How Amazon's bid to bury Hachette has backfired

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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Oxford University Press to end centuries of tradition by closing its printing arm

Falling sales blamed as 20 jobs axed in final chapter for history of printing in the city, which stretches back to the earliest days of book publishing Oxford University’s right to print books was first recognised in 1586, in a decree from the Star Chamber. But the centuries-old printing history... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-06-09 14:27:25 UTC ]
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UK Book Publishing Industry Raises Copyright Alarm: ‘Save Our Books’

'The biggest threat to our industry post-Brexit,' says the Publishers Association, is an 'international copyright exhaustion framework.' The post UK Book Publishing Industry Raises Copyright Alarm: ‘Save Our Books’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-06-07 17:22:58 UTC ]
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Oprah, Keanu Join U.S. Book Show Lineup

Publishers Weekly's new virtual book publishing trade show, the U.S. Book Show, will feature Oprah Winfrey as its opening keynote speaker, and actor Keanu Reeves will speak on a panel about his new graphic novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Farshore signs deal for CoComelon's book publishing

Farshore and HarperCollins Poland have signed a joint deal for the book publishing of "CoComelon", a pre-school YouTube channel and streaming media show owned by Moonbug Entertainment. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-11 03:24:35 UTC ]
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Germany’s Bookwire Announces an NFT Marketplace for Book Publishing

The German digital book distributor has an autumn target for its NFT platform for the book publishing sector. The post Germany’s Bookwire Announces an NFT Marketplace for Book Publishing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-05-06 19:51:29 UTC ]
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Rewriting history: why book publishing must embrace LGBTQ+ stories—and soon

For many readers growing up in the UK, the book publishing sector does not adequately serve them with books that speak to their experience of their sexuality or gender—and this must change. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-30 21:47:40 UTC ]
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BISG Annual Meeting Examines Sustainability on a Number of Levels

The Book Industry Study Group's annual meeting focused on issues around book publishing’s impact on the environment, the continuing effect of the pandemic on the supply chain, and the industry’s response, examined under the theme of “Publishing for a Sustainable Future.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Allen Lane bags two on £40k Wolfson History Prize shortlist

Allen Lane has two titles shortlisted for the £40,000 Wolfson History Prize, which celebrates excellence in research and historical writing combined with readability for a wider audience. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-21 02:05:49 UTC ]
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Federation of European Publishers’ New COVID-19 Impact Report: Europe Closes 2020 Down 2 to 5 Percent

A first look at the new report on Europe's book publishing markets highlights the range of impact felt in the first year of the pandemic. The post Federation of European Publishers’ New COVID-19 Impact Report: Europe Closes 2020 Down 2 to 5 Percent appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-03-26 15:57:21 UTC ]
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Cookbook pioneer Croft on lunching, lockdown lessons and Chefs at Home

Bath-based gastronome Jon Croft’s four decades in book publishing and cookery TV production have reshaped the landscape, and his list’s latest title is giving back to staff working in the hospitality sectors. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-20 08:42:44 UTC ]
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Know thy reader

With the levelling off of e-book sales, many have begun to wonder whether the book publishing industry will be spared the kinds of disruption experienced by other sectors of the media industries. But the digital transformation of the book publishing industry was never fundamentally about e-books... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-13 06:41:09 UTC ]
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Paul McCartney tells life story through lyrics for Allen Lane

Paul McCartney has written the “extraordinary” story of his life for the first time through the prism of 154 song lyrics, to be published by Allen Lane. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-24 12:41:28 UTC ]
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Gladwell's Bomber Mafia landed by Allen Lane

Malcolm Gladwell will release a “riveting” new book, The Bomber Mafia: A Story Set in War, this April with Allen Lane. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-16 05:36:44 UTC ]
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Allen Lane wins four-way auction for Baker's group biography

Allen Lane has won a four-way auction for a “vivid and unexpected” group biography of four creative pioneers by Harriet Baker. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-14 19:57:05 UTC ]
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Allen Lane signs Covid-19 account from Pulitzer winner Wright

Allen Lane has signed an "all-encompassing" account of the Covid-19 crisis from Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-08 21:21:35 UTC ]
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Michael Lewis writes 'stunning' coronavirus book for Allen Lane

Michael Lewis has written a “stunning” book on a group of people who predicted the coronavirus pandemic, to be rushed out by Allen Lane. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-28 20:37:13 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble's Book Publishing Arm Gets a New Publisher

The bookseller has hired Emily Meehan as publisher and chief creative officer of Sterling Publishing in what it called part of a relaunch of its publishing division. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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David Larkin obituary

My brother David Larkin, who has died aged 84, was an art director in the book publishing industry who consistently pushed artists to go beyond their known capabilities – and often saw things in them that they did not themselves perceive.In the late 1960s, as art director at Granada Publishing,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-01-03 15:48:19 UTC ]
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Allen Lane wins 'radical new history' of queer identity in four-way auction

Allen Lane will publish Nothing Ever Just Disappears, a new history of seven queer lives and the places that made them by writer and academic Diarmuid Hester. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-06 22:14:06 UTC ]
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Unfinished business in Belarus

Earlier this year, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya decided to run for president in Belarus, a country widely known as “Europe’s last dictatorship,” after her husband, a popular YouTuber who had planned to run himself, was jailed. Alexander Lukashenko, the longtime dictator, allowed Tikhanovskaya to... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-12-01 13:25:34 UTC ]
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