11 Things That Made Publishing Better This Year

This is just an initial list - more to follow in the week ahead!

1. Great designers like Gywn Kennedy Snider, Anne LoCascio and Michele DeFillipo.
2. TweetDeck, which allowed me to get my work done and follow my favorite Tweeters like @mikecane, @alicepope, @janefriedman, @amylibrarian, @ColleenLindsay
3. Experienced editors who stayed on top of the latest CMS rules so I didn't have to.
4. Book buyers at chain and independent bookstores who gave books by small presses the same inital chance they gave the bigger houses.
5. Authors who understood that getting a book published was just the ante-in. We LOVE the ones who stayed to play the whole hand through and knew they had a lot of work ahead of them if they wanted a shot at the "bestseller" pot.
6. Publicists who pitched books to print outlets.  (Readers like to read!)
7. Blu Sky Media Group and Greg Snider who showed such courage and determination to do the right thing when the bank closed in on his distribution business.
8. Printers who made their deadlines and didn't over promise just to get the job.
9. PW Daily, Shelf-Awareness, Publisher's Lunch, Media Bistro and all the other industry news providers who kept us informed.
10. Publishers who agreed with this statement:  "There is no such thing as a publishing emergency."
11. My eBook readers: Blackberry, Sony and Kindle.  (Sorry guys, that's how I am starting to roll...)

Old Friends, New Faces

The Cadence Group, like several of our friends, is preparing for next week's book extravaganza in New York at BEA. 

This year, the face of the show may look a little different. Many of our old friends will not be attending. Some won't go at all, others will be sending a limited staff. The show is expected to be a little smaller and a little less attended than years past.

We do believe, however, that getting together with a great group of book lovers will be a time of excitement for our industry. We're looking forward to perusing some of the new technologies, new titles, and "out of the box" concepts--those that have been announced and those that will surprise us on the show floor.

While we will miss some of our old friends, we're excited to "meet" several of our new friends and clients.  And most importantly, we're looking forward to seeing what great things the book industry has planned for the future.