Amazon's suggestion that the ebook and paperback revolutions are comparable has sparked scorn, satire and indigationWhen Amazon published their rather extraordinary "Message from the Amazon Books Team" at readersunited.com last week, they got a few things right and a few things wrong. Alongside a realistic analysis of ebook pricing and a rather aggressive plea to bombard the CEO of Hachette with threatening emails, the letter noted that "Just ahead of World War II, there was a radical invention that shook the foundations of book publishing". This was the paperback, and apparently it was opposed by publishers who "dug in and circled the wagons". Which is a bit odd, as the person most widely credited with the popularisation of the paperback (but not its invention) was Allen Lane, who, as founder of Penguin Books, introduced paperback classics to the British public.Amazon's other bizarre decision, alongside the somewhat unnecessary second world war reference, was to quote George Orwell selectively on the subject and accuse him of "collusion". In fact, Orwell was making a sarcastic dig in favour of the paperback, and Amazon has been accused of doublespeak by the Orwell estate. The parody page booksunited.org, created by online writer Dan Hon in the voice of the books themselves, smartly notes that "We are not fighting for our existence. We know that as long as you humans exist, you will write, and you will read." Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media, explained why his company made a buyout bid for Barnes & Noble valuing it at $1 billion. The decision came down to Liberty's bid for Sirius and his outlook for Nook, he said. You might look at the experience we've had with Sirius XM, Malone told... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 09:41 Responses to Amazon.com's hire of Laurence Kirshbaum as publisher have varied from worried to fear of a "dampening" effect on competition among delegates at the BEA conference. Word that started to spread Sunday night was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Liberty Media Corp. executives laid out their rationale for their surprise bid for Barnes & Noble Inc., touting the potential of the bookseller's Nook e-reader and the vast network of retail stores it can use to promote it. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As a former Amazon Associate, I can tell you that a great many sales of Kindle Books are for the 99¢ complete Dickens, etc. Movie critic and Web publisher Roger Ebert, providing some context for Amazons stat about Kindle ebooks outselling print books. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.com said that it sold 105 ebooks for every 100 printed books, a milestone that its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, said had occurred sooner than expected. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While the Rapture isnt scheduled to occur until Saturday, according to members of certain religious fringe groups, it looks like doomsday has come early for publishers of print books. Amazon announced Thursday that sales of ebooks on the site have finally surpassed combined sales of hardcovers... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Inc. said that Liberty Media Corp. has offered to buy the bookseller in a deal valuing it at about $1 billion. Barnes & Noble shares were up 20 percent in after-hours trading Thursday on the news, matching the $17-a-share offer price from John Malone's media empire. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It happened. Amazon says ebook sales have surpassed physical book sales on Amazon.com. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Inc. said that Liberty Media Corp. has offered to buy the bookseller in a deal valuing it at about $1 billion. Barnes & Noble shares were up 20 percent in after-hours trading Thursday on the news, matching the $17-a-share offer price from John Malone's media empire. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 09:59 Amazon has told US publishers that it will begin accepting digital files in the ePub format in the near future and will also allow users of its Kindle device to read ePub files. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 13:27 Waterstones could be bought by the same restructuring firm which took control of British Bookshops and Stationers as the bidders' deadline ends at 5pm today, The Bookseller understands. Restructuring specialist GA Europe... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 08:15 Hachette Distribution managing director Simon Davidson has "left the company", having joined in September 2009. Hachette UK chief operating officer Chris Emerson will assume direct responsibility for Hachette Distribution... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:40 Hachette Childrens Books has teamed up with Tesco to give away book packs to school pupils. Childrens author Giles Andreae is ambassador for the scheme, which will see a variety of books ranging from £10-£200 available from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 09:54 Hachette has the lion's share of titles featured in the W H Smith Summer Richard and Judy Book Club list. Five out of the eight books featured in the celebrity couple's high street retailer promotion are from the publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.com Inc. is expanding its fast-growing publishing business with a new line of romance books, its latest quest for original content to distinguish its print and digital bookselling services. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 03/05/2011 - 11:42 E-book sales at Hachette UK quadrupled in the first quarter of 2011 and are more than 5% of HUKs trade sales, the company revealed today (3rd May), adding that it was beginning to catch up with the US, where ebooks now account... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 03/05/2011 - 08:30 High street retailer Argos intends to increase its online book range from 500 to 5,000 titles over the next month. The chain store, known for stocking a large range of non-food products, launched its books category on its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 28/04/2011 - 15:15 Hodder Faith publishing director Wendy Grisham is moving to the US to launch new Hachette imprint Jericho Books. The imprint will be part of Faith Words, with Grisham appointed as publisher and vice-president reporting to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has tweaked its Kindle for Android app to run optimally on tablets running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Anja Sieg Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 13:53 More than three years after it was introduced in North America and eight months after the UK become the first country outside of the US to get a dedicated Kindle store, Germany has followed suit. The German Kindle store was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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