Can a one-size-fits-all, low-price, consumer-dominated sales model support a diverse, innovative, challenging literary output?It is either an existential threat to intellectual freedom or a rustbelt media industry meeting its comeuppance at the hands of disruptive technology. The battle between the multibillion-dollar publisher Hachette (and now the Scandinavian publisher Bonnier) and the even more multibillion-dollar Amazon is usually discussed in high-minded tones, particularly by publishers and their authors. But at heart, it is merely another collision between producers and consumers that has a particular significance only if you ascribe a value to books as cultural artefacts. It is perfectly possible, instead of Hachette and Amazon, and the 900 writers who took out a two-page ad in the New York Times to protest, to substitute supermarkets, dairy farmers and the price of milk.Although books account for only 7% of the sales of the Everything store, Amazon sells a lot of them. In particular it has 60% of the ebook market. It believes a flat-rate sales price for new books and bestsellers delivers higher sales and bigger profits. Hachette disagrees. Amazon is forcing the issue by disadvantaging Hachette books (no buy button, no discounts and so on). Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
Two new reports released in the past 10 days document the ebook market’s rapid growth in the U.S. and the U.K., and suggest that a significant global spike is close at hand. Among the major takeaways from the “Bowker Market Research Global eBook Monitor” or GeM, study, ebooks are beginning to... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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LG has made no secret of its fondness for flexible e-paper, but those dreams became a reality today, with the announcement of a six-inch display that promises to "revolutionize the ebook market." The malleable plastic display sports a resolution of 1024 x 768 and can bend at an angle of up to 40... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite technological petting zoos, QR codes on shelf-talkers linked to bookstores’ Web sites, and in-store displays of physical books with signage reminding readers that they can also buy e-editions, only a handful of independents are making more than about $100 or so on ebook sales a month. To... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Analysis: Amazon's admission of selling a million Kindles per week is good news for the ebook market in general. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Paul Rigg Publication Date: Fri, 07/10/2011 - 15:11 The Spanish socialists pledge to reduce ebook VAT (IVA) to 4% has been welcomed by the director of the Spanish ebook platform Libranda. The announcement came from Alfredo Rubalcaba, who is the socialists candidate to become prime... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon, which dominates the ebook market, has stayed out of the electronic textbook market. Until now: The company has opened up a textbook store for its Kindle platform, where it is renting "tens of thousands" of titles for the upcoming school year. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Over the last few months the tech industry has been inching toward ebook nirvana. For one thing, gadget makers keep improving e-readers while slashing prices. (I'm going to renew my bet that Amazon will begin selling the Kindle for less than $100 by the end of the year.) The bigger story,... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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