Comments on: Horizontal to vertical redux http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/ A raucous public discussion of the publishing revolution. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:17:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: ljndawson http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-63 ljndawson Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:42:28 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-63 Mike, you're so completely right about this. Years ago when I started at Muze, we created this great taxonomy of book subjects - using the BISAC subjects, of course, but going on from there. To answer the concerns about non-genre fiction - we created a list of themes. Mothers and daughters, for example. Interfaith families. Man against nature. Obsession. And you could enter the title of a book you enjoyed, and then click on the themes and get results back of other fiction titles that centered on those themes. Syndetics does this too, as does NoveList, to a degree. As vertical reorientation happens, particularly with the shift from relational databases to XML repositories for content, rigorous attention has to be paid to the strictures of taxonomies and tagging. Be good to your categories and your categories will be good to you. Mike, you’re so completely right about this. Years ago when I started at Muze, we created this great taxonomy of book subjects - using the BISAC subjects, of course, but going on from there.

To answer the concerns about non-genre fiction - we created a list of themes. Mothers and daughters, for example. Interfaith families. Man against nature. Obsession. And you could enter the title of a book you enjoyed, and then click on the themes and get results back of other fiction titles that centered on those themes.

Syndetics does this too, as does NoveList, to a degree.

As vertical reorientation happens, particularly with the shift from relational databases to XML repositories for content, rigorous attention has to be paid to the strictures of taxonomies and tagging. Be good to your categories and your categories will be good to you.

]]> By: David Houle http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-61 David Houle Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:37:38 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-61 Mike- Excellent observation. As the world moves from hierarchies to networks, the communities create themselves around like interests, pulsating nodes on the networks if you will. Why wouldn't businesses organize around their customers? As a futurist submitting a book proposal, I was stunned to hear my agent tell me that one publishing house, though they liked the proposal, rejected my book proposal because they already had a futurist that they published. That works with wifes and husbands, but is idiotic in business. David Mike-

Excellent observation. As the world moves from hierarchies to networks, the communities create themselves around like interests, pulsating nodes on the networks if you will. Why wouldn’t businesses organize around their customers?
As a futurist submitting a book proposal, I was stunned to hear my agent tell me that one publishing house, though they liked the proposal, rejected my book proposal because they already had a futurist that they published. That works with wifes and husbands, but is idiotic in business.
David

]]> By: Mike Shatzkin http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-60 Mike Shatzkin Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:04:38 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-60 To David Worlock: Your observation that we are nearer to the beginning of network publishing than to any mature model is the important point. May I say: FAR nearer! I think as we get closer to mature models, the path for the fiction publisher like ML will become clearer. Incidentally, Timo Hannay of Nature did a great presentation at O'Reilly's Tools of Change on applying what he's learned from his online science experience to fiction publishing. Slides for that are probably up on TOC's website. Mike To David Worlock:
Your observation that we are nearer to the beginning of network publishing than to any mature model is the important point. May I say: FAR nearer! I think as we get closer to mature models, the path for the fiction publisher like ML will become clearer.

Incidentally, Timo Hannay of Nature did a great presentation at O’Reilly’s Tools of Change on applying what he’s learned from his online science experience to fiction publishing. Slides for that are probably up on TOC’s website.
Mike

]]> By: Mike Shatzkin http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-59 Mike Shatzkin Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:01:23 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-59 To ML: Fiction niches too. There are fiction omnivores, but there are far more who loyally read genres. Or selected authors. But fiction and memoir and belles lettres are much more handicapped by the shift from horizontal to vertical than travel or computer books or knitting books. If you are a fiction publisher, you're going to have to think more about building on specific successes than you ever did before, because making things happen "from scratch" will be come increasingly difficult. Mike To ML: Fiction niches too. There are fiction omnivores, but there are far more who loyally read genres. Or selected authors. But fiction and memoir and belles lettres are much more handicapped by the shift from horizontal to vertical than travel or computer books or knitting books.
If you are a fiction publisher, you’re going to have to think more about building on specific successes than you ever did before, because making things happen “from scratch” will be come increasingly difficult.
Mike

]]> By: David Worlock http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-58 David Worlock Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:25:42 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-58 This has already happened to a large extent in business and professional publishing. Reed Elsevier's decision yesterday to sell its magazines business and concentrate on workflow modelling in chosen verticals - in other words , rediscover how customers work and sell them services and solutions, not unrelated content - is symptomatic of this . But the question remains - can we understand consumer requirement in the network with sufficient accuracy to prepare vertical content for them , or will we provide them with dashboards and options, see where they drive , and then fuuly customize around them. We are still closer to the beginning of network publishing than to any mature model. This has already happened to a large extent in business and professional publishing. Reed Elsevier’s decision yesterday to sell its magazines business and concentrate on workflow modelling in chosen verticals - in other words , rediscover how customers work and sell them services and solutions, not unrelated content - is symptomatic of this . But the question remains - can we understand consumer requirement in the network with sufficient accuracy to prepare vertical content for them , or will we provide them with dashboards and options, see where they drive , and then fuuly customize around them. We are still closer to the beginning of network publishing than to any mature model.

]]> By: ML http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-57 ML Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:27:21 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/21/horizontal-to-vertical-redux/#comment-57 How does this look in a fiction house? How does this look in a fiction house?

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