post and sell e-books online.

Last fall, Jane Friedman, former chief executive of News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers, started Open Road Integrated Media LLC, which focuses on e-books, including authors who are willing to be published digitally before going into print. Traditional publishers such as Nashville, Tenn.-based Thomas Nelson Inc., a religious publisher, have struck alliances with Author Solutions Inc. for print and online self-publishing.

And a flurry of tech-focused startups now offers self-publishing services, including Smashwords, FastPencil Inc. and Lulu Enterprises Inc. Website Scribd.com says it publishes 290,000 independent books annually on its site, which authors sell at a price they set themselves.

Hot damn - Christopher, why ain't we in on this action?! (He may be spitting up his huevos rancheros in Albuquerque right now. My apologies to his hosts.)

While I'm all for writers finding the right venues for their work, I also find strength in solidarity. Yes I know, more leftist ranting, but seriously - this is capitalism in its purest form. These companies are giving writers the false sense of empowerment. They are helping you help yourself. They are helping you reach your readers, and now that everyone is going digital, it's easier than ever. Don't worry about those fatcat publishers - we're giving you THEIR tools! We'll show them! We'll stick it to th- wait, did you say the last four digits of your Amex was 3355 or 3356?

Anyone who reads this blog - and god knows I don't want to see hands up, let me live under the delusion that more read it than I know - should be doubting me, if you think I'm saying to screw these self-publishers and go to mainstream, corporate NY publishers. I ain't, I swear. In fact, there may very well be self-publishers I'd recommend - I'd have to do some research. What I am saying is that we should be reading articles such as this one with a healthy level of skepticism.

One point: the writers of this article say, "E-book sales could reach as high as 20% to 25% of the total book market by 2012, according to Mike Shatzkin, a publishing consultant, up from an estimated 5% to 10% today." Um, Shatzkin is in on the game, folks. I'm not saying he's a bad person, but I am questioning the way in which he is plopped into this article uncritically.

But hey, there's no getting around that a place like Amazon can offer features to authors not available at publishing houses. Sure, you won't really get edited, but get this action:

Amazon executives say they signed Ms. McQuestion to the Encore imprint after noticing the positive user-generated reviews of her books. Thanks to its vast database, Amazon not only knows what people buy but also how they consume e-books—such as which passages readers most often highlight

As a reader, I cannot hate this idea any more than I do right at this moment. I hate the crowd-sourcing concept, which I blame for such cultural highlights at Jersey Shore, and I hate using technology to spy on consumers. It makes me want to run screaming from Amazon.

I know it's hard. You're a writer, you are frustrated by rejection. That rejection is so much about the lack of control - who is rejecting me and on what criteria? It's maddening, I know. As an Editor, I've struggled with rejection letters.

Self-publishing may be the way to go for some, but collective production with a point appeals to me so much more. I appreciate the model offered by The Nervous Breakdown, which publishes short pieces and hosts readings and parties, and has now announced that it will start publishing books through Hukilau - which admittedly, I know nothing about. But if you're going to get into the self-publishing game, this is the model I prefer. They have a community, they have standards, they have shared interests, and now they'll publish each other, for each other, and for others to learn more about and possibly join this community. I don't believe they are overtly political, but they are a community - and that I respect.

I must also say how impressed I am that bestselling author Brad Listi created this community after finding success. Now there's an author I can applaud - use him for your lede!

The Need for Dissent

Just this week, there was an event in Cambridge, MA celebrating the life and words of Howard Zinn, whom our own Christopher eulogized here. Zinn was a legendary historian and activist who prided himself on advocating for dissent. He worked with a number of independent publishers to this end, including Beacon Press, South End Press, and Seven Stories.

In the spirit of Zinn, I just have to question the way any voice of dissent against anything "e" - e-books in particular - gets either painted as Luddite whining or seen as conservative, as if the person questioning the e-revolution is some kind of guard against progress. The leading voice of this movement to squash any dissent against e-books et al seems to be Mediabistro's eBookNewser, which obviously has a dog in the fight. (Controversy = content.) Craig Morgan Teicher decided, on this site, to go after City Lights Books, a leading indie publisher, for supposedly calling for the trashing of Amazon Kindles. He based his accusation on the cover of City Lights latest catalog, seen here as eBookNewser displayed it.

Note Teicher's tone:

This is the current City Lights Books catalog. As you can see, it depicts a kind of Kindle graveyard. "Smash your Kindle," City Lights seems to say, "we publish books in print."

Is City Lights, the maverick publishing house founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in the 1950s, against eBooks? So it appears. Or at least they're holding out a while longer. Though who wouldn't love to get a copy of Howlon their Kindle?

City Lights publishes many wonderful books, nonetheless, even if you do have to read them on paper.

This seems truly distasteful and childish, and in fact reminds me in fact of the Republican student group on the University of Texas campus, laughing loudly as the Socialist group protested the environmental degradation of the Amazon (fittingly) by corporations who had given money to the university. I mean, is mocking City Lights in this way necessary, appropriate, or in any way dignified, eBookNewser?

Publisher Elaine Katzenberger didn't think so and sent a smart, long, completely reasonable letter saying as much, posted here on Galleycat (another Mediabistro site, of course). I can't really say enough about her letter. I mean, it's awesome. Just awesome. In fact, I hope you don't mind, Ms. Katzenberger... I mean, I don't have to but... oh hell, I'm posting the whole damn thing. It's too good not to share directly with the good readers of SotB.

Hello there,

I'm the publisher and director of City Lights Books, and boy do I wish that someone from MediaBistro would've perhaps called or written for comment before posting such an inflammatory statement. "City Lights Says Smash Your Kindle"?? Oh, come on! We can do better! How about Smash Corporate Control of the Media? Now that's something we might be promoting.

I also wish they would've posted the entire image of the cover of our new catalog, instead of cropping off the bottom, where the caption for that photo of smashed electronics vs. old paperbacks asks in quite large type, 'PAPER OR PLASTIC?' (Maybe I'm showing my age, but I'm assuming we all remember when it finally became clear that plastic bags were ecologically unsound, and that question was asked to consumers over and over, with almost every purchase we made, right? Heck, there are city ordinances prohibiting chain stores from using plastic bags in San Francisco now...) Quite obviously, the caption would have helped cue folks to interpret the image a bit differently, and I'm perplexed at the notion that the good people at MediaBistro are somehow intentionally misleading their readers in this way. What gives?

Well, they say any press is good press, but I hear that folks are not only accusing us of being anti-technology, not forward-looking, a bunch of old Luddites without a clue who are doing an injustice to Ferlinghetti's vision, etc, but there's even an outraged Twitter feed circulating, citing the 'fact' that City Lights smashed up a PILE of Kindles (gasp!) in a monstrous act of gratuitous destruction that will prevent good people from reading just the kind of books we like to publish and sell in our bookstore. Ouch.

Honestly, I wish folks would take a deep breath sometimes. What all of us really ought to be paying attention to is the ways in which a major corporation has managed to somehow position itself and its product as something in need of outraged defense. When did the Kindle become a baby seal?! Amazon's marketing genius is certainly something to be studied.

Okay, let's get to the heart of it. First of all, that isn't a pile of Kindles in the photo (though there is one on top, obviously, and yes, we did add that to the photo to make a point about e-readers as a part of this eco-problem, but we didn't smash it ourselves. Who has the money to smash up one, much less a whole pile of 'em?? Here's a video post of book designers doing just that -- it seems designers have their own reasons to want to smash Kindles...). The photo shows some random digital waste, a bunch of broken and discarded gadgets, similar to a junklot full of smashed up cars. It's a stock photo that could probably have come from just about anywhere in the world -- and most definitely many so-called third world countries, unfortunately, where much of our "recycled" e-waste ends up, and people are exposed to horrific levels of toxicity. See, for example, [this story].

What is meant to be conveyed here (and admittedly in a manner that can be interpreted in other ways as well, for example, it could represent the rather over-heated sometimes apocalyptic discussion that rages in our industry about the direction being plotted for our 'digital future') is that the so-called 'green' nature of reading gadgets is rather a farce, when all one needs to do is to watch as each computer, each laptop, each 'smart' phone and each e-reading device is deemed obsolete and unusable and we are basically forced to upgrade and discard every one of those now useless devices every couple of years in order to continue to access information, entertain ourselves, communicate, and just simply do our work. Whatever else one might say about the conversion from print to digital, the claim for it's 'green-ness' is specious at best.

I think that all of us in publishing and bookselling realize that, like many industries, we have got to wean ourselves from ecologically unsound and unsustainable practices, and while we've made strides in that direction over the past couple of decades, there is still much to be done. This is not a defense of old ways, but a call for clarity when evaluating the new models being presented to us as something better.

So, in response to one of the comments posted in what seemed like real dismay I'd reply that no, we are not like the monks smashing printing presses (um, is that the way that story went?), but rather, we're doing what City Lights has always done, among other things, we're just sayin' Don't Believe the Hype!

Thanks so much,
Elaine Katzenberger
Publisher
City Lights Books

As the kids now say, sigh....

I put in bold my favorite lines, but the whole thing is just terrific.

Here's to City Lights and Katzenberger's spirited defense! Here's to questioning the corporate greed of Amazon, and the "specious" claims of green-ness by those supporting e-publishing of any kind! And here's to Kelly Burdick at Melville House's MobyLives, that led me to this story in the first place!

Times When I kind of Hate Publishing

I have gone on and on about how annoying it is when editors acquire complete CRAP! It makes me crazy. In one post, I talked about blogs that are just blogs but are forced into becoming books, and in another, I discussed lame celebrity books. But today, I just want to briefly post news about a spin-off book that made me practically do a good old fashioned spit-take.

From Galleycat:

Just in time for the July premiere of next season of Jersey Shore, Gallery Books will publish Gym, Tanning, Laundry: The Official Jersey Shore Quote Book. Billed as "the only officially-licensed tie-in to the series," it will also contain a 30-minute DVD of bonus multimedia extras.

Here's more from the publisher: "MTV has long focused its lens on various subcultures and rites of passage, uncovering a host of memorable characters in the process. Jersey Shore, its newest and highest-rated series in two years, follows eight young adults as they move into a summer share. There, they indulge in everything popular summer hotspot Seaside Heights, New Jersey, has to offer ... 'You don't have to live in New Jersey to love this show,' said [Gallery Books publisher] Louise Burke. 'Quoting this crew has become a national pastime.'"

Earlier this year, Jersey Shore castmates J-WOWW (pictured, via her Twitter page) and Ronnie landed a book deal with St. Martin's Press. They will publish a "Guido guide" entitled Never Fall In Love At the Jersey Shore.

I know.... deep breaths... deep breaths...

I'll just say the trees deserve better, and all the assistants who have to work on this title deserve better, and everyone who gets this book as a GIFT will deserve better, and every 12 year old that wastes their allowance on this book after seeing it at the register deserves better.

For those who don't know, Gallery Books is not some weird fringey opportunistic publisher, like Beaufort Books who published O.J. Simpson's book If I Did It. Nope. Instead, it's an imprint of Simon & Schuster, formed last fall when things got shaken up over at S&S. (We posted on that here, back in September 2009.) So glad they reorganized and are now able to publish such fine literature as a quote book on the lamest, stupidest, most mindless, misogynistic television program, which revels in class-mocking and ethnic stereotypes. Always pleased when a corporate publisher can shake things up for the better, rather than laying people off so it can more efficiently publish trash.

The people that were laid off deserve better too, S&S.

Bookstore Models Changing

In order to survive, books need bookstores - whether bricks & mortar or online. I've been interested to see what form these stores take nowadays, traditional or otherwise. And I'm always impressed when people go beyond the usual comment, however true, about bookstores being important for a community, and instead are pro-active about getting the community to blatantly support the store. It's the heady mix of capitalism and charity that is becoming a common model in many industries and social services these days.

At breathe books in Baltimore, proprietress Susan L. Weis has asked for help from her customers. She is hoping customers will invest in the store, not so she can merely stay open but so that she may expand. This is a bold move and one that seems in fact quite smart. It's not testing loyalty so much as sharing excitement. She says the store has turned a profit every year since opening and even hired on a full-time store manager. This isn't a plea to save a dying store, but an opportunity to be involved with an asset to the community, that is ready to offer more to customers. She even terms it "a community investment program." I love the simplicity of that phrase, as it seems to hide nothing.

Weis gives the potential donor options: "You can either donate money, invest in the store and receive interest on your principal (2% - 4% - you choose your interest), or purchase gift cards that never expire but have a start date one-year from purchase." Smart thinking - make it easy.

I want to wish breathe books the very best, and I hope other bookstores think through such models. If community's really do want to support bookstores - not just have them there so they can look at the books they might buy at Amazon or elsewhere online, as Mark Lamphier of Harvard Bookstore recounts in the video we recently posted - then it is entirely fair to tell them to pull out their virtual checkbooks.

And just quickly, I want to send out an apology to the woman on the train this morning who missed her stop on the Red line. I was smiling as she kicked the door and cursed, but that's only because she missed the stop due to a particularly engrossing book. Dean Koontz isn't my favorite author - I read one book after my mother took offense to my snubbing of him without having read him, and found it too trite - but I was just so pleased to see how buried she was in a book on the train! Poor gal - she was still cursing by the time we pulled into the next stop, as she ran off to catch the train in the opposite direction.

(Link to article on breathe books from today's installment of Shelf Awareness)

Further thinking through a model

I admit that I dismissed the Galleycat posting about Seth Godin's thoughts on publishing, and how publishers could do better. For one, aren't we all a little burned out on hearing everyone's opinion on this issue? When some people pipe up, like Richard Nash, I always listen, but many others are just chirping on about something that is ill-informed or so informed I can't follow it. (I fully recognize I'm just another commentator in this realm, btw.) I also got nervous when Godin started talking about the importance of "me" - in the royal sense, so to speak. He starts by talking about how consumers only care about their own interests, which is something I always find so disheartening.

But in my defense, I went back to this post and read the Q&A, and Godin is making some provocative comments that have stayed with me since I read them yesterday, popping back into my head while I'm running through the Common here in Boston, or as I stand in the shower.

Godin is talking about the need for publishers to change perspective, to stop pitching for bookstores and start pitching directly to consumers. This does make for a different way of presenting books and even subject areas. (This is particularly resonant for me, having just recently gone to our semi-annual sales conference to present our new books to our sales reps.) He says,

"...there's a huge opportunity here, because who knows better about ideas that matter than book editors? If a book editor stepped up and covered a micro industry, reported on important conversations and excerpted important books (from all publishers), then sure, maybe someone in that industry might want to read it.

And if you become the voice of that tribe, then yes, you will profit by selling more books, organizing conferences, etc. But as I said, this is a little like selling pork in the shtetl. Not an easy sale."

This is an intriguing proposition, along with other ideas that have been put out there by folks like Nash about publishing to niche readerships.

All this "change in perspective" is making me wonder if there would be room for such a role pertaining specifically to social justice - my general area of interest. If one were to set-up a non-profit agency and focused on writers - journalists, activists, even novelists - who write on social justice issues, and the agency became a kind of clearing house for this information, in article or book form, that agency could become an invaluable resource for a lot of individuals (reporters, activists in other areas looking for allies), organizations (looking for leadership or texts for motivation/education), and media venues (looking for new voices). I'm still wondering, though, how one makes money in such a model. Godin doesn't really address that. If it was non-profit, one could get grants, but keeping afloat with grants means constant treading - ie writing proposals and reports on an endless cycle. The idea of organizing a conference is useful to think through, as that could make money. (One could even use the successful, wildly (and from I hear, justifiably) popular Muse and the Marketplace, hosted by Boston-area non-profit writing center, Grub Street.)

Maybe I shouldn't be voicing my thoughts here, but I can't get too worried about someone stealing them. If they do steal this idea, then hey, some more voices for social justice will get out in the world. But for me, I'm still mulling over the possibilities, even as I continue to enjoy the great fortune of working with intelligent authors who have the skill and confidence to get their voice and their message heard.

Celebrities are often Stupid

I know I should not look to celebrities to save publishing, or to even contribute usefully to publishing. I mean I suppose they help independent bookstores, since celebrity books can sell billions of copies, and maybe they help the bottom line of some big corporate publisher and that in turn allows said big corporate publisher to take risks elsewhere (the questionable "blockbuster" strategy). But this week, I'm really tired of hearing celebrities mouth off about being stupid, even as they promote some new book.

Case in point: Sarah Silverman in the Boston Globe, telling Eugenia Williamson in a Q&A, "I’m not a fast reader and it’s always been discouraging for me. I read everything that was assigned to me at school, but I tended to obsess over TV." Outstanding. She also remembers her father's unrequited love of writing, with the following anecdote: "When I was growing up he would let glimpses of it out. I would get assigned an essay for school, and he would say, 'Take dictation!' and write the whole thing, pacing, while I scribbled down everything he said." She can't remember the name of the teacher who recommended a book that changed her life, though she fortunately remembers the book (John Berger's Ways of Seeing), and one of her favorite books is a Garfield title - yes, the animated cat. I know she prides herself on being irreverent and even openly stupid and offensive, but this is part of a larger trend, one where celebrities get their name on a book, most likely having used a ghostwriter and probably a lot of work from an editor, and then mock any commitment to writing in publicity.

I was in NYC this week for a conference, and I had the tv in my hotel room on as I took a shower in the morning. I came out and Regis & Kelly were on, interviewing comedian Damon Wayans. It seems he has a new novel out called Red Hat, but during this interview, he was telling the sad story about dropping out of school in the 9th grade, and how no teacher ever encouraged him. But he did tell a charming story about a biology teacher who told Wayans that if he let the teacher have control of the class all week, he (the teacher) would give him (Wayans) 10 minutes on Friday, to perform. Did he then commit to the class? No, he just shut up and waited for his opportunity to do a comedy bit, in the 8th grade. Didn't read, didn't learn, didn't respect.

I guess Wayans had a hard time growing up, with a lot of siblings and not much money, and he was in the NYC public school system. Fine. He dropped out. Okay, that's hard. But really, can't he now think about why he did not pay attention, or try to talk up the benefits of reading somehow? I mean, he kind of needs people to commit to reading on some level if he wants to sell his "moving debut novel about how a bitter and lonely woman rediscovers her ability to give and receive love." (I know, I know...)

To give credit where credit is due, at least Ms. Molly Ringwald talks in a writerly way as she does the rounds to promote Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick. Over at the Daily Beast, she tells Rebecca Dana about what she reads and how she came to commit to writing a book (she thanks her therapist - I can't win 'em all.) Elsewhere, she talked about how much work it was. Yes, it's work if done right! In this article, she's identified as "a life-long reader" (hurray!), and even is quoted as saying, “I really looked toward writers more than actors.” I may not buy her book, but I respect her soundbites.

I wish these celebrities would wake up a bit when promoting books and use the platform to promote reading, not just their schlocky products, most of which, as has been said, will end up in bargain bins anyway.

And just to keep up with the trend criticized in my last post, it seems another blogger - Jessica Shroeder of the blog "what i wore" - got herself a big fat book deal! And Jill Schwartzmann at Ballantine adds another quality product to the list... Actually, in fairness, this one seems like a bit more of a legitimate, if l-i-t-e, book, given that it's fashion tips, and not just blog crap. See, I'm big enough to admit that.

PS - BUT WAIT! No sooner had I posted this then I see the Onion has one-upped me with this video, about Drew Barrymore's memoir - a coloring book. Ingenious!

Drew Barrymore's New Tell-All Coloring Book Hits Shelves