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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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Mon, 05/09/2011 - 14:05 Spending on printed books slumped 4% in August, with sales plummeting to a seven-year low for the month, according to Nielsen BookScan data. A total of £107.5m spent on physical books at UK booksellers in the four weeks to 27th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With sales of digital content and its Nook line of reading devices and accessories surging and its print business showing signs of stabilization, Barnes & Noble reported its best quarterly report in some time last week, as total revenue in the first period rose 1.6%, to $1.42 billion, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 14:45 Hodder Children's Books has bought two teen titles from journalist and presenter Dawn Porter. Publisher Emily Thomas did the deal directly with Porter for a "sizeable" sum. The books are described as "epic stories of an... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As ebooks become popular, there are increasing opportunities to share and personalize the digital reading experience. That's where the upcoming Readmill iPad app and social network come in. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 02/09/2011 - 07:55 The Galaxy National Book Awards ceremony will not be broadcast in full this year, instead being showcased in a six-part series on More4, with submissions for the awards closing on 16th September. The six-part series,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 31/08/2011 - 08:05 Penguin is aiming to bring traditional family storytelling into the digital arena with a new picture book reader app, Me Books, which enables parents and carers to personalise stories by selecting parts they want to record... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 31/08/2011 - 14:45 The Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish indie Cargo and US publisher McSweeney's are to team up on a four-volume collection of stories from authors including Roddy Doyle and Ali Smith. Fifty authors are to take part... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At no time in its history has the opportunity and danger been greater for Books-A-Million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Tye, CEO at Dennis Publishing, warns against assuming all your readers want the same, and reveals how the company is monetising its digital products. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 26/08/2011 - 14:34 Jackie Kay has won the £30,000 Scottish Book of the Year award for her autobiography Red Dust Road (Picador). The award, which is run by Creative Scotland, was presented to Kay by Dame Jenni Murray today (26th August) at an... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 25/08/2011 - 07:56 Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending (Cape) is comfortably the bestselling longlistee of one of the most popular Man Booker longlists since records began. Barnes' concise novel has sold 9,700 copies at UK booksellers since the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 24/08/2011 - 14:46 Private Eye is marking its 50th anniversary by publishing a book looking back at the history of the satirical institution. Private Eye: The First 50 Years is written by Adam Macqueen, a journalist on the magazine since 1997. It... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 24/08/2011 - 08:25 BBC Books is to launch a publishing programme around Bafta-winning TV series "Sherlock", which was inspired by the adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle's Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. The titles will each feature the show's branding and introductions... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 23/08/2011 - 14:43 Collins has bought a memoir of an Irish traveller bare-knuckle boxing champion. Craig Adams, assistant editor for Collins, bought world rights in all languages to Knuckle by James Quinn McDonagh, in an unagented deal. The book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:18 One in six children do not read a single book per month, according to a new survey by the National Literacy Trust. The research suggested the United Kingdom is polarised between those who do not read and the one in 10 children... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 11:39 An autobiography by Only Fools and Horses star John Boycie Challis will be the first book published by new company Wigmore Books, set up by writer Peter Burden. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 12:03 World Book Day has appointed Kirsten Grant as director, with Cathy Schofield stepping down from her position as co-ordinator which she has held since October 2000. Grant, who was previously Puffin marketing and campaigns... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 15:38 The book trades TCM sales showed another big year on year drop last week, but the regional breakdown of the Nielsen BookScan figures suggests the nationwide riots were unlikely to be the major factor,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 11:42 Union Books editorial director Rosalind Porter has bought a book about poet A E Housman by Peter Parker, author of The Last Veteran. Porter bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from David Miller at Rogers,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I've been lucky enough to have my book published in a few countries now, and despite the universal subject matterthe periodic tableeach country has had a different take on it. Some publishers merely tweaked the book: The British, for instance, re-imagined the cover. More drastically, the... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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