2013 Press Coverage

The Conference inspired an array of reactions and comments in the press on, and off line. Browse the links below to get a sense of the event, and for further write-ups about what happened within the sessions, see Event Write-ups tab above.

In the best possible taste

The subject of artistic taste has always been fraught, bound up as it is with notions of intellectual elitism, class politics, social identity and consumer power. Taste is both a tool for organizing society and a matter of individual freedom…continued

Putting Technology at the Heart of Writing and Publishing

Random House’s Digital Publisher Dan Franklin always shoots from the lip and didn’t disappoint. “Publishers websites are uniformly terrible and that’s an issue that is going to become urgent,” he told delegates who included fellow publisher Andrew Franklin of Profile and Stefan Tobler of And Other Stories. “When compared to sites like Vice magazine, they’re dreadful. I have concerns around publisher technology…continued

Audrey Niffenegger finally gives go-ahead to Time Traveler’s Wife ebook

After years holding out, the author has consented to an electronic version of her bestselling novel for a new e-book website – and announced an exclusive 30-page sequel

“I can see from history that the ebook [as a medium], while currently a little clunky and weird, is inevitably going to be gorgeous, so I kept the ebook to myself,” said Niffenegger, the keynote speaker at the TLC literary conference on Friday…continued

The Literary Consultancy: Writing in a Digital Age

Less short-term gimmickry – more focus on readers and words. Molly Flatt sums up the weekend’s second annual Literary Consultancy conference.
“These are the best of times and the worst of times,” declared Robert McCrum. He paused, then added to wry laughter: “They are very confusing times.”…continued.

Zola gets exclusive on Time Traveller e-book

Bestselling novel The Time Traveller’s Wife is to be made available as an e-book for the first time from September. Author Audrey Niffenegger has also revealed that she has written a 30-page sequel to the novel that will be published as an e-book…continued

Self-published ebook sales reach 20% of genre market

Self-published titles accounted for over a fifth of crime, science fiction, romance and humour ebooks sold in UK in 2012

Bohme was speaking at the Literary Consultancy conference Writing in a Digital Age, where self-publishing came in for a slating from Andrew Franklin, the managing director of Profile Books. “The overwhelming majority [of self-published books] are terrible – unutterable rubbish,” said Franklin. “They don’t enhance anything in the world.”…continued

Bowker: self-published e-books 12% of sales

Self-published titles make up 12% of all e-book sales, according to new findings from Bowker Market Research…continued

Digital-only imprints in the ebook era: inclusive or exploitative?

New digital options from the big publishers offer opportunities and limitations. It’s just a case of reading the small print…continued

Ether for Authors: Are Publishing Firefights Hurting the Mission?

And during this past, fraught weekend, Jon Slack’s Literary Consultancy gathering in London … included not only what clearly were many healthy, productive sessions on the state of “Writing in a Digital Age,” but also some dismayed back-channel messages about the “background row bubbling away” over the FutureBook Davies piece; genre battles; and, inevitably, Self-Publishing vs. Just About Everything…continued

The Literary Consultancy’s Conference 2013: Writing in a Digital Age

I am very grateful to my fellow indie author, Laxmi Hariharan, for telling me about the conference and arranging a press pass for me so that I could attend the event. I enjoyed the conference and learned a few things that I am sure will help in my ongoing publishing adventure…continued

Can You SEO Your Way to the Bestseller List?

“The digital revolution has blown open the distribution of books–now it’s all about visibility,” and with that remark–among others–David Gaughran, author of Amazon bestseller Let’s get Digital, sent the audience at The Literary Consultancy (TLC’s), Writing in a Digital Age 2013 conference into a tizzy…continued

Audrey Niffenegger

The first speaker at the event was Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife. I found her speech interesting and inspirational…continued

Statistics

At The Literary Consultancy’s recent conference, Writing in a Digital Age, there was a panel of experts looking back at the past year and developments in publishing. The panel included Steve Bohme of Bowker Market Research. He presented some very interesting statistics about how and why people buy books and e-books…continued

Are We Writing Too Much to Be Reading?

I wish I could unplug!

This was the thought foremost on my mind as I read a write up in The Guardian, by Sylvain Tesson, about his new book Consolations of the Forest – a largely philosophical account of his six-months living as a hermit in a cabin in Siberia…continued

Collaboration

One of the discussions at last weekend’s conference revolved around how the digital age has facilitated many collaborative projects pushing the boundaries of technology and narrative…continued

Can You SEO Your Way to the Bestseller List?

“The digital revolution has blown open the distribution of books–now it’s all about visibility,” and with that remark–among others–David Gaughran, author of Amazon bestseller Let’s get Digital, sent the audience at The Literary Consultancy (TLC’s), Writing in a Digital Age 2013 conference into a tizzy…continued

What I got from Interaction, Interaction and Interaction!

“Literary Values”

One of the panel discussions at the recent TLC conference was about literary values. How has the digital age changed literary values?…continued

1-in-10 e-tomes ‘are self-published’… most are ‘rubbish’ says book ed

Publishing man scoffs at go-it-alone writers, ursines still fouling in forests…continued

Profile Books publisher: majority of self-published books are “unutterable rubbish”

Franklin said there were “now unmeasurable numbers” of books being self-published. “These books come out and are met with a deathly silence…continued

Is self-publishing the future of literature?

Independent authors are enjoying an increased market share in the digital world…continued

Profile Books’ Andrew Franklin says self-publishing “deeply corrupt”

As reported in the UK Guardian, Profile Books’ founding MD Andrew Franklin had this to say: “The overwhelming majority [of self-published books] are terrible – unutterable rubbish … They don’t enhance anything in the world.”…continued

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Hey, Andrew Franklin: Self-published books enhance my world

I went through a phase where I wanted to become a book reviewer. Not just the books everyone else was reading, but indie books as well. My plan was to read a self-published book one week and a traditionally published book the next…continued

Self-publishing gains bigger share of book market

Traditional book publishers just cannot catch a break these days. Every bit of good news seems to have a corresponding bit of bad news to go along with it…continued

Bowker Reports Self-published eBooks Now 12% of eBook Sales – I’m Not So Sure

The Bookseller is reporting today that Bowker has new info on how well self-pub ebooks are doing in the UK…continued

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Profile Books founder Andrew Franklin lays into self-publishing

UK independent publisher Andrew Franklin, founder and managing director of Profile Books, delivered a virulent assault on the current self-publishing environment at the Literary Consultancy conference Writing in a Digital Age…continued

The Overwhelming Majority of Self-Published eBooks Are Terrible

At the Writing in a Digital Conference in London, Andrew Franklin, founder and managing director of Profile Books, blasted authors who self-publish. “The overwhelming majority of self-published books are terrible—unutterable rubbish, they don’t enhance anything in the world.”…continued

See also:

2012 Press Coverage