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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It's well off the triple year-over-year growth that ebooks saw a few years ago, but the latest report from the Association of American Publishers shows that ebooks did inch up even further in 2012 to account for a sizeable chunk of overall book sales. According to its figures, ebooks now... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time was, when a company got a winning product (or formula), it was set for a few generations, or at least for several years. Not so today—even less so in the content or in the digital space. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With ebook and total digital sales posting steady—if generally smaller—increases in 2012, sales of print books held up fairly well across the book trade and at most major houses. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book publishing is a business of high stakes gambles—and trade book publishers continue to make the right bets.Helped by blockbuster titles Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games, the industry posted net revenue of $7.1 billion in 2012, up 6.2% from the prior year, according to the... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new James B. Hunt Library at North Carolina State University shows what can happen when you marry a library with cutting-edge technology and interesting design--plus an automated librarian. In a digital age where many commentators tolled the death knell for the book-bound library, we’ve... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"The Office" writer B.J. Novak signed a two-book deal with Knopf. The first title will be a collection of stories based on some of his previous performances. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Several UK CEOs set the agenda going into next week's London Book Fair. Top of the list: communicating with consumers and coping with the relentless pace of change in publishing. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ten fiction titles and six poetry collections finalists have been announced as the finalists for this year's Best Translated Book Awards. The winners will be revealed May 3rd. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books are affecting bargain books, like everything else in the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Years of quiet sacrifice boil dry as a father in his late 50s fears he's losing everying, including his beloved daughter."Parental love is the sacrifice made in silence," says Jorgen Hofmeester, the protagonist of "Tirza," Arnon Grunberg's latest translated novel. In "Tirza," the quiet martyrdom... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebooks accounted for 22.55 percent, or nearly a quarter, of U.S. book publishers’ sales in 2012, according to a full-year report released by the Association of American Publishers Thursday. That’s up from 17 percent of sales in 20 ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new crime fiction imprint based in the north of England has been launched to publish the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales at W H Smith dropped 6% like-for-like in the six months to 28th February, according to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Actress Joanna Lumley is among the names lined up for the 10th Borders Book Festival in Melrose later this year. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Capitalizing on the recognition of NOOK, Barnes & Noble has rebranded its self-publishing platform Pubit as NOOK Press and added features from FastPencil. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In addition to being a master writer, celebrated American poet Robert Frost was also a master reader. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kimberley Walsh signs deal to write autobiography, promising to reveal what it was like in Girls Aloud. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Medium's hypothesis has always been that people create better things when they work together. The publishing platform's newest tool helps its authors do just that. Biz Stone and Ev Williams' founding mantra for Medium, the publishing platform they launched last August, was, "People create... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital revenue growth among online publishers in the UK is expected to grow by 15 per cent in 2013 according to the fifth annual organisation census by the Association of Online Publishers, while technology and data will play an increased role in re ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Toronto Star is testing the ebook market with a dedicated subscription model. Launched in November 2012, Star Dispatches is the brainchild of the Toronto Star's marketing department. The Star already has more than 20 titles of long-form jour ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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