Instead I’ll discuss which metrics I focus on for FSG‘s various digital projects and which I avoid. I’ve found most of the conventional metrics aren’t terribly useful–perhaps because of the hybrid nature of trade publishing’s D-to-C and B-to-B positioning–and so I’ve assembled my own analytics to suit my needs. (For instance, the goal for Work in Progress is alerting readers to new books; most lit blogs by necessity care more about traffic and ad-impressions.)

Luckily I’m sharing the stage with Kate Travers (F+W), Jeff Yamaguchi (Knopf Doubleday), Shane Norman (HarperCollins), and moderator Kate Rados (F+W) – there will be plenty of insight and perhaps some contentiousness.

Hope to see you there. Oh, and if you do plan on attending, use the code SPWORKSHOP1 to save $50 on the Marketing Summit pass. Tell them Ryan sent you.

Photo by Electric Literature's Ryan Chang

Thanks to The Millions and Electric Literature for their very complimentary recaps. The next Nerd Jeopardy? April 17th, McNally Jackson. Mark your calendars.

To whet your appetite for all things bookish and Trebekian, here’s a look at our last Nerd Jeopardy from November:

FSG’s Work in Progress presents Nerd Jeopardy
McNally Jackson | 52 Prince St, NYC
Jan. 18th, 7pm
Free Wine 

(Facebook Event)

New Year’s Eve is perhaps one of the most festive occasions of the year. Use it as an excuse to wear your best clothes, and your best clothes as an excuse to do something fun.

-Put This On

While visiting the tailor for a quick adjustment on my sequined tuxedo jacket, my thoughts turned to New Year’s Eve fashion. At the last three Dec. 31 soirées we’ve thrown at Bar Reis, everyone’s turned out in high style. And yet, some still worry: what to wear?

There is a perfect balance to the New Year’s Eve outfit. You’ll want to be dressed up more than usual. And comfortable enough to dance for three hours. …And willing to let friends spill some champagne on you. (It will happen.)

Then add something extra. A mask, blue sweatpants, Airwalks… just something you would never normally wear. This will help set the appropriate End of Days mood.

More about the party: The Last New Year’s Party of All Time (Ever)

Art by Christopher Muccioli

This was much more a year for singles than albums, which may just reflect the change in my listening habits. (Blame Spotify.) In fact, with the exception of LPs by James Blake, Washed Out, Cults, and Destroyer, I was content with a track or two from most of the bands listed below. Enjoy.

(And yes, there’s a Spotify playlist.)

Washed Out “Amor Fati”

James Blake “The Wilhelm Scream“

Tennis “Marathon”

Cults “Abducted”

Girls “Honey Bunny”

Liturgy “Generation”

M83 “Midnight City”

Eleanor Friedberger “My Mistakes”

Sonny & The Sunsets “I Wanna Do It”

Destroyer “Blue Eyes”

Bon Iver “Calgary”

Lana Del Rey “Blue Jeans”

Jay-Z & Kanye West “Niggas in Paris“

Cut Copy “Alisa”

Wild Flag “Romance”

The Vaccines “Post Break-Up Sex”

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart “The Heart in Your Heartbreak”

Thao & Mirah “Eleven (feat. tUnE-yArDs)”

Desire “Under Your Spell”

Minks “Juniper“

The Weeknd “High for This”

The Raveonettes “Forget That You’re Young”

Slow Club “Two Cousins”

Das Racist “Michael Jackson”

EMA “California”

Tyler, the Creator “Yonkers“

Frank Ocean “Novacane”

How to Dress Well “Decisions (Orchestral Version)“

The Men “Bataille”

The Drums “Money”

So read the following with a grain of salt. (This is a cross-post with Work in Progress, where 22 editors and authors listed their favorite 2011 reads as well.)

Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

The Road to Somewhere by James Reeves

The Chairs Are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City by Misha Glouberman and Sheila Heti

Otherwise Known as the Human Condition by Geoff Dyer

Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews

Suicide by Édouard Levé

Nothing rings in the new year like blasting Prince while 150 friends drunkenly carouse around, right? Right. Except this will in all likelihood be the last New Year’s Eve, what with all the Mayan soothsaying and whatnot.

So this December 31st we’re pulling out all the stops to throw the best NYE party ever. (Better than the time I fell into a glass table in 2008? Yes. Better than wrapping people in holiday lights on the dancefloor in 2010? Way better.)

There will be: free champagne. Top hats. Togas. Confetti. Dancing. Music. Togas. Prizes.

We’re even doing tickets this year to guarantee our friends and most attractive strangers get in first.

Bar Reis, 375 Fifth Ave
Park Slope, Brooklyn 

$10 advance, $20 door
FULL INFO & TICKETS

Some of the music you’ll hear:

The Eventbrite link will have all the info you need. But yes, there’s a Facebook page too.

Galleycat

Disappointing, yes, but also understandable. While he doesn’t go into the reasons behind his position, this will not stop plenty of people from blindly hypothesizing. Might this hypothesizing-in-a-vacuum relates to the cause of Tower’s digital apostasy? I wonder.

I’m reminded of recurring comments by literary novelists in recent years. A core value of the digital revolution is speed, and as our lives become ever more networked, this speed comes to feel like the new normal. We ask, Why can’t they just write a book every two years?

To paraphrase The Incredibles, when everything’s fast, nothing is. Participation does not equal readership, it merely equals participation. And if you’re professionally disposed to measuring your words, writing draft after draft of a short story until it’s as perfect as you and your editor can make it, might it be somewhat disrespectful to the endeavor to blather on in an interview? At the very least it’s risking glibness when you’ve trained yourself out of it. What’s more, no amount of technological innovation will accelerate the pace of crafting literature. How-to manuals, sure. But not literature.

I will say this: Wells Tower’s move, intentional or not, has drummed up more news than any online interview ever could. He turned an interview request into a zine? Pretty great. I ordered mine already.

Just in time for the holidays, several new methods of holiday shopping have arrived. At best these marry the curatorial strengths of the best websites with the ease of online shopping. And at worse they’re still better than braving the lines at the big box stores.

Wantful - It’s simple: fill out their form about the gift recipient’s tastes and habits, and Wantful will mail them Apple-worthy packaging around a nifty, highly personalized gift catalog. The recipient picks the gift she wants, and Wantful charges your card. Everyone’s happy.

I’m trying this out with my friend Chad. I assume my options will be primarily champagne and cashmere underwear.

Quarterly Co – This comes from the “Bacon of the Month Club” territory. But replace bacon with a unique gift/invention/doodad delivered quarterly to your door from some of the best creatives on the internet. You might not be able to time the delivery for Christmas, but it’s a great way to avoid duplicate gifts. Me? I’m signing up for Alexis Madrigal‘s and Bobby Solomon‘s mailings. (A preview of Madrigal’s recent send.)

GiveEmThis - This one I’m not so sure about. It’s a service that trawls your loved one’s Facebook and Twitter pages and spits out gift suggestions. Wired tried it with a few celebrities, to mixed results.

If you know of any other services or similar startups, let me know in the comments!