My Christmas Book Suggestions

This is one of my favorite times of year.  Since I was a kid it's always been a time of fun, magic, and possibilities.  There is a great deal of history and wonderful stories that make up what Christmas is today, but they are often over-looked.  Then there are years where life had gotten to be too much and it was tough to get 'in the spirit' of the season.  Some of these books really gave me a real eye-opening experience during those times.  So here's some of my top Christmas book picks:

The Autobiography of Santa Claus (Click here for the ebook)

The first time I saw this title, I couldn't help but open it and check it out.  Jeff Guinn blends actual history of the real St. Nicholas and the histories of many Christmas traditions today into a fun-filled adventure.    This is by far my favorite Christmas book and a great read for adults and young readers.

Stories Behind The Best Loved Christmas Songs (Click here for the ebook)

So many of the songs we sing during this time of year have amazing stories behind them.  'Silent Night' was originally written as a poem by Father Mohr in the 1800's in Austria.  Just hours before the midnight Mass at St. Nicholas Church, Father Mohr discovered that the organ was broken and would not play.  Repair efforts were futile and he refused to have such an important Mass without beautiful music.  He remembered a poem he wrote and quickly took it to Franz Gruber to put the poem to music for the choir.  'Silent Night' was born as one of the most widely recorded and sung songs of all times.  And that is just one of the many amazing stories behind the music of Christmas in this book.

The Christmas Sweater (Click here for the ebook)

Glenn Beck offers this wonderful tale that reminds us of the truly important things at Christmas.  Twelve year old Eddie wants nothing more than a bike for Christmas.  He and his Mother had lost his Father years before leaving his Mother struggling to provide.  But Christmas was important to her and her parents to spend with Eddie.  Eddie's simple gift of a sweater from his Mother was a disappointment and took him down a wildly twisting path challenging him to see the truly important things in life and Christmas.

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

In 1897 8-year old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote the famous question to the editor of New York's Sun newspaper because her Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'".  Francis Church was charged with responding to this very difficult question to answer especially responding to an 8 year old.  The response is timeless and was published this year as a children's picture book that is beautifully illustrated.  Click here to read the original article in New York's Sun Newspaper from 1897.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Clement C. Moore in 1822 originally wrote the famous poem to entertain his children.  A tradition of writing a Christmas poem each year that he almost forgot.  Submitted by a friend of Moore's to The Troy Sentinel, a local newspaper, the poem was published on December 23, 1823.  It has become perhaps the most popular Christmas poem ever written and the definitive source of many Christmas images today.

What are your favorite Christmas books?

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Book Publishing Made Anew: Pubit!

Most people in the book world will tell you that the publishing world has not really changed much in the last 100 years or more.  In fact, many of the same debates between publishers, distributors, and booksellers that existed then . . . continue today.  In the middle of all of that is the author.  The actual creator of the content.  Experienced authors know the barriers they face in actually getting the book to readers.  Not only is it costly to actually publish the book, but there is the difficult challenge of actually getting the book on shelves in stores.  But like any problem, there is a solution waiting to be applied.  And along comes . . . ebooks.

Not only are ebooks revolutionizing the way we read books, but they are revolutionizing the way books are published and sold to readers.  They are breaking down almost every barrier authors have experienced over the years.  Barnes and Noble, for example, just launched Pubit!.  This is an exciting new publishing model for writers that allows them to upload their book, have it converted to the .epub format (quickly becoming the standard ebook file format), and it is available to the masses within a day or two through Barnes and Noble's ebook store.  The author gets paid a portion of the sales and has access to sales reporting for their book.  Up until now, nothing like this has existed in the traditional publishing world.  

So how can this new publishing avenue be used?  There are several new opportunities this type of publishing open up for authors. 

1. Self-Publishing Authors - Rather than pay out a lot of money to produce a print book, self-publishing authors can go straight to ebook with no out-of-pocket costs.  The challenge of trying to get one's book on 'store shelves' is also eliminated since the ebook is available on the same virtual store shelf as every other author in Barnes and Noble's ebook store.  
2.  Authors Seeking To 'Test' a New Book - Maybe you had an idea for a new character or story line that is different than what you've done before, straight-to-ebook provides a great opportunity to get the book into the hands of readers who can give feedback.  Or perhaps this is the first time writing a book and the author now has an opportunity to test out both the book itself and various marketing strategies without the expense.  Then go to print after raising some money and maybe making some changes based upon feedback.
3. Students and Teachers - A few years ago I had a teacher in the area who compiled classwork from his various English Class students into a book.  He used the book as an educational experience to teach the students about creating the work to publishing to selling.  Great idea too.  Now teachers can do the same thing with ebooks or perhaps a student wants to create a book of fiction, poetry, short stories that they've written and publish it as an ebook for a project.  Or maybe the student just wants to publish their own book.  Now they can without the expense and hassles of before.  

I'm sure there are many other ways authors can use this new model to get their work out i front of readers.  What do you think? 

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Will Book Stores Go Away As eBooks Take Hold?

Barnes and Noble Nook

There is a great deal of speculation about the fate of book stores as ebooks become more and more popular.  In fact, I get asked that question a lot.  In the last 22 years of working retail and 15 years managing in stores, I've seen digital media transform businesses a great deal.  And the short answer in terms of book stores is . . . they will stay.  Will all stay?  No.  But many will and the sustainability of those businesses will depend on their ability to evolve and compete in the digital world.

Take Barnes & Noble for example.  This company has fully embraced the digital age (and the future of it) in terms of books.  Their ebook store is one of the most powerful and comprehensive initiatives for readers.  The Nook is one of the best ereader devices on the market.  And the competition knows it.  Amazon has a good brand and did a great job with the Kindle, but if you haven't noticed . . . everything they are doing now are reactions to Barnes & Noble.  This includes price (price drops twice now), device options (WiFi version), mobile apps, etc.  The biggest difference still being is that the use of Kindle does not provide users options outside of Amazon.  Nook is very open-ended and provides users more flexibility to use the device with other sources for content (i.e. libraries).

So why is Barnes and Noble 'up for sale'?  It has to do with stock price and is not about financial issues with the company.  Founder of what Barnes and Noble is today, Len Riggio (Chairman of the Board), is very passionate about the company and literacy in general.  To insure a solid future for the company, the board has decided to look at a possible buyout of the company due to some investor issues.  The feeling is that the stock is highly undervalued. The timing of this in relation to the digital evolution is more coincidental than anything in my opinion.

Borders is a different story.  They have actually been having financial difficulties for the last several years.  Their entry into the ebook market and current strategy is weaker than Amazon and Barnes and Noble due to the fact that they still do not provide their users an over-the-air delivery option for purchasing ebooks.  You have to hook up to a computer to get ebooks pruchased from them to the ereader itself.  For Borders, their issues were already present.

So what about indie stores?  Independent book stores have always found success in niches that they stay true to and are good at.  Used and out-of-print, antique books, local authors, etc.  Those that utilize the online avenues to continue to reach wider customer bases outside of their local communities will continue to do well in my opinion.  Will they have to compete in the ebook market to sustain themselves?  That depends on their business model really.  For those niche types of indie stores, ebooks is not really a factor in many ways.  Indie stores that primarily focus on new book sales will need to have a presence in the ebook market.  What's interesting compared to other digital media forms is that indie stores can get into 'play here'.  Adobe Digital Editions offers indie stores the ability to provide ebooks to their customers that can be used on a variety of ereaders.  So they do have the option to expand their selection and services to their customers.

Apple iPad

What about Apple and the iPad?  Somehow the iPad became lumped in with eReaders in terms of a device.  What most don't realize is the battle that has existed with Amazon and Apple for some time now that started over music.  Apple had an awesome grip on music sales with the success of the iPod and its iTunes store.  Amazon began undercutting iTunes pricing and lauched an application that allowed customers to purchase music that automatically dropped the file right into a users iTunes library.  So the entry into the ebook business with the development of the iPad was a natural competitive progression and also somewhat of a 'Take that Amazon' shot if you ask me.  The iPad is awesome and opens the door to some amazing new technology advancements, but an LCD display is not always the best reading experience as most find.  eInk is still the better reading experience since it provides a paper-like display.

What about the book itself?  Physical books (I truly dislike the recent phrasing of 'dead tree books' by the way) will not go away.  In fact, no projections show they will.  Actually the sepculation of them going away is the same exact specualtion that has been applied to CD's and DVD's.  Both still sell well and will continue to sell for some time.  No, the media industries can not support all of the exisiting competitors as formats change but that is nothing new throughout the history of businesses as society changes.  Companies still exist that make saddles for horses.  There just aren't as many with the invention and wide-scale adoption of the car.

It's too early to tell what the true impact of ebooks and digital media in general will be on a large scale.  Book stores will remain and continue to be great community hubs.  Yes, some may go away.  It would be naive to think otherwise.  The real truth with ebooks is that they are a truly exciting new format for the book itself and are providing some very exciting new services in the book industry such as being able to reach more readers than ever before and exciting new publishing option for new authors.  Be careful of some the news and opinions.  Positive is not always the most attractive news as we all have unfortunately come to know.

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