Whether one chooses to define ownership of content through copyright (treating creative output as an object to be owned and bought and sold by a defined party over a specified period of years), or through the European model of “moral rights” (permanently and indelibly linking the author or artist to the work of art s/he →
I attended my first New England Independent Booksellers (NEIBA) conference in Hartford the other weekend, where many participants bemoaned the drop in the number of attendees. Some said the show used to be twice as big, say ten years ago, when there were many more independent bookstores. Apparently it was much more vital then, before →
“Americans shoot first, ask questions later,” said the moderator of one panel discussion on the Google settlement held at this week’s Frankfurt Book Fair, reflecting widespread sentiment among non-US-based publishers and agents. “You Americans are all asleep,” noted one agent to me. “Why are you allowing this takeover of the publishing industry by a .com →
A LinkedIn blogger asked: Is the book publishing business model so broken that we need patrons to subsidize our work? ( see http://is.gd/BNkV ) Patronage is one way to do it, but, as with advertising in books, if you follow the money, you may well find that the lucre influences the content, and compromises objectivity. →
I found this fascinating quote today: I’ve given a few talks on why these new tools are failing to catch on — here’s an early one given at a publishers meeting, and a later one given to an audience of scientists. The short answer, if you don’t want to read my lengthy posts, is that very few, →
In April, OBS and its subsidiary Protean Press will attend the London Book Fair with the goal to seek out publishing partners for new Protean Press titles. We will be: Selling paperback, foreign, and other sub rights and licenses to Joe Garland’s “Unknown Soldiers: Reliving World War II in Europe,” which has been published to →
Our president, Laura Fillmore, is visiting Germany this week for the Frankfurt Book Fair and for the annual conference of the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM), which OBS has just joined. At the Book Fair, we’re participating with the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) at Hall 8.0, Stands A935 & A936, and we’re also displaying Unknown Soldiers: Reliving →
The latest endeavor of Protean Press, Joseph E. Garland’s Unknown Soldiers: Reliving World War II in Europe, is hot off the press. This collective memoir of the author’s Intelligence & Reconnaissance platoon, which staked out the front lines of battles through Sicily, Italy, southern France, and Germany, has been more than 60 years in the making. →
In keeping with our mission to help valuable content get to market—taking full advantage of the latest informational technology, in an affordable and efficient way—OBS is in discussion with a major software vendor to create a unique “sandbox” environment. This initiative would give small- and mid-sized organizations access to publishing and distribution software on a →
We’ve just signed an agreement with the major book distributor National Book Network (NBN) for sales of Protean Press titles in North America. We look forward to a long and fruitful association that will help bring our books to a wide audience. Booksellers, contact NBN if you’d like to stock Protean titles in your store.