A group of writers are quids in following an experiment to sell a bundle of DRM-free ebooks. Sales of The Humble Bundle, which included works from authors Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman and the much-loved xkcd comic strip, have been anything but humble, with over 84,000 bundles sold, earning the authors $1.1 million in sales. What made the experiment so extraordinary was the fact that buyers could choose what they paid for the bundle, and how much of their price went to charity. WIth the average price coming in at $14.18: anyone who paid more than that got extra content included. One user even paid $1,238 for his 13 books which, if bought separately, would cost $157. One of the writers has been left gobsmacked. Lauren Beukes, author of Zoo City, initially saw the concept as a crazy experiment. "I didn't realise there would be over 75,000 of them spending more than a million dollars in two weeks on books!" she said. "This is New York Times bestseller-level sales." The online publishing industry will have been given a real fillip by this - especially authors who choose to publish their own work by themselves. Larger publishing houses and retailers such as Amazon, both of which swear by the draconian DRM, will be looking to see how future bundles, already in the Humble Bundle pipeline, fare. Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books Plus in Penzance has been sold to new owners and will soon change its name to The Edge of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A start-up digital textbook platform has agreed terms with 12 publishers ahead of a 1st September... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Erika Leonard laughs a lot, a deep wheezy chortle. And why wouldn't she? Leonard, a 49-year-old overnight publishing sensation, is laughing all the way to the bank. In the past few months the former TV executive has had her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, dominate the New York Times... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The cookbook has been republished after an initial run in 1947, and her great-granddaughter Elizabeth Gilbert ('Eat Pray Love') reintroduces Potter in the forward. The cookbook is insightful and funny, weaving together practical advice and recipes.At Home on the Range Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author wants American Jews to force changes in Israeli policy to protect the democratic legacy of Labor Zionism. He also explains why that's unlikely to happen.Nearly all the considerable attention generated by Peter Beinart's "The Crisis of Zionism" has focused on its final 81/2 pages.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles and Blackwell are teaming up for the first time to organise a joint Charing Cross Road... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It might not have had as many lives as your average cat, but Weinstein Books has gone through more than a few reincarnations. The publishing unit tied to Bob and Harvey Weinstein was unveiled in 2001, when the independent film-producing brothers were intent on creating a mini–media empire,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers including Foyles, Newham Books, Pages of Hackney and The Book Box will be among those... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Unintended Consequences' by former Bain Capital managing director Edward Conard argues that economic inequality is a good thing rather than a problem. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Enhanced Editions co-founder Peter Collingridge is to join digital learning library Safari Books... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It would be a big surprise if one of the major publishers were to follow Stylist magazine and launch a mainstream free women's title, according to Lisa Smosarski, editor of Stylist, who believes such a move would be a "big step". Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Avengers may have racked up more than $200 million in box office receipts during its weekend opening, but the comic books on which the movie is based may tell us more about the future of storytelling. Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton
[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2012-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez examine the nature of their relationship and the ways it's shaped their lives in their loving, candid new memoir.Martin Sheen was a struggling 21-year-old stage actor when his first son Emilio was born. Sheen, seventh of 10 children in a family that knew him as... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The change has come more slowly to books than it came to music or to business correspondence, but by now it feels inevitable. The digital era is upon us. The Twilights and Freedoms of 2025 will be consumed primarily as ebooks. In many ways, this is good news. Books will become cheaper and more... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2012-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you’re more than 50 years old, you will either think this story was coincidentally familiar to your own unpredictable publishing odyssey, or immediately upon finishing “Not Extinct Yet,” you’re going to call ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kiwi authors such as Patricia Grace and Lloyd Jones are seeing increased interest in their books being translated into German ahead of this year's Frankfurt Book Fair. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has bought world English rights in the first three books in a seven-book fantasy... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the May issue of the Slate Book Review, Meghan O’Rourke writes about Are You My Mother?, cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s therapy-fueled exploration of her relationship with her mom. Writes O’Rourke: Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2012-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Duncan Baird Publishers is to remove digital rights management (DRM) from its future and backlist... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Target, the first brick-and-mortar store to sell the Kindle, will soon pull Amazon’s popular e-reader from its shelves. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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