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 ]
E-book adoption by women increased dramatically around the time of the publication of E L James... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ingram MyiLibrary is offering a new credits-based 'Access Purchase Model' for ebook lending that it promises will be equitable to both publishers and clients alike. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown has become the first publisher to launch a digital imprint devoted to frontlist... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Commission has decided to refer France and Luxembourg to the EU Court of Justice... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When you buy an ebook from Amazon, it's yours, right? Technically speaking, Amazon is merely licensing the book to you. And the company can, seemingly on a whim, close your account and delete all your books. This isn't likely to happen, but it gives me pause. Indeed, it makes me want to back up... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#kindle ebook
By minimizing the risk of buying a bad book, pay-as-you-read business models could translate into higher prices and higher quality content, but will it drive more sales? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#higher prices
HarperVoyager is marking this year's 50th anniversary of Ray Bradbury's classic sci fi... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has patented a technology that allows customers to sell their previously read ebooks, audiobooks, music and movies in the same way that they can now sell print books, DVDs, and CDs. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One collection of short stories and four novels—including Jeet Thayyil’s Narcopolis, winner of the DSC Prize—have been shortlisted for The Hindu Literary Prize. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Coronet has acquired the TV tie-in book to comedy series "Bad Education". Editorial... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The American Library Association has created a scorecard that asks library workers to grade publishers on the way that they are offering ebooks for lending. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Short Books has scored its first ever Official UK Top 50 number one. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#fast diet
Porter Anderson's weekly curation of the best Web postings for authors takes in the UK's growing consternation over 20p ebooks, Amazon's untrustworthy reviews and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Curtis Brown has teamed up with Kobo to launch a short story competition, to be judged by author... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Extrapolating from recent sales figures from ebook distributor DLD, we estimate ebook sales to reach some 3.57 million units—or 2.6% of the overall market—by the end of 2013. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Major publishers are taking wildly different approaches to resolving the woes surrounding ebook lending at libraries: they're experimenting with both the short-yet-cheap subscription as well as an expensive option to pay only once for perpetual use. Sure enough, we're now seeing the middle road.... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Concerns are mounting among publishers, booksellers and authors about the long-term impact of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salley Vickers and Chiome Okereke are among the authors shortlisted for the Costa Short Story... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new £10,000 literary prize rewarding original fiction has been launched by Goldsmiths,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book retailer Anobii is changing its name to eBooks by Sainsbury’s. The move comes six... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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