Comments on: What Publishing Can Learn, Part III

By: Kara

Kara — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:27:02 +0000

Checked out BookSwim and I have to point out a couple issues with this idea: (1) people don’t want to rent books handled too much by other people–DVDs don’t show wear and tear as much as books, and (2) $10/month is a steep price for slow readers. Netboox should slash the membership fee

By: What Publishing Can Learn, Part IV — The Late Age of Print

What Publishing Can Learn, Part IV — The Late Age of Print — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:49:28 +0000

[...] This is the fourth installment in an occasional series reflecting on how the publishing industry might connect better with readers. You can read part I, on The Da Vinci Code, by clicking here; part II, on Oprah, is available here; and part III, on Netflix, is here. [...]

By: Ted Striphas

Ted Striphas — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:36:14 +0000

Well, I suppose I should have known. But it also seems to me that BookSwim is mostly oriented towards bestsellers and college textbooks. Those are sensible (and lucrative) markets, obviously, though I wonder if any even more backlist-oriented service might be imagined. This to me would better channel the history of rental libraries as opposed to, say, a rental service for current bestsellers.

By: Ken Yarmosh

Ken Yarmosh — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Love the historical context but there are services doing “Netboox” already. For example, BookSwim: http://www.bookswim.com

By: Ted Striphas

Ted Striphas — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:44:19 +0000

The image is called “Whirligig,” and the photographer is Cara Barer: http://www.carabarer.com/gallery.php. Her work is amazing, and she was kind enough to license the image — which is indeed of a book splayed open — to Columbia University Press.

By: Erik J.

Erik J. — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:40:44 +0000

I just realized that I think that picture on your book’s cover is a book spread open. When I first saw the picture of the cover on this blog I thought it was a spore or a painting or something. Or like a super close-up photograph. Anyways, that reminds me of the artist’s work that I saw on Boing Boing last week: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/19/brian-dettmers-book-1.html