The publishing industry has a problem. The old guard haven't innovated. And neither their business models nor their products embrace the digital books revolution. Take the ongoing and complicated spat between Apple and the Justice Department over the agency pricing model and alleged collusion which ended up with consumers being forced to spend more than they needed to. The battle may expand internationally, in fact. Apple tried to expand its 30% revenue share model, which has done very well in the billion-dollar app economy, into books. It also pushed publishers to agree to a very different way of selling their products: Instead of buying books traditionally, at a pre-agreed wholesale price and then pricing them as Apple saw fit in the iBookstore, it would let the publishers set their own price and extract its usual fixed share of the income ... as long as the publishers wouldn't sell ebooks elsewhere.It was a bold move, and one that could and did shake up the industry a bit. Amazon, the publishers contend, had established a monopoly on ebooks, and was selling their wares at overly discounted prices. With Apple's model they could choose to price ebooks lower than physical books cost (appeasing consumers who expect to pay less for a non-physical product), and yet extract more money due to the cost-savings of e-publishing.The DOJ disagreed, and says Apple's deal meant consumers ended up spending much more than they needed to, hence its action against Apple and a laundry... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2012-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SAN FRANCISCO — As part of its increasingly aggressive moves to get more people to use Google+ and to keep Facebook and Twitter from dominating the social networking business, Google is rolling out two new tools that it says will help authors and publishers build a bigger audience on the Web. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Macmillan Children's Books pre-school imprint Campbell Books wants to feature the UK's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Whether for movies, music, or magazines, the all–access model has proven it's here to stay. Now, what Spotify has done for music and Netflix has done for movies, a startup called Oyster is trying to do for that most analog of relics: the book. The basic premise of Oyster's invite–only iPhone... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A history of Judaism, a biography of Margaret Thatcher and a book about the importance of bees are all nominated for this year's Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder Children's Books has bought two novels from debut author Carla Spradbery, acquiring... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mel Elliott, who lives in the U.K., self-published Colour Me Good: Ryan Gosling on a lark. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple says it will appeal against a court ruling that bans the company from entering into deals with publishers that could allow ebook prices to be fixed or inflated. The case was raised by the Department of Justice and judge Denise Cote's decision is very much in line with what they were... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The all-you-can-eat Netflix model of media consumption is now available for ebooks.Oyster, a year-old Flatiron-district startup with $3 million in backing, launched its iPhone e-reading application and subscription service on Thursday. For now, the service is only available by invitation (users... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Carlton Books is to publish a book chronology of Bruce Springsteen’s 17 studio albums to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can a Spotify-like service created by ex-Googlers shake up the publishing industry? Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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According to ad-blocking data provider PageFair, more users are now making use of browser plugins such as Adblock Plus to remove ads from the sites they visit. A recent report it published claimed the trend “is threatening the business mode ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book and print-on-demand publisher Andrews UK Ltd has set up a traditional publishing imprint... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A man who lost both legs in the Boston Marathon bombings but managed to help identify the perpetrators is working on a memoir.Jeff Bauman has a deal with Grand Central Publishing for "Stronger," scheduled to come out in April, one year after the attacks that killed three and injured many others.... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ongoing political uncertainty has resulted in a depressed local book market leading Egyptian to look elsewhere in the Arab world and further abroad to bolster business. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon said on Tuesday that it will unveil a program that will let Amazon customers purchase the digital versions of print books they've already bought -- or will buy -- from Amazon, for $2.99 or less. The initiative, called Kindle MatchBook, will launch in October with at least 10,000... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Offering unlimited television shows and music for a flat monthly fee has worked for Netflix Inc. and Spotify AB. Will it work in the book industry? Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The late New York Times Reporter Anthony Shadid, who died in Syria last year, is among the winners of the 2013 Arab American Book Awards. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has acquired legal publisher Hart Publishing for £6.5m. The addition of Hart... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By D. Eadward Tree The future of publishing ain't what it used to be. A few years ago, "everyone" knew what was coming: except for a few old-timers and Luddites, consumers would soon switch entirely to digital... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2013-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a victory for transparency advocates in the wake of the PRISM secret surveillance scandal, U.S. intelligence agencies will begin revealing the number of surveillance orders they request per year under various FISA ordinances, as well as national security letters. The agencies will also reveal... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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