Nick Canty | University College London (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Nick Canty

Publishing Research Quarterly 28 218 235, Aug 1, 2012

Academic and Professional Publishing, 2012

A report for the British Library examining the issues around the legal deposit and preservation o... more A report for the British Library examining the issues around the legal deposit and preservation of ebooks, interactive narratives and databases.

This article discuss the historical development of bibliotherapy and how books can be used in the... more This article discuss the historical development of bibliotherapy and how books can be used in the treatment of a range of minor mental health treatments. The article provides a brief historical account of how books have been used in institutions through the centuries and how the bibliotherapuetic process works through the use of texts from which the reader gains an insight into their personal situation by identifying with a character experiencing similar problems. Bibliotherapy as both clinical and community-based treatments are discussed through a number of case studies from the critical literature, in particular the Ayrshire Read Yourself Well Scheme and the Reading Well / Books on Prescription Scheme. The results of a medical trial on the benefits of reading a novel based on MRI scans of readers are then discussed.

The article analyses the social media activity around two genre fiction titles published in the U... more The article analyses the social media activity around two genre fiction titles published in the UK. The research is focused on the platforms Twitter and Facebook as they are the sites currently most used as marketing tools by the publishing industry. Over 10,000 social media posts were collected and categorised to create a timeline of social media activity for two case studies. The findings were then compared to sales data from Nielsen BookScan to give an understanding to the value of social media marketing in the publishing industry. The findings show that social media is most effective as a marketing platform when there is already an established community, allowing publishers to converse with readers. While social media is less effective at marketing new books written by debut authors with no existing readership, it is none the less an important tool in the marketing plan as it provides a platform to engage with readers around significant events.

The paper reports on a major international survey, covering 2,000 researchers, which investigated... more The paper reports on a major international survey, covering 2,000 researchers, which investigated the use of social media in the research workflow. The topic is the second to emerge from the Charleston Observatory, the research adjunct of the popular annual Charleston Conference (http://www.katina.info/conference/). The study shows that social media have found serious application at all points of the research lifecycle, from identifying research opportunities to disseminating findings at the end. The three most popular social media tools in a research setting were those for collaborative authoring, conferencing, and scheduling meetings. The most popular brands used tend to be mainstream anchor technologies or 'household brands', such as Twitter. Age is a poor predictor of social media use in a research context, and humanities and social science scholars avail themselves most of social media. Journals, conference proceedings, and edited books remain the core traditional means of disseminating research, with institutional repositories highly valued as well, but social media have become important complementary channels for disseminating and discovering research.

The role of the author in the publishing process is often overlooked given the momentous changes ... more The role of the author in the publishing process is often overlooked given the momentous changes taking place across the industry. This article considers the experience of those who have had their first novel published by a British publisher. The article is based on the results of an online survey conducted in 2011 among first time novelists. The survey sought to understand from the author's perspective the interaction between author, publisher and agent across the publishing process. The survey asked how authors discovered their agent, what publishers were selected and why, what editorial work was carried out on the manuscript after the publishers accepted it, how authors judged the work undertaken by the publisher and how the book was promoted. The survey questioned authors about their backgrounds and their careers after the first novel was published. Given the importance of the agent in trade publishing in the UK the research suggests that for the majority of authors the agent is their 'go to' place for help with commercial aspects of the business.

This article seeks to provide a general review of the publishing activities of some major librari... more This article seeks to provide a general review of the publishing activities of some major libraries across the world. At a time when the publishing industry is experiencing profound challenges to its established business models and traditional routes to market through bookshops are under threat from online retailers such as Amazon it is timely to see how libraries are faring during this period and whether these developments are changing libraries’ publishing outputs.

The publishing activities are considered in relation to the format of the titles available, how the titles are sold, the range of subjects covered in the programme and whether there are digital versions available. The numerous digital catalogues, learning materials and other online resources are considered out of scope for the purpose of this article and the focus is therefore on what we might consider ‘traditional’ publishing outputs.
The article considers the publishing programmes of British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Bodleian library, the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil, the State Library of Victoria and the National Library of Australia.

This article considers how some major libraries across the world are using social media platforms... more This article considers how some major libraries across the world are using social media platforms. Libraries have engaged with the ‘household brands’ familiar to us all regardless of geographic location or language although their use of the platforms varies widely.
Although there are no surprises in how the platforms are used and what content is made available by each library, the overall impression is of patchy use of the platforms, with some libraries fully embracing all platforms while others concentrating on fewer. A key message is that high quality images for websites seems to succeed in engaging with people.
The article is based around social media data collected from library accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogs between July and August 2012, extended for three months for YouTube due to the lack of regularly submitted content. After a discussion about the role of social media in libraries the data is analysed for each platform.

Book Reviews by Nick Canty

Interscript, 2018

Review of How to Market Books (2015).

Publishing Research Quarterly 28 218 235, Aug 1, 2012

Academic and Professional Publishing, 2012

A report for the British Library examining the issues around the legal deposit and preservation o... more A report for the British Library examining the issues around the legal deposit and preservation of ebooks, interactive narratives and databases.

This article discuss the historical development of bibliotherapy and how books can be used in the... more This article discuss the historical development of bibliotherapy and how books can be used in the treatment of a range of minor mental health treatments. The article provides a brief historical account of how books have been used in institutions through the centuries and how the bibliotherapuetic process works through the use of texts from which the reader gains an insight into their personal situation by identifying with a character experiencing similar problems. Bibliotherapy as both clinical and community-based treatments are discussed through a number of case studies from the critical literature, in particular the Ayrshire Read Yourself Well Scheme and the Reading Well / Books on Prescription Scheme. The results of a medical trial on the benefits of reading a novel based on MRI scans of readers are then discussed.

The article analyses the social media activity around two genre fiction titles published in the U... more The article analyses the social media activity around two genre fiction titles published in the UK. The research is focused on the platforms Twitter and Facebook as they are the sites currently most used as marketing tools by the publishing industry. Over 10,000 social media posts were collected and categorised to create a timeline of social media activity for two case studies. The findings were then compared to sales data from Nielsen BookScan to give an understanding to the value of social media marketing in the publishing industry. The findings show that social media is most effective as a marketing platform when there is already an established community, allowing publishers to converse with readers. While social media is less effective at marketing new books written by debut authors with no existing readership, it is none the less an important tool in the marketing plan as it provides a platform to engage with readers around significant events.

The paper reports on a major international survey, covering 2,000 researchers, which investigated... more The paper reports on a major international survey, covering 2,000 researchers, which investigated the use of social media in the research workflow. The topic is the second to emerge from the Charleston Observatory, the research adjunct of the popular annual Charleston Conference (http://www.katina.info/conference/). The study shows that social media have found serious application at all points of the research lifecycle, from identifying research opportunities to disseminating findings at the end. The three most popular social media tools in a research setting were those for collaborative authoring, conferencing, and scheduling meetings. The most popular brands used tend to be mainstream anchor technologies or 'household brands', such as Twitter. Age is a poor predictor of social media use in a research context, and humanities and social science scholars avail themselves most of social media. Journals, conference proceedings, and edited books remain the core traditional means of disseminating research, with institutional repositories highly valued as well, but social media have become important complementary channels for disseminating and discovering research.

The role of the author in the publishing process is often overlooked given the momentous changes ... more The role of the author in the publishing process is often overlooked given the momentous changes taking place across the industry. This article considers the experience of those who have had their first novel published by a British publisher. The article is based on the results of an online survey conducted in 2011 among first time novelists. The survey sought to understand from the author's perspective the interaction between author, publisher and agent across the publishing process. The survey asked how authors discovered their agent, what publishers were selected and why, what editorial work was carried out on the manuscript after the publishers accepted it, how authors judged the work undertaken by the publisher and how the book was promoted. The survey questioned authors about their backgrounds and their careers after the first novel was published. Given the importance of the agent in trade publishing in the UK the research suggests that for the majority of authors the agent is their 'go to' place for help with commercial aspects of the business.

This article seeks to provide a general review of the publishing activities of some major librari... more This article seeks to provide a general review of the publishing activities of some major libraries across the world. At a time when the publishing industry is experiencing profound challenges to its established business models and traditional routes to market through bookshops are under threat from online retailers such as Amazon it is timely to see how libraries are faring during this period and whether these developments are changing libraries’ publishing outputs.

The publishing activities are considered in relation to the format of the titles available, how the titles are sold, the range of subjects covered in the programme and whether there are digital versions available. The numerous digital catalogues, learning materials and other online resources are considered out of scope for the purpose of this article and the focus is therefore on what we might consider ‘traditional’ publishing outputs.
The article considers the publishing programmes of British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Bodleian library, the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil, the State Library of Victoria and the National Library of Australia.

This article considers how some major libraries across the world are using social media platforms... more This article considers how some major libraries across the world are using social media platforms. Libraries have engaged with the ‘household brands’ familiar to us all regardless of geographic location or language although their use of the platforms varies widely.
Although there are no surprises in how the platforms are used and what content is made available by each library, the overall impression is of patchy use of the platforms, with some libraries fully embracing all platforms while others concentrating on fewer. A key message is that high quality images for websites seems to succeed in engaging with people.
The article is based around social media data collected from library accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogs between July and August 2012, extended for three months for YouTube due to the lack of regularly submitted content. After a discussion about the role of social media in libraries the data is analysed for each platform.

Interscript, 2018

Review of How to Market Books (2015).