I suspect many the digital marketer has spent some time (or much time) over the past week or two wrapping up the 2013 metrics, scratching his or head about this or that trend, data nugget, etc. I am no exception and I’ve learned a lot from 2013 — along the way and, now, from looking […]
Hype Cycles: Marketers as Coaches, Sherpas, and Therapists
In the ongoing debate of the value of “traditional publishers” in today’s digital landscape, certain activities in which publishers are engaged — very, very valuable activities — often seem to be overlooked. While the debate centers on the shift to “low cost” digital products (and the resulting move away from physical distribution and account-leverage for merchandising and […]
Some Thoughts on Amazon’s Acquisition of GoodReads
Our mentality here is to first do no harm, and make sure that if we’re going to do integrations, users genuinely find it to be a big benefit. — Russ Grandinetti, Amazon VP of Kindle Content (via PaidContent) I’ve been asked by several people what I think about Amazon’s acquisition of GoodReads. It’s funny because […]
Confession: I Almost Never Surf the Web Anymore
My mind goes to Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now; “Charlie don’t surf!” Okay, so this is a bit less dramatic but I have to admit that I don’t surf either. I used to. But I don’t anymore. My first contact with the web is in the morning via email. I scan it for any “fires” […]
How Might a Spotify for Books Work?
In a previous post, I postulated that forces in technology and consumer behavior, as evidenced by the popularity of the music streaming service Spotify could be seen a signs of things to come for books. I then took some guesses as to which companies might try to offer this “access model” (paid or ad-supported) for […]