Somersault Blog

Bruce Ryskamp Receives ECPA Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award

2013-05-01T22:06:39Z

All of us at Somersault (@smrsault) congratulate Bruce Ryskamp for receiving the ECPA Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award. We all worked for Bruce during our tenures at Zondervan and count him to be a visionary leader and personal friend. We’re thrilled at this recognition of his outstanding abilities that he consistently displayed throughout his illustrious career.

All the details are in the following news release:

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (@ecpa) presented the 2013 Kip Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award to publishing industry veteran, Bruce Ryskamp, at an awards banquet held Apr. 29, 2013, during the ECPA Leadership Summit at World Outreach Church outside Nashville, Tenn.

Ryskamp was honored for his tremendous impact on the publishing industry in his role as president and CEO of Zondervan and as one the longest serving members of ECPA’s board of directors.

Serving Zondervan first as vice president of its new Bible division in 1983, then leader of its book division in 1987, Ryskamp was named president and CEO in 1993. Under Ryskamp’s visionary leadership, Zondervan saw remarkable publishing success with bestsellers by Rick Warren, Phillip Yancey, Oliver North, Dave Dravecky, Lee Strobel, and John Ortberg. He also led Zondervan to see the long-term viability of digital publishing; to maintain a commitment to publishing resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and academics; and to serve children’s needs by establishing the Zonderkidz group, which targets kids 15 and under.

A leader committed to excellence, bound by Zondervan’s mission and vision, possessed of good marketing instincts and common sense business principles, Ryskamp was adept at spotting new and unknown talent that had long-term potential. Ryskamp’s character was on full display when interacting one-on-one with the mentally and physically challenged persons who worked at Zondervan daily through a partnership with the local Hope Network.

In his retirement, Ryskcamp and his wife, Jeri, have devoted their time and resources to the non-profit Bruce and Jeralyn Ryskamp Orphan Assistance Foundation, providing funding for families who wish to adopt international orphans with special needs.

ECPA is proud to honor such a man for his lifetime of genuine achievement.

The prestigious Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by ECPA to an individual for his exceptional contribution to the Christian publishing industry. The award is named in honor of Charles "Kip” Jordon (1945-1997), beloved Christian publishing veteran of more than 25 years, and former publisher of Word Publishing.

Books As Art

2013-04-30T21:04:22Z

Mike Stilkey is an artist who is inspired by books – to paint on them and build structures out of them. Here’s an excerpt from his online bio:

Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales.

See his artwork.

Also see our previous blogpost, “Innovative Bookshelves & Buildings Made Out of Books.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

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10 Ways Self-Publishing has Changed the Books World

2013-04-30T21:03:44Z

In The Guardian (@GuardianBooks), Alison Baverstock (@alisonbav) identifies 10 ways the rise of self-publishing has fundamentally changed the traditional publishing world:

1. There is now a wider understanding of what publishing is – and that it is more difficult than it looks....

2. Gone is our confidence that publishers and agents know exactly what everyone wants to (or should) read, and can spot all the material worth our attention....

3. The copy editor, a traditionally marginalized figure, is now in strong demand....

4. The re-emergence of the book as precious object....

5. The role of the author is changing....

6. The role of the agent is also changing....

7. New business models and opportunities are springing up, mostly offering "publishing services": advice on how to get published or self-publish; guidance on developing a plot or a whole manuscript; lifestyle support and writing holidays; editorial services and marketing assistance....

8. It's not all about making money....

9. An end to the "vanity publishing" put-down....

10. Self-publishing brings happiness....

Read this in full.

Also read our previous blogpost, “Guy Kawasaki's New Self-Publishing Instruction Book.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

Infographic: How Post-Christian is American Society?

2013-04-30T21:02:40Z

(Source: Barna Group)

Infographic: A Breakdown of Who Uses Social Media

2013-04-13T19:20:12Z

(Source: Mashable)

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

Viral's Secret Formula

2013-04-13T12:15:59Z

Jonah Berger (@j1berger), Wharton professor and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, says, “Virality isn't luck. It's not magic. And it's not random. There's a science behind why people talk and share. A recipe. A formula, even.”

Six key drivers shape what people talk about and share. And the first principle is Social Currency....

People talk about things that make them look good. Sharp and in-the-know. Smart and funny rather than behind the times....

Social Currency...is why people brag about their thousands of Twitter followers or their kids' SAT scores. Why golfers boast about their handicaps and frequent fliers tell others when they get upgraded....

Want to generate word of mouth? Get people talking about you? One way is to give them a way to look good. Make people feel special, or like insiders, and they'll tell others – and spread word of mouth about you along the way.

Read this in full.

See our other blogposts tagged Viral.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

Update: Meet Penguin Random House, The World's Largest Book Publisher That Will Counter Amazon

2013-04-13T11:58:58Z

Updating our “Random House, Penguin Agree to Merge” blogpost last October: Techcrunch reports that “after the US cleared the deal, the European Commission has officially approved the proposed merger.... As it is seeking “new digital publishing models,” the merger has been widely commented on as a way to counter Amazon’s influence on the ebook market.”

Penguin Random House will become the world’s largest publisher, ahead of book publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster in size.

Read this in full.

The merger awaits approval by Canada and China.

See continuing news coverage.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

B&N Changes PubIt! to NOOK Press, A New Self-Publishing Platform

2013-04-11T19:55:00Z

A report in Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) says “Barnes & Noble is phasing out its PubIt! self-publishing service and relaunching it as NOOK Press, an upgraded ebook self-publishing platform offering an array of new services to authors and publishers.”

B&N is partnering with the self-publishing platform FastPencil (@fastpencil) to supply NOOK Press with its proprietary online authoring technology, while also offering FastPencil authors access to a variety of marketing opportunities via B&N’s NOOK platform.

While B&N is encouraging PubIt! authors to synch their accounts to new NOOK Press accounts, B&N is also planning to phase out new PubIt! accounts and transition new self-publishers to the NOOK Press platform, which essentially builds on PubIt! by adding new services. Indeed, sales of self-published ebooks continue to grow on the NOOK Platform and the company said they represent about 25% of all ebook sales on NOOK devices. According to B&N, PubIt! titles grow by about 20% each quarter and general self-published titles offering through the NOOK are growing by 24% each quarter.

Read this in full.

Read the news release.

Also read our previous blogpost, "Guy Kawasaki's New Self-Publishing Instruction Book."

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

The View of Ebooks from the Inside

2013-04-10T18:41:00Z

In The New York Times Bits Blog (@nytimesbits), tech reporter David Streitfeld (@DavidStreitfeld) interviews Jason Merkoski (@merkoski), a leader of the team that built Amazon’s first Kindle. Merkoski, author of Burning the Page: The Ebook Revolution and the Future of Reading, dispenses with the usual techo-utopianism and says, “I think we’ve made a proverbial pact with the devil in digitizing our words.” And: “Big Brother won’t be a politician but an ad man and he’ll have the face of Google.” And: “It’s hard to love Amazon. Not the way we love Apple or a bookstore.” But he also says:

In 20 years, the space of one generation, print books will be as rare as vinyl LPs. You’ll still be able to find them in artsy hipster stores, but that’s about it. So the great advantage of ebooks is also their curse; ebooks will be the only game in town if you want to read a book. It’s sobering, and a bit sad. That said, ebooks can do what print books can’t. They’ll allow you to fit an entire library into the space of one book. They’ll allow you to search for anything in an instant, save your thoughts forever, share them with the world, and connect with other readers right there, inside the book. The book of the future will live and breathe.

Read this in full.

Also see paidContent’s review, “Former Kindle Exec on Kindle flaws, Nook Strengths, and Google’s Future in Ebooks.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.

Zondervan Launches New Young Adult Imprint for the General Trade

2013-04-09T20:27:00Z

In Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly), Lynn Garrett (@LynniGarrett) reports that Zondervan (@Zondervan), a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is launching Blink, a new YA imprint, with titles debuting this fall.

Chriscynethia Floyd, vp of marketing for Zondervan, said the imprint is designed for the general trade, not the Christian market: “These would be no different from other YA titles published by HarperCollins. They are for anyone, regardless of faith.” She added, “These will be hopeful books. We won’t go as dark [as some other YA novels], but we will touch on very real issues” while striving for a “positive balance and approach” and “[representing] morals and ethical standards.” Five to six titles per year are planned

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you strategically publish and market pbooks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Download our white paper, “Tech, Trends, & Retail Success: See the Future and Act Now,” in which we detail the elements of creating extreme retail in-store experiences.

Learn about SomersaultSocial (@SomersaultHelp), our Web-based author online marketing education modules.

Get our blogposts delivered into your email inbox.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Book Discovery Sites tab.