Apple and four major ebook publishers have offered retailers such as Amazon.com the option to set their own prices for ebooks for the next two years in a bid to end an antitrust investigation in the European Union. The European Commission launched the investigation into allegations of cartel price-fixing by Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Macmillan and Apple last December. The publishers are accused of colluding with Apple to fix the price of ebooks, forcing up prices for consumers and attempting to squeeze rivals such as Amazon out of the market. The case hinges on so-called “agency pricing”, which allows more control by publishers over retail prices, in particular an unusual “most favored nation” (MFN) clause. Apple, Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan have all offered to terminate existing agency agreements and refrain from adopting price MFN clauses for five years. Penguin has not offered any commitments and an investigation into its conduct is ongoing. In addition, retailers would be free to set the retail price of ebooks, offering whatever discounts or promotions they wish, for a two-year period, so long as the total value of discounts does not exceed the total annual amount of commission that the retailer receives from the publisher, reported the E.U.’s Official Journal on Wednesday. This could mean lower prices for consumers thanks to increased competition. However the Commission is asking... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A ebook literary festival expecting up to 20,000 visitors ends early after only 100 show up. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new study by the Book Industry Study Group says readers are choosing both print and ebooks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#consumers switch
Tim Cooper, commercial director of Harlequin, has spoken out over the inclusion of one of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo is due to launch a country-wide roadshow to showcase its ebook offering to independent... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Social media is young and its impact on news publishing is still unfolding. It’s unlikely that sharing and commenting will be the only major trends to emerge from the social revolution. News publishers, already beset by extraordinary change ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European publishers are looking into the opportunities a free trade agreement between the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#european publishers
After packaging for a number of American publishers, among them Focal Press, St. Martin’s, Abrams, and Chronicle, U.K.-based Ilex Press is entering the U.S. with its own line of books that is being distributed by Ingram Publisher Services. Founded in 2000 by U.K. publishing veteran Alastair... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#publishing market
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Arrow has acquired six novellas that follow on from Francine Pascal's adult novel, Sweet... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Polarised views on low ebook prices have been raised this week, as Sony and Amazon continue to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan are embarking on a new short fiction project to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of the iPad rose 84% year-on-year in the third quarter ending 30th June 2012, to a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Websites and apps by non-traditional publishers are most useful for travellers, according to an... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#travel publishing
Four local online newsrooms have united to broaden New Orleans’ news options. The mission of the newly formed New Orleans Digital News Alliance is to connect independent digital news organizations for the benefit of our readers and to stren ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House has announced plans for the creation of a digital one-stop shop to aid the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline has acquired a new humour title, Texts from Dog, billed as "the first ever Tumblr... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown c.e.o. Ursula McKenzie was among those speaking out against low-priced ebooks at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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 ]
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If it wasn’t clear before that self-publishing is transforming the book industry, Pearson’s $116 million acquisition of self-publishing vendor Author Solutions Inc. should wipe away any lingering uncertainty. The purchase of Author Solutions—which has 1,600 employees, has published 150,000... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sen. Charles Schumer wrote in an op-ed that the Department of Justice's lawsuit could 'wipe out the publishing industry as we know it.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publisher has bought a Bloomington, Ind.-based company called Author Solutions, which so far has attracted 150,000 authors releasing their own books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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