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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Almost everybody reported increased sales to China, and no one had failed to note (and welcome) the changes within the Chinese reading and publishing community. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"I'll give up my printed books when you pry the last one from my cold, dead hands." That's what I tell people when they ask me what kind of e–reader I have. As a technology journalist, author, and novelist, they expect me to own the latest Kindle or be an iBooks aficionado, and most seem... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Smashwords, a self-publishing platform and indie ebook distributor, has launched a series of new features to aid authors and publishers in distribution and marketing of ebooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-30 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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Thanks to bestsellers like Dan Brown's Inferno and Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, Random House Inc. boasted record profits for the first half of 2013, parent company Bertelsmann reported Friday in what will be the last earnings announcement for the publisher as a stand-alone unit. Sales, however,... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a ceremony at the 2013 Beijing International Book Fair, Guinness World Records (GWR) and China’s Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing (FLTRP) signed an agreement for the publication of the 2014 Chinese-language edition of the Guinness World Records annual book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Both readers and writers in Mexico have a reason to rejoice today, as Amazon has just launched the Kindle Store and Kindle Direct Publishing in their country. The ebookstore will feature over 70,000 Spanish-language titles, as well as ebooks in indigenous tongues like Nahuatl. To help fill up... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Total sales at Lagardere Publishing rose 1.4% in the first half of 2013, to 917 million euros, while EBIT increased 24.6% to 71 million euros. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JCDecaux has launched a Twitter-driven book club to connect with commuters and use its digital screens in stations to enhance commuters' journeys. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ITV3 will begin a new series called "The Crime Thriller Club" in September, a TV book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Many authors wonder if attending the Frankfurt Book Fair is a worthwhile expense. Our downloadable guide explains the steps you need to take to know if it's right for you. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Plaintiffs are seeking a remedy that would give Amazon significant competitive advantage over Apple -- an advantage it is neither entitled to nor deserves." Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book accessibility for readers with sight loss has increased by nearly 40% in the last two... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Remember hiding out reading a book under the covers after you were supposed to be in bed? This brilliant children’s book embraces that tradition. Reading after dark has lost a bit of its wonder. In the era of tablets, there’s no need for kids to rebel in the nerdiest of ways, stashing... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The first trailer for the movie adaptation of Australian author Markus Zusak's novel The Book Thief suggests it has all the marks of a genuine Oscar contender. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The trailer for Chronicle Book's "Brandon Bird's Astonishing World of Art" might just the craziest book trailer ever put together. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A novel inspired by a seaport in the Scottish Highlands and a biography of a renowned potter scoop the UK's oldest literary awards. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vintage imprint Chatto & Windus has scored three nominations for the Guardian First Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“I’ll corroborate what you’ve probably been hearing,” says Abrams CEO Michael Jacobs, when asked to discuss the state of digital publishing in the art and photo book market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books, including Blurb books, were always kind of after the fact,” said Eileen Gittins, CEO of Blurb, the fast-growing POD self-publishing platform. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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