Something Is Rotten In The State Of E-Book Publishing

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 ]
News tagged with: #rich media #tablet screens #kit eaton #fast company

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Something Is Rotten In The State Of E-Book Publishing'


Costa Book Awards 2012 announced

Hilary Mantel, James Meek, Stephen May and Joff Winterhart are in the running for best novel in the Costa Book Awards shortlists Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hilary mantel #james meek


How Any Brand Can Become a Publisher

If an advertiser wants to jump on this whole "brands as publishers" trend, they would seem to have two choices. They can hire editors and writers and start producing lots of their own content, like GE. Or they can have junior staffers or interns spend half the day trolling the Web to find... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #luxury hotel #human touch #financial services


Could Tumblr Save Web Publishing?

Last month, as storm surges from Hurricane Sandy inundated lower Manhattan, Datagram, a New York-based media ISP, watched as its basement full of severs took on over five feet of water, causing major outages for prominent online publishers like Gawker Media, BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post. ... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #front door #coming months


Now, With E-books, Your Prof Knows Exactly What You Read

CourseSmart has introduced an analytics program that allows professors to monitor how pages read, notations and more for their student's e-textbooks. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pages read


Yes, Library Borrowers Really Do Buy Books: 3.2 a Month

OverDrive surveyed library users and found they buy an average of 3.2 books (both print and ebooks) each month, with 35% buying after borrowing. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #buy books


Penguin buys back Puffin Book Club

Penguin has bought the Puffin Book Club back from The Book People. The club was originally... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book people


Distribution: Bilingual Books Moving to PGW

Bilingual Books has entered into a distribution agreement with Publishers Group West for PGW to handle the U.S. sales, marketing and distribution of BBKS’ approximately 40 language-learning titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #distribution agreement #bilingual books


Wiley and O’Reilly Make DRM-Free E-Book Distribution Deal

O'Reilly Media has become an online distributor for technology ebooks offered by John Wiley & Sons, which includes brands such as For Dummies and Sybex. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reilly media


National Book Awards go to 'The Round House' and 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers'

The National Book Awards were given to writers Louise Erdrich and first-time author Katherine Boo in the fiction and nonfiction categories, respectively, while William Alexander and David Ferry were awarded the young people's literature and poetry prizes. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #round house #beautiful forevers #nonfiction categories #william alexander #david ferry


Louise Erdrich, Katherine Boo win National Book Awards

Erdrich's 'The Round House' wins for fiction and Boo's book chronicling life in a Mumbai slum wins for nonfiction. David Ferry wins for poetry and 'Goblin Secrets' wins Young People's Literature.Novelist Louise Erdrich and journalist Katherine Boo took the top prizes at the National Book Awards... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #louise erdrich #round house #top prizes #wednesday night #books express #small stories


World Book Night returns to the US

After reading celebration World Book Night debuted in America for the first time last year, it will be held again this April. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


AAM Completes Initial Certification of Adobe Digital Publishing Suite

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Alliance for Audited Media, formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations, has completed an initial audit of Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), a solution that many AAM publisher members use ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audited media #audit bureau


Fifty Shades up for book award

Erotic tale earns nomination for the National Book Award, while another surprisingly sexy tale is also making waves in Britain. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2012-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fifty shades #book award #making waves


Sainsbury's grows own brand book sales by 33%

Sainsbury’s has grown pre-tax profit by 2.5% in its half-year results as the retailer said... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #half-year results


Fifty Shades vies for book prize

EL James' best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey will compete with novels by Kate Mosse, JoJo Moyes and Bernard Cornwell at this year's National Book of the Year Awards. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #year awards #book prize #el james #kate mosse #jojo moyes #bernard cornwell #national book


E.L. James on National Book Awards shortlists

Erotica star E. L James will go head-to-head with authors such as Victoria Hislop, Bernard... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #victoria hislop


Competition or Cooperation? News Publishers Turn to Their Neighbors

Participants at the African Media Leaders Forum in Dakar, Senegal, today heard how twinning partnerships between African newspapers, and newspapers elsewhere, are leading the way to developing successful business strategies and strengthening financia ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Davis' Everest book wins Samuel Johnson Prize

Wade Davis has won the £20,000 Samuel Johnson prize for Non-Fiction for his book about... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Scholastic To Donate One Million Books for Superstorm Recovery

Scholastic is donating a million books and offering free online resources to those children and teachers affected by Superstorm Sandy. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #million books


A Dream Team Of Animators Creates The Ultimate Coloring Book

After volunteering at orphanages in Ghana, DreamWorks animators Rachel Tiep-Daniels and Margaret Wuller created the "Picture Book Project," which harnesses the work of talented artists to both inspire children, and raise money for them. The Picture Book Project Foundation is an effort to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dream team #inspire children #raise money