Readers Respond: Going Mobile
We recently ran Brian F. O’Leary’s analysis of Bowker’s annual summary of ISBNs registered for self-published works, in which he advocates for publishers to further develop “consumer-facing Web presences” and apps to establish “true first-party relationships.” Our readers had a lot to say about his ideas:
“If publishers think that going mobile means creating a dedicated-to-their-book-list mobile app, they’re going to be sadly mistaken. Extremely few readers are loyal to any publisher. Most pay no attention to who published a book.”—Michael W. Perry
“Bringing ‘just’ books to the smartphone might not do the trick—same thing, just a different format. Books in their current form are a solitary business. There is still no connection between the author and the reader, which is crucial. But this smartphone generation is not like this at all. They are used to being online almost 24/7, commenting, rating, sharing, following almost all their activities on the smartphone. This social component, which could go as far as even in-story commenting, is a must-have for making reading attractive again for a younger target group.”—Veronika Kartovenko
“Reading needs to become social? I thought that was kind of the point of reading... to NOT be social.”—Steve Quinn
From the Newsletters
Mauro Javier Cardenas, who weaves dizzyingly long sentences into his debut novel, The Revolutionaries Try Again (Coffee House), picks nine books filled with great long sentences.
How a group of YA authors teamed up with Rock the Vote on the #firstvote16 campaign to encourage young people to register to vote and head to the polls.
Celia Viggo Wexler on how to be a Catholic and a feminist.
Behind the success of Quicksand, a Swedish novel about a school shooting that’s been a fixture on that country’s bestseller list all summer and has sold in 23 territories so far.
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The most-read review last week on publishersweekly.com was It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way: How to Divorce Without Destroying Your Family or Bankrupting Yourself by Laura A. Wasser (St. Martin’s).
Blogs
That very specific jolt of pleasure you get when an old favorite book comes back into print.
Podcasts
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese discusses Banned Books Week and some surprise news from the New York Public Library about one of its most innovative ventures.
The More to Come crew on New York Comic Con, cartoonist Gene Luen Yang’s MacArthur “genius” grant, strong sales growth in the comics market, and more.
Author and educator Nisi Shawl discusses her debut novel, Everfair (Tor). And PW senior writer Andrew Albanese previews the Frankfurt Book Fair.
