Blog topic for the week of March 1

In your informed yet imaginative opinion, what will the book publishing industry look like ten years from now? Will consolidation continue (or accelerate), leaving even fewer, bigger publishing conglomerates (and bookstore chains) than we have today? Will the low entry cost of POD and E-Book technologies feed a burgeoning renaissance of small press publishing? Or?... And?... And what does it all mean for the future of literacy and culture? (Just a few small questions, for your final assigned topic of the term.)

Blog topic for the week of February 22

Occasionally, you read a book that changes your life. It may bring about a dramatic, or a subtle change. You may see it coming at you like a freight train, or it may creep up from behind and take you off your guard. It might be a challenging work of great literature, or an easy beach read, or a dry reference work that opens the window to a new way of understanding. It could be anything, and it could come from any direction. Write about one book that has changed your life, and describe how you first discovered it.

Blog topic for the week of February 15

Have you ever purchased something online in direct response to an e-mail promotion? If so, describe the transaction. What compelled you? If not, what has stopped you?

Blog topic for the week of February 8

Pick one Ooligan Press title and compile a list of relevant search keywords and phrases. Use as many of these keywords and phrases as possible, as frequently as possible, in a blog post about the book. Try to accomplish this while still writing an interesting and engaging piece (i.e., load up on the keywords, but do it as subtly as you can...)

Blog topic for the week of February 1

Over the weekend, Amazon made the stunning decision to stop selling titles published by Macmillan, when Macmillan refused to continue offering electronic versions of its books at the loss-leader price point of $9.99. Of course, nobody can force a bookseller to carry the products of a particular publisher, and nobody can force a publisher to sell their products -- electronic or otherwise -- at a particular price. So each gorilla stood its ground, until finally, Amazon backed down.

With its POD/distribution company (CreateSpace, nee BookSurge) and its proprietary e-book platform (Kindle), Amazon looks less and less like a bookstore, more and more like a publisher -- a publisher who also happens to control the single largest online distribution channel for books, iPad or no iPad.

What does all of this mean for book publishers? What are the dangers and risks of Amazon's growing dominance in the literary marketplace? What are the benefits?

Blog topic for the week of January 25

What is the difference between brand marketing and product marketing? Do book publishers rely primarily on one or the other? Are both equally effective?

Blog topic for the week of January 18

The vast majority of online consumer book sales are not conducted on publishers' web sites, but this hasn't stopped most publishers from targeting their web sites primarily at consumers. What do you think is the reasoning behind this? Do you think that book publishers can expect to see significant, ongoing growth in direct sales through their web sites? Should the presence or lack of strong direct sales affect the manner and extent to which publishers address their web sites to the general reading public (as opposed to their primary market of booksellers)?

Blog topic due Friday, January 15

Spend half an hour online and visit ten or twelve book publishers' websites. Ask yourself how many different audiences are being addressed at each site. Pick one site that does a particularly good job of defining and speaking to its audience(s). How do they accomplish this? Pick another site that you feel does a particularly poor job of defining and speaking to its audience(s). Where do they go wrong?