Disqus - Latest Comments for SteveWeber

Re: How Broadway Talks to its Audiences Using Social Media

SteveWeber — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:47:30 -0000

Nice piece. Call it what you want, permission marketing, social marketing, social media. It's plain, old-fashioned word of mouth. Works a heckuva lot better than paid advertising, and it can work for anyone -- as long as you've got a decent product.

Re: How <i>VQR</i>'s Jaquith Found Anderson's Plagiarism (Hint: It's In Parentheses) - mediabistro.com: FishbowlNY

SteveWeber — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:31:57 -0000

Perhaps Hyperion could assign an intern to the task of Googling random passages from galleys, to prevent this sort of embarrassment.

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

SteveWeber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:59:43 -0000

Not sure. Someone (Amazon? The publisher?) is probably hoping that Kindle users will pay at least $9 or $10 for the convenience of getting certain content on their Kindle and won't quibble about the price of the pBook.

Super-cheap paper copies always surface when a bestseller has run its course. Or a textbook older than three or four semesters. Much less likely to happen with niche, specialized content.

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

SteveWeber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:29:57 -0000

Good post. "Big Russ" was a huge bestseller, so that's why used copies are selling for a penny. Also, the "Bargain Price" designation on Amazon means the book has been remaindered -- returned by bookstores for credit. So even "new" hard-copy books are being sold at a huge discount to the original retail price.

Re: Why Amazon Vine is a Threat Worth Talking About

SteveWeber — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:16:32 -0000

Jon, great post. I agree that a huge part of Amazon's value is the perception that its customer reviews are honest evaluations from real consumers. Nothing irritates me more than wasting money (and time!) on an inferior book, movie, or other product. I always read the reviews carefully to avoid the disappointing items.

I'm an Amazon Vine reviewer, and I've noticed that several of the recent books I've received through the program were subpar. So, I'm concerned that the program is being over-used by publishers who realize they have a weak book that needs some "help" in the form of positive reviews. On an encouraging note, however, I have noticed that many of the Amazon Vine reviews are negative reviews, at least, more than I'd expect. For example, check out the proliferation of 3-star reviews for this book (most of them submitted by Vine reviewers):

http://www.amazon.com/Paren...

By the way, it costs several thousand dollars (perhaps $10,000 to $15,000, according to my sources) for publishers to enroll books or other product into the Vine program. So, it's a huge moneymaker for Amazon. On the other hand, if it leads to mistrust of their reviews, then it may ultimately cost Amazon more through reduced sales.

Re: A New Take on 'Weddings of the Times' - mediabistro.com: BayNewser

SteveWeber — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:14:12 -0000

Scribd has a much better revenue split with the author (80 percent) compared to Amazon, which gives a measly 30 percent. So I am glad to see Amazon get some competition for its closed, proprietary system, the Kindle.

One problem I've had personally with Scribd is that my (longstanding) account is blocked from selling documents. This is supposedly because I am outside the United States, which is incorrect. I've verified my location with Scribd's support staff, but they've yet to fix the problem.

Re: Self-Published Books Up 132 Percent - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

SteveWeber — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:18:41 -0000

Print on demand is a manufacturing process, and does not necessarily indicate whether a book was self-published. So the data from Bowker is not evidence that self-publishing is up 132 percent, as far as I know.

The growth in POD has been driven by trade publishers making their backlist, niche, and previously out-of-print titles available via POD -- as well as the growth in self-publishing.

Re: Self publishing is becoming respectable — even for the pros.

SteveWeber — Sat, 02 May 2009 09:29:37 -0000

Another option (and the best route, in my opinion) is to engage a printer/wholesaler directly, instead of going with one of the service bureaus as mentioned in this article (CreateSpace, iUniverse, Xlibris). You can double your profits (or more) by doing it yourself instead of going through one of these middlemen.

If your writing is a business, you've got to consider the costs. The "self publishing companies" mentioned are great at obscuring your costs and skimming most of your profit.

Re: The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades

SteveWeber — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:29:34 -0000

Tim, you said:

"Based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year."

I'm 47 and am interested in learning how to play tennis. Based on your experience, I should reach the Wimbledon finals next year, right?

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LOL... precisely. Federer's days are numbered! I'll be posting a comment to explain "world-class" in a few hours :)

Tim