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 ]
Apple Inc., the world's biggest technology company, and four publishers offered to overhaul pricing models for digital books to allay European Union concerns that they blocked competition. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo and Amazon have unveiled new tablets, but are they playing a game they can't win? Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and four major ebook publishers have offered retailers such as Amazon.com the option to set their own prices for ebooks for the next two years in a bid to end an antitrust investigation in the European Union. The European Commission launched the investigation into allegations of cartel... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#provide feedback
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Sales of digital fiction books increased by 188% in value terms in the first half of the year,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Feminist Press will be publishing a Pussy Riot ebook later this month, the publisher has announced. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has released a free ebook, No, It's Us Too!, today (11th September)... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American e-tailers including Amazon.com have begun selling HarperCollins ebooks at discounted... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Playboy announces that it is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a 50-interviews-in-50-days ebook series. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A judge approved on Thursday a Justice Department settlement with three publishers accused of conspiring with Apple Inc and other publishers to push up the prices of electronic books. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's a big day in the world of ebooks, and not just for the crew at Amazon. Today, Judge Denise Cote approved settlement terms for three of the publishers accused by the Justice Department of price fixing. Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins each agreed to settle with the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A judge has approved the settlement in the US of three publishers accused of conspiring to fix... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo unveils three new devices ahead of rival e-readers being made available in UK high street stores. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British crime writer R.J. Ellory is the latest author to be caught out writing glowing online reviews of his own work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hot on the heels of purchasing Blinkbox and Peter Gabriel's WE7, Tesco has purchased Andy McNab's ebook publishers, Mobcast. It seems clear that the British supermarket heavyweight is currently engaged in a phony war with rival Sainsburys, which snapped up Rovi, Global Media Vault and Anobii for... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony and Amazon’s 20p ebook offer shows no sign of coming to an end, with a Faber novel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre and Macmillan owner Verlugsgruppe Georg von... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When the US Department of Justice sued Apple and five major book publishers over alleged ebook price rigging, it immediately became clear that a few of these companies would do just about anything to avoid trial. That same day, three of the publishers -- HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing is continuing to broaden its distribution channels, as the New York-based imprint has formed a partnership with Ingram Content Group that will make the company's ebooks available to competitors such as Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. As you may be aware, there's some uneasy... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book releases from Amazon’s New York-based publishing imprint will be available through... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble has formed its first partnership with Hasbro to create My Little Pony ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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