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

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Canadian Publishing 2011: Challenges and Changes

This year Canadian publishers face a triple challenge—tough economic conditions, the first big surge of ebook sales, and a dramatic shift in strategy at Indigo Books & Music, Canada’s largest book retailer. But, as is often said, no one goes into publishing unless he or she is an optimist,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ebook sales #dramatic shift


Publishers rally to support Blackwell

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 16/09/2011 - 08:30 Publishers have heeded warnings that academic booksellers had "months to survive" by offering greater support during this year's academic season, the m.d. of Blackwell has reported. David Prescott said publishers have been... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #support blackwell #academic booksellers #heeded warnings #academic season #david prescott #high street #campus bookseller #supporting stockholding #promotional discounting #physical window


Ratings for App Functionality: Who Made the Top Grade?

Nothing turns a tech user off faster than system malfunctions. In the arms race the app market has shaped up to be, publishers are debuting their offerings as quickly as they can produce them. Unfortunately, this often does not leave time to work out the final kinks of download issues, faulty... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ACE publishes first library strategy document

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 08:55 Arts Council England (ACE) has released a document outlining its approach to library strategy. Culture, Knowledge and Understanding: Great Museums and Libraries for Everyone is said by ACE to be designed to provide certainty... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #long term


Shortfire launches Papercut app

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 15:23 Digital short story publishing house Shortfire Press has launched a new app which presents sound and video content when a reader reaches a certain point in the text. The Papercut app was produced in conjunction with digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #video content #laura dockrill #nadifa mohamed


French publishers drop charges against Google

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 09:00 French publishers Albin Michel, Flammarion and Gallimard have confirmed they have dropped charges against Google for digitising copyrighted books from their catalogues without prior permission. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prior permission


FT Releases Free “How To Spend It” iPad App

Financial Times is making its newest iPad offering free, with the luxury lifestyle magazine How To Spend It app available without charge for users. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Francis Frith to publish Britain's First Photo Album

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 15:50 Photograph specialist and publisher The Francis Frith Collection is to publish a tie-in title to forthcoming BBC series “Britain’s First Photo Album”. The BBC2 10-part daytime series will be fronted by John Sergeant and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gollancz buys self-published adventure series

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 15:41 Gollancz is hoping to reignite interest in the adventure game books of the 1980s after buying two books by a self-published author. Editor Marcus Gipps bought world rights to two books in the DestinyQuest series by Michael J... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing in Taiwan 2011

Ask any Chinese readers for their impression of books from Taiwan, and most likely they will cite meticulous editing and beautiful covers while reeling off the names of authors of literary gems, romance titles, and martial art novels. Turn to any American or European publisher, and chances are... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chinese readers #literary gems #romance titles #european publisher


The Works plans major expansion

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 08:45 Discount retailer The Works has said it hopes to expand its stores in the UK by nearly 150, as well as growing its e-commerce business with the sale of ebooks. The retailer has opened 43 new stores this year—bringing its total... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French Publishers Drop Lawsuits Against Google Book Scanning

Three French publishers have dropped lawsuits against Google alleging that the company infringed their copyright. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thirty-Four Percent of Content Apps Downloaded in Last 30 Days Were Paid

As publishers spend more time and money on developing apps to deliver their digital content, audience demographics detailing app interaction are beginning to show how these efforts are panning out. According to a recent study from Gfk MRI, app users who install fewer apps are more likely to... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber to publish new Peter Carey novel

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 08:45 Faber is to publish a new novel by Australian literary heavyweight Peter Carey next year, with the publisher already billing the dual-narrative title as a classic. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French publishers may drop claim against Google

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 09:00 French publishers Albin Michel, Flammarion and Gallimard appear to be dropping charges against Google for digitising copyrighted books without prior permission, at least for the moment, the trade weekly Livres Hebdo has... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New publisher liaison team for Waterstone's

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 16:15 Waterstone’s is understood to be setting up a publisher liaison team to manage its relationship with publishers. The team will be separate from the buying team and is thought to consist of around eight people. The Bookseller... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adobe's Digital Publishing Suite Will Support IOS 5 Newsstand Feature

Adobe has announced that its Digital Publishing Suite will support the Newsstand feature in iOS. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Three Publishers Are Retooling for Growth

New opportunities abound for publishers but with that comes new challenges, including determining what’s worth the time and resource investment—and what’s not. Here, three very different publishers outline how they’re reinventing existing products. Government Executive Plans to Double Revenue in... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Independent Publishers Are Keeping Paper Costs Down

Despite enormous amounts of attention directed towards digital efforts in the magazine industry, many independent publishers still count print as their main business and most reliable source of revenue. As the paper market continues to fluctuate, publishers are finding new ways to keep the price... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pack new authonomy.com publisher

Publication Date: Wed, 07/09/2011 - 08:23 The Friday Project publisher Scott Pack is to become publisher of HarperCollins' community writing site authonomy.com. Pack, who is also director of digital product development, will retain his role at TFP. Rachel Faulker, a former HC graduate trainee,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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