Cook Partners

Most Endangered Languages

In The Guardian, Peter K. Austin, author of One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered and Lost, introduces his selections for the top 10 endangered languages in the world today:

There are more than 6,900 languages used around the world today, ranging in size from those with hundreds of millions of speakers to those with only one or two. Language experts now estimate that as many as half of the existing languages are endangered, and by the year 2050 they will be extinct. The major reason for this language loss is that communities are switching to larger politically and economically more powerful languages, like English, Spanish, Hindi or Swahili.

Austin then outlines four criteria that influenced his choices: geographical coverage, scientific interest, cultural interest and social impact. 

Marketing English-Language Titles from Asia

Philip Tatham, founder of Singapore-based general trade publishing house Monsoon Books, describes his strategies for promoting his English-language books in other parts of the world. In addition to using "copy-editors, and designers, in San Francisco, Dublin, London and Perth,"and working with distributors to reach other markets, he adds:

"We have a freelance publicist here in Singapore, and we'd consider using them elsewhere, for example, in London, if we felt a title warranted it."

... Monsoon finished 2007 with Top Ten bestsellers in three countries - Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia - and translations into French, German and Indonesian. Not bad for a company less than five years old.

Are there circumstances when using freelance publicists in other countries might be a useful strategy for your company?

 

Sweden: Why Proofreading Matters

According to AFP, a typo in a cake recipe led to food poisoning:

"There was a mistake in a recipe for apple cake. Instead of calling for two pinches of nutmeg it said 20 nutmeg nuts were needed," Matmagasinet's Chief Editor Ulla Cocke told AFP.

"We know that four adults ate one cake made from this recipe, and they didn't feel well," she said, adding that "this is obviously very regrettable."  

... "We publish 1,200 recipes each year, and of course there have been times when they've had a bit too much butter or too little flour, but we have never experienced anything like this before," Cocke told AFP.

Charles Wesley's Diary Decoded

Charles Wesley, the writer of many beloved hymns and one of the founders of Methodism, wrote his diary in code, and now that code has been cracked, says The Christian Post:

An Anglican priest has finally cracked the code Methodist co-founder Charles Wesley used when writing about sensitive matters in his diary some 250 years ago.

Over 1,000 handwritten pages, dating from 1736 to 1756, have been deciphered by the Rev. Professor Kenneth Newport, pro vice-chancellor for research and academic development at Liverpool Hope University...

The transcribed diary pages will be published together with 9,000 never-before-seen poems and hymns.

Pakistan: The Regal Chowk Book Market

The Daily Times in Pakistan describes the informal book market at Regal Chowk in Karachi, a weekly gathering of some fifty booksellers operating on tables and roadside stands who sell both new and used books in the Sindh and Urdu languages. Dr. Muhammad Ali Muhammadi, a physician who frequents the market,

rejects the idea that the internet has reduced the importance of book reading. “Science has proved that reading books activates brain cells and hundreds of people are book addicts and the internet can not replace books as there is no continuity in reading something on internet. At the same time, reading on the internet requires electricity, which is a problem in Pakistan, and books have a longer life, so the internet cannot replace books,” said Muhammadi.

Nigeria: Piracy Woes

"While piracy accounts for almost 7% of all global trade, Nigeria accounts for 80% of the pirated international music CDs," states an essay in Leadership Nigeria. It continues:

The creative industry has been at the receiving end of piracy over the years. Book publishing which used to be a vital aspect of the economy has been greatly affected as many authors have suffered huge losses with the bookstands awash with fake copies of their works. In fact, piracy in Nigeria has become a highly organised crime and a huge industry involving both locals and foreigners that controlled the bulk of both production and distribution channels of copyright works.   

Japan: Publishing Industry in Crisis

The Japan Times reports:

Hundreds of bookstores nationwide shut down every year, and the market has largely been shrinking since 1996.

More than 200 new books are published daily in Japan, and the total market of books and magazines surpasses ¥2 trillion [about U.S.$18.25 billion]. But experts say the publishing industry is facing a historic crisis.

The daunting new challenges the industry faces have book-loving intellectuals worrying about the future.

Challenges discussed in the rest of the article include declining readership, fewer distribution venues, competition from other media, and inefficient pricing policies.

 

Publishers Monetize Pirated Content

The New York Times reports:

Under pressure from media companies, YouTube introduced a technology last fall called Video ID which allowed copyright owners to compare the digital fingerprints of their videos with material on YouTube, then flag infringing material for removal.

But instead of removing the materials, publishers have found a way to partner with pirates to gain revenue through online advertising, as this blog observes.

Have you come across pirated copies of your titles? What win-win alternatives might be possible for your company to pursue in such instances?

Surveys for Book Content

How is Writers' Digest deciding what to include in a book about writing and critique groups? They've invited readers to take a survey on the topic, and used their comments to create the table of contents. Read more here.

Are you making use of surveys and questionnaires to find out what your public wants?

Chronological Bible Stirs Concern

Thomas Nelson is publishing a new Bible with the stories arranged in chronological order:

Entire books, like the Psalms, have been chopped up and mixed in with other sections of the Scripture, while others have been combined into nine story arcs, known as epochs.

Editors at the Nashville-based Christian publisher say their remix of the Protestant Bible's 66 books will give readers new insights to the Scriptures. But some scholars believe the project will lead to confusion, not enlightenment.

Read more here.