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To promote the launch of its 2013 Summer Reading Program, Seattle Public Library (@SPLBuzz) set a world record for the longest book domino chain consisting of 2,131 books. Read how it was done.
USA TODAY’s Bob Minzesheimer (@bookbobminz) reports that, for the 3rd year in a row, Washington, DC, is "America's most literate city," according to an annual statistical study ranking 75 cities with populations of 250,000 and above.
The research, conducted by Central Connecticut State University (@CCSUToday) president John Miller, is based on 6 key indicators: number of bookstores, educational attainment, Internet resources, library resources, periodical publishing resources, and newspaper circulation.
Miller says the study is aimed at shifting attention from school test scores on reading "to how much people are reading, and where are they reading the most." He notes a “troubling trend”: Spending on reading materials, both digital and print, has declined 22% since 2000. In the same period, federal statistics show spending on other forms of entertainment is up 25%.
In a digital age, the survey expands the definition of reading by counting online book orders, ebook readers, and page views on local newspaper websites.
The top 10 cities in 2012:
1. Washington, DC (same as in 2011)
2. Seattle, WA (same as in 2011)
3. Minneapolis, MN (same as in 2011)
4. Pittsburgh, PA (up from No. 6)
5. Denver, CO (up from No. 10)
6. St. Paul, MN (up from No. 12)
7. Boston, MA (down from No. 5)
8. Atlanta, GA (down from No. 4)
9. St. Louis, MO (down from No. 8)
10. Portland, OR (down from No. 11)
See our previous blogpost, “America’s Most Literate Big Cities.”
Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.
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In a new survey of Americans’ attitudes and expectations for public libraries, the Pew Research Center’s (@pewresearch) Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet) finds that many library patrons are eager to see libraries’ digital services expand, yet also feel that print books remain important in the digital age.
The following statistics pertain to Americans aged 16 and older:
· 80% say borrowing books is a “very important” service libraries provide.
· 80% say reference librarians are a “very important” service of libraries.
· 77% say free access to computers and the internet is a “very important” service of libraries.
· Online research services allowing patrons to pose questions and get answers from librarians: 37% would “very likely” use an “ask a librarian” type of service, and another 36% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.
· Apps-based access to library materials and programs: 35% of Americans ages 16 and older would “very likely” use that service and another 28% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.
· Access to technology “petting zoos” to try out new devices: 35% would “very likely” use that service and another 34% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.
· GPS-navigation apps to help patrons locate material inside library buildings: 34% would “very likely” use that service and another 28% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.
· “Redbox”-style lending machines or kiosks located throughout the community where people can check out books, movies or music without having to go to the library itself: 33% would “very likely” use that service and another 30% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.
· “Amazon”-style customized book/audio/video recommendation schemes that are based on patrons’ prior library behavior: 29% would “very likely” use that service and another 35% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.
· Offering a broader selection of ebooks: 53% say libraries should “definitely do” this.
· 73% of library patrons in the past 12 months say they visit to browse the shelves for books or media.
Read the full report (pdf).
See Publishers Weekly’s (@PublishersWkly) article, “Libraries: Good Value, Lousy Marketing.” And Salon’s (@Salon) “Bring back shushing librarians” by Laura Miller (@magiciansbook).
Also see our blogposts, “Libraries See Opening as Bookstores Close” and “The Digital Bookmobile,” and others tagged “Library.”
Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.
Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), 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. Or download our blog as an ebook to your ereader (http://goo.gl/3nTtN).
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.
Several surveys by the Pew Research (@pewresearch) Center's Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet) reveal interesting variations among communities in the way their residents read and use reading-related technology and institutions:
Book readers: Some 78% of Americans ages 16 and older say they read a book in the past 12 months. Urban (80%) and suburban (80%) residents are especially likely to have read at least one book in the past year. While rural residents are somewhat less likely to have read a book in the past year (71%), the book readers in rural areas read as many books as their counterparts in cities and suburbs.
Purposes for reading: Most of those ages 16 and older read books for pleasure, and that is especially true of suburban readers: 82% of suburbanites read for pleasure, compared with 79% of urban residents and 76% of rural residents. Urban residents (80%) and suburban dwellers (79%) are also especially likely to read to keep up with current events. Some 73% of rural residents do that. More than three-quarters of suburban residents (77%) read to research topics that interest them, compared with 74% of urban residents and 70% of rural residents. Finally, 57% of suburbanites and 58% of city dwellers read for school or work, compared with 47% of rural residents who do that.
Americans and libraries: The majority of Americans ages 16 and older (58%) have a library card and even more (69%) say the library is important to them and their families. Some 71% of city dwellers say the library is important to them and 59% have library cards — and 69% of suburban residents say the library is important and 61% have library cards. At the same time, 62% of rural residents say the library is important and 48% have library cards.
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.
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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.
This article in The New York Times (@NYTNational) says, “As librarians across the nation struggle with the task of redefining their roles and responsibilities in a digital age, many public libraries are seeing an opportunity to fill the void created by the loss of traditional bookstores. They are increasingly adapting their collections and services based on the demands of library patrons, whom they now call customers.”
“A library has limited shelf space, so you almost have to think of it as a store, and stock it with the things that people want,” said Jason Kuhl, the executive director of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. Renovations will turn part of the library’s first floor into an area resembling a bookshop that officials are calling the Marketplace, with cozy seating, vending machines and, above all, an abundance of best sellers....
Today’s libraries are reinventing themselves as vibrant town squares, showcasing the latest best sellers, lending Kindles loaded with ebooks, and offering grass-roots technology training centers. Faced with the need to compete for shrinking municipal finances, libraries are determined to prove they can respond as quickly to the needs of the taxpayers as the police and fire department can.
While print books, both fiction and nonfiction, still make up the bulk of most library collections — ebooks amount to less than 2% of many collections in part because some publishers limit their availability at libraries — building renovation plans rarely include expanding shelf space for print products. Instead, many libraries are culling their collections and adapting floor plans to accommodate technology training programs, as well as mini-conference rooms that offer private, quiet spaces frequently requested by self-employed consultants meeting with clients, as well as teenagers needing space to huddle over group projects....
A report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet) says that 13% of 16-year-olds and older have visited library websites or otherwise accessed library services by mobile device; double from an earlier survey in 2009. Those who are most likely to have connected to a library site include parents of minor children, women, and those with at least some college education.
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.
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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.
Above Infographic (click to enlarge) is by TeachingDegree.org.
But for a contrasting viewpoint, read Futurebook's (@TheFutureBook) "Print and Ebooks Cannot Co-Exist After All" by Adam Juniper.
Also see our previous blogposts, "Infographic: How Ebooks are Reshaping Publishing," "BISG Report: More Ebook Buyers Buying Print Books," and "Books vs Ebooks."
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market your ebooks and pbooks.
Learn about online marketing with SomersaultSocial.
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.
Somersault was given early review access to Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) and Shawn Welch’s (@shawnwelch) forthcoming 324-page book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur — How to Publish a Book (Nononina Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9885231-1-1, Kindle edition).
In describing their work, Kawasaki and Welch have coined the term “artisanal publishing,” which they say consists of “writers who love their craft and who control every aspect of the process from beginning to end. In this new approach, writers are no longer at the mercy of large, traditional publishers, and readers will have more books to read.” Kawaski says,
In 2011 the publisher of one of my books, Enchantment, could not fill an order for 500 ebook copies of the book. Because of this experience, I self-published my next book, What the Plus!, and learned first-hand that self-publishing is a complex, confusing, and idiosyncratic process. As Steve Jobs said, “There must be a better way.”
With Shawn Welch, a tech wizard, I wrote APE to help people take control of their writing careers.
Among the chapter titles are:
· Tools for Writers
· How to Write Your Book
· How to Finance Your Book
· How to Avoid the Self-Published Look
· Understanding Book Distribution
· How to Convert Your File
· How to Price Your Book
· How to Guerrilla-Market Your Book
Kawasaki and Welch have done a huge service for hesitant or nervous authors who want to self-publish (they've also lobbed a huge salvo into the ramparts of traditional publishers already agitated over the revolutionary changes occurring in the industry). The book is packed with helpful, practical advice and direct links to important online sources (the only thing missing is a link to the wealth of publishing and marketing information at SomersaultNOW ☺). Also check out the Kindle/iBookstore/Nook/Google Play/Kobo Royalty Calculator on the book's website.
If you want to become an expert at self-publishing, buy APE.
If you want experts to help you publish and market your book, contact us (@smrsault). ☺
Also see our blogposts, "Self-Publishing a Book: 25 Things You Need to Know" and "Free iBook Targets New Writers, Missionaries, Christian Journalists," and others tagged "Self-Publishing."
Learn about online marketing with SomersaultSocial.
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.
The above Infographic (click to enlarge) is by MastersInEducation.org; created by oBizMedia (@oBizMedia).
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you with your publishing and marketing needs.
Learn about online marketing with SomersaultSocial.
Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.
And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.
Every November, the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) (@AARWeb) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) (@SBLsite) (#sblaar & #aarsbl12) are held, affectionately known as the “alphabet” AAR/SBL convention. This year it’s taking place at McCormick Place (@McCormick_Place) in Chicago. Somersault (@smrsault) was there over the weekend, meeting with friends and making new ones among the vast number of publishers exhibiting their considerable frontlist and backlist academic, textbook, and reference titles.
Religion scholar and author Martin Marty writes about AAR/SBL in his column, Sightings:
The Program Book for the gatherings is 496 pages long. You read that right. When I mention that “a number of thousand scholars of religion” are meeting, my friends of secular ethos orientation gasp: they can picture restaurateurs, gun-sellers, and auto-dealers convening in such numbers. But “religion” scholars in abundance? Can this be true?
It is. It takes the cavernous, soul-less halls of McCormick Place and eighteen hotels to accommodate these North American religionists, while graduate students, “old friends,” and others bunk with acquaintances around the city. What these do tends to be invisible to off-campus populations and much is even ignorable on the campuses in which they thrive. The word is out that religious practice is declining in North America, that attendance at and support for religious ventures has been having harder times. But you wouldn’t know that from observing the conventioneers or opening the Program Book. They do not draw notice as do medics in the American Medical Association, and their religion and sacred rites are not experienced as intense as are those of the acolytes of the American Rifle Association or the National Football League, but there they are.
One sights astonishing variety here. The SBL “Sections” include “Cognitive Linguistics in Biblical Interpretation,” “Disputed Paulines,” “Asian and Asian-American Hermeneutics,” etc. and the AAR fosters groups on “Animals and Religion,” “Evangelical Studies,” “Queer Studies in Religion,” “Quran,” and scores upon scores more. Related Scholarly Organizations cluster alongside AAR and SBL, among them “Colloquium on Violence and Religion,” “International Bonhoeffer Society,” “Karl Barth” and “Reinhold Niebuhr” societies alongside “La Communidad of Hispanic Scholars,” and, again, many, many more. There are stars and shapers as well as promising graduate students and tenure-track newcomers to the fields.
Publishers Weekly's (@PublishersWkly) article, "The Digital Revolution in Religion Publishing Brings Business, Technical Issues," highlights the difficulties facing publishers serving the academic market:
Maintaining sanity in this arena can be challenging at times. Example: books rich in maps, art, and ancient language characters need formatting across various platforms and require new digital permissions for every image. On the reader side, it can be maddening in class when one person's page 50 is someone else's page 47 or 53. And note taking on a screen is still in primitive stages.
Contact Somersault to help you publish and market your print and digital resources to the academic market.
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And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.
The above Chart Of The Day (@chartoftheday) depicts a portion of the Pew Research Group’s (@pewinternet) survey of people’s e-reading habits. The most popular way for people under 30 to read ebooks is on their desktop and laptop computers, surpassing e-readers, smartphones, and tablets.
Among the survey’s other findings:
· 83% of Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 read a book in the past year. Some 75% read a print book, 19% read an ebook, and 11% listened to an audiobook.
· Overall, 47% of younger Americans read long-form e-content such as books, magazines, or newspapers. E-content readers under age 30 are more likely than older e-content readers to say they’re reading more these days due to the availability of e-content (40% vs. 28%).
· 60% of Americans under age 30 used the library in the past year. Some 46% used the library for research, 38% borrowed books (print books, audiobooks, or ebooks), and 23% borrowed newspapers, magazines, or journals.
· Many of these young readers don’t know they can borrow an ebook from a library, and a majority of them express the wish they could do so on pre-loaded e-readers. Some 10% of the ebook readers in this group have borrowed an ebook from a library and, among those who have not borrowed an ebook, 52% said they were unaware they could do so. About 58% of those under age 30 who don’t currently borrow ebooks from libraries say they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to borrow pre-loaded e-readers if their library offered that service.
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you plan your ebook publishing and marketing strategy.
Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.
And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.