Kickstarter Publishing Stats – Still an Improvement
There was a lot of talk online after Kickstarter released that Less Than 32% of Kickstarter Publishing Projects Get Funded.
In reality, it seems to me that an author might have far better chances at 32% going to Kickstarter as opposed to the even slimmer chances of going the route of a traditional publishing house. I think the slush piles at publishing houses are far deeper than those projects waiting for funding at Kickstarter. But really it all depends on the project and what the author wants to accomplish with the distribution of their art. Sometimes a publishing house is the best route and sometimes self publishing.
And what is this ridiculous stat that more than 7,000 projects have never received a single pledge? Really? Not even the support of $1 from a single friend? That’s just poor marketing.
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Summer Reading Flowchart: What Should You Read On Your Break?
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’50 Shades of Grey’ ‘SNL’ Skit Shows What Moms Really Want for Mother’s Day
My new favorite video. Talk at work about this was very entertaining.
Perhaps the Internet Didn’t Kill Books
An interesting post by Alexis Madrigal, a senior editor at The Atlantic. As he aptly points out, “In 1957, not even a quarter of Americans were reading a book or novel. By 2005, that number had shot up to 47 percent. I couldn’t find a more recent number, but I think it’s fair to say that reading probably hasn’t declined to the horrific levels of the 1950s.”
As he points out from the original feedback he received, there are probably a lot of factors in these numbers and variables that are not accounted for. For instance there is a large gap in the data from 1957 to 1990 which is not accounted for. These are just a few data points – but they are data points that I’ll take.
Posted in eBooks, Internet, Kindle, Physical Books, Publishing
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Helvetica
How is the entire movie available for free on YouTube?
But better yet, a fun history of fonts that is not an hour and a half long. Or if you do have time watch the movie and read Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield
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The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)
Late to the game for a books guy, but found this seriously enjoyable.
Posted in Physical Books
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Kickstarter To Outfund National Endowment for the Arts
In an interview with Talking Points Memo, Co-Founder Yancey Strickler said that Kickstarter might actually crowdsource fund $150 million in 2012, which is $4 million more than the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2012 operating budget of $146 million. “Our entire lifetime funding is about $150 million,” said Strickler, “But $99 million was pledged last year alone.”
I have two reactions to this. First, I am delighted that a private, for profit enterprise, has been able to raise so much money for the advancement of the arts and artistic projects. Second, I am shocked that the NEA has that small of a budget. The NEA is “dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.” I believe that the arts are fundamental to American society and wish they had a bigger budget to allow them to do even more good.
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Apple’s New Rules for Reading Apps
I write this post as a Apple customer. I own a Macbook Air, an iPhone, an iPad, two apple TVs and many, many Apple accessories. And I am furious. As it was widely reported today, in the Wall Street Journal for just one example, eBook retailers Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble have stopped selling eBooks through Apple iPhone and iPad apps. I read and buy new books on my Kindle application all the time, and I can not shop from the app any longer.
While I work for Kindle, and will admit that I am biased, I was a Kindle user far before the iPad was a twinkle in Steve Job’s eye.
This move by Apple does nothing to help Apple, and everything to hurt its competitors. But more than that, it hurts readers. Let me say this again, it hurts readers. I will never use iBooks just because I can buy books from my iPad. Hopefully this is not the case, but this move may cause most eBook readers (who are NOT iBooks readers) to buy fewer books. And in that it means that book readers may read less.
I’m really disappointed in Apple.
Posted in Amazon, Apple, eBooks, iPad, Kindle, Steve Jobs
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