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Greetings Todd,
Kat Meyer and Joe Wikert Chairs, Tools of Change TOC New York Happens Next Week - Watch Live
Hot TypeKat & Joe's Must–ReadsHey, Hey, My, My
Joe's "favorite curmudgeon," Bob Lefsetz, unleashes some blistering intelligence in an argument on why eliminating piracy would be a bad thing: "Just because the new world doesn't look like the old world, don't dismiss it. Sure, a bunch of people may have lost their jobs at the label, but a bunch more gigs were developed in tech. And now so many bands need a webmaster. What did that guy do previously? Certainly not work at the computer–averse label." Sponsored Content
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The Revolution will be ePublished
B&N Vs Amazon Many smart folks have many smart opinions on how B&N can finesse this. Scholarly Kitchen's Joe Esposito suggests that B&N has got to stop doing business as usual being the amiable second–ran to Amazon's leader, AND pull out all the friends and network stops it's got to strengthen its position. "For B&N, the strategy must be to put the network to work for it, making B&N into the new nexus," Esposito writes. "This is not a game of control, but of friends and family. And on the Internet, anyone can be your friend." Reading this and other pieces, Joe comes to one rallying decision: It's Time to Disrupt. Writing on his blog, he says: "I have a radical, three–step suggestion for William Lynch, CEO of B&N:
Meanwhile, in the Land of YOW, B&N itself has announced that its stores won't carry Amazon books. "Our decision is based on Amazon's continued push for exclusivity with publishers, agents, and the authors they represent," B&N's press release reads. "These exclusives have prohibited us from offering certain eBooks to our customers. Their actions have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of customers from having access to content. It's clear to us that Amazon has proven they would not be a good publishing partner to Barnes&Noble as they continue to pull content off the market for their own self interest." It's a good bet that this story ain't nowhere close to over. Publisher's CornerThe Occasional Rant From Our Benevolent Dictator
I often blame Napster for the typical book publisher's fear of piracy. They saw what happened in the music industry and figured the only way they'd make their book content available digitally was to tightly wrap it with DRM. The irony of this is that some of the most highly pirated books were never released as ebooks. Thanks to the magic of high–speed scanner technology, any print book can easily be converted to an ebook and distributed illegally. Some publishers don't want to hear this, but the truth is that DRM can be hacked. It does not eliminate piracy. It not only fails as a piracy deterrent but it also introduces restrictions that make ebooks less attractive than print books. We've all read a print book and passed it along to a friend. Good luck doing that with a DRM'd ebook! What publishers don't seem to understand is that DRM implies a lack of trust. All customers are considered thieves and must be treated accordingly. The evil of DRM doesn't end there though. Author Charlie Stross recently wrote a terrific blog post entitled Cutting Their Own Throats. It's all about how publisher fear has enabled a big ebook player like Amazon to further reinforce their market position, often at the expense of publishers and authors. It's an unintended consequence of DRM that's impacting our entire industry. Given all these issues, why not eliminate DRM and trust your customers? Even the music industry, the original casualty of the Napster phenomenon, has seen the light and moved on from DRM. Exceptional ExcerptsTantalizers From New and Upcoming WorksThis week, we grab a nice swipe from Chapter 5 of Todd Sattersten's experimental work Every Book is a Startup, which is newly updated.
Aristotle on Pitching
The reason we watch movies and read novels is to follow along with the characters to see what they will face and how it will change them. Loss and its cousin, absence, are the most common tensions in literature. The character discovers early in the story that something is missing—happiness, freedom, wealth, beauty—and that he or she needs to fill the hole in his or her pocket or heart—someone has a felt need that needs to be resolved. A pitch is just a 30–second, three–act play that describes the current state, makes apparent the unsatisfied felt need of the customer, and shows how that need might be fulfilled by the work of your startup. As Y Combinator co–founder Paul Graham says, startups need to improve people's lives and bring about some change for the better. If writing your pitch is hard, go back and find the poetic tension that drives the story of your company. Our Weekly Nod to the Worst Book EverThis is a book. And Also its a Good book, one to read.
Reviewing the book on Amazon, one Suzanne C writes: Habash regretfully ends his review when blood begins to gush from his ears, but we continue to thank him for his brave sacrifice in bringing the wonder and the glory that is Moon People to the fore. Looking for more? Visit oreilly.com/toc.
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Next week's TOC New York has a distinctly tactile angle as we assemble a raft of ereading devices for you to play with. We're calling it a digital petting zoo, and are betting that there will be devices that you've never heard of before and won't in fact hear of again. We have promises from Ectaco on their new Jetbook Color. Sony contributed an eReader, and B &N will send a couple Nooks. Joe has reached out to Kobo, and they'll be sending a KT and Kobo Vox. We even have a promise from Qualcomm to send a Mirasol device. There will also be an extensive list of borrowed devices on display, including Kindles, iPads, a couple iriver Stories, Onyx Boox, and a Samsung E65. On the "endangered species" table, look for a RIM Playbook, HP TouchPad, the original Kindle, and a few rare items like a Sony Data Discman (it works). There will also be an original Rocket eBook, Softbook Reader, REB–1100, GEB–2150, and an Ebookwise–1150. A geeky time is guaranteed for all!
In which rocker Neil Young sits down with the Wall Street Journal and is able to 
Book signings generally involve earnest people patiently standing in line in order to get their book signed. Enter the Kindle. How do authors sign devices? A Post–It note attached to the back? 
Barnes&Noble's fate is being closely watched as it now stands in for the Last Bookstore in the U.S. To Amazon, it evidently looks like the last chocolate in the box, the last haute couture outfit on sale, the last scrap of unclaimed wilderness in a settled land. Amazon must have it.
Can't we all just get along? Why can't a library of books on a Kindle be seamlessly pulled over onto a Nook? Because, dear friends, DRM is evil. Joe unleashes a few choice words on the disconnect.
The Greeks had the idea of pitching figured out long ago. Aristotle talked about the concept in Poetics, though he wasn't thinking about selling to customers. Aristotle was concerned with the construction of literature, in particular tragedy, and with how people often end up in a state of misery and then find a way back out. The three–act story we know and love is built on this idea.
We must lavishly thank Publishers Weekly for pointing us to the 
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