Penelope Lively's recent short ebook for Penguin drew criticism for its brevity – but readers should not be put off the genre as a whole"Overpriced", "ridiculous", I feel cheated". Amazon reviewers haven't been wholly positive about a digital short Penelope Lively has written for Penguin Specials. On the evidence of the story itself, it's not Lively's fault. Abroad is about a pair of art students who travel to 1950s Spain in search of picturesque peasants and are disappointed when they don't live up to expectations. It's funny and evocative of a time when rural Europe was still exotic.It also peters out after just 4,000 words, so I sympathise with anyone who felt ripped off by its £1.99 price tag. These days you can buy two whole novels for that. The sad fact is, publishers don't make any money if an ebook costs less than £1.99. Amazon does, because singles are the literary equivalent of a gateway drug.This was brought home to me on finishing Susan Hill's latest effort, Printer's Devil Court (99p), a haunting tale about pre-second world war medical students who experiment with resurrection. More substantial than Lively's, it's a great, old-fashioned ghost story, whose chilling impact was somewhat undermined by turning the final page to find Amazon ordering me to rate, review, tweet, Facebook and buy more books by Susan Hill. Was the ebook I'd enjoyed little more than a trailer?Singles are a clever marketing tool. But it would be a shame if readers short-changed by one... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
Nearly half the titles read by children in a national reading competition were consumed online, according to the charity Booktrust. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#charity booktrust
#consumed online
Magzter, an online store front for digital magazines, is to launch an ebook store with a planned... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook store
#digital magazines
The OED bent the rules slightly by adding 'tweet' in under 10 years – a nod to the word's rapid and widespread rise into everyday usage. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Joshua Tallent, well-known ebook expert and founder of Ebook Architects, shares his views on current issues in digital publishing and ebook development. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#digital publishing
#ebook architects
#joshua tallent
Passing on your favorite books to your heirs has sentimental value. But how will that work if your library is digital? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Government lawyers allege the agreements Apple signed in 2010 with five publishers amounted to a conspiracy to get consumers to pay more for electronic books.NEW YORK — Eddy Cue, the Apple Inc. executive in charge of negotiating the company's controversial ebook deals, defended how the tech... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#witness stand
#online bookstore
#electronic books
#antitrust trial
The Society of Authors has ignited a public row with publishers over ebook lending terms, after... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
A new survey in Japan shows that Amazon's Kindle is leading the market for ebook sales, with Apple (launched in March) second, followed by Kinokuniya's Kinoppy, Sony's Reader Store and Kobo. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook sales
Apple director Keith Moerer said in court on Tuesday that the company holds about 20 percent of the US ebook market, double the size commonly assumed. The revelation came after the Department of Justice tried to bolster its price fixing case against the company by asserting that "Apple forgot to... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#online store
#ebook market
#court --
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... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#human beings
#selling ebooks
#random house
#major publishers
#publishing houses
#dark materials
Macmillan CEO John Sargent, who testified this week at a trial over alleged price-fixing of ebooks, was no one's idea of a friendly witness. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2013-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#alleged price-fixing
#ebook trial
The Society of Authors has warned that authors may be losing out twice over on ebook loans, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook loans
Self-published titles make up 12% of all ebook sales, according to new findings from Bowker... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook sales
Bestselling novel The Time Traveller's Wife is to be made available as an ebook for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#time traveller
Apple enlisted the services of Winnie-the-Pooh in trying to show a court that it did not tinker with ebook prices when it opened its electronic bookstore in 2010, according to the Associated Press.Apple enlisted the services of Winnie-the-Pooh on Tuesday in trying to show a court that it did not... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#electronic bookstore
#ebook prices
#ebook trial
A deal between Apple and publishers to set the price of ebooks cost customers "hundreds of millions of dollars", a government lawyer claims. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2013-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Apple cost readers hundreds of million of dollars by conspiring with five major publishers to fix prices, government says. Apple says the antitrust case is bizarre. NEW YORK — Apple Inc. and five major publishers conspired to fix prices on ebooks, costing consumers hundreds of millions of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#antitrust case
#fix prices
#major publishers
#ebook trial
In the last year, plenty of media and content companies have started publishing ebooks for the first time. In a panel at the Publishers Launch conference at Book Expo America on Wednesday, several of them discussed what they’ve learned from ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#content companies
#chicago tribune
#toronto star
#ve learned
#media companies
Technology giant Apple is to begin its defence against charges by the US government that it colluded to set the prices of ebooks. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2013-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The Justice Department will lay out in a civil antitrust trial its accusations that Apple masterminded a cartel with publishers to raise ebook prices.For a company that beat down prices of online music, Apple Inc. finds itself in the odd situation of defending itself against government claims... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#electronic books
#government claims
#justice department
#fix prices