Happy Halloween: The Great Pumpkin Link edition

I know that it has been (the living) dead around here lately, for which I apologize for the shallowness of another link post, but in honor of the holiday I wanted to post these links:

In case you were on the fence about buying it, the SF Signal reviews the zombie anthology The Living Dead as well as several other Halloween appropriate books. Somehow I don't think my mustket will protect me...Note to self: Buy crowbar.

In honor of Zombies, how about a little Yuppie Brain Juice from i09. Yum!

While you're having a drink, you can check out Bookgasm's review of Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide to plan your movie viewing during los dias de los muertes (which I believe is the name of a very bad zombie movie I saw on the scifi channel not too long ago, but I could be wrong).

Lynda Hilburn investigates "Why do Women love Vampires."

And finally, here's a little treat from the man made for Halloween--Christopher Walken interprets Poe's "The Raven" (via Bookshelves of Doom)



Happy Halloween everyone!

Google me this: Weighing in on the Google Book Search Settlement

I've been in painting lala land the last several days (someday we will be able to move into the house, I know we will), but this had to be posted. An agreement has been reached in the Google Book Search dispute and you can read the actual settlement here.

The O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing blog has a round-up of blogging reactions to the the settlement. If you've got the time, it's worth reading how people are taking the news, and how they think it will impact the future of how we read.

Personanondata, Michael Cairns, has posted his own thoughts as well.

Brave New World refers to it as the Great Book Bank Robbery?

The digitalist coins the word Googlezon in Googlezon: Good or Bad?

Book stripping

Colleen Lindsay of the Swivet has a link to J. Steven York article (on a bookstore who loved their books so much that they wouldn't strip them for returns) as well as an explanation of the book-stripping.

My own explanation on stripped books (from 2005, yikes!) can be found here.

Entering the SciFi Zone

The Science Fiction Genre has been a hot topic on the interwebs these last few days. To catch you up:

First we have io9s Why Science Fiction Still Hates Itself--a look at science fiction shows on tv and their attempts to distance themselves from their genre.

Next we have a the SF Signal's response in Fear and Loathing in Science Fiction.

SF Signal follows up with a round up of links and an overview on the Borders' decision not to stock as many Scifi authors and titles in Do You Care if Borders Doesn't Stock All Science Fiction Books?.

Here is my take on the Borders decision: SciFi probably isn't the only section affected. Their new concept stores are based on the idea of fewer titles to allow for more face outs. More face outs means a better chance at that title catching a browser's eye, but it also means there is not as much shelf space for other titles and authors, especially stock that may run one or two books per store.

This doesn't stop people from special ordering a book for in store pick up. I've read that booksellers are saying they can't order the books in, but personally, I read that as booksellers can't order books in to put on the shelves. If you want a Tobias Buckell title, they can special order it for you in the store or you can set it up via their website. If they show a high number of special orders then they might change their mind about a particular title. I could be wrong--I have been before and will be again--and these titles might not show up even on the website, but it is worth a try.

And is there a moratorium against ordering SciFi on all the stores? That depends on the management. If you've got a bookseller who thinks they can really hand-sell a title, it’s up to the manager whether or not they order in the book be it from the warehouse or from Partners West, etc. While big box stores don't specialize to the level of the independents you do have to know your customer base. We were crazy about ordering specifically for our clientele at my old store, and we had the sales numbers to back it up.

Borders is making a business decision, but if a particular store can prove the stock is necessary to not miss out on the business (e.g. you are the Borders in Gregory Frost's home town), then an argument could be made to stock a title or author on a case by case basis. Lord Tophet, for example, is available on the Borders website.

This is not a defense of the Borders decision, so much as a perspective. Do I agree with the decision? Not in the way it has been phrased, a bookstore is there to sell books, and the best bookstores know their customers. As a company Borders has a tendency to forget that by simplifying everything down to price per item, upselling at the register, and other numbers that forget about the very human aspect of bookselling. The best booksellers are people who love books and know how to talk books to other people. The best booksellers have titles that they would walk across hot coals to hand-sell--to convert the non-reader to whatever the bookseller loves.

Measuring the Immeasurable: The Who, What, Why Edition

more music charts

When I first heard about Internet Explorer's new Incognito Mode, I reaked out. Immediately I emailed all my techie friends with questions like "What does this mean?" and more importantly, "How will I ever get an accurate viewer number from my Google Analytics program now?"

Reactionary? Very much so. Not only was I not posting with any regularity at this moment (nor had I been for some time), but I wasn't looking at the big reader picture. Why should I care whether or not someone is using a version of the Incognito mode to read my blog when there are already many other possible readers I can't quantify?

Google Analytics, as well as any other analytics programs, can only measure hits to my actual web page and therefore cannot measure any syndicated content or people reading via RSS feeds. This means that not only can I not measure any possible readers on JacketFlap or LiveJournal (where this site is syndicated), but I can't "see" anyone using bloglines, Feed Burner, Google Reader or another program. Since I've authorized a full content feed the only reason someone would need to visit my actual URL would be to comment or to view content that doesn't transfer (e.g. Flash content like Sprout is not viewable in Google Reader), and even then the information I receive is negligable as you can see below.

So is there anyway to measure your RSS feed readers?

You can always look on the blog reader sites. A quick search of Google Reader the following information regarding my blog and others.


But whether people are actually reading the content, skimming, or even using the Google Reader account anymore remains to be seen.


You can set up a web bug (a concept I don't really understand in practice) or a bounce page to measure anyone who signs up for you blog through a certain reading device. Still this tells you nothing about who is reading your content and what they would be interested in reading next. Are they readers? Your family? That creepy person who won't leave you alone on Facebook?

In the end, unless you are really looking to make money from your blog (via click throughs on ad content, etc) numbers won't matter as much to you. Instead you should keep the following in mind:


If you are referencing something in the side bar, that side bar will not be visible to anyone using sydicated content, so you'll need to be specific so readers can decide if they want to click though to see it.


If you're just posting flash widgets, let people know, as with Google Reader at least, no one will see it.


If you're using a blog reading device yourself, I would suggest you sign up to follow your own RSS feed. This way you can see how long it takes scheduled content to actually hit your reader* and also to see what (if anything) does not transmit (that's how I found out about flash).

Analytics programs can be addicting if only for the randomness of why someone clicks on your blog,** I know I'm a recovering addict, but as an author don't let your readership drive your content unless it is something you are interested in writing about. Blogging shouldn't be something you dread.

*Edited to add: for example, this post didn't hit my Google Reader until three hours after its scheduled post:

** For the person who keeps searching with the term "the sale of this book without its cover" I can tell you that means the book was stripped and therefore cannot be sold legally.

Hodge Podge Links

Stephen King talks about what makes "Manfiction," although I know a lot of women who read these books as well.

readergirlz has been celebrating YALSA Teen Read week all week with Night Bites, and tonight they are hosting a fit of fantasy. Go chat with Holly Black, Ted Naifeh, Dia Calhoun and Tamora Pierce at the readergirlz Forum on MySpace.

Wendy the SuperLibrarian has an interesting post up on publishing, the economic crisis and how it is affecting librarians.

For those of you writers who feel that despite being successful you've never done your best, apparently that is a good thing.

Please Pass the Brains

You may have noticed that the recommendations leading up to this Halloween have been a little Zombified. This is not due to any great love I have for the horror genre in general, but due to a very personal fear I have of zombies specifically.

You see, right up there in the top five things that I fear above else—ranking higher than spiders and abandonment even—resides zombies.

Of all the mythical out-to-get-me creatures, I find zombies to be the most horrifying. Vampires seem like someone you might be able to reason with (or perhaps he’ll spare me due to realizing that I’m the other half of his tortured soul), werewolves can be stopped with bullets (if you shoot them, do they not yelp in pain?), but Zombies are unstoppable unless you whack off their heads and even then its questionable. With no pain censors or thought process to convince them of possible failure they just keep mwaaaaahing along, eventually knocking through walls, crashing through fences or otherwise compromising your safety zone.

Yes, I know they are not real. Fast zombies from 28 Days Later are not going to get me, I should not worry about the possible creation of a Monster Island.

Yes, I know I should worry more about the economy being in the crapper and the possibility of going broke. Even someone breaking into my apartment is a much more likely scenario, but that is not what haunts my Benadryl-fueled nightmares. That is not what lurks in the shadows and follows me down dark streets at night.

Zombies scare the hell out of me, and because they do, I’ve found myself oddly fascinated and unable to turn away from Zombie related literature. I swear, it knows my neuroses and calls to them.

At the store I became the defacto zombie expert because we didn’t have a horror fan working for us at the time, and through this I found David Wellington and Max Brooks before they became the Zombie lit go to guys they are today. And while I don’t sell books any longer, I still seem to be subconsciously on the lookout for Zombie related stuff which may very well tie in to my constant vigilance for actual Zombies.

Part of my sick fascination/fear dichotomy with Zombies has to do with a need to understand the science behind them. If you buy into the idea that they are, in fact, out to eat your brains as opposed to your flesh, then how do they create more Zombies? If the brain has been devoured what’s sending out signals to those jittery body parts to keep them moving in the drive for replacement brain sustenance? If in fact Zombie actually just crave flesh, why do they stop eating the body so that new Zombies arise? Why don’t they eat it all?

Is it like the fact that we don’t the whole pig/chicken/cow?*

And then the little part of me that contains the remnants of my biology degree starts thinking about Zombieism and how it would relate to Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Kuru, and other spongiform encephalopathic diseases. What if the need to eat brain is due to the disease’s need to replace the misfolded prions with untainted nerve matter? If so, wouldn’t that make Zombies much more likely to attack children as nerves cells continue to grow and produce up until a human is seven years old (at least I think that is the age)? And if that is the case, could you treat zombieism as a disease by injecting the infected with nerve cells grown in a lab environment?

Which makes me want to know if this would lead to Republicans finally backing stem cell research as a way to keep their kids from becoming Zombie snacks?

Welcome to my brain. Could I overthink this anymore?

Why, yes, yes I could.

But I’ll keep it to myself and instead provided some more zombie related books and merchandise that will have you craving raw brain (with or without the Chianti and fava beans):

Combine your love of zombies with that of 1950s pin up girls in: The Zombie Pin up Calendar 2009.

Canvas a zombie crime scene with the Zombie CSU.

Check out a youtube video of Max Brooks talking about Zombie Survival.

If you buy into the whole zombieism as a rage disease, then you should browse Scott Sigler's new novel Infected.

Please feel free to add your zombie recommendations and add to my related neuroses below.

*And were we to do a zombie survey, would we discover that humans taste like any or all of the above? Does it matter whether or not the person ate meat?

Thoughts on Site Connectivity...

Which, if you're interested, you can check out on my guest blog over at Romancing the Blog.

Free Online Young Adult Novel

John Green's cohort Alan Gratz has posted a free online version of his Young Adult mystery novel, Something Rotten, on his website. This freebie is brought to you by its sequel--the forthcoming Something Wicked--Hamlet and the letters W and S.

More Zombie fun...For Free!

If you're looking for something a little gory and different check out this very cool looking photo novel called Night Zero (thanks to Skidmore Bluffs for recommendation). I don't know how often the artist/writer posts, but Zombie-esque disease taking out most of Seattle and the rest of the world looks to be keeping with the Halloween spirit.

Just in time for Halloween

Available through PartnersWest.

In Honor of Halloween: Zombies and links

The Zombie Apocalpyse...in Legos because Lego Zombies really were the final frontier. While you're hanging at i09 you can also figure out if you'll survive a real zombie apocalpse (because while you definitely be able to out run the legos, books and movies in recent years have let me to believe that the real things are a bit faster.

Free books, Books for the presidential campaign and more

Huh, I thought I had posted this a long time ago (read: a week), but just discovered it my drafts folder. Ah, well, here you go:

In honor of the election season, any indecision you may have can be laid to rest by checking out "6 Schience Fiction Classics to Help You Choose the Next President"

For book lovers everywhere, you can check out "Interesting Inscriptions" from famous writers at Abe Books.

Cory Doctorow is offering up his newest book Content for free. Unlike his other works, this is filled with the nonficiton pieces he's written over the years. What's even better is that readers have created different formats of the book which are all available at his site. Go,Read!

GoodReads, LibraryThing, Shelfari: One to Rule Them All?

Unless we’re reading aloud, reading is an inherently solitary act; however it doesn’t stay that way. Whether we love the book or hate it, more often than not we then discuss what we’ve read with friends and family, our book group, or via some other venue (email, blogging, etc). By cataloging our books through an online library program we have another way to take the reading experience from its private state and make it communal. It allows us to create a visual or textual database to view, rate and review our collections, and share that process with others.

"My friend just turned me on to this site: www.goodreads.com. It's like if myspace didn't suck and was occupied by book nerds. Crack, I tell you. Crack." — kxm (GoodReads.com Press page)

Finally the literati have a place to congregate and talk about what they love—books. From 2006 on, online book cataloguing sites like Shelfari, LibraryThing and GoodReads have provided venues for readers to connect with other readers. What may begin with the simple act of uploading an ISBN or entering a Title or Author into a site search engine can evolve into a review, discussion, friendship or newly discovered favorite author. And through that same ability that allows a reader to find other readers who liked (or hated) a particular book an author can connect with their fan base.

In my previous post “GoodReads, Shelfari and LibraryThing: a Features Comparison” I outlined some of the similarities and differences in the features found on each site. For anyone just looking for a place to load their books and keep track of what title is loaned to which friend, the choice of site will be a matter of taste. But for an author, these sites can become a place to cultivate and connect with readers on and offline, so it’s important to decide based on the options they provide.

Since not all social book networking sites are built equally, for the sake of this discussion we are going to focus on the two that are really working to connect authors to readers: LibraryThing and GoodReads.com. Shelfari, while visually appealing, does not appear to have any programs in place to bridge the author/reader divide.

The LibraryThing Early Reviewers program allows the author to get their book out there before publication date and build word of mouth via reviews. The book giveaways are organized on a monthly basis, with the new book list added near the beginning of every month. Each book is posted along with a corresponding flag representing the countries the publisher is willing to ship to. Once the winning names have been chosen, LibraryThing provides the publisher with the names and address of the winners so that the books may be sent out.

The GoodReads Book Giveaway program operates similarly to that of LibraryThing, although it is not organized on a month to month basis. As with LibraryThing, the publisher or person who listed the book is responsible for the books distribution to whatever countries they indicated. Any discussion regarding the title will then appear on the books page along with any reviews the giveaway might prompt.

While book giveaways and early reader programs help generate word of mouth, events listings give the author an opportunity to connect with fans offline as well. An event placed in LibraryThing Local will appear on the home page of any reader within five miles of the address. These events are also reflected on the author’s own profile for their fans to read should they click through. LibraryThing Local also includes a comprehensive list of bookstores found in the reader’s area, and this function can be useful to authors looking to plan formal signings or drop ins.

GoodReads also has an event program, and this event program links to individual reader homepage that fall within a radius of the event site. The event listings are not as comprehensive as those found on LibraryThing which has actively cultivated relationships with local bookshops. Also local bookstore listings are currently no where to be found on the GoodReads site, but as GoodReads gains in popularity and continues to grow, this may change.

Active LibraryThing user authors are distinguished from their non-participating counterparts by an emblem, which comes with the possibility of being highlighted as featured author, inclusion on the LibraryThing author page, and allows the author complete control over their author profile. LibraryThing Authors can also participate in LibraryThing’s new Chat program. These chats are scheduled over a series of days (two weeks max) to allow authors to talk up their new books or just open up discussion with readers.

Unfortunately LibraryThing Author Chat does not seem to have a corresponding link to the authors profile at this time, which means the author would have to publicize the chat in some other fashion. Authors could advertise their Chats on other social networking platforms, blogs or websites and that their fans will be able to access the ongoing conversation without having a LibraryThing account. Please note, however that they will not be able to comment unless they are a member.

The GoodReads author discussion program suffers from the same disconnect. While the discussions can be started informally at any time (to last a maximum of two weeks) they do not correspond to the writer’s profile. This means that once again the reader must actively search for it, the author must update their profile to reflect it, or have advertised through some other social venue to bring in readers. This is slightly easier on GoodReads as they offer applications for Facebook and MySpace (as well as applications for various web blogging sites) whereas LibraryThing has just finished their beta versions of their LiveJournal and MySpace applications.

An area that GoodReads has used to differentiate their own author program from others is to enable authors to post excerpts or samples of their writing. Any GoodReads member can post writing on the site, but for authors this allows an opportunity to provide more for their readers by posting first chapters, short stories, scenes, etc. These writing postings are then reflected on the author’s profile for anyone who clicks through to view.

Authors can also add book trailers to their profile. These trailers also appear on the GoodReads author page where a round up of all GoodRead authors are placed. GoodRead members can comment on their effectiveness by voting for whether or not they enjoyed the trailer and also by commenting on the author’s profile (if the author has enable comments).

Unlike LibraryThing, GoodReads appears to have an option for ebooks, which would make it perfect for the writers who currently have published works only in that category. However it doesn’t appear that the system will be able to find it unless a Kindle edition is listed on Amazon (its default book library) or if it has been added by someone with Librarian status.

After several days of research and exploring I believe that LibraryThing currently has the most comprehensive author program when viewed in conjunction with LibraryThing Local, however GoodReads offers several options that LibraryThing does not and looks like it will continue to improve in the future. If using either site appeals to you as an author I would suggest exploring all the options, and don’t be afraid to sign up for both.

The positive return found in using either of these sites depends solely on how much work the author (or possibly the publisher) intends to put into it. Just taking control of the author page and not updating beyond the first book makes the profile a static entity with little to draw in readers. It also gives nothing back to the social community on which these sites are based. By updating your events, adding trailers and excerpts or by giving away titles you can reach out to the people who are interested in the same thing you are: Books—specifically yours. Through these actions you can not only build your presence within the site, but your readers will be able to take their response and post it elsewhere through widgets, reviews and comments and thus increasing the spread of people the information can reach.

You are the only true authority on you, and so rather than leaving your author profile up to be changed wiki style by anyone who comes through, you should take control. Take advantage of the formats these sites offer for free to help publicize what you have created.

NOTE: This post has been cross posted at The Nebula Awards site. Thank you to David, for this opportunity.

Fiction Rule of Thumb

The Fiction Rule of Thumb by xkcd.

Someone once told me that xkcd was a comic for nerds and geeks and I didn’t qualify enough for either category to be a believable fan. I had to respectfully disagree.*

While some of the physics humor is far and above my level of schooling, more often than not Randall Munroe manages to produce a comic that is both intelligent and accessible. And he’s not afraid to skewer anything, hence the comic above. Sure, there are a few notable exceptions to that graph (see: Tolkien, J.R.R.) if I didn’t know better I would say he got a hold of a self published novel that one of our stores did an author event for.

There are many wonderful self-published novels out there as POD-dy Mouth proved during her blogging tenure, but sadly this novel wasn’t one of them. It was so filled with misspelled words, bad grammar, made up words (again see the comic above), and mishmash of every famous fantasy novel out there that it hurt my brain to even look at the thing when a coworker who worked at both stores brought a copy in.

And it wasn’t like I could avoid the thing as said coworker insisted upon reading passages aloud and then identifying the origin.

“Tolkien. It’s Tolkien. Could he make it a little less obvious?”

“Did he think we wouldn’t have heard of a little thing called Dune?”

This in and of itself would not be that interesting. Books hold author events for all types of authors and booksellers world wide mock one book or the other. It is the circle of book life. What made this interesting was that this author talked our fellow manager into ordering in 700 copies of his title, swearing he could sell them all.

We told the other manager he was a fool. We asked if he were sure he could return them. In short, we gave him hell based on the quality of the book.

A book that the author managed to sell every single copy of.

That’s right. Despite everything working against this book—self-published, bad editing, poor plot—the author hand sold every single one. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that he was an attractive man, but the sales were due to his relentless drive to build word of mouth about the event. He publicized it on his website and talked it up at this day job. He wandered around the store and talked it up to the customers as they came in. He had his elevator pitch down so that it sounded natural and he managed not to come across as overtly pushy.

That novel, which stands out in my mind as one of the worst books I’ve ever had the misfortune to listen to/read, which proves the theorem of the xkcd graph, gave that bookstore one of its highest sales days outside of a Harry Potter release.

I learned a week ago that the bookstore has been closed down, and I have no idea what the author is up to now, but that event lives on in my mind as an example of the power of what an author can do if they're willing to try.


*All respectful disagreements involve cursing right?

The eReader Question

Taking into account Dear Author's "10 Things Epublishers Should Do for Readers" if:Book would like you to join the ebook dialog on what can be done to make ebook readers more attractive to readers. More specifically they would like you to focus on these areas:

1) Is it more convenient in a pocket-sized device like one of these phones, a Kindle-sized screen, an iRex-sized screen, or a desktop screen? Are you inclined to stick with paperback-sized pages when you read an eBook?

2) Are there certain types of books you would read on one screen rather than another? I assume there are - do you use The Pynchon Test or some other method to determine the best possible reading device for your material?

3) Are there certain features in one of these that really works for you? Specifically, do you care about turning the pages? Scrolling? Reading inside or outside a browser?

4) Do you feel more compelled to buy a digital book if it is scarce? Libraries seem to be wondering whether to loan one ebook out at a time, or take advantage of the infinite resources the digital world provides.

5) Is the problem that screens are too closely associated with your workplace, and that you're afraid of your reading being interrupted by popups, email, etc.?

6) Most importantly: Is there some mysterious intangible thing that books have and eBooks don't? If so, can you describe it? (That library smell and your great-grandfather's marginalia in your prized first-edition don't count.)

Go to if:Book and offer your thoughts. I'll be giving my own opinion after I stop lusting after Tom Stoppard's portable book case.

GoodReads, Shelfari and LibraryThing: A Features Comparison

After I wrote my GoodReads post the other day, I decided that I needed to take another look at the different library programs out there. Bright, new and shiny aspect aside, what made GoodReads different from Shelfari and LibraryThing other than the fact that I liked the layout?

When too many books happen to good people...

So confused by all the programs out there wanting to help you catalog your library? Overwhelmed by the project before you? Trying to figure out what will work best for you as a reader or an author? Well, benefit for my one day of comparison--all findings based on what I could actually find on the website without any outside research for possible hacks and the like.


GoodReads:

• Owned by: Otis Chandler (privately owned)
  
• Membership: Free
• Source for book Information: Amazon (by clicking on a book you can choose where you look it up directory-wise, but it appears that GoodReads gets all of its default information from Amazon)
  
• Widgets: Flash, HTML, Javascript
• Widget applications: Specifically for MySpace, Facebook and Bebo (also most blogging software)
• Amazon Bookmarklet application: allows you to add books from Amazon to your Goodreads account through the Bookmarklet
  
• For Authors:
• Book Clubs
• Writing Area
• GoodReads Author Program
• Participate in Online Q&As
• Book Giveaway program
• Publicize events
• Share excerpts and videos
  

Shelfari:

• Owned by: Amazon
  
• Membership: Free
• Source for Book Information: Amazon
  
• Widgets: Javascript, HTML, Flash
  
• Widget applications: Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Blogger, LiveJournal, Typepad, Vox, Xanga, WordPress (Widget application dependent on URL entered)
  
• Your Amazon ID can be entered in your widget
• Note: You cannot change the visual presentation of a Shelfari widget, but you can submit any design ideas through Shelfari Feedback.
  
• For Authors:
• Featured Author Sheflari profiles on Author page (anyone can edit wiki style)
• Writing groups: sub-category called "Shameless Self-Promotion"
  

LibraryThing:

• Owned by: Tim Spalding, 40% owned by AbeBooks (which was recently bought by Amazon)
  
• Membership: first 200 books free--Yearly or Lifetime membership opportunities afterwards
  
• Source for Book Information: Library of Congress, Amazon, over 80 libraries
  
• Widgets: HTML
  
• Widget Applications: Does not work on LiveJournal
  
• Your Amazon ID can be entered in your Widget
  
• For Authors:
• Author Chat
• Early Reviewer program
• LibraryThing Authors: Authors who also have are LibraryThing Members
• Author Members receive feature
  
• LibraryThing Local
• Allows you to look up local events in your area by plugging in your zip code
• Brings up all the bookstores in the area that have been added to the LibraryThing database
• You can add a venue or event
• Do not have to be signed in to use the LibraryThing Local feature.
  

EDITED TO ADD: I just found out that Kristi J--a book cateloger of long standing--did a wonderful break down (with pictures and graphs) of these sites as well. Please check out here post "Book Cataloguing--An Analysis of Online Sites." Brings to mind this quote by Chuck Palahnuik from the new intro for Fight Club:

"Now this is the first rule of fight club: There is nothing a blue collar Nobody
in Oregon with a public school education can imagine that a million-billion
people haven't already done... "

Coming Monday (10/13/08): What works best for readers? Authors? Publishers?