The annual Tools of Change conference opens next week in Manhattan, kicking off an extended conversation about the future of publishing. GalleyCat and eBookNewser will both be there, covering the event with posts, tweets, and video content.

To find out more, check out our recent interview with O’Reilly’s Andrew Savikas or revisit our coverage of last year’s conference.

If you are in New York City for the convention, be sure to sign up for the TOC Tweet-Up. This GalleyCat editor will be there, analyzing karaoke performances like a confused Olympic judge.

Here’s more about the event: “TOC Tweetup will feature fun, conversation, and rock ‘n twang live band karaoke from the Wicked Messengers! Check out the song list and come ready to impress (we know there are some golden pipes among you!): Live Band Karaoke Song List from Wicked Messengers. Where: Hill Country NYC 30 West 26th Street NY, NY 10010 (the party will be downstairs in the bar).”

Sunday night Amazon wrote that they would “capitulate” to Macmillan’s eBook pricing model, but the online retailer has still not resumed directly selling books by the publisher (as of this 4:11 p.m. EST update). In addition, Amazon stock slipped at closing time for the second day in a row.

Earlier today, the Authors Guild defended Macmillan and criticized Amazon’s “bullying tactics” in an email alert to members entitled “The Right Battle at the Right Time.” Meanwhile, some Amazon customers continue to boycott Kindle books priced higher than $9.99. As of this writing, 1,435 different comments have been posted in response to Amazon’s note to customers about the price war.

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. EST: The NY Times reports: “some Macmillan books were creeping back” this afternoon. Yesterday we interviewed O’Reilly’s Andrew Savikas about the price fight, and he shared some of his own experience: “when we raised the price of an iPhone app from $5 to $10, sales fell by 75 percent overnight. That’s a pretty loud and clear signal from the market.”

Finally, Macmillan author John Scalzi rejected calls for a boycott today, instead urging readers to buy books by Macmillan writers–helping the people most directly hurt by the stand off. After the jump, GalleyCat readers shared indie bookstores around the country where you can find Macmillan titles.

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Scores of publishing types are vying for a coveted spot at the SXSW Festival next year, proposing more than twenty panel discussions about the future of publishing. Online readers can vote on their favorite panels, helping determine the line-up at the festival next March.

Last year’s publishing panel sparked fireworks among literary bloggers. Over at BookSquare, Kassia Krozser has created an excellent list of all the voting options for 2010. Here’s a sampling of the entries, but be sure to vote on the complete list. Simply follow the individual links to vote.

-Beyond Publishing: When Every Book is Connected to Everyone: Stephanie Troeth, Book Oven (Hugh McGuire, Peter Brantley, Andrew Savikas, Kassia Krozser)
-A Brave New Future for Book Publishing : Kevin Smokler, CEO BookTour.com
-Romancing the e-Book: Publishing’s e-Volutionary Revolution: Deidre Knight, Knight Agency (includes GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan)
-The Novel in 2050: Richard Nash, Red Lemonade
-Book Publishing – The New Ecosystem: Maya Bisineer, Memetales
-Authors, Publishers and Social Media: Hug it Out: Tim O’Shaughnessy, LivingSocial
-Why Keep Blogging? Real Answers for Smart Tweeple: Emily Gordon, Emdashes.com founder, includes GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan.

On Tuesday, October 13, 2009, O’Reilly Media will host a one-day Tools of Change conference near the Frankfurt Book Fair–hoping to lure some old-school publishers with some new technological tricks.

According to Bookseller, the line-up of guests includes author and blogger Cory Doctorow; Shortcovers’ VP of Content, Sales, and Merchandising Michael Tamblyn, Internet Archive director Peter Brantley, and Pan Macmillan UK digital director Sara Lloyd. The New York City version of the conference has sold out for the last two years, and GalleyCat has reported on the publishing event for years.

Here’s more from O’Reilly’s VP of digital initiatives, Andrew Savikas, from the article: “Tools of Change for Publishing is helping shape the future of the publishing and media landscape, and bringing that message of change to the international audience attending Frankfurt is recognition that many of the opportunities for publishers are now truly global ones.”

Nearly 250 Amazon customers have joined an informal boycott of digital books priced more than $9.99 at the popular online retailer–they have already tagged more than 770 books with a “9 99boycott” tag.

Over at O’Reilly TOC blog, Andrew Savikas links to bloggers who have joined the campaign.

One Amazon reader summed up the boycott here: “Kindle books are kinda like movie tickets. While you can re-read the book, you cannot: donate it to a library, sell it to a used book store, sell it on Amazon’s Used Marketplace, [or] trade it to a friend … The publisher does not need to pay for paper, glue, press time, press employees, insurance, ink, boxes, or shipping. Amazon does not need to stock its warehouse, pay staff to fulfill orders, or pay shipping. The price needs to reflect these VERY important facts.”