My greatest frustration with our national political landscape at the moment is the abandonment of the common good as the focus of political activity. Politics seems too much about gaining an advantage, convincing us that the “other” party is bad, dishonest, not worthy of governing, or of being the opposition. Meanwhile the common good suffers. […]
Category Archives: Book Printing
“I’ve got this great idea for a book . . . but I don’t have the time.”
Just get on with it. As one writer observes “Writing is the only profession I can think of that requires no license, no certificate, no special training, and no special tools. Anyone who wants to can be a writer. All you have to do is write.” And he adds “Here’s my theory about the New York Times bestseller […]
When worlds collide — a call to overhaul the National Print Awards
This year, at the four yearly PacPrint printing trade show (held in the Melbourne Exhibition Centre), it was obvious that digital printing is well on the way to taking a huge chunk of offset printing’s traditional market — see my blog on the subject. The National Print Awards were held in conjunction with PacPrint on Friday […]
PacPrint13 — the week that changed the printing industry forever
PacPrint13, held in the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (“Jeff’s Shed”) towards the end of May this year, showcased a “dizzying array of new high-tech digital” equipment, providing visitors with an unequivocal indication of where the printing industry is headed. PacPrint is held every four years, and four years ago, the floor throbbed with the incessant beat […]
Australian publishers say the book is not dead
Last week, the ABC ran a very interesting article entitled “Australian publishers say the book is not dead, it is being redefined by new technology”. Here are a few snippets from the article. “Australians have always been in the top three book consumers, along with New Zealand and the Netherlands,” says Shona Martyn, publishing director of HarperCollins […]
Kainos Print book wins gold medal at National Print Awards
Kainos Print is proud to announce that our customer, John Dwyer’s book, “The WOW Manifesto” was awarded the highly sought after and prestigious gold medal in the Small Business category, at the National Print Awards on Friday 24th May at the 2013 National Print Awards Dinner, held at the Palladium Ballroom in the Crown Entertainment […]
The demise of GEON (or a eye-opener on private equity)
The largest offset sheet-fed printer in the Australasian region, Geon, has gone. Geon was an ambitious project to reshape the printing industry, but after six years (one correspondent says eight years), under private equity management, Geon has finally collapsed. When the company started operating, it bought up a considerable number of successful and respected printing […]
The rise and rise of self-publishing
Publishing Market Shows Steady Title Growth in 2011 Fueled Largely by Self-Publishing Sector Bowker, the global leader in bibliographic information (they issue ISBNs and produce “Books in Print”), released a report some months ago on print book publishing in the United States for 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available. The report […]
Do typos matter?
Here’s an article that’s been sitting in my in tray for a while. It is a timely call to pay attention to detail in our written communications. In an age of tiny keyboards and emoticons, you may think typos don’t matter. Not so, according to someone who’s been addressed as Mr. Renay Seagull. In the […]
Catalogues drive sales ‘up to 40%’ to prove print is still king
We reported in a recent blog that following the world’s biggest printing trade fair, Drupa which has just finished in Germany, the Australian printing industry is very negative, and talking itself down, whilst elsewhere in the world, the printing industry in buoyant and powering ahead. The article below, which first appeared in ProPrint’s daily newsletter […]