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Home » Archives for Dan Balow » Page 38

Dan Balow

E-Readers, Tablets and Bears, Oh My

By Dan Balowon November 19, 2013
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Attractive smiling student using tablet and holding book in library

The latest data from the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project released this Fall and confirmed in solid data what we all know to be true…that e-Book readers and tablets are becoming more prevalent in American society.

In a scientific survey conducted five times since May, 2010, the Pew Research Center concluded as of September 2013 that 24% of Americans age 16 and older have a dedicated e-Book reader (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.) and 35% have a tablet computer (like an iPad, etc.).  Furthermore, 43% of those 16+ have one or the other, so a number of people have both.

Compared to the last survey taken in November 2012, this one reveals a 26% increase in ownership of e-Book readers and a 40% increase in ownership of tablets in the last ten months.

So who owns these things anyway?

Slightly more female than male.  E-Book readers are owned slightly more by people in the 30-49 age group, but the data shows pretty broad use by all ages.  The tablets are strongest with the 16-49 age range, with fully 46% of 16-17 year olds owning one, but 18% of persons age 65+ own a tablet.

Predicting the future is always difficult, but as young people today age, they will continue to use technology more than their predecessors.  The most interesting aspect of these surveys is how quickly people age 50+ have adopted these new technologies.  People in that group picked up the technology “habit” later in life than those who grew up with it and it has significant use among older Americans.

Of course, children at the youngest ages are being exposed to technology every day in schools with the assumption that it will even more prevalent and important than it is now.

What will happen to printed books?

In general, digital books are less expensive than printed versions. As digital sales grow and physical sales shrink, the cost of printing the physical editions will increase.  Two factors contribute to this…lower press runs and increases in paper costs will drive printing costs higher which will need to be compensated for by increasing the retail price of the physical books.

Those higher prices will have a further dampening effect on purchasing, making eBooks and their lower prices even more attractive.  So, there is potential for a digital “tipping point” sometime in the next few years, caused not as much by the love of digital content, but by the expanding price difference between print and eBooks.

An even more interesting trend will accelerate the decline of print books…excessively low prices of eBooks. Readers will consider a book “worth” $0.99 and so the printed edition heretofore priced reasonably at $12.99 will be viewed as overpriced.

Authors should be concerned about a trend that lowers the expectations of consumers to a vanishing point.  Selling your eBooks at $2.99 or less might give you the short- term satisfaction of higher unit sales, but as far as I can tell, your bills still need to paid in dollars, not units!  Training consumers that books cost $0.99 will irreparably damage the entire publishing industry.  In other words, what you write is not worth much.  Marketing guru Seth Godin refers to this as a “race to the bottom”…a race that no one wins.

Thoughts?

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Category: Book Business, Dan, E-Books, TrendsTag: E-Books, readers, Technology, Trends

Decoding Publishing Terms

By Dan Balowon November 12, 2013
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I looked back some of my Tuesday blog posts and thought I might be getting too serious, so I wanted to lighten it up a bit with some practical, helpful information that should help you navigate and understand the complicated world of publishing.

Here are words you might hear in relation to publishing or describing a particular book and its real meaning:

“A must-read” – Acquisitions editor …

Read moreDecoding Publishing Terms
Category: Creativity, Dan, Get Published, HumorTag: Humor, publishing

Elect to be Successful

By Dan Balowon November 5, 2013
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Today is the first Tuesday in November…election day somewhere.

Have you ever wondered why so many people in politics never seem to actually solve problems and do what is right?  The explanation is actually rather simple:

Many politicians exhibit those traits that are characteristic of unsuccessful people.

In what world of relationships, work, church, community or business would a person …

Read moreElect to be Successful
Category: Book Business, Career, DanTag: Career, Success

Real vs. Imaginary

By Dan Balowon October 29, 2013
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Simone Weil was being quite profound when she commented:
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring.  Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.”
I can see the truth in those words in just about every book, TV program or movie. Anywhere a story is told, fictional villains or real heroes are the most interesting …

Read moreReal vs. Imaginary
Category: Art, Craft, Creativity, DanTag: Art, Craft, Creativity

Castor Oil for the Soul

By Dan Balowon October 22, 2013
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I am taking a big risk here, knowing there are authors and avid book readers looking at this post.

Columbia University Press polled hundreds of editors, writers, booksellers, librarians, literary critics, and general readers in order to produce a list of the ten most boring books of all time among the great classics. The winners were:

Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan
Faust, Goethe
Don …

Read moreCastor Oil for the Soul
Category: Craft, Creativity, Dan, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Creativity, Writing Craft

HAL 9000 Writes a Book

By Dan Balowon October 15, 2013
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Since most readers of this blog are writers, this might just ruin your day.

A company called Narrative Science started as a research project with Northwestern University computer science and journalism students. (The Medill School of Journalism is arguably the best in the country)  It was called StatsMonkey.

StatsMonkey was a computer program that automatically generated a usable text recap …

Read moreHAL 9000 Writes a Book
Category: Book Business, Dan, Humor, Technology, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Technology

Make it Count for Something Important

By Dan Balowon October 8, 2013
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Everyone has a pet peeve. People who drive too fast, or too slow, or fingernails scratching on a blackboard.  My pet peeve is a strange one. I have a visceral reaction to the fast-talking legal-speak at the end of radio or TV commercials. I have to change stations…immediately.

You’ve all heard them…commercials that are 50% written by the legal department of the advertiser.  The last 100 words …

Read moreMake it Count for Something Important
Category: Career, Craft, Creativity, DanTag: Communication, Writing Craft

Editing the Bible

By Dan Balowon October 1, 2013
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I always thought it was interesting that Christian publishers employed Bible editors.  Of course, they are not there to edit the Bible text, but to work on the extra-Bible notes and additional material that might end up in a study or devotional Bible.

It got me thinking that there is a lot of stuff in the Bible that is just downright disturbing if you want to maintain a simplistic …

Read moreEditing the Bible
Category: Christian, Dan, Editing, TheologyTag: Christian, Theology

Mystery of the Bestseller List

By Dan Balowon September 24, 2013
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In my years in publishing, one of the most interesting aspects has been the evolution of best-seller lists.  The primary source of confusion for authors and publishers of Christian books is that the most influential best-seller lists (New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly) do not consider sales of books at Christian retailers in their calculations to any great extent.  Hence, Christian …

Read moreMystery of the Bestseller List
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, DanTag: bestseller lists, Bestsellers, Book Sales

Learning Every Day

By Dan Balowon September 17, 2013
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One of the favorite things I do each month is to get together with three friends to talk about life and work.  We meet for breakfast and share what we are doing.  All of us are Christ followers and have known each other for many years.  We discuss issues related to the changing world of communications as all four are involved in various aspects of the media.

For example, I recall one day that …

Read moreLearning Every Day
Category: Dan, Marketing
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