A few weeks ago I was asked to be on the panel of a Publishing Expo 2012 event. The topic?  “Apps versus  ePub versus  HTML5”.  An odd choice of words, not least because HTML5 is used in both Apps and ePub 3. So why ‘versus’ ? Read more »

Well in the end I was very cordially invited to join the World eReading Congress by the event organisers and help host the opening sessions on Tuesday 10th May with BBC’s Technology Correspondent, Maggie Philbin chairing the event. In fact it was a surreal moment for me to be introduced by Maggie. The event itself cannot be criticised for its lack of scope, quite the opposite really, as the world of digital publishing came together from newspapers, magazines and books. Read more »

The arrival of ePub 3 will undoubtedly see a rush from publishers to make maximum use of its whistles and bells. Will fiction publishers be falling over themselves to produce media rich content? While I can see the temptation to add video author interviews or even authors reading chapters, my concern will be adding multi-media content just because we can, not because it is actually needed or adds anything to the publication. Read more »

So the London Book Fair is over for another year and I have to report that it was a far better fair than last year, though that comparison is like telling a man who has just lost his leg that you have been able to sell his shoe.  The numbers were back and so was a genuine buzz. The IRC had a constant flow and deals were being negotiated not just in the IRC but also in the many cafes populating Earl’s Court.

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