Comments for Laura Creekmore

Comment on Architecting Search-Engine Friendly Websites – Shari Thurow. by Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:11:00 +0000

FYI, Shari informed me that she’ll send the WIAD organizers a PDF of her presentation shortly. Nice!
(Not to say your piece, Laura, didn’t capture much of the information she presented. ;)

Comment on Architecting Search-Engine Friendly Websites – Shari Thurow. by Geoff

Geoff — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:23:00 +0000

Definitely an interesting session. Too bad so much information was packed into such a short time. Any chance anyone can post her “key takeaways”? Or better yet, perhaps Shari can check in and actually make her slides available.
Cheers!

Comment on The History of Information Architecture…And What’s Changing by I’m Blogging From World IA Day in Ann Arbor – Laura Creekmore

I’m Blogging From World IA Day in Ann Arbor – Laura Creekmore — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:34:35 +0000

[...] The History of Information Architecture — And What’s Changing [...]

Comment on Ditching my paper planner: Lessons in online organization by Richard Topolewski

Richard Topolewski — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Anybody have an opinion about the Franklin Covey online tool-set? I use the Franklin Covey Plan Plus for windows but it is kind of slow and the on-line version would be convenient, and I would not have to worry about backups an moving to new hardware when I get a new PC; but it is pricy like $180/year ($15/month), I never tried it because I can not image it is good enough to justify that re-occurring expense.

Comment on The Long Tail vs. Content Strategy by Dave Delaney

Dave Delaney — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:34:00 +0000

Great post Laura. I agree with you.

I also thnk that items are starting to get priced more to what their actual value is, with less mark up. It use to drive me crazy when books were priced so high, even higher in Canada too.

I’m happy to see prices coming down on books (music too). This will open up products to a wider audience of every different economic background.

Comment on The Long Tail vs. Content Strategy by Laura Creekmore

Laura Creekmore — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:31:00 +0000

You are so right on that.

Comment on The Long Tail vs. Content Strategy by Erin Kissane

Erin Kissane — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:02:00 +0000

I’m completely with you on the authority piece—and nicely put, btw. The value of the gatekeeping function of traditional publishing is certainly under threat.

What felt strange to me was the idea of “editorial overhead” as part of the unnecessary difference between self-published books and the other kind. Where editorial overhead means actual editing–the stuff that makes content better and more useful to its audience–I tend to think it’s one of those pieces we need to keep in the “content itself” group. (Happily for readers, a lot of authors choosing to self-publish are getting that, and bringing in editors of their own.)

Comment on The Long Tail vs. Content Strategy by Laura Creekmore

Laura Creekmore — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:00:00 +0000

And sorry, one more: An author can be his or her own editorial authority, of course. If the author is already known by the target audience, the additional authority of a publishing house may not make an appreciable difference. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use one … just means that’s not where you’re getting your bang for the buck.

Comment on The Long Tail vs. Content Strategy by Laura Creekmore

Laura Creekmore — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Ah, I thought I should have clarified that more instead of just tossing that into the laundry list. I was right. :)

Yes, in this sense: Editorial authority is part of what you buy when you buy a major-market-published book. [There are equivalents in any industry, of course, even including blogs.] When you buy a book from Random House, you have a basic sense of trust that the book is what it says it is, that it’s at least decently written, etc., because RH puts its authority behind the book.

When you buy a self-published book from an author you’ve never heard of, you have to rely on some other authority. Perhaps it’s just 99¢ and you’re willing to take the risk. But maybe your friend recommended the book, or you read a review of it on Amazon and the reviewer had written lots of trusted reviews…you either take a risk, or you find the authority elsewhere.

Of course, now you can get validation on the book from lots of places…we don’t necessarily need Random House for that purpose any more.

But I don’t mean to short sell that editorial authority — it’s incredibly valuable, and we still want it. I think about A Book Apart or O’Reilly, for instance. I intrinsically trust something just because they publish it. It shortcuts my buying decision, and that’s valuable for both me and the author. It’s just that now that authority can be decoupled from the content.

Comment on The Long Tail vs. Content Strategy by Erin Kissane

Erin Kissane — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:43:00 +0000

Interesting stuff, Laura. Just to clarify, are you suggesting that editorial overhead/”authority” is an “extra” that’s separate from the content itself?