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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Following strife in Bamako, Mali, France's Etonnants Voyageurs has launched a new book and film festival in Brazzaville, Congo—one for all of Africa. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Outside of photos and status updates, Facebook's original shareable content was game activity. So-and-so just planted a new crop, etc. Next Facebook rolled out the Like button, and news articles became popular. Then Facebook debuted its Open Graph in fall 2011 so that someone could listen to a... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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England footballer Frank Lampard is to write a series of children's books, says publisher Little, Brown. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One collection of short stories and four novels—including Jeet Thayyil’s Narcopolis, winner of the DSC Prize—have been shortlisted for The Hindu Literary Prize. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Every day, publishing is finding new ways to connect books to readers, but few traditional publishers give as much control to their audience as Osprey Publishing, a U.K.–based military history publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Biz Stone's and Ev Williams's fledgling online publishing platform takes a few more social steps toward maturity. Medium, from the same minds that brought us Twitter, is already a new kind of online publishing platform...and now it's trying out a novel commenting system for published pieces:... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With ebooks’ share of unit sales rising from 14% for the first nine months of 2011 to 22% for the same period in 2012, the biggest winners among retailers were Amazon and dedicated ebookstores and digital download sites. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin-owned Author Solutions Inc (ASI) has opened a self-publishing imprint called Partridge in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Justice Department had sued Macmillan and other large book publishers, accusing them of conspiring to raise ebook prices. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital royalty rates on ebook only lists are beginning to rise, as publishers look to grow... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Day Parliament Burned Down has been named political book of the year at the Political Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 1948 some 70,000 books were looted from Palestinian libraries by the state of Israel. A new documentary considers their fate and the implications of intellectual occupation. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just as the TV industry has developed to directly monetise content through interactive services, product placement and sponsored programmes, online publishers need to explore innovations that use more than just the space around the content, says Vibrant Media's Fiona Salmon. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2013-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By incorporating trillions of calculations, Bookish.com, the new online bookstore financed by Hachette, Penguin and S&S, promises to apply Big Data to book discovery. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Today, perhaps the most ambitious and aggressive community in publishing is self-publishing. How practical is it for a self-publisher to pursue licensing deals? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agents for author Helen Fielding have confirmed that her third instalment of the Bridget Jones' Diary book series will have an Autumn release date. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Education secretary Michael Gove's announcement of changes to the A-Level exam system has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google's long had a contentious relationship with France. But it seems the Mountain View-based company has come up with a way to squash that problem: by throwing money at it. Taking to the company's official blog today, Chairman Eric Schmidt announced the creation of a €60 million Digital... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To listen to the Audio Book Club discussion of Pride and Prejudice, click the arrow on the player below. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In what's become a trend, Korean publishers are opening popular bookstore cafes. Should more Western publishers follow suit or is bookselling no longer part of their DNA? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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