VidLit's Paca Thomas: It Won't be "Bad" if Mainstream Publishers Topple

Carolyn Kellogg - Notes from the ebooks panel at Digital Hollywood | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times: "VidLit's Thomas seemed to lean on old publishing tropes, such as saying that young people don't read (one NEA report said they didn't, while a later one said they did). He's been at it for a while -- his company's online video promotions for books pre-date YouTube. It had early successes -- such as its popular video for Little, Brown's 'Yiddish with Dick and Jane' -- for major publishers, but lately has faced a more competitve marketplace. Today, he's warming to the self-publishing market. 'Will it be bad if the whole thing topples?' he asked of mainstream publishers. 'Frankly, I don't think it will be bad.'" And I agree.

Xerox To Sell On-Demand Espresso Book Machines to Retailers

Repeat after me: Dead on arrival. Engadget: "When we got our first glimpse of the Espresso Book Machine from On Demand Books we were of course thoroughly charmed by the Rube Goldberg nature of the thing, but were left feeling unconvinced of the practicality of it -- would people really pay money for custom-printed physical copies of classic books they can download for free? Is it really a viable choice for self-publishing? We may be skeptics, but Xerox is a believer, putting its reseller weight behind the machine (which uses not one but two of the company's printers internally) ... "

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I find it intriguing that when I open articles on the digital edition of The New York Times, I'm confronted with a prelude full-screen ad for the print edition of The Economist. Hmmmm ...