Matt Staggs – BookLife

Richard Nash on the future of books and publishing

Matt Staggs — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:55:28 +0000

Book industry veteran Richard Nash recently delivered what some – like WIRED magazine’s Chris Anderson – are calling the best speech they’ve seen on the future of books and publishing.

Nash has uploaded the video, which I’ve embedded here. See what you think:

Friday’s Links: Not Getting Women, Rethinking Anonymity

Matt Staggs — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:20:43 +0000

HuffPost’s top 50 book people on Twitter

Christopher Rice on “Why Crime Writers don’t Get Women”

News sites are rethinking their policies on anonymous comments.

Author Julie Klausner on The Bat Segundo Show

On Author Etiquette

Failed BORDERS execs walk away with whopping severance

Hear William Faulkner read from his masterpiece “As I Lay Dying”

Former executive buys Publishers Weekly

When and under which conditions is journalism in the public’s interest?

Newspapers may be seeing rising circulation numbers. Maybe.

Matt Staggs is a literary publicist and the proprietor of Deep Eight LLC, a boutique publicity agency utilizing the best publicity practices from the worlds of traditional media and evolving social technologies. He has worked in the fields of public relations and journalism for almost a decade. In addition to his work as a publicist, Matt is a book reviewer and writer whose work appears in both print and web publications.

Considering Ustream for Author to Reader Contact

Matt Staggs — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:30:59 +0000

Lately, I’ve been playing with Ustream, a live, internet broadcasting medium that allows me to speak and interact with viewers from around the world via my MacBook’s built-in webcam.

My loose, free-form program is called “Friendly Fire,” and viewers watch live and communicate with me by a built-in chat room, email, Twitter, Facebook, messenger client and Skype, and I can directly address their questions and comments as I broadcast.

After I’m done broadcasting, I can choose to have the episode available online for future viewing, and all of this is at no charge.

Right now, I’m still ironing out my program’s format. It’s not quite “ready for prime time,” so when I do broadcast, I only announce that I’m going to do so about 15 minutes ahead of time. This allows me to make my mistakes in front of a minimum number of people while I get comfortable with the medium.

Why am I telling you this? It’s because I think that Ustream would be an “idiot proof” way for authors to communicate with their audiences. Think about it: you can get your book to classrooms, reading circles and more, and you can Ustream yourself in for discussions and readings. Afterwards, you can archive the entire thing online for other readers, and also use it to promote future events, like live appearances. You can also download your own Ustream videos for editing and upload via a third party, like YouTube.

There are some drawbacks to Ustream: by using Ustream, you grant the company a permanent, royalty-free license to broadcast your work or create derivative material based on it. Also, be aware that you’re “live,” so you have to be extremely careful about what you say and the image you’re presenting.

That being said, if you’re looking for a no-frills and easy way to start broadcasting, Ustream may be exactly what you’re looking for. Give it a try today.

Friday’s Links: Mashing Monsters, Hot Jobs and Green Covers

Matt Staggs — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:59:37 +0000

Lulu online books going on iPad – News & Observer

A left-brained approach to revision

Samuel R. Delaney’s “Dhalgren” adapted for stage

S.J. Chambers on the monster mash-up literary craze

Large French publisher suing Google

Naomi Wolf offering non-fiction writing workshop

Interview with author Sam Lipsyte

What are the hot publishing jobs of the future?

Are books with green covers bad for sales?

Jonathan Lethem on “Chronic City”

New on Twitter: Margaret Atwood.

Matt Staggs — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:36:50 +0000

Margaret Atwood has joined Twitter. Atwood’s no stranger to technology, of course, check out Atwood’s “Long Pen,” for proof of that, but to see an author of such stature take to Twitter is both surprising and deeply amusing. She’s written about it here. Atwood tweets about all sorts of things: environmental issues, her books and other projects, but what’s really interesting is her posts about the incidental details of her life: the time she had to have her wisdom teeth “hammered out,” her cell phone pics and her occasional asides to her fans.

If Atwood has determined that Twitter might be a useful communications platform for furthering her career and personal interests, then perhaps you might want to consider doing the same. If you do, add me (and Atwood). I’m at http://www.twitter.com/mattstaggs.

Library internet usage among the poor: health, education and career figure prominently

Matt Staggs — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:23:32 +0000

As a child I remembered a large sign in the study area of my local public library that read, “Libraries Will Get You Through Times Of No Money Better Than Money Will Get You Through Times Of No Libraries!” Apparently, this is more true than ever in these tough economic times.

A study released from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation revealed that almost half of all poor Americans – that is, those living below the poverty line – depend on their local library for access to their email and the web. The kinds of tasks patrons used the library’s internet service to accomplish are highly illustrative of the way that web access has grown from a luxury to a necessity in our information-based economy. From the study:

40 percent of library computer users (an estimated 30 million people) received help with career needs. Among these users, 75 percent reported they searched for a job online. Half of these users filled out an online application or submitted a resume.
37 percent focused on health issues. The vast majority of these users (82 percent) logged on to learn about a disease, illness, or medical condition. One-third of these users sought out doctors or health care providers. Of these, about half followed up by making appointments for care.
42 percent received help with educational needs. Among these users, 37 percent (an estimated 12 million students) used their local library computer to do homework for a class.
Library computers linked patrons to their government, communities, and civic organizations. Sixty-percent of users – 43.3 million people – used a library’s computer resources to connect with others.

Libraries, now more than ever, are functioning as community gathering places where a wide cross-section of the populace interact to meet their information needs. Perhaps including a few public library reading groups on your next book tour or other promotional event might not be a bad idea.

Friday’s Links: Apocalypse Wow!

Matt Staggs — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:52:10 +0000

Dirt-Cheap and no features to speak of: will the Kobo e-reader sell by the millions?

Color and video may be coming soon for the Kindle.

Why novelist Carrie Vaughn left her publisher.

Court lifts ban on media cross-ownership.

Is a consensus growing about Amazon?

The End of the World is so hot right now.

The National Book Critics Circle on the next decade in book culture.

Learning from a first rejection letter.

On criticism written in bad faith.

Young author cuts six figure deal for YA trilogy.

Writers’ Conferences: Which Ones?

Matt Staggs — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:33:51 +0000

If you’re like a lot of people I know, then you’re probably trying very hard to watch your expenses right now, but what if you’d like to try to take in a writer’s conference or two? Opportunities for networking and sharpening your craft are just a couple of reasons why that even during a recession attending a conference might be a good idea. But which one?

There are all kind of conferences, ranging from very informal, modest affairs to sprawling, major industry events. Some focus on readers, other on publishing professionals, and others yet on writers in specific genres. A little research can narrow things down to a list of potential cons that would be most appropriate for your career. But before you do that, it might be a good idea to ask yourself a few questions, first.

What do you hope to accomplish at this event? Meet potential publishers? Agents? Network with other writers?
Are you at a point in your career where any of the above might be constructive for you? If you’re just beginning your writing life, then meeting an agent might not be useful at all.
How well do your career goals match those of the conference organizers?

After you’re sure of what you hope to accomplish and have picked out a few potential conventions for attendance, then you should move forward with some final research. One of the most important things you can do is to ask other people about the conference. A poorly organized event can fall apart quickly, despite a promising program schedule and great guests. Try to find other people who have attended in the past, and see what they’re experiences were. Also, don’t be afraid to approach the con organizers themselves with any questions that you may have.

Ultimately, you should let your instincts be your guide. If something sounds a little “off” about an event, then you’re better investing your time and money elsewhere.

Wondering where to start? Try these websites:

Writers’ Conferences and Centers

Conference Alerts

ShawGuides

Television and Writing

Matt Staggs — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:25:35 +0000

One thing that continually interests me is the ways in which various media interact and inform each other. Lately I’ve been wondering how the story structures of television and movies, and the visual language both mediums use to portray them, impact writers.

Jeff has written some about this in the past, most notably in connection with the creation of his novel Finch, and his work has made me question the way that some authors use transitions between scenes and the way that they depict action in their work. Not having had much experience with writing fiction, I can’t speak from experience, but it would make sense to me that for authors growing up in the video age, television would be as much of a stylist influence as the work of other authors. Maybe even more so for some.

This influence must account for the reader’s experience as well. Will the parameters of my reading experience be set by my experience of television or film? Did a reader of the 19th century essentially visualize literature differently from me? How has the reading experience be changed?

I’d be very interested in hearing whether your own writing (and reading) – be it stylistically or in terms of story structure or some other way – has been influenced by TV or movies, and whether you consider it a good or bad thing or not. Also, how do you keep from being influenced if you don’t want to be?

Friday’s Links: babysitters, book tours and underrepresented cultures

Matt Staggs — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:29:47 +0000

GalleyCat points us toward a first glimpse of the iPad bookstore.

Salon: “R.I.P. – The Novel”

Are public libraries becoming glorified babysitting services?

HuffPost: “Young Adult Literature Not Just for Young Adults Anymore”

The LA Times on the changing shape of book tours.

Barnes & Noble signs former CNN Money VP as new Head of Digital Content

John Klima seeks grant to create publication promoting science fiction magazine for underrepresented cultures.

MacMillan CEO speaks out about e-book pricing and libraries

Does a room of one’s own really help you write a great novel?

A call to “bring back the mass-market paperback.”