Chris Bauerle, Director of Sales & Marketing at Sourcebooks, will be at the Frankfurt Book Fair Publishers Launch Conference on October 10 to speak about how Sourcebooks built an efficient, cross-company digital workflow.

In advance of his session, Chris was asked this question on the Frankfurt Book Fair blog:

Can a publisher change its whole way of doing things, continue to deliver high-quality printed books, and gain the flexibility necessary to capitalize on digital opportunities without losing its soul, and a good portion of its staff?

And here’s what he had to say:

“At first glance, my answer here was YES!, but I think there is much more to the answer than that. I would first take the opportunity to poke a little at the basis of the question. I don’t think a publisher needs to “change its whole way of doing things” at all. The basis of our business is artistic and creative. Publishers are not in the business of just printing manuscripts but of crafting an author’s work into a living expression of an idea—this through development, editing, packaging, positioning, sales, and marketing. These fundamentals stay the same, and the digital transformation allows the opportunity for us to apply our craft in order to reach new readers through a seemingly endless stream of possibilities..."

READ FULL BLOG POST HERE

For the last 18 months we've been working on developing a digital roadmap for The Fiske Guide to Colleges, which is the #1 bestselling college guide in the country.

It's been interesting on two fronts.

The first is the actual roadmap, determining what the digital products should be. What would enhance the experience? What would provide further support for parents, students and educators going through the college search process?

The second is about watching ourselves going through the process. What is the role of a traditional book publisher in this kind of development? When do we stop being a traditional book publisher? And that's interesting because it's all new ground. There aren't good models here. It's a new world for us all.

So today we get to introduce the first part of that roadmap, The Fiske Interactive College Guide iPad app, now live on the App Store!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fiske-interactive-college/id418350915?mt=8

We've also put a quick video together to showcase some of the functionality. I urge you to check it out (I admit being in love with this video):

You can read more about the app here:
http://www.sourcebooks.com/next/apps/fiske-interactive-college-guide.html

To put the app in further context, read what Jacques Steinberg, the Education Editor of the New York Times, has to say.  He just wrote about Fiske Interactive in The Choice: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/fiske/

There's a lot more to say about Fiske Interactive. And the marketing for all of this development is extensive. But today I just wanted to share this app that (I think) takes a step forward in reference publishing.

Let me know what you think,
Dominique

Kirkus reviewed the enhanced e-book of Let Every Nation Know: John F. Kennedy in His Own Words by Robert Dallek and Terry Golway in the publication’s upcoming February 15 issue.

"A well-made enhanced e-book that collects some 30 speeches by John F. Kennedy from January 1960 until the day before his assassination in November 1963. Readable and easily navigated and bookmarked—a first-rate introduction to the Kennedy presidency."