Amazon ebook pricing battle intensifies after 'Authors United' ad

Compares Hachette dispute to past paperback fears, but partially quoting George Orwell is a risky moveAmazon has hit back following an open letter from more than 900 authors criticising its licensing dispute with publisher Hachette, which was published as an ad in the New York Times.However, the latest blog post from the Amazon Books Team is raising eyebrows within the publishing industry due to its use of a partial quote from George Orwell in support of its cause.We have made Amazon many millions of dollars and over the years have contributed so much, free of charge, to the company by way of cooperation, joint promotions, reviews and blogs.This is no way to treat a business partner. Nor is it the right way to treat your friends. Without taking sides on the contractual dispute between Hachette and Amazon, we encourage Amazon in the strongest possible terms to stop harming the livelihood of the authors on whom it has built its business.With it being so inexpensive and with so many more people able to afford to buy and read books, you would think the literary establishment of the day would have celebrated the invention of the paperback, yes? Nope. Instead, they dug in and circled the wagons.They believed low cost paperbacks would destroy literary culture and harm the industry (not to mention their own bank accounts). Many bookstores refused to stock them, and the early paperback publishers had to use unconventional methods of distribution places like newsstands and... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Amazon ebook pricing battle intensifies after 'Authors United' ad"


Amazon market share ‘increases dramatically after Kindle buy’

Amazon's market share of book sales significantly increases once a customer buys a Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Comixology Drives the E-comics Market

Comixology, a digital comics distributor and marketplace, marks its fifth anniversary this year as it emerges as the clear leader in the digital comics space. The company’s Guided View technology, a much imitated function on its Comics by Comixology app, which allows readers to read digital... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Penguin buys into self-publishing

The parent company of Penguin Books, Pearson, has bought one of the biggest self-publishing companies, Author Solutions Inc (ASI). Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Sainsbury's ups profit and market share

Sainsbury's has reported a 6.8% rise in total sales in its preliminary results for the year... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pearson Sales Rise But Sees Lower Half-Year Profit

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Pearson PLC (PSON.LN), the publisher of the Financial Times newspaper and Penguin books, Friday produced a healthy rise in first-quarter revenue, but warned profit will be down in the first half of 2012 due to seasonal effects an ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


W H Smith ‘won market share’ at Christmas

W H Smith says it increased its market share over the Christmas period, with retail analysts... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


100 tablets to choose from, and you can name just one -- iPad

The year 2011 will go down in the history books as a great year for tablets mostly for Apple?s iPad, however -- not all tablet vendors fared as well as Apple. It'?s not for lack of products that prevented Android tablets from taking any market share away from Apple this year. By our calculation,... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Sulkin to retire as Williams becomes Bodley head

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 08/07/2011 - 08:40 Will Sulkin will be retiring from his role as publishing director of The Bodley Head in April 2012, with Stuart Williams, editorial director at Harvill Secker, to step into the position. Sulkin's retirement in 2012 will... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


"Prudent" Egmont profits rise

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 07:45 Egmont UK remains acquisitive but is predicting a "flat" year ahead. The specialist children's publisher reported sales down nearly 8% at £45.9m for the 12 months to 31st December 2010 (£49.7m in 2009) although pretax profits... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


United Agents' Canter dies

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 14/03/2011 - 08:52 United Agents co-founder and children's agent Rosemary Canter died on Friday [11th March]. Canter began her publishing career as assistant fiction editor at Penguin Books in 1972, eventually working in children's book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Weidenfeld editor-in-chief to retire

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 08/02/2011 - 09:05 Michael Dover, Weidenfeld & Nicolson editor-in-chief non-fiction, is to retire at the end of June this year, with several promotions effective from 1st March also marking a time of change for the company. Dover has... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Supermarkets sweep up market share

Written By: Philip Stone and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/02/2011 - 09:24 The supermarket sector was the only winner in the 2010 retail trade, with sales jumping 7% year-on-year. Estimates based on data from Nielsen BookScan show that book sales in the UK were down by 4% in 2010 in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Quercus increases market share by more than 100%

Written By: Lisa Campbell Quercus has announced that its market share has increased by 103% in a year. The publishing group responsible for Stieg Larsson's best-selling Millennium Trilogy, revealed the group dominated 1.37%, up from 0.66% in 2009 in a market that declined by 1.7%. Quercus chief... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this