When I first saw the press release I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st. It begins "Doctor Book Publishing, an imprint of Deep Think Media, today unveiled the world's most expensive new hardback book entitled Cosmetic Surgeon Marketing Motto: The Secret Recipe To Grow Referrals." Then came the tagline: "Ten Thousand Dollar New Title on Plastic Surgery Does Not Include Breast Implants." The book includes a $10,000 Consultation Certificate which entitles each buyer of the book to eight (8) one hour one-on-one consultation telephone calls with the authors. Then came utter disbelief. Then I heard that Joan Rivers,...
Amazon vs. The Big 5: Infographic
Talk about an elephant in the room. via Infographic Plaza
Amazon Rising: CNBC to profile the godzilla of e-commerce
This Sunday night CNBC shines the light on Amazon with the premiere of Amazon Rising. From the press release: CNBC tells the story of a shrewd visionary named Jeff Bezos who bet his fortunes on the exploding internet and created one of the most admired and feared companies in the world. Today, Amazon sells everything from accordions to zippers – nearly $80 billion worth a year – and has changed the way we shop, bringing goods to our doorstep faster than we ever imagined. Correspondent David Faber reports on a powerhouse that has upended the publishing and retail industries, and...
The History of Publisher Logos
Marketing Assistant Alia Almeida of World Book Night US came up with this handy guide to the evolving iconic logos of the lords of publishing. Notice the new Penguin Random House logo designed by Pentagram and recently unleashed to the world.
When books went bad: Charting the demise of the well made book
Graph accompanying Extracts from an investigation into the physical properties of books, as they are at present published, undertaken by the Society of Calligraphers The pamphlet was printed and published by noted American type designer, calligrapher, and book designer W.A. Dwiggins and L.B. Siegfried in 1919 and decried the then current state of book production. For the Society it was unanimous; "All Books of the Present Day are Badly Made" The reason were plenty "to wean mankind from the use of books. Automobiles, the motion-picture drama, professional athletics, the Saturday Evening Post" and the Society was resigned to the fact that...