Trends

The brand new literary journal, Electric Literature, combines old and new media distribution models in a new kind of product. The magazine will be published as a digital text, with a print-on-demand option for readers looking for paper copies of the journal.

In addition, the journal can be purchased as an e-book, Kindle, or iPhone format. The opening issue features a blockbuster list with work by Jim Shepard, Lydia Millet, and Michael Cunningham.

Here's more from the site: "Ultimately, the content of a book is information, and the methods of distributing information have changed. Electronic publishing is the greenest option: it kills no trees, requires very little energy, never goes out of print, and can reach anyone on the planet. To create the paper version of Electric Literature, we use print-on-demand, ensuring that every copy has a home." (Via Patrick deWitt)

Yesterday Scrollmotion and Little, Brown Book Group launched digital U.K. editions of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight series, a breakthrough for international distribution of digital versions of Meyer's work.

According to the release, U.K. readers can now download "Twilight," "New Moon," "Eclipse," and "Breaking Dawn" via ScrollMotion's Iceberg Reader. The Iceberg Reader works with the iPhone and iPod Touch, and the trial program will also include digital titles by Iain M. Banks, Patricia Cornwell, Dorothy Koomson, and Alexander McCall Smith.

David Shelley, the digital publisher at Little, Brown Book Group, had this statement: "I am really delighted that we’re now able to offer readers the opportunity to own some of our key titles on the iPhone. I think the quality and readability of the apps is superb, and I imagine that many will be as seduced by them as we all are here. To be able to add to the range of ways consumers can read their favourite authors feels like a particularly exciting development."

How will Michael Jackson's tragic death affect the way people write about the pop star? The Internet has archived thousands of jokes about the legendary singer, and Twitter writers unleashed a stream of off-color humor last night.

Today's Morning Media Menu pondered the problem of Jackson jokes in an upcoming Sacha Baron Cohen comedy, Bruno--scenes that have since been cut from the film. Our special guest was Alex Irvine; the author of the Vertigo Encyclopedia, blogger, and one of the writers that produced the ground-breaking alternate reality game, I Love Bees.

The show was hosted by GalleyCat editor Jason Boog and FishbowlNY editor Amanda Ernst. If you want to read more, GalleyCat compiled a collection of links to the three books that Michael Jackson had written.

As "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" steamrolls the box office this weekend, iPhone readers are lining up to buy .99-cent digital comics in the Apple iPhone store. Transformer tie-ins now occupy the #2, #4, #6, #7, and #11-14 slots on the "Top Paid Apps" in the books category of the App Store.

Produced by IDW Publishing, the apps are digital versions of a comic book prequel to the film. The robot movie reaped $60.6 million on opening day alone, and readers are paying to read these special e-books as well. If you want to read more, one UK blogger reviewed the digital comics.

Here's more from the promotional materials: "Can't wait for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie? Get a head start on with the film's official prequels, Revenge of the Fallen: Alliance and Revenge of the Fallen: Defiance! Delve into the Transformer's recent and ancient past as these stories lead up the the events in this summer's blockbuster."

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."

The National Press Club is one meeting away from including bloggers in the long list of journalists eligible for membership--could literary bloggers, blog editors, and other online writers find a new air of legitimacy in the 21st Century media world?

Our blogging siblings at FishbowlDC report that the National Press Club's Record proposes a key change adding bloggers to the already inclusive pool of applicable writers: "Reporters, editors, writers, publishers, editorial and news cartoonists and artists, news photographers, producers, librarians, presidents, general managers, videographers, web masters and other editorial employees who work for qualified news outlets."

The measure will be up for final passage on Monday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m., if you are interested in following this historic addition. Last year, Pulitzer Prize eligibility was widened to include online journalists.

Over the weekend, the Association of American University Presses had a sobering annual meeting--confronting both a radically-shifted publishing model and a struggling economy.

Inside Higher Ed reported two alarming trends for university presses: college students' book-buying habits now lean dramatically towards digital offerings and university budgets have restricted many publishers. One of the featured speakers, Beth Jacoby, collection development librarian at York College of Pennsylvania, added more context from the field.

Here's more from Jacoby: "She opened by talking about formats of communication that are dead (the 8-track), 'on life support' (print newspapers and journals), and those that are thriving (e-journals, e-reference books, databases, etc.) 'Students will use heavily anything that can be accessed by a computer,' she said ... students are so committed to digital resources that they generally don't use print resources unless forced to do so by a faculty member."

Last week, the Electronic and Small Press Authors' Network, a special interest group formed within the ranks of the Romance Writers of America, published an essay by author and literary agent Deidre Knight criticizing RWA's institutional attitudes towards digital publishing—including a definition of what constitutes a legitimate publishing operation, based on a $1,000 minimum advance against royalties, that leaves e-book companies out in the cold, along with the lack of any educational programming on digital publishing at this year's annual national convention. "If RWA truly wants to protect authors," Knight wrote, "then it's time to join the 21st century where the rules of the digital market are changing daily."

RWA president Diane Pershing responded to Knight's criticisms with her own guest essay at the ESPAN website, which began by noting they did offer a workshop on digital publishing last year and hardly anybody came; she remarked that it was "impossible to justify the expense of providing qualified speakers if members aren't interested in attending the sessions." Pershing then went on to argue that catering to "e-published authors" would be of no benefit to the majority of the organization's membership, and insinuated that Knight was making waves because her electronic-only novel, Butterfly Tattoo, wasn't up for one of their annual literary prizes and its publisher, Samhain, doesn't meet the RWA standard of legitimacy. "Just because something is currently popular with those who have chosen to embrace it doesn't make it necessarily right," Pershing said of the pro-e-book argument, clarifying that, from her perspective, "RWA has adapted to the rise of digital publishing in a steady and, yes, careful manner." And if e-book publishers weren't going to offer their authors at least $1,000 advances, they would continue to be viewed as non-legitimate, no matter how much their authors eventually collect.

Both Knight's argument and Pershing's rebuttal provoked intense reactions within the romance publishing community. You can find a lot of conversation on Twitter if you search for the hashtag "#RWAChange," but you should also take a look at responses to Pershing by two of the most prominent romance community blogs. At Dear Author, Jane Litte asks, "Why care what RWA thinks? Why advocate for RWA to change? Why not simply withdraw from the organization?" But Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books offers a qualified defense of the organization, noting its significance as the foundation of a strongly bonded literary community. "The smaller connections between individuals are priceless," she reflects, "even if the larger community is troublesome and fractious sometimes." Even though she profoundly disagrees with RWA leadership about digital publishing, Wendell explains, she has too much invested in that network of relationships to simply walk away: "RWA is too valuable to be without strong digital publishing education and advocacy within it. "

Penguin Group USA launched a new multimedia From the Publisher's Office initiative today, a collection of free video and audio content to accompany book excerpts.

In addition to a new "reading room," the site has two new multimedia spaces. In the Screening Room, videos feature authors like J.R. Ward and Laurie Halse Anderson. In the Radio Room, content ranges from audio interviews with Penguin Classics Executive Editor Elda Rotor to intelligence from Penguin Business Thought Leaders.

Here's more from the release: "Most of the content for From the Publisher's Office is created, written, shot, edited and produced by more than 30 Penguin Group (USA) executives and department team members who are closest to the content, some having worked directly with the books."

The Audiobooks app has rocketed to the coveted number one spot on Apple's App Store free applications for the Books category, bringing a catalog of 1,800 free audiobooks to iPhone and iPod Touch users--unseating Amazon.com, Inc.'s Kindle for iPhone reader in the top spot.

Created by Cross Forward Consulting, the application features catalog browsing, book-marking functions, and is supported by ad space in the app. It was built using recordings from the LibriVox Project--a collection of volunteer-read audio books from the public domain.

Here's more from the release: "Starting with the immense library of the Librivox Project and growing every day, this application gives you free access to over 9,800 hours worth of audiobooks."