Though everybody is writing about ebooks and the digital experience these days, I find I don’t have much new to add to the conversation; I’ve said it all before. Sometimes I was right, sometimes I was wrong, sometimes I evolved. I still absolutely believe that user experience is — after the content of the book — the most important place for publishing types to focus their attention.

I’ve given up on reading banal analysis and wild conjecture. I ignore anything with the word “killer” in the headline or lead. If there’s a question mark in the headline — Will the iPhone Destroy How We Cook Dinner? — I don’t even bother to click through. I presume it’s a question the writer is asking himself, not actually bothering to consider with any depth. It’s just vague punditry designed to fill the web equivalent of column inches.

Others seem to agree, which is heartening. I feel like the publishing industry is at a place where the pundits have said what they needed to say, some in a nice, evenhanded and measured manner, some, not so much.

We’ve been talking the talk for years (at least some of us have been), now it’s time to walk the walk. More to come (maybe. maybe not).

Post on:

I worked my way through the books with systematic determination. The librarians would come up with new ways for me to discover books too. On one occasion, it was decided that I could only check out books on a certain theme. Once there was a treasure hunt. I was occasionally the guinea pig for Summer Reading themes.

I spent many evenings and weekends in that building, even after I outgrew Summer Reading. The Baldwinsville Public Library helped me through all those school assignments and college applications. For me, that building was permanent. In 1993, the Library Board approved plans for a new building. One which would have a dedicated computer room and would be automated. It would also be about twice the size of the building I was used to. I left Baldwinsville the next year. I haven’t been back since, in fact. I’m planning on going back this year, for a friend’s wedding. I guess I’ll have to drive by and take a look at the new building. I guess. But for me, the Baldwinsville Public Library will always be in that little building, with the beautiful wooden shelves and card catalog and punch card due date slips.

Post on:

…and you’re wondering why they can’t find you.

Post on:

The show was, of course, a success—great discussion, high energy, and mad passion. During the back-and-forth emailing after the show, Jane mentioned the New Sleekness, and I casually mentioned that we’d love to have her as a guest blogger, if she ever wanted to. After consulting with Ami (“1000x yes!”), we extended the invite, and she said yes. So without further ado, we give you the formidable Jane Litte, a sleek, sleek publishing person if there ever was one.

Welcome to the Sleekness, Jane. Stick around for as long as you want.

Post on:

Thanks again to everyone who came out, the Bowery Poetry Club for the space, and Verso for their generous sponsorship. This was so much fun to do that we’ve already scheduled another for April 14th. Sign up here to receive more info.

Lineup from 1/14/10:

• Stephanie Anderson, manager of WORD Brooklyn, on the store’s very literary basketball league. Talk available as text or in full-length or edited video.
• Ryan Chapman, internet marketing manager at FSG. Slides are available here, edited video here.
• Pablo Defendini, web producer for Tor.com. Talk and slides available here.
• Joshua Simpson, Joshua Blake Photography (check out the ‘writers’ and ‘fantasy’ photos for a sense of his talk).
• Ward Sutton, Sutton Impact Studio. Video available at Galleycat.
• Debbie Stier, associate publisher at HarperStudio. Slides available here.

Post on:

However, part of the reason I have less free time is the fact that Tor.com is run out of the Digital Marketing department at Macmillan. Being a part of the DM dept allows me a closer look at the publishing industry, and where it’s headed. I’ve found that more and more, the (admittedly sporadic) writing in the (newer) New Sleekness has turned into publishing industry punditry.

A few months ago, Ami and I were talking as we walked back to a hotel from a book fair in some northeastern city⁽²⁾, and it occurred to us to start a blog where people like us could talk about what we see happening in the publishing industry. By ‘people like us’, we mean our colleagues: young-ish, in the trenches, not necessarily the movers-and-shakers or the decision-makers, but the people who are doing the grunt work. We grew up with technology, and we’ve seen it alter the landscape of the way we live and the way we do business; we compare that to what we see as the impractical realities of how legacy publishing operates, and we have something to say about it. We have ideas, we have opinions, and we have visions for a future in which everyone reads everything everywhere, and books are recognized as the drivers of culture that they are⁽³⁾. A sleek new future.

And that’s when I realized that we already had access to a really great name for the blog. I offered up the name “The New Sleekness”, and here we are, at a brand-new URL with a new look, and a blank database. I’ll bring over some of the publishing-related posts from the old New Sleekness at first (some may take some revision and updating), but essentially this is a fresh start, and I won’t be the only one contributing to this site.

Post on: