jeffrutherford.com

Like a lot of things that Google announces, this announcement came and went in less than a 24 hour news cycle. On September 8th, Editor & Publisher wrote about a Google deal with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the St. Petersburg Times, and the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph to digitally publish thousands, if not millions, of old newspaper articles that aren’t currently available online.

This makes a ton of sense. How many of those articles are earning revenue for publishers now? I’m sure the Google ad revenue will be small initially, but it could certainly grow over time into a nice revenue stream.

I was struck recently about the lack of access online to newspaper articles more than a few years old. I grew up in Macon, Georgia and went to high school in the 1980s. A few months ago I was looking online for some articles about Vex, a local punk band, that played in Macon in the mid-80s. But, with the exception of a few very, very obscure music sites, it was like the band never existed - online that is.

It’d be nice to have full and unfettered access to newspaper articles from not only 20 years ago, but 40, 60, 80, and 100 years ago.

The new Xbox Experience - the revamped Xbox Live UI - is scheduled to launch tomorrow. How much you want to bet that they have server issues and download queues a hundred miles long tomorrow? Not sure when companies will grasp the need to improve launch day experiences. I read that the queues to access the new World of Warcraft expansion - Wrath of the Lich-King - was several hours long the day that it launched.

Regardless of tomorrow’s performance, it should be up and running fine within a few days or weeks. 

I am excited to see the Netflix streaming functionality featured in the new Xbox Experience, but what’s with the funky avatars? Why rip off Nintendo’s Wii when there’s so much cool technology out there for modeling faces and bodies?

What took them so long? It’s sad that it took an economic crisis of historical proportions to make book publishers realize that they need to get serious about marketing the joy of reading and books. 

According to Publishers Weekly, Random House has spearheaded a holiday advertising campaign touting books as great gifts - and not necessarily marketing specific authors or titles. Let’s just hope that this effort isn’t half-hearted and forgotten in a few weeks.

The American Library Association has had it’s long-running Celebrity Read posters - using celebrities to tout the joys of reading. Also, the AAP has it’s similar Get Caught Reading campaign.

Why haven’t book publishers done more to brand the experience and pleasure of reading? There has been lots of handwringing and prognosticating about the shrinking attention span for books amidst the Web, video games, TV, movies, etc.. If book publishers want to defend, and hopefully expand, their piece of the media pie, then they have to be proactive about marketing the pleasure of reading.

The Random House Books=Gifts program is a web-based campaign of display ads featuring prominent authors touting the joys of reading and giving books as gifts. Initially, the campaign will feature Random House authors, but there are plans to expand beyond that.

Also, MJ Rose, novelist and expert book marketer, has started a new holiday campaign - featuring book jacket images and the message to buy books as gifts. If you’re a blogger, consider featuring an image from Rose’s campaign.

Again, though, publishers shouldn’t forget these efforts once the economy recovers.  And, to me the important thing here is that publishers should look beyond their obvious audience - existing book lovers. Digital advertising on book related sites is preaching to the choir.

If publishers want to expand their market, they need to think creatively, i.e. market fantasy-science fiction novels on video gaming sites, market street lit on music/rap blogs, etc.

The New York Times wrote about Google’s recent settlement, or proposed settlement I should say, of the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild. 

Obviously this gives Google the right to display scanned books and sell ads against those books. And, I’m assuming that there’s some kind of rev share with the authors for that advertising. Or is there a one-time payment?

Here’s the question that I have. Will authors or authors heirs or estates or literary executors, in many cases, be able to get a digital file from Google once Google scans that author’s book? Will those authors have access to the digital files so that they can sell their work digitally in other places - Kindle, Sony Reader, Fictionwise?

Once Google has the scanned book and has the potential to make advertising revenue on that scan, will they be amenable to sharing that digital file with the author? Or will they complain that sharing digital files would be too convoluted - too many authors, too much hassle?

There’s gold in them thar backlists. The beauty of the Kindle or any other digital reading device is in the backlist potential. I’m a huge mystery fan, but right now I can’t walk into a bookstore and buy every Ed McBain 87th Precinct book or Donald Westlake’s Richard Stark novels. The Kindle’s infinite bookshelf will ultimately pay large dividends for Amazon and make Chris Anderson have happy dreams re: the long tail.

I grew up listening to Charley Pride singing this song. And, in fact, Charley Pride at the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia, was the first concert I ever went to.

Kiss An Angel Good Morning

Whenever I chance to meet some old friends on the street
They wonder how does a man get to be this way
I always got a smiling face any time and any place
And every time they ask me why
I just smile and say

You’ve got to kiss angel good mornin’
And let her know you think about her when you’re gone
So kiss an angel good mornin
And love her like the devil when you get back home

Now people may guess the secret of happiness
Some of them never learn
It’s a simple thing
The secret I’m speaking of
Is a woman and a man in love
And the answer is in this song that I always sing

You got to kiss an angel good mornin
And let her know you think about her when you’re gone
So kiss an angel good mornin
And love her like the devil when you get back home

Kiss an angel good mornin
And let her know you think about her when you’re gone
So kiss an angel good mornin
And love her like the devil when you get back home.

Well, Sony announced their third generation Sony Reader last night.

There’s a lot to like about the new Sony Reader - PRS-700 - touch screen, LED for reading in bed or low-light conditions. (As an aside, can someone explain that type of numbered branding to me? Why not call it Sony Reader 3, the Third, Sony Reader - the third chapter. Nope. We’re gonna name it the PRS-700).

But, unfortunately, Sony is missing a key, vital, feature here - there’s no on-board wireless connectivity or built-in Wi-fi. Hence, the title of my post. To get content onto the Sony Reader PRS-700, you have to connect it to your computer. Until Sony incorporates wi-fi or built-in wireless for its 4th generation, they’re going to have a hard time competing with the Amazon Kindle.

Sony is still struggling with content. Sure, they’re supporting ePub, PDF, and other formats. But, they’re still way behind the number of titles available for the Kindle. According to PW’s story today, Sony is planning to increase the number of titles availabe in the Sony Reader store to 100,000 titles from 50,000 now.

However, that still puts them behind the Amazon Kindle by 80,000 titles.

For competition’s sake, I’m excited by the touch features, the LED lighting, and the promised redesigned Sony eBook store. But to truly go head-to-head with Amazon, Sony has to incorporate wireless sooner rather than later.

What is Sony planning to announce tonight?

A new Sony Reader model with built-in wireless? New deals with publishers to expand the number of available titles?

Are they going to end the Sony Connect software in favor of a web-based platform? The search functionality of Sony Connect still leaves a lot to be desired?

I wonder what Sony will be announcing.

Kudos to Time Inc. for innovating and launching Maghound. But is it going to work?

What is Maghound exactly? It’s a unique way to subscribe to magazines. Instead of the traditional fill out a subscription form, send in a check, and get your magazine every month, Maghound offers something new.

You select the magazine, or magazines, you want to read, and you pay for them month by month. And, if you realize you’re not reading your Entertainment Weekly each week, and you’d rather keep you finger on the pulse of pop culture and loony vice-presidential candidates by subscribing to People magazine, then you go onto the Maghound website and change your Maghound subscription from EW to People.

What’s the benefit here? You don’t have to endure 6 months of a magazine subscription that you realize you don’t really read anymore. You can either end the subscription the following week or month, or switch to another magazine.

At first, I thought Maghound was a supremely odd, and doomed effort. But, as I’ve written this explanation, I’ve realized it makes a lot of sense. But, here’s my initial reservation, and one that remains - who has the time and energy to manage their magazine subscriptions so closely? If you decide you don’t want a magazine, you toss it in recycling each week, and you don’t resubscribe.

To me, Maghound seems to be an answer to a problem that most people just don’t think about dealing with - except for not resubscribing.

It will be interesting to watch how Maghound fares.

If you’re curious why I’m posting these, check out my explanation.

Up today, a wonderful Johnny Paycheck tune - The Real Mr. Heartache.

“The Real Mr. Heartache”

Written by Johnny Paycheck

There we were all three of us sitting side by side
Three guys who have loved her, but to someone she lied
Now everybody’s wondering, just who’s the lonely guy?
So will the real Mr. Heartache please stand up and cry?

Chorus

The real Mr. Heartache is every guy she’s known
Loved by her, left by her with a heartache all his own
Everytime I hear that question the number multiplies
Will the real Mr. Heartache please stand up and cry?

Verse 2
There we were all three of us standing side by side
While six little teardrops tickled from our eyes
And I even see a stranger that seems to qualify
So will the real Mr. Heartache please stand up and cry?

I’m a couple of days behind on this, but as Joe Wikert noted Sony Readers are now available at both Target’s online store and brick-and-mortar stores.

I was emailing a friend in publishing yesterday about this, and we both agreed that this is a great move on Sony’s part. However, I can’t help but wonder, does the deal with Target include exclusivity?

If not, I wonder if Sony execs are on a plane to Bentonville? If Sony really wanted to floor the gas pedal on the Sony Reader, they should seriously consider it.

Not to stereotype Wal-Mart shoppers, but every retail exec knows their demographics. What would happen if Sony went out and cut deals with Harlequin, Zondervan, and publishers of various best-selling self-help books?

Some may argue that Wal-Mart shoppers aren’t huge readers and certainly not readers looking for a Sony Reader device. However, romance readers have shown a huge interest and passion for ebooks. Romance readers tend to read a ton of books, and they’re constantly looking for new titles and new authors.

If Sony wants to win the race vs. Amazon’s Kindle - or at least compete aggressively - they should give it some serious thought.