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
Infographics both retro and modern, futuristic transportation, and cartoons of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts are all featured inside these 10 gems of design books.No matter how convenient Kindles are, they will never do justice to beautifully printed, full-color art and design books. (And... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
German booksellers are facing a nail-biting finish to the holiday season. With end November sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book trade
#german booksellers
#holiday season
Publishers choose their books of the year, and the ones that got awayRobin Robertson Deputy publishing director, Jonathan CapeThe book that made my year: Many years ago, I was sitting in Blake's bar in Enniskillen with John McGahern and he recommended an American novel from the 60s, written by... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#annie proulx
#eimear mcbride
Mark Coker of Smashwords, which recently inked a major content deal with Scribd, weighs in on how the all-you-can-read model changes the way we read, how authors make creative choices, and how everyone gets paid.Is a "Netflix for ebooks" nearing viability? Yesterday, Smashwords, the largest... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#self-published ebooks
#business model
#ll change
#mark coker
#largest distributor
#e-reading service
On behalf of the other 99.9% of books published this year that didn't make the consensus top ten, tell us what were your favorite sleeper best books of 2013? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
While George Zhu, founder of CN Times Books, the newly launched U.S. subsidiary of Beijing Mediatime Books, is impressed by the “professionalism” of U.S. publishing, he’s also surprised by American inefficiency. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#chinese publisher
#newly launched
It can be hard out there for a freelancer. The avalanche of emails, stiff competition, low pay and ignored invoices all make it a real challenge. That’s why Ebyline, a conduit between digital publishers and writers, works to connect tho ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#digital publishers
#stiff competition
Oyster, the ebook subscription service launched this year, has reached a deal with the Perseus Books Group to launch a pilot program offering 100 Perseus titles through the Oyster subscription catalog Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Publishers may think a cute animal on the cover is what sells in the supermarket, but ask around online and those who buy pet books will tell you otherwiseThe moment of receiving your first book jacket is one that every author remembers. I was so excited when I got mine – a jacket, for a book,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#screen trade
#tom cox
Publisher who helped break down legal barriers against pornography dies in Brooklyn after long battle with illness Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#long battle
Armed with a new name, five employees and $5.3 million in financing, Wilmington-based e-Book subscription service Entitle is open for business this week. Founder Bryan Batten, who left a career in pharma sales to jump off the startup ledge, calls the service “a hybrid of Netflix and a book... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book club
Times Newspapers Limited pays out £14m to departing directors, including chief executive Tom MockridgeThe publisher of the Times and the Sunday Times has reported a pre-tax loss of £24m, as payouts to departing directors hit £14m, according to financial filings for the year to 30 June 2013.Times... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#forseeable future
At the GBO's recent translator workshop, two US book editors and translator Susan Bernofksy shared techniques and tips for literary translators. Here's what they said. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book editors
#literary translators
Amid a general book market decline, the Polish Chamber of Books (PIK) has drafted a bill which is set to introduce fixed prices for new book releases for 18 months after publication. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sales slump
#book releases
The Bookseller's consumer sister site We Love This Book is inviting book-lovers to test their... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
A revival in classic illustrated books is helping Poland's children's book market boom, says Katarzyna Domańska of publisher Dwie Siostry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The Italian government has proposed a law allowing book buyers to claim up to €380 (£... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
News Group Newspapers took charges related to the phone-hacking scandal of almost £90m in the year to 30 JuneThe parent company of the Sun and Sun on Sunday has reported a pre-tax loss of £75m in the year to 30 June, after taking charges of almost £90m in relation to the phone-hacking... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishing rights
#virgin media
Top off your last-minute holiday shopping list with these four fabulous picture books for young readers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#young readers
Previously, independent bookstores tended to stay away from marketing self-published authors, but in the age of Amazon, some are embracing local authors no matter how they released their work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#independent bookstores
#self-published authors