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'


Publishers back new PEN freedom initiative

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 15:34 Penguin, Hachette Livre and Random House have all joined with PEN International for the launch of the literature-championing organisation’s latest initiative, the PEN International Publishers’ Circle. The scheme will see... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair 2011: Social Networking for Bookworms

Until recently, reading a book had resisted technological advances, but like everything else, this has started to evolve and now we are embracing technology. Books are now more easily available in electronic format and sharing your opinion about a title – print or ebook – is more popular. So... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair 2011: Going Global

In 2009, the number of self-published books released in the US exceeded the number of new titles from conventional publishers for the first time in history. Now, a similar pattern is emerging overseas. Until recently, costly transatlantic shipping, different trim sizes and business models, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New awards on Sports Book shortlists

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 11:35 New awards for Best Racing Book and Best Sports Book Retailer will be up for grabs at this year's British Sports Book Awards 2011. W H Smith, Amazon, Waterstone's and Foyles are all in the mix to win the best sports retailer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair 2011: An Evolutionary Phase

This year's London Book Fair is taking place at a time of unique change. The shift from the printed word to the downloaded text is accelerating; chains and standalone bookstores are closing down around the world; and the very future of the book "entity" is being challenged by commentators and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Specific Media appoints UK publisher services director

Ad network Specific Media has appointed Fox Networks Group's Graeme Lynch as its new UK publisher services director. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quadrille buys book by Royal cakemaker Cairns

Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 10:49 Quadrille has acquired a baking title by Fiona Cairns, who is to make the wedding cake for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s impending nuptials. Editorial director Anne Furniss acquired world rights to The Birthday Cake Book from agent Heather Holden... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trade looks to "packed" London Book Fair

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 08:48 A record number of exhibitors are set to showcase at the London International Book Fair next week, as one publishing m.d. reported a "bouncy and optimistic" mood ahead of the three-day event and digital conference. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair: ones to watch, part II

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 16:04 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers gloomy on Borders' turnaround plan

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:05 US publishers have dismissed Borders' recovery plan, which includes revamped stores and increased online sales, as unrealistic and are increasingly gloomy about its future. The New York Times reports Borders senior... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wink Publishing launches for budding authors

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 15:58 A husband-and-wife team has launched an e-publishing company for new authors. Cornwall-based lawyers Nigel and Abbie Flanagan are calling on unpublished writers to submit the first 50 pages of their work to Wink Publishing.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Coronet to publish Tess Daly fiction

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 16:11 Coronet will publish "Strictly Come Dancing" presenter Tess Daly's first sashay into fiction, having acquired The Camera Never Lies by the TV host. Editor Charlotte Haycock acquired British Commonwealth rights to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Historian Weir's backlist to be published digitally

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 13:02 Cornerstone and Vintage are planning to release historian Alison Weir's backlist in ebook format for the first time. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Young (and Very Ambitious) Group of Publishers

The current crop of Russian publishers is collectively on the young side, many of them born shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Then, teething problems were many and the growth path rocky at times. But today these publishers produce nearly 120,000 new titles per year,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Cache: Playing Catch-Up in E-Books

Outside the United States, the digital book business is still in its infancy and has problems to resolve before taking off. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shelley becomes publisher amid LB promotions

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 15:24 Little, Brown has made two "significant" promotions, with deputy publisher David Shelley becoming publisher of the group and commercial director Ben Groves-Raines moving up to chief operating officer. All of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lessons from Powell's Books

Just one week before Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Powell's Books in Portland, Ore., laid off 31 employees, or 7% of its workforce, a move that followed downsizing the staff through attrition in 2010. While the situation at Powell's is not dire, unlike that of the nation's... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cooking the Books with Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine

With their food blog aimed at 20-something cooks, college cooking website, and forthcoming book, In the Small Kitchen: 100 Recipes from Our Year of Cooking in the Real World (Morrow, May), Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine might seem a lot older than their (combined) 51 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Room top pick in spring TV Book Club

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 08:51 Emma Donoghue's Room (Picador) has added another accolade to its Man Booker shortlisting and Orange-longlisting after receiving the vote of "TV Book Club" viewers as their favourite spring read of the 10 titles. The second most... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On Rights and Book-Scouting

Translations account for about 12% of all titles published in Russia in 2010. Here, as in other corners of the world, American and British blockbusters are translated and almost guaranteed top slots on the bestseller list. Names like J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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