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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Jennie Bristow, associate fellow at the University of Kent, says grown-ups read children's books because they feel 'disenchanted with adult culture'. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher John Blake has signed world rights to a new title about the life of Nelson Mandela [... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German publishers will disappear from Google News on Aug. 1 unless they opt in to the service as Google seeks to comply with a new German law. But the publishers said on Monday that this is not good enough, they want a share in Google's revenue.The law will come into effect on Aug. 1 and gives... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Nick Harkaway has called for authors to be offered a greater share of royalties from e-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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June 21, 2013, ATLANTA, GA – Southern Newspaper Publishers Association launched a re-designed website this week designed to serve the needs of newspaper executives by providing a new source of ideas, solutions, resources and information. ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Since Google News began, publishers have complained that it scrapes their content and offers little in return, letting readers get vital parts of stories as short snippets. In late 2012, the site settled with Belgian publishers after a six-year-long ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For much of the year, Andrej Bauer spent more time on GitHub than he did on Facebook. But Bauer wasn't writing software. A mathematician by profession, he was embarking on a bold adventure in online collaboration. He and about two dozen other mathematicians used GitHub to write a book. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Among the curiosities for sale at last week's Seoul International Book Fair were Borges-themed beach gear and tiny hand-bound artists books from a tiny Irish island. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite its "Defend Your Net" campaign last year, Google was unable to fully put the brakes on changes to German copyright law that may mean it has to pay up for news excerpts it indexes. As a result, the company announced that unlike the other 60 countries where Google News operates by relying... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online subscription services have proved successful for entertainment businesses like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify, but other than O’Reilly’s Safari Books Online, which is geared to professionals, trade ebook subscriptions have gained little traction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Further offers have been unveiled by publishers to help independent bookshops boost their... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Conventional wisdom says that entrepreneurs who start a Web-based business will do so with VC money. Read enough stories of Internet ventures that enjoy lucrative exits in the millions (in some cases billions) of dollars, and it’s easy to assume that the only path to success is to begin by... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Childrens Books fiction publishing director Ruth Alltimes has bought a posthumous... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why does HarperCollins need a VP of Innovation? Ana Maria Allessi, who holds that very title, tells us about a future in which books look a lot like apps. Ana Maria Allessi is somewhat of an oddity, for someone who’s worked at a publishing house for almost 13 years. While publishing is rife... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corp. (NWSA)’s publishing spinoff began trading today at a market value of about $9.1 billion, one-seventh the size of the entertainment side of the media empire, underscoring the business’s growth challenges. The &ldqu ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British-based publishers topped the world’s global publishing rankings in 2012, making up... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing announces that the Hangman's Daughter series is their first million seller. Is it a cause for concern? Celebration? Or merely surprise that it took this long? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To listen to the Audio Book Club discussion of Tenth of December, click the arrow on the player below. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of books jumped to a 2013 high last week, boosted by Father's Day, according to figures obtained by the book trade website, The Bookseller. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Through First to Read, members will have the chance to get advance reading copies of Penguin Books before they are published. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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