Welcome to the Future

It’s hard to make assumptions about the future of the book industry because of the way that things are already changing. Twenty years ago, who could have foreseen that people would be reading on book sized electric screens instead of on paper. If you told me 10 years ago that 2009 would be the year of the ebook, I would have told you to go back to the Brave New World.

There has long since been an obsession with futurism in literature. As time goes by, some proposed futures begin to look comical. The attendees of the world’s fair saw countless inventions that were going to revolutionize this and streamline that. We have always been a little obsessed with what we think might save us some time. So, perhaps a lot of people wrote e-readers off as blue ribbon ideas and nothing more. But it seems that this particular idea of the future is going to stick around the present for a little while.

While I don’t have any idea what we will be reading on, I do have to say that we seem to be on the crux of a reading revolution. Since the popularity of Kindle and the like are on the rise, book sales for those particular devices have sky rocketed. Statistics so far say that people are buying more books on their Kindles than they ever bought in analog form. If we presuppose that this means they are actually reading them, then e-reading devices are great for literacy.

For people like me though, the physical book object is a big part of the reading experience. Since we are also on the threshold of what is shaping up to be a green revolution, I think that there is going to be a change in the way we perceive paper. Analog readers like the tactile quality of the book at hand, but with the way our planet seems to be rejecting our old ways, I think there is going to have to be some sort of new paper. The book Cradle to Cradle is a study in the cradle-to-cradle method of design. It is completely recycled and recyclable. It is made of a plasticized “paper” that just might be the next big thing in books.

To be honest, I don’t know what the future of the book looks like, but I am sure as hell going to stick around for the adventure.

Written on the Bed Sheets of Paper

Written on the Body, by Jeanette Winterson, is the book that opened me up as a reader and as a writer. It is also the book that helped me come out of the closet.

It was assigned in a class my first year of college, and it found me at the perfect moment in my life. Written on the Body is a beautifully composed novel that is written from outside of the confines of gender lines. The narrator is a genderless voice that ushers the reader though the treacherous terrain of a highly passionate extramarital affair.

The beginning of the book is an extended poetic musing on love and loss and the intense passion that is doomed to die because it burns so hot. Every time I read it, I remember the way I felt when I first creased the back of the spine and read the opening pages. The words seemed to express everything the angsty, lovelorn, and confused 18-year-old version of me was feeling. Each sentence seemed to cut so deep into my chest I thought my heart might fall out. And, in a way, it did.

I remember the sense of agony and satisfaction that I felt reading those words. It was as if this person had ripped open the pages of my journals, read between the lines, and wrote them back to me in an anonymous letter that smelled of distant perfume. It was as if this voice on the page had seen my face and showed it to me in a beautifully ornate two-way mirror. I thought I had been looking only at myself, but it turns out there was someone else there all along.

Up until that point I had been writing short stories that I did not fully understand. I did not know where they came from, or why some of the characters seemed like strangers to me. I remember one particular story that I kept rewriting. Over and over I would go through and change all of the “he”s to “she”s and then back again. It wasn’t until after I read Written on the Body that I was able to make sense of the things I was writing and the emotions I was feeling. I was able to take the “he”s and “she”s out of my writing all together and recognize that sometimes the distinction of one over the other is a matter of little consequence.

Who needs an editor?

(Um…everyone.)

I just read a fascinating blog from Carole Baron about the need for book editors (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-baron/do-you-really-need-an-edi_b_476612.html). She writes very astutely, if you ignore the handful of grammatical errors, about this rising misconception that digital books mean the end of publishers, and more specifically, the end of editors. This idea that editing is on its way towards obsolescence is something that has been plaguing me for a long time, and it was nice to read about it from the perspective of a working big-house editor.

I mean, what better example of the importance of editors than a blog post written by an editor that has mistakes? If she can’t produce flawless writing, what makes anyone think that an author is suddenly capable of producing error-free writing? Digital format did not suddenly make us better writers, did it? I think not.

As publishers, we are more than just the human version of spell check. We decide what to publish, and then become accountable for its success. We act as the filtration system for the over abundance of work that is produced. In the grand publishing scheme, editors are the fine mesh that ultimately sifts the good out of the heaps and heaps of mediocre.

Or, at least, that is how it is supposed to work. With so many books produced every year, the market is already saturated with a whole lot of nonsense. Some work bypasses the filtration system already, due to the relative ease of self-publishing (for those with the finances to support the endeavor).

Now more than ever, editors are necessary to uphold the integrity of published work. Imagine what the bookstore shelves would look like without someone standing by to say “no” to the crap.

Light...Camera...Publish?

Now is the time for innovative thinking in the book publishing industry. We’re all creative thinkers here right? It certainly seems like the big guys (read: Big 6) are running out of old business models to fall back on, and the little guys (read: small independent publishers) have a chance to pick up some real ground in the industry. Because they are not set in their ways, small publishers will be much more agile as they attempt to re-rout for the changing road ahead.

One new model is loosely based on the movie industry. While Hollywood seems like a questionable role model, this could be a promising step for publishers. Next month, Five Stones Press will release The Fall, the newest book from David Fulmer, a notable mystery author. When his book did not get picked up, Fulmer decided to take matters into his own hands. Some writers would see this as the time to self publish (or find a new “life’s calling”), but Fulmer’s not ready to give up yet.

Because he already has a loyal following, Fulmer (along with two business minded friends) started a publishing house that will fund their publications by selling shares of the book to investors. This is a potentially brilliant breakthrough. If people are willing to contribute money so that investigative journalist can keep writing, surely that will help keep their favorite authors on the new release shelves.

In this particular model, though, the success is contingent on an author’s previous reputation, because let’s face it, people are willing to pay more if they know they are going to like what they get. This is new territory, but perhaps Five Stones Press will be the next publishing star.

What is it? I want it!

Usually I am not a big fan of receiving email marketing. I don’t like being solicited for money. My email inbox is already flooded, and I’m not always eager to give out my email for new marketing materials. However, when there is something that actually appeals to me, I do sometimes respond to email marketing by sending my hard earned money through the series of interconnected tubes that is the internet.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I am a big fan of groupon. Groupon is a magical website that saves me money on things I may or may not have otherwise bought. This, you see, is the sheer genius of it all.

Groupon emails me every day or so to tell me about some fabulous deal (be it food, drink, goods, or services) that is relevant to my geographical location. Each deal is essentially a gift certificate to the respective business on sale for upwards of 50% off. Similarly, about 50% of the deals themselves appeal to me.

(Upon deciding if the deal is interesting enough to possibly buy, I investigate the business. This didn’t even occur to me until I bought a super cheap deal for an oil change, but had to drive all the way down to Milwaukee to redeem it. After that groupon was cashed in, I decided to make a habit of checking the location and driving direction to any business I wasn’t familiar with. Though, I might drive all the way back down there for a good deal on gas.)

I have to say, I have never been more responsive to any other email campaign.
• I think what is so wonderful about it is that it offers me such good deals on things that I might, potentially, buy anyway. This targets the convenience shopper.
• I am a sucker for a good deal. In this way, groupon targets the deal seeking, dollar stretching, bargain shopper.
• But groupon’s success also boils down to the urgency of the thing. Because each deal is only available for one or two days, the groupon shopper must act fast. Here, they are targeting the impulse shopper, the kind of shopper who will buy it because it is here now.

One of their other main strategies is that they make it extremely easy to buy their product. The first time you buy a groupon you create an account with a credit card number that they keep on file (securely) and save for later. That way, anything you want to buy is just one click away.

Also, it doesn’t hurt that the website copy is quirky and fun to read, even if it seems a bit irrelevant at times.

Rethinking Keywords

Rethinking Paper and Ink: The Sustainable Publishing Revolution is a sustainably published book about sustainable publishing. What better way to examine green publishing choices than to publish an eco-friendly book?

For the first publication in the Open Book Series, Ooligan Press students teamed up with the Green Press Initiative and sustainable publishing professionals. The book explores the process of producing an eco-friendly publication, and describes the choices they made in order to produce the book as sustainably as possible.

Not only does Rethinking Paper and Ink: The Sustainable Publishing Revolution aim to reveal the process of producing greener publications, but it also aims to teach others about the small choices that make a big difference in the home and workplace.

Rethinking Paper and Ink: The Sustainable Publishing Revolution is printed on 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled paper. The Open Book Series, so named for its goal to remain as transparent as possible about the sustainable publishing process, continues to produce eco-conscious publications.


Keywords:
Sustainable Publishing
Sustainability
Green
Greener
Recycled paper
PCW (post-consumer waste)
Eco-friendly
Eco-conscious
Open Book

books.biz

After our discussion of what people want when they go to a publisher’s website, I relayed the information back to my co-manager of External Promotions, or, as it is sometimes called, the events group. We immediately contacted digital in order to find out what we needed to do to get a calendar of events of the Ooligan page.

Simon and Schuster must have been listening in on our class discussion as well, because they have just launched a brand new site specifically geared towards those in the publishing business. After much thought and a whole lot of blogging, the online marketing class concluded that there really is no good explanation for why all the big publishers market their websites to the book buying public. So, it is news worthy (thanks PW) when one of the big boys decides to launch a site that might actually be helpful to some of the people who actually do business with the company. The site (http://www.simonandschuster.biz/) is the “source of corporate information and B-to-B resources for Booksellers, Media, Authors, Partners, Vendors, and more…” Hazzah

The site is a bit overly complicated, however, and the seemingly easy layout proves to be more convoluted than it first appears. To begin with, there is a main box in the center of the page displaying a succession of snippets about the features of the site. “Great,” I thought, until I tried to read the copy and found that it changes about ten seconds too early each time. “Oh well, I’ll just click the handy links that correspond.” Foiled again. The flashing, link-like red arrows are nothing but dead ends. This is a perfect example of what not to do when designing a website. In class we talked about the fact that there is a certain set of expectations that we must abide by when designing a good website. I think perhaps the S&S team missed that class.

But when it comes right down to it, this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. Once they work out the kinks, Simon and Schuster could go down in history as the first big publisher to realize what the internet is for.

Riddle me this: What's the opposite of 1984?

I have been thinking a lot recently about the future of books in terms of the publishing industry. What are we going to do about DRM? Is apple going to rename the “unicorn” (a.k.a iPad) so that it doesn’t sound like a feminine hygiene product? Is Amazon going to put the “buy it now” buttons back on Macmillan’s pages? The funny thing is, though all of this contemplation— the writing and reading and talking about books, I have not given a whole lot of thought to the books I would like to see on the shelf in the next few years. Then I came across this question on a site: What book do you think will be on the NYT bestseller list in 2020?

This is a rough draft of a submission I am working on. It is supposed to be a one-paragraph answer. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

The year is 2020. Chelsea Clinton has just been voted the first woman president of the United States America. We are 3 years into the analogue revolution. The great internet epidemic of 2017, known by the survivors as the blue screen of death, has led to communities of people with common interests meeting face to face, relying entirely on word of mouth. With the fall of the internet came the rise of the “outernet,” a place where you must be present to purchase goods, and you have to send a physical, handwritten card to your aunt Mildred instead of texting her "hpy brthday." For 12 months the #1 New York Times bestseller is Say it to my Face: A Survivor’s Guide to Life After Facebook. It is printed using recycled house paint on “paper” made from fused-together, post-consumer plastic grocery bags. It is available exclusively through the publisher’s bookstore.

Goliath vs. Goliath

This week, one of the giants of the book industry faced off against the giant of the, well, everything industry. Macmillan vs. Amazon is a total conundrum for me because I like to rout for the underdog. Clearly, in this situation, there is no such dog. They are two over-dogs, barking at each other from either side of a chain link fence. There was a lot of dirt kicked around, both dogs showed their teeth, and Amazon even sunk its teeth in a little before realizing it was actually biting itself on the (proverbial) rear end.

When the dust finally settled, Amazon went limping home with its tail between its legs. Some people rejoiced. The headlines read “Victory for publishers everywhere!” But I am skeptical. Sure, if Macmillan makes a stink about something, Amazon is much more likely to respond then if Mom’n’Pop Publishing were to make the same case. However, just because Macmillan was able to wiggle their way out of the $9.99 price cap, doesn’t mean that we are free from the monopolizing hand of Amazon.

By raising the prices of e-books, consumers will be expecting more from the ebooks they buy. For publishers like Macmillan, this could pose a bit of a problem. First of all, Macmillan (unlike smaller publishers) has a huge backlist of titles that are not easily converted to digital content. Also, so far, it doesn’t seem like publishers really know what people want from their ebooks. I certainly hope that Macmillan has not bitten off more than it can chew. I also hope they can figure out a way to make people want to buy ebooks. People will not spend $14.99, or $9.99 for that matter, for poorly formatted, unreliable books.

Amazon needs to be careful the way they treat publishers. Even though Amazon has a lot of characteristics that make it like a publishers, I would venture that they still need the big dogs of publishing to make their business work. They need to be especially careful now that the “unicorn” has arrived and the apple bookstore is ready to open its digital doors.

I think there has to be an easy answer in here somewhere, I just don’t know what it is.

Moving On(line)

I just spent a good part of my weekend moving, for the third time in nine months. And let me just say, by now, I am really good at moving. I can’t even explain how strange it is to feel like you are actually good at moving. Seriously, unless you are a professional mover, you should not be good at moving.

And while I was quickly and efficiently moving and loading and stacking all of my belongings into the back of my car, tetris-style, I had a lovely but bewildering thought. With the way things are going, as we conduct more and more of our lives online (reading, shopping, even attending classes), won’t it be great when we can just upload all of our belongings and (thumb)drive the files over to our new houses, where we will download the furniture into the living room and open the clothing pages into the drawer folders.

But, of course, we’re not there yet. Time to unpack the files, um, boxes.

Buy Buy, Book-y.

Book publishers use brand marketing as well as product marketing to sell books.

Penguin, for example, uses their iconic logo to create brand recognition. That penguin on the spine always catches my attention. In a sea of spines, anything that makes the eye focus on a certain book is an example of effective marketing. Because I continue to see and recognize a certain logo (or brand) associated with certain books that I identify with, I begin to trust that brand. I am drawn to the publishers I trust, and I am more likely to blindly buy a book (without first knowing or hearing about it) if I trust the publisher. I am more likely to buy from certain publishers because I trust their judgment as part of the grand filtration system.

Another tool of brand marketing is design recognition. By keeping continuity amongst certain titles, a reader may be drawn to a book that resembles other books they have read. This is the same idea. If a reader associates a book they like with another book they see, they are more likely to want to read it, and in turn, more likely to buy it.

This is sometimes done with author specific design. Many of Kurt Vonnegut’s books, for example, look similar. Because of this, I can recognize someone reading Vonnegut from across a crowded train, or more importantly, across a crowded bookshop. A reader may now associate the look of the book with the author and reach for more of the title that look like similar. It creates a kind of brand around a certain author.

Product marketing is also used to sell books, mainly new releases. But product marketing often relies heavily on the brand— either the brand of the publisher, or, more likely, the brand created around the author. When Dan Brown released his last book, the cover prominently boasted that this was the new book from the author of The Da Vinci Code. In fact, the font was almost the same size displaying the old title and the new title. The publisher was relying on the popularity of the author’s previous titles to sell the new release. In fact, in many cases, a previous release will be displayed alongside a corresponding new release so as to cross market each other.

Publishers rely heavily on whatever they can to make you pick up their book. After all, if you don’t pick it up, you’re not going to buy it.

YouDoIt.com

Q: How do you get your consumer to market your product?
A: Put your product on the internet.


Amazon.com is a special place where you can buy almost anything. It is the Sears Roebuck catalogue of the 21st Century. Though Amazon is an outpost for everything from chapstick to wedding dresses to car parts, Amazon happens to have a corner on the book selling market. One of the things that makes Amazon terrific (for the average consumer) and dangerous (for your local bookseller) is the fact that Amazon can read your mind. Amazon knows what you want to read before you do. It knows what new releases you simply must read, and it knows the classics that might have passed you by. It can recommend a title that you didn’t even know existed, and it does this simply by keeping track of what other people are reading. The magic of Amazon boils down to a formula: a+b=c (wherein a= the book you search, b= the books other people search who also search a, and c= your new favorite book). It’s so simple, and yet, pure genius. Amazon doesn’t need to have someone standing around at an information desk to field questions and offer recommendations. Rather, they let their sales records do the work for them.

Just like Amazon, user generated recommendations are popping up all over the internet. My new favorite site is Groupon, an enchanted land where expensive goods and services can be purchased for 50% off or more. Every day, Groupon offers a new deal, but the offer is only good if enough people buy it. They use this as a motivating factor for the consumer to spread the word to their friends. If I want to get my “deluxe massage” for $60, I need to make sure that 200 other people buy it. Now that Groupon has been around for a while, the buying public has expanded enough that the deals usually go through in a matter of minutes. So, how does Groupon continue to expand? Well, word of mouth for one thing. But even more effective than gabbing is monetary incentive. Groupon offers a $10 Groupon credit for each person you successfully refer to the site. This is another stroke of genius. The consumer acts as the marketer. By offering the incentive, Groupon has gotten people to actively seek new customers for them. (On that note, if anyone is interested in joining Groupon, feel free to follow this link and earn me $10: http://www.groupon.com/r/uu599544

One potentially profitable marketing tool used by many sites, including Google and Facebook, is pointed advertising. The ads that appear on my page differ than what appears on others’ pages, and it is all based on what we each answer in the “about me” page. I essentially filled out an advertising profile of myself and posted it on my page for them to use at their will. For example, when I took the time to write all about my “favorite books,” the longest, most detailed section of my profile, they got the impression that I am an avid reader, which accounts for all of the ads about books that pop up when I sign in. I don’t think I have ever followed any of those ad links, but I am sure there are some people who do. This ability to pinpoint advertising tactics based on personal interests is something that the internet pretty much revolutionized.

In the end, whether direct marketing is involved or not, the best of the internet does end up rising to the top. Popular sites become popular for many different reasons, but the more people that visit a site, the easier and easier it gets for others to find it too. Google (supposedly) ranks in order of the most popular hits, but sometime ago, the popularity contest turned into a good old-fashioned battle of funds. Whoever is willing to pay the most will get top billing in Google’s search pages. However, a sites popularity will make it easier to find. For one thing, when something really good finds its home on the internet, it generates a buzz. People will talk about it, blog about it, make YouTube videos and parodies about it, and eventually, it might even make the TV news. A sort of culture develops around these sites, and a circular pattern of searching emerges. All of this boosts the visability and accessability of the site. Though the site has not moved its location on the web, it has become much easier to find. It has expanded its market simply by existing. The internet has given us a tool to put marketing in the hands of the consumer, whether they know it or not.

Online Marketing for the Greater Goods

Who are publishers' websites really selling to?

The online book buying community does most of their shopping (and browsing) at Amazon. This is pretty common knowledge. Yet, most publishers’ websites are set up as a sort of market place, where books can be browsed and purchased. The question was posed in class as to why publishers seem to target book buyers with their websites as opposed to their other audiences (i.e. distributors, book sellers, potential authors, agents, and investors).

I think there are several reasons why publishers treat their websites as interactive catalogues, the most important of which, is that the books speak volumes. The backlist is a publisher’s foundation. A publishing house maintains a level of prestige (or not) based on the books it has published in the past. For this reason, it is important for a publisher to have their books readily searchable on their webpage. Also, when focusing on the front list, one must remember that publishing is a business, and that the book is the product. Book marketers and sellers may try all kinds of tactics and tricks to “sell you a lifestyle” or “sell the author” rather than the author’s work, but when it comes right down to it, the only way a publisher can make money is to sell a book. Hence, the “buy it now” buttons that appear under the image of the book cover on most publisher pages.

Amazon may have most of the book-buying traffic, but publishers have a few things in their favor, as well. Amazon can tell you a lot about a book, but it can only tell you what it has been told. From the book summaries to the blurbs to the recommendations, everything you read on Amazon has been generated by the author, the publisher, or the consumer. When you go to the publisher’s website you will probably find supplementary material about the book, perhaps the transcript of an author interview, a link to a blog about the book, or even videos and book trailers (if you’re into that sort of thing). The publisher benefits from having a real life relationship with the author. After all, the author is a handy tool for selling books.

As for potential authors, the major publishers do not accept submissions from Joe Nobody. The major houses accept manuscripts exclusively from agents; and besides, Joe’s agent doesn’t need to see the submission guidelines at Penguin Books to know what they publish.

Publishers’ websites are geared towards the consumer, but it may not actually be aiming to sell books. In my research for this blog, it could not help but wonder if the publishers were only pretending to market towards the end consumer. I have this theory that publishers set out to show book sellers the potential of their books. The websites, to me, say: “if you buy (and sell) our books, look how great they will look on the shelf.” I see the publishers’ sites as a sort of wildly interactive catalogue where a distributor can go to investigate the full line of goods.

And if it sells a few books in the process, well, that’s nice too.

The Beautiful (Digital) Life

The bigwigs at Warner decided to pull The Beautiful Life, Ashton Kutcher’s show about supermodels, after airing only two episodes. Luckily for viewers who like to watch pretty people play out their angsty drama, AK did not give up that easily. TBL has now found its home on the internet, the place where Kutcher is King.

“What we feel like we’re doing is creating, in some ways, an industry first. A show that couldn’t find its legs on television, we believe can find its legs on the Web.” – the actor-turned-social media impresario said.

AK and Hewlett-Packard have teamed up to give this show a second chance, airing the five episodes (three of which never made it to network TV) commercial free on YouTube. Unless I am much mistaken, this is the first time that original, TV-quality programming will be aired exclusively online. This could be the next step in entertainment evolution, if it is successful. And, AK may be the only person in the world who could pull this off. With more than 4.3 million followers on Twitter and 3.2 million Facebook Friends, AK may just be the most popular man in the world (wide web). He is more connected on the internet that anyone else I can think of, and he is charming in real life too, which can’t hurt his ratings. And I would venture that he could market almost anything (be it digital cameras, or squeezy cheese, or even a show about models) just by taking a picture of it and putting it up on his Facebook page, or writing 140 well thought out letters, spaces, and commas. He is a one-man brand.

HP was smart to get in on the action. Not only does HP have the monopoly on viewers, they are also using their online sponsorship to promote their charitable efforts. This is essentially a triple marketing scheme. First: HP has all of the ad space on the site to promote their products. Second: They are focusing a lot of their ad space on the company’s “Create Change” program, a campaign where the consumer gets to choose an organization that will receive 4% of the purchase price. Third: By promoting the company in this way, it creates an image of a socially conscious business, which could drive more business to HP and away from their competitors.

Marketing side note: I can’t help but wonder if the people who watch this kind of “guilty please” programming (such as TBL) are the type to care about such humanitarian matters. To quote the show “Does anyone else find a group of models partying for global hunger ironic? Does anyone know the definition of irony?”

So, is the show going to reach its audience over the internet? For one thing, there does seem to be a lot of buzz about the show circulating. People are a-twitter about TBL on Twitter virally reposting: "You watch the beautiful life and make it or break it." And, I have to say, there are a lot of imbedded hyperlinks (that lead straight to TBL on YouTube) on a lot of widely read entertainment blogs. A response to one such blog said: “So glad that they've brought this back somehow. It'll do so much better online than it did on television, especially if word gets out!”

Well, with Kutcher at the keyboard, it seems that word just might get out.

In This Corner

Alyson vs. Bella

Alyson Books and Bella Books are targeting similar audiences. Alyson targets the gay community at large (GLBTQ etc.), whereas Bella targets mainly gay, queer, and lesbian identified women.

Alyson’s website is nicely designed, with a simple and elegant color scheme (slate gray, lime green, and white). Out of the kindness of their hearts, the designers of the site placed most of the text of white and light gray backgrounds. The logo is simple and easy to recognize.

One is welcomed to the page by a brief publishers note giving a bit of history, mission statement, and a sort of profile of the press. There is more detailed information that one can read on the “about us” and “press” pages.

There is a section of featured titles that includes the 5 newest releases from the last publishing season. There is a blurb about each with convenient links to the designated book pages. All of the featured books include a link to a sample chapter. The home page also has a list of the “new releases” which includes the titles from Alyson’s front list.

The page is user friendly and easy to navigate.

The titles and prices of each book are conveniently located on the home page of the site, but, for more in-depth searching, there is a list of genre links one can follow to browse the categorized backlist.

The submission page does not give strict guidelines, but recommends that an author search the backlist to see if their manuscript would fit. This seems to me that they respect the intelligence of their readership and their potential authors.

There are quick and easy links on every page where you can add books to your cart and buy them directly from the publisher.

I browsed the site much longer than I had planned to, because I kept finding things to look at. It took a lot of self-control not to order several of the books I had browsed.

There is a general flow to the website. I did not have to think about what to click next, it always seemed like an obvious transition from one page to the next. The site is accessible and pleasing to the eye. It is a site I will visit again, and I will look for the Alyson logo on the spines of books next time I am in the bookstore.

Bella Books’ homepage seems scattered and has little direction. The three main columns of the main page consist of “new books,” “more new books,” and “more new books.” This is repetitive, redundant, and redundant. It forces the eye to move both across the page and down the page simultaneously: which resulted in me looking neither down, nor across, but for a place to escape.

I directed my attention to the almost comical use of a decorative typeface. I don’t know if they were trying to be clever or what, but the typeface that the web designer chose has boobs for O’s. Seriously? Overall, the site design is outdated and cheesy (did I mention the booby-o’s?), and there are way too many pieces of clip art included in the design.

Much of the pertinent information (such as giveaways, contests, and publishing house information) is listed in a box off to the side of the homepage. It is all stacked on top of one another and is a jumbled mess to read.

In the context of the website, the books seem less credible. Also, in the tradition of bad design, many of the books look like they came right of the shelf of the drugstore, yet, the prices are those of trade paperbacks.

I found it curious and confusing when I discovered random links leading to sites that have nothing to do with books, publishing, or queer people. If they are related, they did a terrible job of contextualizing. I clicked on a link of a beach sunset that had the caption “gulf coast getaway” thinking it was a contest they were holding. Upon following the link, however, I arrived at an advertisement for a vacation house for rent in Florida. Is this link actually an advertisement? Why is it here?

If a member of your target audience comes to your site and is as confused and annoyed as I was at the Bella Books site, the publisher is definitely missing their mark.

Judging a book by…

Since we were given a list of choices, I used them as a jumping off point. I went through the list and starred the titles that appealed to me at first glance. Then I did a generic Amazon search. I wanted to see which of the books I had selected from the list would come up first (Plug Your Book! was the big winner). My goal was to see which books I would have come across on my own if I had been searching for a book without a list to work from.

In my first keyword search, two of the four titles I starred showed up on the first page results. Much to my surprise (and disgust), almost all of the books that showed up in my initial search were listed as kindle books only, or with e-book prices listed more prominently than analogue book prices. I had to follow several links before I had the option to buy a book made of paper. Luckily, for the paper loving masses, my second search yielded many more analogue results. I imagine that by using the word “online” in my initial search, I prompted Amazon to believe that I was looking for digital reading material.

I then specifically researched the four titles I had starred on my list. I flipped though the “look inside” features of each of the titles to get a feel for the book— the way I would flip through the pages of an analogue book in a bookstore. I like to check out the design and the format of the books I am going to read. One of the books (Radically Transparent) was not available to browse, however, and this deterred me from choosing that one.

After flipping back and forth between the Amazon pages, I narrowed my list down to two titles (The Age of Engage and Online Marketing Heroes) and moved my search over to Powell’s where I checked their reviews and availability of the two titles. I feel better about buying books from our wonderful independent bookstore. Since both were available, I went back to Amazon and read the first few pages each one. I finally selected the book that seemed most interesting to me and easiest to read.

When it comes down to it, I shopped the online bookstore in much the same way I shop at a brick and mortar bookstore. I browsed for a while, picked up a few choices, narrowed it down, and committed. I took into account the reviews and recommendations, the readability and relevance. I agonized and scrutinized… and then picked the prettiest one.

I will be reading Online Marketing Heroes: Interviews with 25 Successful Online Marketing Gurus

Design Frustrations

I am annoyed by the restrictions of the "customize" page. I just want the freedom to move my blog title where I want it to be. Is that too much to ask?