Few people understand the magic of libraries better than Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, but all is not well when it comes to digital lending. As the soon-to-be president of the Society of Authors, Pullman is leading the charge against publishing houses that may be shortchanging writers on ebook loans. In a letter to major publishers like Random House and Bloomsbury, Pullman argues that selling ebooks to libraries as single sales rather than licenses costs authors up to two-thirds the income they receive from print loans. The Society's brief calls for the industry to reconsider existing models for compensation so that writers can continue producing books with which to line library shelves. After all, without authors, there would be no books, and as Pullman himself wrote, "Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all." Filed under: Misc Comments Via: The Guardian, The Telegraph Source: The Society of Authors (PDF) Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2013-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
Beginning Tuesday, Random House will join other major book publishers in selling its ebooks using the so-called agency model, setting its own prices for ebooks while the retailer takes a commission. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 09:53 Random House UK has said it will continue to evaluate options for ebook pricing but will not follow its US business in adopting the agency model. A statement from Random House US issued overnight said agency would... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:45 The UK's big four publishing groupsPenguin, Hachette, Random House and HarperCollinscould be the worst hit in terms of exposure to the ANZ market according to Nielsen BookScan data, following REDgroup's collapse in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews At Noon ET today, News Corp. launched its original iPad newspaper The Daily. During an event that started an hour earlier, News Corp. president Rupert Murdoch said the target audience is the 50 million American users expected to have purchased iPads by end of this... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Overdrive c.e.o. Steve Potash has said there is enthusiastic support for library e-lending from many trade publishing houses, describing fears over remote downloading as not a real issue. Potash was visiting London this week for talks with the major publishers,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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