Finding the right energy

Another letter for the BAIPA News [July 2008]

Being an author and a publisher can pull at us in different ways – and being small, independent publishers means that there are dozens of tasks we need to complete on a regular basis. Some days I get up gung-ho and step right into the external tasks on my plate – calling people, making connections, negotiating, asking for help. And some days I turn off my phone and write or read. I used to fight this. I used to push myself to make those calls or I’d get angry with myself if I couldn’t sit down and read a manuscript or write.

TOC conference – afterthoughts

I went to the TOC (Tools of Change) conference in San Jose a week or so ago. It was all about publishing and how it’s changing. And about the tools others are using to move this industry into the 21st century.

It was a great conference. It was a mix of novice sessions and advanced. Since I’ve been online since, yikes!, 1985, and I built my own early sites in Notepad, some of the basic electronic / web stuff I already knew. But, there was plenty I didn’t. In addition, I met a lot of people, which was really the highlight of the conference. Who came, and who didn’t was really interesting.

Tools of Change conference

Hope to meet up with you at the Tools of Change Conference put on by O’Reilly Media. I’m looking forward to hearing about all the changes happening in the publishing world. I’m sure I’ll be exhausted when I come home, but they have some great speakers lined up: Chris Anderson, Tim O’Reilly, John Ingram.

I love books and writing and publishing — at least the book world. And now I’m gonna sit and absorb what others have to say aboaut what’s happening. It’s an exciting time and O’Reilly are certainly qualified to put on a conference like this. I heard that at BEA much of the conversaton was about technology and how the book world is changing.

The changing face of publishing

We all know publishing is changing. From Craig’s List to The Wall Street Journal to print on demand, technology has changed and is continuing to change how we publish books, magazines, content. How do we know what is going to last and what is a fad? How do we know when to invest and when to stand and watch? How do we know who knows what they are talking about?