Ebooks are not 'stupid' – they're a revolution

The head of publisher Hachette has claimed ebooks are a failure – but as an author and a reader, they’ve completely changed my lifeI was a relatively late convert to the e-reader, getting my Kindle five years ago when it became clear that reading 600-pages of A Suitable Boy while breastfeeding wasn’t going to work. After a frenzied few months of almost exclusive e-reading, I returned largely to the traditional printed book for a number of reasons: screen fatigue, a tendency to scrawl in margins, because I want my kids to see me reading, and because I’m a passionate supporter of bookshops and booksellers. Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry recently called ebooks “stupid” – but last summer, they changed my life. Related: 'Ebooks are stupid', says head of one of world's biggest publishers Ebooks are not an enhancement on printed books? The built-in, one-tap dictionary is a boon for Will Self fans Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #suitable boy #screen fatigue #printed books

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Ebooks are not 'stupid' – they're a revolution'


Agents warn of ebook "reckoning"

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 11/10/2011 - 09:00 Literary agents speaking at Publishers Launch Frankfurt have challenged publishers to approach ebook royalty discussions in a more "knowledgeable" way or face a "reckoning" from the digital revolution. But there are signs of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Europe set to embrace the ebook

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Mon, 10/10/2011 - 14:49 European publishers are becoming less resistant to the "digitisation tsunami" as local distribution networks are built and publishers await the arrival of global players such as Amazon, Apple and Google in their territories. ... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt debates ebook prices

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Mon, 10/10/2011 - 14:15 Agents need to be less “conservative" if they are to protect their authors from accusations that their ebooks are over-priced, according to panellists at Publishers Launch Frankfurt this morning (Monday 10th October). read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Potential Spanish ebook VAT cut welcomed

Written By: Paul Rigg Publication Date: Fri, 07/10/2011 - 15:11 The Spanish socialists pledge to reduce ebook VAT (IVA) to 4% has been welcomed by the director of the Spanish ebook platform Libranda. The announcement came from Alfredo Rubalcaba, who is the socialists’ candidate to become prime... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google launches UK eBooks store, Australia and Canada 'soon'

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 06/10/2011 - 14:17 Google eBooks has launched its e-bookstore in the UK. The store can be found at Google.co.uk/ebooks with frontlist titles including The Fear Index by Robert Harris priced at £9.06 and Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson priced... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weltbild and Hugendubel launch new ebook reader

Written By: Anya Sieg Publication Date: Thu, 06/10/2011 - 17:26 German booksellers Weltbild and Hugendubel have launched their own ebook reader, a week before the Kindle goes onsale in Germany. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Toubon confident over French VAT cut on ebooks

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 05/10/2011 - 08:51 Former French culture minister Jacques Toubon has said he has high hopes that France will be able to cut VAT on ebooks from 19.6% to 5.5% next January as planned without triggering the wrath of the European Commission.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The bookshop revolution

Coffee, food, wine ... it takes a lot more than books to keep a bookseller in the black these days. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Perseus launches self-publishing ebook service

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 08:01 US independent publisher Perseus Books Group has launched a distribution and marketing service for authors wanting to self-publish their own ebooks, offering a 70% royalty rate to the author. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury launches Connect ebook service

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 15:15 Bloomsbury is to launch an ebook distribution facility Bloomsbury Connect, which will offer ebook conversion and distribution into the four English-language markets. The new initiative will provide competition to Faber Factory,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pottermore ebook launch pushed back to 2012

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 17:05 Harry Potter fans will have to wait until the first half of 2012 for the series' ebooks as the opening of the Pottermore shop postponed from its planned October launch. In a posting on the site's blog, it said: "As our... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google ebooks UK launch "imminent"

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 15:29 Google is preparing an “imminent” UK launch of its ebooks platform for selling digital titles, with members of Gardners Hive network able to sell the ebooks from their websites. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Notts libraries to charge for ebook loans

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 29/09/2011 - 08:42 Nottinghamshire library service has become the first to institute a charge for ebook loans. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Connelly ebook exclusives for Orion

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 28/09/2011 - 15:32 Orion is to publish six short stories from bestselling author Michael Connelly as ebook exclusives, featuring his series character LAPD detective Harry Bosch. Two collections of three short stories will be published, each... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trident agency launches ebook service

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 15:05 Trident Media Group, a New York-based literary agency, has launched Trident E-Book Operations, which will create, manage and implement ebook strategies for its authors. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Number of Americans reading ebooks doubles

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:05 The number of Americans using an ebook reader has almost doubled during the last 12 months, according to a new survery. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Leap in trade publishers' ebook production

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:06 One in five publishers is now generating more than 10% of their revenues from ebooks, with Amazon slowly decreasing in importance even as the giant e-tailer's revenues from ebooks continue to grow. The numbers are revealed in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MCB creates animated ebook cover for Chitty

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Tue, 20/09/2011 - 08:30 Macmillan Children's Books has created an animated cover for the ebook of Frank Cottrell Boyce's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, which it hopes will attract the interest of bloggers. The covers can be seen at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Natural History Museum launches ebook

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 20/09/2011 - 08:17 The Natural History Museum has launched its first ebook for the iPad, created from the most expensive book ever sold. The ebook of The Birds of America by John James Audubon features all 435 illustration plates of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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No end in sight for OFT ebook pricing probe

Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 09:51 Publishers are being kept waiting for the conclusion of the Office of Fair Trading's investigation into ebook prices, begun at the start of this year, with the OFT now in the process of assessing all the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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