Where is publishing going? This column is dedicated to finding the answers.

This week I focus on a trend watcher from the inside, San Francisco-based literary agent, Nathan Bransford, an agent for Curtis Brown Ltd. Often we can suss out where publishing is trending by watching closely what’s happening now. Nathan’s blog gives us that insider look.

Bransford runs a very active blog and forum. His blog gets on average almost 100 comments per post, and there are over 1000 users on his forum. Nathan is funny, to the point, and most importantly, for our purposes, runs a weekly must-read, “This Week in Publishing.” If you’re at all curious about what’s going in publishing from the trenches, read Nathan’s blog for its humor, read it for the fabulous and succinct summaries he writes of other peoples’ blogs, and read it for the trends currently going on in publishing houses, in writing and genres, in literary agencies, and in technology. Enjoy!

c. 2010 Beth Barany

BETH-BARANY

Beth Barany is an author, speaker, coach and trend watcher in Oakland, CA. More at: www.bethbarany.com.

Do you have an iPhone or the new iPad? Then, you’ll be familiar with apps. For the rest of us, “apps” are software applications that run on mobile devices, including the mobile Apple devices, and other smart phones.

You may think that books can just become e-books for these mobile devices, but actually there are many more ways your content can be adapted to them. If you take the time to explore the uses and possibilities, then you can develop more revenue streams with your writing and reach exponentially more readers.

While creating innovative book-like content for the iPad is still in its early stages, there is one company, EnhancedEditions [http://www.enhanced-editions.com/] that is already leading the way. They create “enhanced books” for the iPhone and iPad. These books include text, fully synchronized audio and special author videos, and special features, like dedicated in-app newsfeed. Books developed in cooperation with the publishers and authors include The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman, and Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison.

In conversation with an iPhone/iPad app developer, I learned that he is looking for books that have a strong visual component to adapt, especially for the iPad. What interactivity and visual elements could be built into your book, especially for the iPad? What other ways could your book be adapted as an app?

c. 2010 Beth Barany

BETH-BARANY

Beth Barany is an author, speaker, coach and trend watcher in Oakland, CA. More at: www.bethbarany.com.

I heard someone say that the other day. The bad news is that I don’t think the dust is going to settle. At least not in the way most of us think.

The publishing industry is breaking into pieces. And we can put them together any way we want from here on out. There no longer is a set process to get published (whatever that means anymore).

I don’t know about you, but I am super stoked about it all!

-W.Ross

W. Ross Ayers

W. Ross Ayers is a writer, entrepreneur and founder of the San Francisco Writers Community