Disqus - Latest Comments for glecharles

Re: What’s Bad for America is Good for Book Sales

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 12:11:51 -0000

You clearly didn't read the article, but thanks for commenting.

Re: What’s Bad for America is Good for Book Sales

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 11:32:55 -0000

My main objective was to point out an opportunity for publishers to do better. The toxic waste comment, while definitely subjective, is simply a more colorful description of their publisher's self-described business model of profiting on what's bad for America.

Re: Reading Lives, Episode #26: Guy Gonzales

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 04 May 2015 16:07:36 -0000

Thanks again for the great conversation, Jeff! Just wanted to note here that I completely botched which Piazza book inspired one of my tattoos. It was Why New Orleans Matters, not City of Refuge. Womp womp!

Re: COMMUNITY CHALLENGE: HARDPOINT DOMINATION

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:26:24 -0000

Not sure I'll have time to play again before the deadline, so here's my best from the weekend. 2775 combined in a close battle. (Solo)

Re: Xbox One “Titanfall” Limited Edition Wireless Controller

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:39:43 -0000

I'm not big fan of shooters (I tolerate Halo to play with my son), but Titanfall hooked me from the first preview, and the more I've seen of it, the more I'm hoping it really does re-imagine what a multi-player shooter can be. If it does, having one of those controllers to play it with would be sweet!

Re: Why Don’t Publishers Believe in Author Websites?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 12:51:45 -0000

Worth keeping in mind that Kawasaki pretty much said the same thing about Posterous, too. And I know a bunch of writers who camped out on MySpace.

Re: I never know what to say about books like Five...

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 15:23:52 -0000

Generally speaking, I think books like these can be called "good" if they make the events/experiences tangible and provoke an emotional response from readers, which is typically a sign that we needed those stories to be told. And I'd argue that "devastating," "important," and "pristine writing, strong emotion, crucial topics" help put "good" in context.

Five Days... is on my TBR, but I think I'll pass on Ward's memoir as I surprisingly (to me, at least) wasn't a fan of Salvage the Bones.

Re: WRITING ON THE ETHER: Which Has More Impact? The Chicken or Self-Publishing?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 09:33:44 -0000

First, congrats on 100 posts! The Ether has become a reliable signal in the midst of more and more noise, so kudos for your valiant efforts, and keep up the good work.

Second, the ebook "plateau" issue is effectively one of two stories being combined by journalists too lazy to dig deeper and too addicted to pageviews to stop "reporting" useless information. The AAP's numbers, which are the closest anyone has to consistent reporting, are well-known to represent a slice (albeit a large one) of the market, and are valuable for gauging a specific trend, which is what's driving the "plateau" narrative.

The more problematic issue is the lack of transparency into the total ebook market (which is how Apple gets to make nuanced claims of 20% market share that few should believe), and that's an issue James McQuivey raised back in 2010 that few have dug into as the real story: http://bit.ly/13dEAh0

I look forward to you being one those few over the next 100 Ethers. ;-)

Re: Great graphic novels for seniors

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:57:07 -0000

Jeff Lemire's Essex County trilogy is highly recommended. Also, Orbiter, by Ellis & Doran; Bluesman, by Vollmar & Callejo; and, on the nonfiction side, The Influencing Machine, by Gladstone & Neufeld.

Re: WRITING ON THE ETHER: Which ‘Craft’ for Authors?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:06:49 -0000

re: My tweet, it was in reference to Hugh Howey's ridiculous "bitch" post, not anything being discussed in this thread. You have to admit, though, that the past three years have seen some extremely self-righteous advocates for self-publishing who believe there is only ONE TRUE RING and vehemently berate any who suggest otherwise.

Re: WRITING ON THE ETHER: Which ‘Craft’ for Authors?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:07:02 -0000

Turow is a perfect example of lose/lose, but put any writer in that seat and you have the same challenge, whether it's Bob Mayer, Amanda Hocking, or Seth Godin. No one writer can speak to the myriad authorial (is that a word?) experiences the way a trade publisher or tech startup can for their respective constituencies.

Believe me, I struggled with that during my run at DBW, and even in the initial brainstorming phase for StoryWorld. A good publisher, editor or agent, can speak to the larger issues at play, while offering a broader perspective on the specific challenges authors face because they work with a wide range.

That said, a follow-up roundtable of *only* writers, from a mix of media and genres would definitely be interesting.

Re: WRITING ON THE ETHER: Which ‘Craft’ for Authors?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:04:35 -0000

I think Bob nailed a key part of this, and Jane somewhat alludes to it: writers who don't actively engage in other media are less likely to grasp the opportunities.

Everyone's looking for the big Star Wars example to prove transmedia's viability, and ignores the various examples in comics and gaming, in particular. It's all about a strong IP; a deep, immersive setting; and, ideally, a writer who understands how their story might extend into other media.

I don't know if J.K. Rowling knew the potential of the world she was creating, or was simply at an advantage because of the genre she was working in, but "transmedia" isn't some airy notion lacking concrete examples. It also isn't an opportunity for every author, and I don't know of anyone with a clue who argues otherwise.

Re: WRITING ON THE ETHER: Which ‘Craft’ for Authors?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:56:59 -0000

I think the primary challenge with author involvement in a discussion like this is that it's ultimately a lose/lose scenario as authors are an even more diverse lot than publishers or cutesy tech startups.

Exhibit A: Scott Turow

You're also not giving Hunter due credit. While far better known for his more recent tech endeavors, he's also a writer, and that background informed the founding of Electric Literature which is explicitly focused on literary fiction and continues to offer a traditional print product. I've met him a few times and his passion for literary fiction is legit, not just some whimsical playground for technological disruption.

As for expectations of authors, maybe I've missed something in my purposefully filtering out most of The Industry! The Industry! chatter of late, but is there really a notable demand for authors to become multidisciplinary artists, or is the gist really focused on awareness of the opportunities beyond the book, and caveats that those opportunities exist primarily within certain genres?

Re: The Lens takes 1st-place awards at annual journalism competition

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:04:25 -0000

Congratulations! Keep up the great work.

Re: Yes, E-mail Still Works for Book Marketing

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:47:30 -0000

I think it speaks to social media's "soft" connections, literally and as it relates to volume, plus (as in your first example), one of focus. On Twitter, ~80% of what I post is publishing-related, so the occasional personal tweet can seemingly come out of left field and likely be missed. A personal email to someone you have a relationship with is always going to be more effective, as long as it's used selectively. And for marketing in general, Godin's "permission marketing" is still one of the most relevant concepts people need to understand, and one of Amazon's major strengths. Email is far from dead.

Re: Which E-Books Are Most Borrowed From Libraries, And Why?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:36:31 -0000

"library patrons will be able to find way fewer new e-books to read."

Or perhaps simply fewer new "Big Six" ebooks? As they pull back from library lending, I suspect we'll see savvy small and mid-size publishers jump on the opportunity to increase their own discoverability. Also, there's the possibility of the Douglas County model seeing wider adoption in 2012: "Assured About Security, More Publishers Agree to Sell Ebook Files to Douglas County Libraries" http://bit.ly/zdbiyI

Re: Hugo: A Bad Review - Deus Ex Machinatio - Andrea Phillips

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:07:56 -0000

Thank you! I'm so glad someone else saw through this disappointingly hollow effort. The book is actually quite good (and worth reading), and fills in many of the gaps you noted. It does a much better job of telling its two stories and making the connections between them; it's like Scorcese would have rathered the film had been titled Georges and the studio forced the kids on him. (Oddly enough, it was the movie's trailer that inspired me to read the book.)

Re: Too Many Facebook Friends: Blessing or Curse?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:38:59 -0000

I never had an open policy on Facebook, but decided about a year ago to winnow it down even further to actual friends and family, unfriending ~150 casual acquaintances and continuing to unfriend anyone who's solely using it as a marketing channel. (No! I'm not flying to Calilfornia for your poetry reading. Stop inviting me!!!! Also, stop adding me to groups!) It's partly because I don't trust Facebook as a corporate entity, and partly because it has always made filtering and privacy an unnecessary hassle; a nice side benefit is my main stream has become a lot more relevant and has kept me engaged despite my desire to ditch it completely.

It comes down to use case, really. As a syndication channel for your public activities, the new Subscribe option seems to work nicely (I don't use it myself, nor have I activated it for my own profile) and bypasses the 5,000-friend limit. As a public/private hybrid, aggressively winnowing your friends while offering up the "subscribe" option, and posting personal activity for Friends only, is a solid compromise, though some feelings will surely be hurt. Full transparency, a la this post, will help smooth over the latter option.

Re: How the Google+ Hype Lost Its Mojo

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:05:35 -0000

I think writing off G+ is not just premature, but also illustrates just how wrong our impatient Microwave Culture has gone. The platform launched four months ago, opened to the public a few weeks ago, and is still very much an early Beta release with existing features actively being tweaked and new ones rolled out on a regular basis. While the gurus may have moved on (thank god!) and the hype is dying down (thank god!), I'm seeing activity from regular people steadily tick upwards, not unlike what happened when Facebook lagged MySpace because it was just for kids.

PS: I'm cross-posting this comment as I'm curious to see where you get more activity. :-)

Re: Google+, Circles, and Facebook (And: How To Make Facebook Act Like G+)

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:21:05 -0000

While you're technically right, the key differences between the UIs and Circles/Friends aren't purely functional, they're philosophical. Facebook has embraced "public by default" (see Danah Boyd's writings) and pervasive marketing tactics, which is why Friends lists are buried and the UI has gotten increasingly cluttered over the years. Circles are technically optional since you can dump everyone into one Circle and simply choose between sharing posts publicly or with "friends." I suspect Facebook is more likely to counter with feature creep than they are to make any fundamental shift in their strategy.

This presentation by Vincent Wong really nails the differences between them: http://bit.ly/p0vH2D

Looking forward to your further explorations!

Re: Strategy: Deciphering the Void

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:51:25 -0000

As I noted on Twitter, this was a thought-provoking series that might not inspire a ton of traffic or comments, but is incredibly valuable insight. I'd love to see you collect them into a simple ebook (no pics, just the text and relevant links), and put them up on Amazon for $2.99. I'd buy it!

Hell, if you need help, I might be able to do it for you.

Re: Publishing: A New Punk Ethos

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:36:25 -0000

As a fellow former zine publisher, I love that angle! While I think blogging is more akin to zines, it's interesting that ebooks seem to have added a key element that was missing from both: the ability to monetize the publication. Not only do you not have to go into debt, you have a shot to make a small profit and make subsequent publications sustainable. I only published three issues of my zine, and the biggest reason was the time and resources it took weren't ever going to be matched by any financial return.

Now what I'd love to see is the rebirth of Factsheet Five, focusing on blogs and ebooks that embrace that old zine mentality.

Re: An Interview With Guy LeCharles Gonzalez About His New E-Chapbook “Handmade Memories”

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:12:23 -0000

Thanks so much for the insightful questions, and for the compliments on the ebook! :-)

Re: Eisler’s decision is a key benchmark on the road to wherever it is we’re going

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:58:25 -0000

There's an NPR interview with Jimmy Breslin about his new Branch Rickey bio where he notes the impetus for integration was less about fielding a competitive team and more about tapping into a wider fanbase. Rickey could have pushed for integration while he was in St. Louis, but he didn't until he got to Brooklyn because, as Breslin eloquently noted: "Brooklyn's toes were in the Atlantic Ocean where everyone came from." http://n.pr/hD9567

If "legacy publishers" stopped looking at ebooks as just another format for the books they already publish, and instead as a way to publish and market books the existing brick-and-mortar infrastructure couldn't (or refused to) support, this would be a very different discussion.

Re: The Gray Lady’s 40 Million Dollar Folly

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:41:46 -0000

The assumption you're making here, though not as egregiously as some who have commented on it, is that this is the final step in their strategy, set in stone and never to change. It also completely misses the point that print is still NYT's primary source of revenue, and this program is structured to favor that relationship. For now, at least.

Rather than doinitrong, I think they're doing it right, launching a strategy that puts a value on their digital content, complements their print content, and positions them to make further adjustments in response to user behavior that won't require this first step to be an all or nothing success.

Isn't that exactly what everyone has said publishers need to do? Experiment, fail, rapid iterations, rinse, repear?