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

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Launches AdSense Direct with Small Publishers in Mind

On Tuesday, Jan. 21 Google introduced AdSense Direct, an ad solution for publishers looking to initiate their own direct ad sales. Publishers will need to establish their own deals with advertisers, but once they do the transaction is as simple as sharing a link. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stieg Larsson publisher Quercus driven to seek buyer

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[ The Guardian | 2014-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Issues on the Ether: Is Self-Publishing a Flying Leap?

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S Gets Court Okay to Sell Good Books Titles

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pew survey: Reading of print books increased in 2013

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ BBC News | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Launches Mentorship Program

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brian Gennett's book designs

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Book World 2014: An Industry Transformed

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sports Illustrated Gets New Publisher in Brendan Ripp

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster Expands Library E-Book Program

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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