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EDITORIAL
(from October 03 issue)
Publishing Technology from Pira and Frankfurt
I found the Publishing Technology 2003 Conference
from Pira fascinating. Not being from an IT background, I found
some of the speakers hard to follow, but the majority of sessions
were not particularly technical and for the most part, technology
was addressed in terms of the benefits to publishers and customers.
Due to lack of space in this issue, we will feature some highlights
from the conference next month.
Frankfurt is also addressing many of the issues raised at Publishing
Technology, in the new ‘Solutions Forum’ (August Book
People), where among other things, content management, data management,
e-books, content marketing, publishing software and pre-press
services will be discussed.
For exhibitors, Frankfurt is a significant undertaking, but for
visitors, it has never been so easy. There are now flights from
so many UK airports and excellent Frankfurt transport. Hope to
see some of you there.
Paul
Thorne
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Audited
circulation for the year to 31st December 2002. Average circulation
of 5,707.
Book
People is published by Rigden Thorne
16 Chilham Way, Bromley, Kent BR2 7PR
Telephone: 08456 580068• Fax: 08456 580068
Email: paul@book-people.net
Editor:
Paul Thorne
Special features: Susan Dixon
Sub Editor: Paula Arkell
Production: Liz Bingold
Advertising Sales: David Bonner
© 2003 by Chappell Thorne. All rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
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RECORD
NUMBER OF EVENTS AT FRANKFURT
More
than 1,000 authors are coming to this year’s Frankfurt Book
Fair – and visitors can meet them in the course of more
than 2,500 events: this is a new record for the world’s
biggest book show.
The Calendar of Events at the Book Fair already included about
40% more events than last year when it went to press for the print
version in mid-August. The online version of the Calendar (check
out www.frankfurt-book-fair.com) is updated and added to every
day.
A quarter of the publicised events is connected to this year’s
Guest of Honour - Russia. The biggest country in the world is
offering a programme of art, film, drama and music more extensive
than almost any ever presented by a Guest of Honour. It includes
numerous big events that bring together several important Russian
literary figures at one and the same time. Many of these series
of events and exhibitions have already begun and are attracting
an enormous amount of attention all over Germany.
The Book Fair has come up this year with all sorts of highlights
for the reading public. There will be two attempts to set Guinness
records: in the first place, Paulo Coelho will sign copies of
his world best-seller The Alchemist in 56 languages, making it
the largest ever book signing of foreign-language editions. And
the Comics Centre hopes to produce the “Longest Comic Strip
in the World”.
On the Friday of the Fair, Vladimir Kaminer hosts the “Russian
Disco” in Hall 1.2 and on the Saturday, Nobel laureate Günter
Grass will be there to read from his book of poems Letzte Tänze
or “Last Dances” - followed by a chance to dance.
Plus, the “Blue Sofa” (arcade Hall 5.1, 6.1) is back
with many fascinating interviews and talks, featuring top names
such as T.C. Boyle, Alexa Hennig von Lange, Frederick Forsyth,
Michail Sokolski, Louis Begley, Ken Follett and many other stars
from the world of literature.
There is also more on offer this year for trade visitors: the
programme of events reflects a trend in favour of specific professional
workshops and panel discussions. Presentations, readings and meetings
are held in 10 theme-based forums – from Children’s
Books to Education and including Audiobooks.
All dates and events can be found with the latest details
at www.frankfurt-book-fair.com / Book Fair / Events / Calendar
of Events.
Contact: Holger Ehling, Press & Corporate Communications,
Frankfurt Book Fair, phone: +49 (0) 69 2102-217, E-mail: ehling@book-fair.com.
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BOOK
PUBLISHING - A BIG BUSINESS INDUSTRY
In
an interview with Charles McGregor, joint head of post-graduate
publishing at the London College of Printing and with a career
stemming a broad international publishing background, Book People
discussed ways in which UK book publishing has changed over the
last 15 to 20 years.
Charles McGregor
Not so long ago, general book publishing, the largest part of
the trade, relied virtually exclusively on its stable of commissioning
editors to come up with ideas - unlike today, when these are frequently
a combination of input by a broader range of sources.
This amazing role reversal began some 15 to 20 years ago when
designers - until then “on tap rather than on top”
as Charles McGregor put it - and marketing departments both started
flexing their muscles. They began to play a significant role in
the initial ideas process, the designers’ visual expertise
and that of the marketing specialists becoming ever more significant
in the increasingly visual and market-conscious age.
Coupled with this, or indeed forestalling this, have been the
many changes in ownership within British publishing, in both general
and more specialised areas, frequently incorporating an international
theme and management structure. This is demonstrated by the arrival
of five or six large public company groups such as Holtzbrinck
from Germany, which bought the quintessentially English publisher
PanMacmillan in the mid-1990s; Bertelsmann, also from Germany,
which bought Random House in 1998; and Rubert Murdoch’s
News Corporation, which bought HarperCollins in 1989. Some time
earlier, in the 1970s, this later trend was commenced by the purchase
of another major house, Penguin, by Pearson - unusually, a British-based
group yet incorporating both a US management style and with an
American chief executive.
Academic, scholarly and business publisher, Reed Elsevier, partly
British and partly Dutch-owned (itself representing a 1990s merger
between UK publisher Reed International and Dutch Elsevier) was
another major house to have entered the merger market, having
already purchased various UK publishers including Butterworths
and Pergamon Press.
Before these transfers, the major international publishing companies
had been British, 19th century-founded Wm. Collins prior to becoming
HarperCollins, being a classic example. Another 19th century publisher,
Oxford University Press, remains, however, an international company
while simultaneously retaining its independence.
On a business basis, the major companies in the UK today are placed
in an international capital market, and scrutinised for competitive
financial results in terms of their capital in a way that was
not the norm previously - many of the companies then having been
privately- and in many cases, family-owned.
Also, the effects of the abolition of the NBA have highlighted
the economic impact of competitive pricing.
Coupled with the above changes has been the slant in the editorial
function. No longer are content editors employed in-house; rather,
most editing is freelanced out with considerable and increasing
attention both to budgeted cost implications and restricted deadlines
and schedules. And of course, the use of Quark Xpress has totally
radicalised the editorial function. Charles McGregor gave the
example of academic publisher Taylor & Francis, which has
combined its editorial and production departments, resulting in
control of the editorial process united with that of scheduling
and the whole production process.
Publishers are no longer penalised in the market-place for lower
editorial standards as might have been the case previously, meaning
that the greater the sales, the more likely an agent is to bring
an author to that particular publisher.
Today’s commissioning editor is in many cases now at so-called
management/director level, yet co-operates far more closely with
the design and marketing elements to achieve what in some publishing
houses is known as “product”. The previously “typically
stalwart figures”, says Charles McGregor, “had often
been with a publishing house for some 25 years, having been, to
some extent, the house’s editorial conscience with projects
being sent to them and for which they were honoured even if they
weren’t terribly well paid. Such figures are perhaps no
longer found or they’ve retired, and no-one has appeared
who could take their place.”
All of which, says Charles McGregor, means “that the designer
seems almost to have achieved a sort of equality with today’s
commissioning editor and with marketing because they provide so
many defining characters and marketing concepts.” Dorling
Kindersley was quoted as a prime example of this change, its joint
founder, Peter Kindersley, having come from a design background.
And what of today’s concentration on all things electronic?
Has this influenced traditional book reading habits and, more
significantly, does this preface the end of the book? Charles
McGregor was adamant that this was not the case, quoting an approach
tried out by US publisher McGraw-Hill to justify his case. Some
five years ago they used their vast library of titles to create
a software package incorporating miscellaneous from this library,
a so-called “pick’n mix” for downloading to
represent a specific book. The approach was not successful in
view of the obvious portability of books versus the hassle of
logging on, battery-charging etc. Indeed, he indicated that electronic
publishing represents a mere 5—10% of the publishers’
output and, as he so aptly put it, “there’s no tactile
satisfaction” with reading on-screen. Nevertheless, within
general/consumer publishing, the greater competition with other
leisure activities, is a significant decision-making feature,
one that also creates further opportunities for book investment.
The increasing investment in litho printing has also increased
the importance of books. Small print runs, perhaps 2,500 copies
compared with the old days of 10,000 to achieve good unit costs,
are now possible.
Print-on-demand has also played its role, mainly in abolishing
the difference between back- and frontlists, meaning that nothing
need be out of print now. This also extends to titles produced
by the university presses, whose profits include extra income
from this approach to backlist academic titles. Nevertheless,
there are currently still higher unit costs on runs of perhaps
100 books than might be when taking the litho route. However,
print-on-demand, says Charles McGregor, eliminates not only warehouse
and delivery costs but also returns, so one can argue that it
costs no more than litho.
In short, the new set of pressures in the UK’s publishing
world coupled with a completely changed pattern of ownership have
created what can now perhaps more justifiably be called a 21st
century industry, one that is both international and which competes
on results with other unrelated industries.
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FOR
DUMMIES - LAUNCHED FOR THE UK
After many successful years of sales, John Wiley has launched
the ‘For Dummies’ series specifically for the UK.
These are books specialising in subjects as diverse as Renting
Your Property and Rugby - the latter of which comes out in time
for the World Cup next month. Hundreds of different titles have
already been successfully published in America and sold in the
UK. The first titles specific to the UK market are being launched
this autumn.
The photograph shows the first UK title being printed at Antony
Rowe Chippenham on behalf of John Wiley. The press pass being
carried out by Daniel Mersey, project editor (John Wiley) accompanied
by Kevan Barrett, sales director (Antony Rowe) and Leon Henning,
customer services (Antony Rowe).
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DIGITAL
BOOK PRINTING AT PIRA EVENT IN LONDON
Successful strategies and applications for digital books
highlighted at Digital Print World Conference.
It is now accepted that digital is a mainstream activity, and
recent forecasts from Pira have given digital printing 13.5% of
the market value by 2008 from a current figure of 5.9%. Current
estimates for volume are at 5.5% and we are predicting that this
will rise to 12.5% by 2008. Overall, it is anticipated that there
will be 18% growth year on year.
Against this background, Pira International’s 5th Digital
Print World, to be held this November in London, addresses the
growth of digital technology, basing its programme on successful
applications and business models. Addressing the differing needs
of the marketplace, Pira has for the first time divided the conference
into four separate half-day sessions: digital business strategies,
digital book production, variable data print and digital newspaper
production.
The digital business strategies session on day one will highlight
where digital print is now and demonstrate some of the successful
business strategies behind successful digital print models. Liz
Allen, publishing director at Penguin talking about her presentation
says, “I’d like to emphasise in my talk the opportunities
provided to publishers by digital technology. It opens the door
to greater exploitation of valuable but under-used assets, making
small runs profitable.”
A total of six presentations will be given during the half day
from companies such as Y and R/Wunderman Emea, Heidelberg, and
Pira.
The session on day two brings the role of digital print in book
production into focus. This half-day session consists of the five
presentations. Sage Publications begins with a detailed case study
of its experiences in applying books on demand into its business.
All stages from pre-press through to printing and finishing will
be considered. The subject of “Quality and economics of
digitally produced books” will be addressed by Quebecor.
Barnes and Noble will speak on the issue of direct distribution
and the emerging market.
David Royal from Cambridge University Press, the final speaker
of the session, will consider the printer and publisher integration
to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Following each session, delegates will be able to visit the Digital
Print World Exhibition which is organised by IIR. To date 49 companies
are exhibiting, including Adobe, Canon, Duplo, EFI, Heidelberg,
KBA, Neusiedler, Screen, and Wamnet.
Digital Print World 2003 takes place in November Tuesday 25-Thursday
27 2003 at the Olympia 2 Conference Centre, London, UK.
For further information or copies of the full programme contact
Issy Catalao at Pira on +44 (0) 1372 802164 or email issyc@pira.co.uk
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WINNERS
OF THE ALPSP AWARDS
The winner of the ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for Learned
Journals was feminist review, published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Here the judges felt that the design was confident, modern and
well thought through with a sophisticated use of colour, and a
good use of space.
David Bull, journals director at Palgrave Macmillan said:
“We’re delighted that feminist review has won this
prestigious award. The end publication is the result of much hard
work by both the feminist review team and the team here at Palgrave
Macmillan.”
Three highly commended certificates were also awarded in this
category to: Nanotechnology, published by the Institute of Physics,
The Journal of International Criminal Justice, published by Oxford
University Press, and the Society for General Microbiology for
its collection of four journals, Microbiology, Medical Microbiology,
Journal of General Virology and International Journal of Systematic
and Evolutionary Micobiology.
The ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for House/Membership Journals went
to The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist published by the RCOG Press,
for demonstrating a clear structure and a balance between being
attractive and serious.
Two highly commended certificates were awarded to the IEE Review,
published by the Institute of Electrical Engineers and The Biochemist,
published by the Biochemical Society.
The third category was the ALPSP Award for Publishing Innovation.
The judges were impressed with the enthusiasm of the entries.
However, the panel was unanimous in selecting The AfCS –
Nature Signalling Gateway website as the outright winner. The
Gateway website harnesses cleverly the skills of a commercial
publisher (Nature) in writing, commissioning, peer reviewing and
publishing high quality content, and the scientific expertise
of a group of researchers (a consortium of US biology Labs).
The ALPSP Award for Service to Not-for-Profit Publishing was won
by HighWire Press, a division of the Stanford University library.
Many agree that their journal websites are state-of-the-art. HighWire
now hosts more than 300 journals, including online versions of
some of the world’s leading journals, and in so doing provides
a magnificent service to not-for-profit and society publishers.
Mike Keller, publisher for HighWire press, commented: “HighWire
has stayed the course in providing constant innovation in features
and functions as the means to achieving its mission of enhancing
scholarly communications and making not-for-profit and responsible
publishers of scholarly e-journals more competitive in the market-place.”
This year’s winner of the Award for Service to ALPSP was
Sue Thorn, executive director of the Society for Endocrinology.
ALPSP owes an enormous amount to Sue’s vision, drive and
leadership, and the judges felt that this award was extremely
well deserved.
The winner of the ALPSP Award for Service to Publishers/Library
Relations was the LIBLICENSE project, which is dedicated to informing
communities and bringing them closer together. Ann Okerson has
been its guiding star and has done a superb job in crafting the
website and e-mail discussion list, just part of this ongoing
educational tool.
The ALPSP Special Award went to Glyn Jones, who spent many years
serving the Association in various capacities. ALPSP has much
to thank him for and the panel unanimously agreed that his dedication
and service to learned publishing over the years should be recognised.
ALPSP would like to thank all those who entered, and to encourage
them and others to enter in 2004. The closing date is May 31.
Pictures and full details of all the winners can be seen at: www.alpsp.org/awards2003.htm.
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LEARNED
JOURNALS COLLECTION
An
update on the progress of this new service from Sally Morris,
secretary-general, ALPSP (sec-gen@alpsp.org)
The ALPSP Learned Journals Collection (www.alpsp-collection.org
<http://www.alpsp-collection.org/> ) is a project of the
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)
in co-operation with Swets Blackwell and Extenza. It enables both
smaller and medium-sized publishers to sell more effectively to
consortia and other large customers by including their journals
in a single package, organised and sold on their behalf by Swets
Blackwell with a single umbrella licence, pricing model and delivery
platform (ŒSwetsWise online content). It is an attempt to
counter the effect of the ŒBig Deals‚ which the largest
publishers are able to offer, and which tend to squeeze out the
offerings of small publishers, however high quality and reasonably
priced their journals may be.
August 15 was the closing date for publishers to sign up for the
Collection. Interest in the Collection has exceeded our wildest
expectations; no fewer than 247 journals from 25 publishers are
included in the Collection for 2004, which will also be available
in discipline-based subsets for those customers who don’t
need to buy them all. A significant number of publishers have
joined ALPSP primarily in order to be included in the Collection.
Full details of titles and prices are available (see our website).
I’m sorry if some publishers missed the deadline - we had
to have a cut-off date so that Swets Blackwell could start their
sales efforts, with a definitive list of journals and a definitive
price; they already have a good list of interested customers,
including JISC representing all the universities in the UK However,
we hope that the 2005 Collection will be even bigger and better
- so if additional publishers are interested in signing up in
good time for that, they should let Caroline Mackay know at Swets
Blackwell (info@alpsp-collection.org). Participation is only open
to ALPSP members, so if publishers are interested in joining (this
is, of course, by no means the only benefit of membership) they
should see http://www.alpsp.org/memship.htm.
Libraries interested in purchasing the Collection should also
contact Caroline Mackay at Swets Blackwell (info@alpsp-collection.org).
About ALPSP
The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
(ALPSP) is the international trade association for not-for-profit
publishers and those who work with them; it currently has 272
members in 27 countries. We provide representation of our sector,
professional development activities, and a wealth of information
and advice.
Website: www.alpsp.org <http://www.alpsp.org/>
Sally Morris, Secretary-General, Association of Learned and Professional
Society Publishers, South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing,
West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK. Phone: 01903 871686 Fax: 01903 871457.
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PREMIER
XML EXPORT SOFTWARE GOES CROSS-PLATFORM
Easypress Technologies, the leading
developer of XML solutions for QuarkXPress, announced the availability
of Atomik Xport 3.1 for Windows. This is the first version of
Atomik Xport for the Windows platform.
Atomik Xport for the MacOS was launched in 1999 as one of the
first solutions for converting QuarkXPress documents into XML
(eXtensible Markup Language). Since then its uptake has been remarkable
with publishers around the globe adopting the product in order
to streamline the process of repurposing existing QuarkXPress
content for web, mobile, PDA or any other XML related publishing.
"Although the MacOS platform continues to be the platform
of choice for many publishing professionals, we have observed
a large increase in demand for a Windows version of Atomik Xport
over the past 18 months," said Mike Evans, Easypress Technologies
Atomik business director. "We have moved quickly to meet
this demand and now look forward to providing Windows users with
the same high-level of XML export functionality that our existing
customers are already used to, taking both platforms forward together,"
he added.
Atomik Xport is now completely cross-platform compatible. Atomik
Xport rulesets and archives created on the MacOS can be used with
the new Windows version, and rulesets and archives created on
the Windows platform are equally compatible on the MacOS version
of Atomik Xport. This enables users to employ both versions side-by-side
when dual-platform workflows are required.
The Windows product is available with identical functionality
to Atomik Xport 3.1 for the MacOS, a product that has proved extremely
successful winning rave reviews, a Hot Pick selection at last
year's Seybold New York conference and exhibition and a wealth
of new customers including Time Out, Harvard Business School Publishing,
Euromoney and William Reed.
Atomik Xport Standard Edition for Windows was demonstrated for
the first time at Seybold San Francisco. Visitors were also be
able to see the first release of Atomik Roundtrip for QuarkXPress
6 and a new product, Atomik Xport Personal Edition.
Atomik Xport for Windows is available direct from Easypress Technologies
and resellers and system integrators worldwide. The suggested
retail price for a single user licence of Atomik Xport 3.x is
£4,995, $6,995 or e7,995 depending on the country of purchase.
For multi-user and Atomik Xport Developer Edition pricing, along
with fully functional demonstration versions of Atomik Xport for
Windows, visit www.easypress.com.
Atomik Xport is the fastest and easiest way to get content out
of QuarkXPress and into valid XML. This is achieved through Atomik
Xport's unique Automated Matching System (AMS) which scans the
QuarkXPress document and identifies relationships between the
content and XML elements based on a predefined DTD (Document Type
Definition).
For further information visit www.easypress.com.
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FRANKFURT
PREVIEW
Twentieth
Century Fox brings glamour
Literature in the dark? Twentieth Century Fox makes it happen!
In partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, the film company
is installing a complete cinema in Hall 4.0, showing films throughout
the entire Fair from October 8-13. Admission is free for Book
Fair visitors.
With seating for 450, the cinema is a highlight of the new “Forum
Film & TV”. The wide range of events in the Forum featuring
stars, starlets and film-makers is rounded off by the showing
of five new productions previewed by Fox here in this cinema.
Appropriately for the Book Fair, the focus is on films based on
literature.
James Ivory – a specialist in unusual film versions of literature
(Room with a View, Howards End) – has now adapted the best-seller
novel of the same name by Diane Johnson, Le Divorce. To be released
in Germany as Eine Affäre in Paris, this is a modern comedy
of manners with an outstanding cast including Kate Hudson, Glenn
Close and Stephen Fry. Down with Love – Zum Teufel mit der
Liebe - also has something to do with literature. The lovingly
presented comedy and another Fox Book Fair preview is set in the
1960s and features film star Renée Zellweger as the famous
writer Barbara Novak, whose pre-feminist manifesto gives the film
its title, and whose character engages in a quick-witted battle
of the sexes with Ewan McGregor as a notorious womaniser.
Twentieth Century Fox brings a special treat with the showing
of the spectacular screen adventure The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen – Die Liga der aussergewöhnlichen Gentlemen
with Sean Connery in the lead role. Based on the comics by Alan
Moore and Kevin O’Neill, the film brings famous literary
heroes to new life: Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray, Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde and many more join forces to save the world from destruction.
Another film worth seeing in the Fox cinema is Thirteen (Dreizehn),
a realistic take on adolescence with Holly Hunter in the role
of a helpless mother. Its director, Catherine Hardwicke, won the
prize for best direction at this year’s Sundance Festival.
In America is not to be missed either – the story of a family
that emigrates to New York from Ireland after the death of their
five-year-old son. This semi-autobiographical story is the work
of the award-winning Irish director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot,
In the Name of the Father).
With all the images still fresh in their minds, filmgoers can
make their way afterwards into the adjacent film café where
film fans, film-makers and publishers' representatives can meet
and talk. The Deutsche Filmmuseum sets the scene here with a selection
of exhibits from literary film adaptations, such as the original
Tin Drum.
More information on the cinema programme and the programme
in the “Forum Film & TV”. Contact: Katharina Werdnik,
Project Manager, Frankfurt Book Fair, phone: +49 (0) 69 2102-212,
E-mail: werdnik@book-fair.com
Pearson Australia’s textbook project
Pearson Australia has successfully completed what was described
as a “textbook implementation” of the Bookmaster Publishing
ERP package. The entire project went live on schedule and on budget
on Monday August 25 and Pearson printed invoices and shipped books
from day one.
“This was a very complex implementation involving more than
600 end users and seven business units in two countries,”
said Jim Abad, managing director of TMS, Tailor Made Systems,
developers of Bookmaster. “It was completed from start to
finish in a very tight timeframe – just five months - so
we were as pleased as Pearson that there was virtually no disruption
to their normal business operations. In fact their September New
Title release of over 50,000 lines went without a hitch just a
couple of weeks after going live.
“Pearson Education, Penguin and Dorling Kindersley in Australia
and New Zealand and Book Distributors New Zealand all worked closely
with TMS on the project and its success was due to the exceptional
cooperation and the hard work of the entire project team,”
said Mr Abad.
Additional challenges included the need to merge the business
processes of the trade and education groups and the requirement
to convert Penguin’s Vista database and merge it with the
Pearson Education database in Australia and New Zealand. Both
databases included many of the same customers and ISBNs and these
had to be merged and the history combined.
TMS also made significant enhancements to its Book Publishing
module as part of the project to satisfy Penguin’s requirements
in this area. Mr Abad, who is currently in the UK to launch TMS’s
new UK subsidiary, added: “Our philosophy is to incorporate
such changes into the core Bookmaster system. So as well as giving
Penguin the additional facilities they need we have also significantly
enhanced the Bookmaster Book Publishing module for our other customers.
In fact we believe it is now the most comprehensive publishing
module available anywhere in the world, covering the entire publishing
gamut from estimating through the scheduling of publishing tasks,
resource management and costing right to producing print orders
and then receiving the books in the warehouse.”
Bookmaster is now used by the four largest publishers in Australia
and has a 70% share of the Australian publishing software market.
Literacy campaign
For its annual meeting in Frankfurt, FEP welcomes European commissioner
Viviane Reding and AAP president and CEO Patricia Schroeder, a
former US congresswoman.
Dr Anton C. Hilscher, FEP president, invited the two well-known
women to talk about the importance of books for cultures, including
the need to promote reading as a factor of social cohesion on
both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1999, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) launched
the Get Caught Reading campaign, which is a nationwide literacy
campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read.
Research indicates that reading and talking to children actually
stimulates a child's brain to grow, thus reading to children gives
them a huge advantage when they start school.
The campaign hopes to encourage people of all ages to enjoy books
and magazines and to share that pleasure with young children.
The campaign has the support of well-known figures of American
politics, media and culture. All have been "caught reading"
their favourite books and magazines on printed ads and posters
seen by millions of people across the country (see www.getcaughtreading.org).
Since 2001, the British book industry has also started an innovative
and stimulating Get Caught Reading campaign.
Europe faces an increasing deficit in reading skills, and in order
to achieve its goal of becoming the knowledge society by 2010,
no effort should be spared. FEP would like to explore the constructive
aspects of this reading campaign at EU level, and is currently
preparing a Get Caught Reading project under the call for tender
for the Culture 2000 programme.
The first personality to have agreed to take part to the European
campaign is Ms Reding, who will also be sponsoring it.
Viviane Reding and Patricia Schroeder - Fighting Illiteracy United,
Thursday October 9 2003, Room Symmetrie, Hall 8.
Contact FEP director Mechthild von Alemann malemann@fep-fee.be
or Tel: 32 2 770 11 10
PubEasy®
launches UK Central Services
New Service Unites Booksellers with UK Publishers, Distributors
and Wholesalers Globally through a Centralised System. PubEasy®,
the 24/7 online customer self-service centre built to further
supply chain efficiency in the global publishing industry, announces
the release of UK Central Services.
Central Services is a revolutionary concept offering an even easier
and more simplistic approach to PubEasy services. Before
Central Services, booksellers were limited to making enquires
and placing orders one Affiliate (publisher, distributor or wholesaler)
at a time. Now with technological enhancements, Central Services
allows booksellers to make these same enquiries and order placements
across all UK Affiliates at one time via the Web.
This leveraging of technology not only increases the efficiency
and accuracy of enquiry and order entry processing. It also provides
a comparable list of pricing and availability merged with complete
bibliographic information.
“PubEasy is committed to streamlining business interactions
between booksellers and Affiliates both large and small,”
states Gary Aiello, senior vice-president of operations.
Looking forward, PubEasy plans to make this unique service available
for North American Affiliates by end-2003.
Visit www.PubEasy.com or e-mail info@pubeasy.com
CAREER
DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING
Throughout
the summer we have been running a series of articles in the hard
copy of Book People. These include contributions from major training/course
providers and recruitment professionals, plus a regular column
from Suzanne Collier of bookcareers.com on career development.
Press button to see the features included in the June, July, August
and September issues.
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Book People 2003
Website developed and maintained by Rigden Thorne. info@rigdenthorne.com
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