At the UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries, Nicholas Gary of ActuaLitté interviewed participants about the most urgent issues facing publishing today. By Nicholas Gary, editor of ActuaLitté Today we look at the markets in Spain and Japan, with Milagros Del Corral., the former Director of National Library of Spain and Chair of the Scientific Committee of Focus …
UK’s Waterstone’s Pins Hopes on aNobii “Social Bookselling” App
Beleaguered bookseller Waterstone’s is counting on aNobii, a book-oriented social networking site originally developed in Hong Kong, to help save them. By Roger Tagholm LONDON: Troubled UK chain Waterstone’s is pinning its hopes on the aNobii app which it officially launches next month. Not much has been said about this so-called “social bookselling” website, but it was clear from talking to …
Are You Working on a Publishing Project for Japanese Charity?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s feature story discusses 2:46 Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake, which is just one of many charity and inspiration books being published to aid Japanese charities. Several publishers have books in the works. Tell us about yours or about another project aimed at benefiting the Japanese people in the wake of the disaster.
Japanese Publishing Post-Earthquake: Inspiration and Survival Books Are Top Priority
By Edward Nawotka Friday, April 15, marked the five week anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that swamped north east Japan, destroying 30 bookstores, damaging several nuclear power plants, and forcing the rest of the country into rolling electrical blackouts. To mark the anniversary, Jim Bonner, director of UK e-book publisher Enhanced Editions, organized a “Read for Japan” …
#Quakebook: Twitter-sourced Japan Charity Book 2:46 Self-pubbed in One Week
By Edward Nawotka Last Friday the blogger “Our Man in Abiko” launched an effort to produce a crowd-sourced collection prose, photos and illustrations that would be compiled into a self-published book to benefit the victims of the Japan earthquake. The book, which amounts to 30,000 words, is now finished is said to have met the deadline of being published at …
Letter from the President of the Japan Book Publishers Association
March 16, 2011 – To All International Friends in the Publishing Community: First of all, I would like to thank you all for deeply-appreciated message of condolence and sympathy to us since the disaster took place on Friday, March 11. According the Meteorological Agency, the earthquake which hit northern part of Honshu Island was magnitude of 9.0 that was the …
Dryas Donates Proceeds From Travel Book to Japan Relief
By Siobhan O’Leary In an almost prescient move, German publisher Dryas Verlag has spent the last year donating 50 cents from every sale of the book Schattenläufer und Perlenmädchen – Abenteuer Alltag in Japan to the Japanese chapter of Doctors Without Borders to be used in the event of an earthquake. In light of the tragic events of the past week, publisher …
How Visible Is Arabic Lit on the International Scene?
This article is part of a series on publishing in the Middle East which is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. By Yasmina Jraissati As a literary agent specialized in representing Arabic literature for world translation rights, I am often asked how visible Arabic literature is on the international scene. This question most of the time translates into: …
DIY Digital Libraries and E-book Demand in Japan
By Helen Gregg Yesterday, BusinessWeek reported on how many Japanese are embracing the iPad and other tablet computers as a space-saving replacement for their print library. Japan’s notoriously small living spaces –- the average single family home in Japan is half the size of the US average -– and the introduction of the iPad last April have caused many to …
Digital to Represent 20 to 28% of Publishing’s Profits, says Forum d’Avignon/Bain & Co. Report
By Edward Nawotka A new study, “Publishing in the Digital Era,” commissioned by the Forum d’Avignon and compiled by Bain & Co. states that e-readers, tablets other digital reading devices “could be in the hands of 15 to 20% of the developed world’s population by 2015,” and offers an unprecedented opportunity for publishers and authors. The “redistribution of value among …