One of my primary sources of information about the book publishing industry is Publishers Lunch Deluxe. It is published every workday by PublishersMarketplace as part of its premium membership service. If you are an author, agent, or publisher, it is must reading.

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Recently, Seth Godin blogged on his dream iPad app. I thought I would follow suit and talk about something near and dear to my heart: my ideal iPad book application.

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By now, you have no doubt heard about the new Apple iPhone 3G S. It looks pretty cool, but I’m not too excited about the pricing—at least for existing AT&T customers. At any rate, Julian Smith, a very bright, young filmmaker, did a video tribute to the new device last week. You may remember Julian: he’s the one who created the popular 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

A while back, I gave my impressions of the Kindle 2 after one week of use. In that post, I attempted to focus on what I liked about Amazon’s latest eBook reader. I also said that “I still don’t think this is the device that will dramatically change the game for publishing.”

For the most part, Amazon addressed the problems with the original Kindle. However, they still have a ways to go if they are going to capture the interest of the majority of readers. Here’s my list of what is still missing:

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Two weeks ago, two of our dear friends celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary. Their daughter asked me to photograph the event, knowing that I am an amateur photographer. I happily agreed.

I took about 250 photos altogether, using the quantity-over-quality method of photography. (I assume that if I shoot enough pictures, I’m bound to get something I can use.) Continue Reading

The new iPhone 3G launches next week. July 11 to be exact. You’ve seen the ads. You’ve read the hype. Now let’s be honest. You’ve already made the decision to buy an iPhone 3G. You fell in love the first time you saw it. Now, you just need to justify the decision and enroll your brain in the process.

Here are my top ten reasons to buy (or upgrade to) the iPhone 3G. These might also come in handy in trying to convince your spouse! Continue Reading

When Apple introduced the original iPhone last summer, it was a complete WOW experience. People expected a new phone, but their expectations were shaped entirely by their previous experiences with cell phones. As a result, Apple exceeded the market’s expectations. The company reinvented the cell phone and WOWed the market.

Among other things, Apple redefined voice mail and Web browsing on a mobile device. The company married a phone to an iPod and threw in an amazing touch-screen interface to boot. The device has proven so popular that Apple has sold five million phones in the last year.

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I bought my iPhone a month ago. I have used it extensively since then. I have traveled the country with it and, I think, given it a fair test. I thought I’d report back on my experience with it.

I’ll start with the positive:

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One of my favorite marketing gurus, David Ogilvy, once wrote, “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.” How true.

I have argued for years that, “It’s the product, Stupid.” The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. No amount of marketing savvy, salesmanship, or operational excellence can overcome a weak product. This is especially true when it comes to publishing.

The purpose of marketing is to get a book launched—to prime the pump. But if people don’t want to read it and—more importantly—if they won’t recommend it to their friends, you’re hosed. You can’t spend enough money or be creative enough to overcome a lack of word-of-mouth marketing. Continue Reading