Apple App Store subscription plan gouges publishers, eats their young

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Somebody call the cops -- eh, antitrust authorities. Apple's subscription plan is here, and it's as bad for many, if not most, publishers as rumored. The first of several key sentences from Apple's press announcement: "Publishers may no longer provide links in their apps (to a website, for example) which allow the customer to purchase content or subscriptions outside of the app." That means you Amazon Kindle; before the announcement, all Kindle transactions took place outside the app in a web browser. This change applies to any content, but it's nestled in the subscriptions announcement.Another piece of nastiness: "Apple does require that if a publisher chooses to sell a digital subscription separately outside of the app, that same subscription offer must be made available, at the same price or less, to customers who wish to subscribe from within the app." That rule conceptually would prevent some publishers from extending to existing customers the benefits of a free iPad subscription."So, Apple doesn't prohibit publishers from selling subscriptions outside the app -- how could it and get anyone to offer content? But the company does fix prices. So if publisher A charges 50 bucks a year and wants to offer a holiday or school graduation promotion from its website, the deal must be offered for app subscriptions, too. Remember, Apple collects 30 percent from publishers.No one should misunderstand other terms, as stated in Apple's press release:... Continue reading at 'Betanews'

[ Betanews | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #book sold #barnes noble #raise prices #profits handed #things digital #steve jobs #android tablets

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Apple App Store subscription plan gouges publishers, eats their young'


Wimpy Kid author files lawsuit against Zombie Kid publisher

Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, has filed a trademark lawsuit against... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jeff kinney #trademark lawsuit


Publishers pick their wishes and misses of 2012

The Good Muslim, The Marriage Plot and Go the F**k to Sleep are among the books literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers pick #good muslim #marriage plot


E-books in Apple's annual giveaway

Apple is to launch a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway, to begin on Boxing Day, which will include e-... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #boxing day


New app route for Macmillan Children's

Macmillan Children's Books has launched its first app, Dear Zoo, ahead of the 30th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #macmillan children #dear zoo


Faber to publish Cowell biography

Faber is to publish a "definitive" biography of entertainment mogul Simon Cowell by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Trend Report: Are paywalls the only way forward for online publishers?

It's been 18 months since News Corp erected paywalls around The Sunday Times and The Times. Mike Fletcher assesses whether the paywall model is the future for online publishing and talks exclusively with News International to discover a shift in strategic thinking. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sunday times #trend report #online publishers #online publishing #news international


Bounce! prepares to increase publisher representation

Bounce! Sales & Marketing Ltd is to expand the number of publishers it represents following... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Hoffman Media to Cease Publishing Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Magazine

Semi-Homemade, the magazine of Food Network celebrity chef Sandra Lee, will no longer be published by Birmingham, Alabama-based Hoffman Media following its January/February 2012 issue. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Mainstream to publish "street-smart" guide to single life

Mainstream has bought a book aimed at guiding modern single girls on their search for love, to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #single life #book aimed


HC and Canongate back Page's new publishing call

HarperCollins and Canongate have backed Faber’s Stephen Page’s calls for a new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


The Amazon Price Check App and The Battle over 'Showrooming'

If “showrooming” wasn’t part of the industry lexicon before last week, it is now, thanks to Amazon’s price check app that gives customers up to $15 in discounts to those who scan prices of products at different stores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Media Decoder Blog: Many Online Book Buyers First Shop Around in Stores

According to a survey, 24 percent of people who said they had bought books from an online retailer in the last month also said they had seen the book in a brick-and-mortar bookstore first. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online retailer #brick-and-mortar bookstore


Publishers bullish over digital future

More than a third of publishers internationally believe that digital formats will account for at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital future #digital formats


Regional Mag Publisher Looks to Resuscitate Local Newspaper Business with Weekly Offering

Dan Shannon, publisher of North Carolina city titles Chapel Hill and Durham Magazines, has spotted a hole in the current news publishing model. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Pioneering Library-Publisher Relations

Even in tense times, there is far more that unites publishers and libraries than divides them. And if one needs proof that librarians and publishers share common goals and can work together to mutual benefit, they need look no further than the career of Marcia Purcell, Random House’s v-p of... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #academic marketing


Usborne seeks "boutique" publishing boost

Usborne is focusing on series and younger readers to help grow its fiction sales in the coming... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #younger readers #fiction sales


Paddington Bear app launched, ebooks to follow

HarperCollins Children's Books has produced a new app for classic picturebook Paddington,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins children


Kindle Store launched in Spain and Italy

Amazon has launched the Kindle Store in Spain and Italy, as well as its first Spanish-language... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kindle store


Eason set to keep stores despite job losses

Irish chain bookseller Eason looks likely to escape sizeable store closures following the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #job losses


CompareNetworks Acquires Russell Publishing

San Francisco, California-based CompareNetworks, which operates online b-to-b marketplaces for the scientific and healthcare industries, has acquired Indianapolis, Indiana-based Russell Publishing, LLC, publisher of titles American Pharmaceutical Review, Pharmaceutical Outsourcing and... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |