somersault

NPR reporter Zoe Chace (@zchace) says conventional wisdom about publishing is that ebooks are destroying the business model.

People expect them to be cheaper than physical books, and that drives down prices. But the story's not that simple. For one thing, digital publishers have the same problem that record labels do: piracy. And there's just not the same stigma attached to pirating an ebook as there is to holding up a Barnes & Noble.

It turns out, though, that some publishers are doing pretty well despite the piracy problem.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Worldwide, more than 8-in-10 people identify with a religious group. A comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life (@pewforum) estimates there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.

The demographic study – based on an analysis of more than 2,500 censuses, surveys, and population registers – finds

·         2.2 billion Christians (32% of the world’s population)

·         1.6 billion Muslims (23%)

·         1 billion Hindus (15%)

·         nearly 500 million Buddhists (7%)

·         14 million Jews (0.2%) around the world as of 2010.

In addition, more than 400 million people (6%) practice various folk or traditional religions, including African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions, and Australian aboriginal religions. An estimated 58 million people – slightly less than 1% of the global population – belong to other religions, including the Baha’i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca, and Zoroastrianism, to mention just a few.

Read this in full.

Also see the Religion News Service (@ReligionNewsNow) article, “The ‘nones’ now form the world’s third-largest ‘religion’.”

And see our previous blogpost, "Religiosity Declines Worldwide; Atheism on the Rise."

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Research tab.

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:15-20 (NIV)

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)

On NPR Books (@nprbooks), correspondent Lynn Neary explains how self-publishing, once considered to have a negative connotation, has now become a legitimate endeavor.

Read the transcript in full.

The Wall Street Journal similarly covered the topic in its article, “’Vanity’ Press Goes Digital.” And read The Globe and Mail's "Goodbye vanity: Self-publishing goes mainstream."

Also see our previous blogpost, “Guy Kawasaki's New Self-Publishing Instruction Book,” and others in our Self-Publishing archive.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Publishers tab.

The New York Times (@nytimesbooks) book section asked people in and around the world of graphic design to name one of their favorite book covers from 2012 and briefly describe its appeal. Do you agree with their selection?

See all 19 covers.

Also see our previous blogpost, “Christian Publishing's 2012 Best Book Covers.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically design your book covers.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard, especially the Innovation tab.

Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) reports that “another audiobook publisher is getting into the print and ebook business.”

Brilliance Audio, a division of Amazon (@amazon), will begin publishing hardcover, trade paperbacks, and ebook originals next year under the Grand Harbor Press inspiration imprint. Grand Harbor will focus on self-help and inspirational categories, and will release 10 titles in its first year.

An Amazon spokesperson said Brilliance is expanding its portfolio because readers are looking to a variety of formats for new works, and "we found the best way to serve our customers is to take the comprehensive approach of being a full-service publisher."

Earlier this year, Tantor Audio (@TantorAudio) began publishing print books and ebooks to accompany its audiobooks.

Grand Harbor Press’s tagline is “Be inspired. Be enlightened. Be happy.”

Read this in full.

It will be interesting to see if booksellers will stock titles by Grand Harbor Press.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

According to preliminary estimates by the US Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau), after falling 8% in September, bookstore sales bounced back in October with sales inching up 4.5% to $914 million,. Although, for the first 10 months of 2012, bookstore sales were down 1.3%, to $12.55 billion. All stores where books account for at least 50% of sales are included in the Census survey.

The New York Times (@nytimesbooks) says bookstores report they’re doing well:

There are many reasons bookstores point to for their successful holiday season. President Obama, they note, set the stage when he took his daughters, Sasha and Malia, to One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, where he snapped up 15 children’s books.

Small bookstores report that they are also benefiting from the popularity of Kobo e-readers, which were designed for independent bookstores and allow customers to buy ebooks through the independents’ websites, as opposed to say, Amazon....

One thing independent bookstores seem to have going for them is the close bond they retain with their customers.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically communicate your brand message through content marketing.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

Michele Linn (@michelelinn), content development director of the Content Marketing Institute (@CMIContent), offers suggestions in the above presentation and ebook on how to use the most popular social media channels for effective sharing of your marketing communication messages. For example,

·         On Facebook, spend time posting well-edited photos and well-written copy. Volume isn’t everything; consistent quality is much more significant.

·         Use Facebook’s Page Post Targeting service.

·         Make use of hashtags on Twitter.

·         Enable the embedding function on your YouTube videos.

Read the ebook (pdf) in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically communicate your brand message through content marketing.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard, especially the Social Media / Word of Mouth Marketing tab.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (@ecpa), in conjunction with Dickinson Press as the sponsor, has announced the winners of the ECPA | dp Book Cover Awards. A total of 101 covers were submitted from 19 publishers for the 6th annual program.

Launched in 2007, the awards aim to educate, promote, and recognize superior cover design in Christian publishing. This year, the program presented two awards: one for design and one for research-based marketability.

Highlighting the art aspect of book covers, the ECPA Book Cover Design Award focuses on the design merits of a book cover, including the level of conceptual thinking, the quality of the execution, and appropriateness for the market. Design winners are:

·         The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung; designed by Josh Dennis (Crossway); in the Small Publisher category

·         Daddy, Is That Story True or Were You Just Preaching? by James W. Moore; designed by David Carlson (Abingdon Press); in the Mid-Sized Publisher category

·         Love Does by Bob Goff; designed by Connie Gabbert (Thomas Nelson); in the Large Publisher category.

Highlighting the science aspect of covers, the Research award is based on the consumer-buying research of the Research Institute for Social Change, which measures consumer motivations as it relates to cover design and book sales. Covers were judged and analyzed on how well their design elements match characteristics of their intended audience. Research winners are:

·         Spark by Jason Jaggard; designed by Kristopher Orr (WaterBrook Press); in the Small Publisher category.

·         What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him by Byron Forrest Yawn; designed by Koechel Peterson & Associates (Harvest House Publishers); in the Mid-Sized Publisher category

·         Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel; designed by Curt Diepenhorst (Zondervan); in the Large Publisher category.

Also see our previous blogposts:

·         “The 2013 Christianity Today Book Awards”

·         “The 2012 Leadership Book Awards”

·         “ECPA Announces 2012 Christian Book Award Finalists”

·         “Christian Book Award Winners for 2012”

·         “2012 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award Winners Announced”

·         “ECPA Announces 2011’s Best Book Covers.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically design your book covers.

Learn about SomersaultSocial, our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Add our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SomersaultGroup) & Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/smrsault) to your Flipboard account on your iPad, iPhone, or Android. 

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard, especially the Innovation tab.