The books industry still underestimates the disruptive power of Jeff Bezos's awesome ambitionSo Amazon are the bad guys, again. At least according to Harper's Magazine they are. For the former Amazon employee James Marcus, Brad Stone "drops the ball" in his biography of Jeff Bezos, The Everything Store, when he accepts "what is literally the company line – that these extorted dollars 'create the foundation on which everyday low prices become possible'." Marcus tells how some publishers are being "pressured" to pay "for the privilege of presenting their lists to [Amazon] marketing team and buyers" – a story denied in a footnote by an unnamed "Amazon spokesperson" – and goes on to assemble an impressive rap sheet of sharp practice:Of course it's legal. So is Amazon's control of an estimated 65 percent of the ebook market, a near monopoly that's apparently of no concern to the supine Department of Justice. So is its bare-bones price of $9.99 for popular ebooks, a loss-leading tactic that might be classified as predatory pricing if there weren't so many legal hurdles to making such a charge stick. So is the funneling of its British revenues through a subsidiary in Luxembourg ...... and on it goes. But Amazon's aggressive style of doing business is nothing new. What astonishes me is the continuing ability of publishers to underestimate how radically Amazon has changed the industry.Mike Shatzkin is one of those who have understood Amazon's disruptive power all along. But such... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simplifying (and clarifying) the purchasing processregardless of newsstand--and finding new ways to effectively market among the crush of new apps being launched is critical for publishers to succeed, according to speakers at MPAs Digital E-Reading conference today. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 13:30 French authors are increasingly satisfied with their publishers, according to the third annual survey conducted by the Civil Society for Multimedia Authors (Scam). The latest results show that 71% of respondents are... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Tue, 15/03/2011 - 09:23 French culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand has urged French publishers to speak with one voice in forthcoming negotiations with Amazon over supplying their ebooks for the Kindle. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 09/03/2011 - 09:48 Ten times as many people shop at Amazon than online at Waterstone's, a survey has revealed, while more than half of respondents bought books online. The research, carried out by the Institute of Direct Marketing,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 15:24 Gardners has received backing for its Hive consumer website from publishers including Hachette UK's c.e.o. after it presented its new initiative to more than 300 publishers. The wholesaler has yet to confirm a live date for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 15:52 The Campaign for the Book has launched a legal challenge over the widespread library closures, claiming culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has failed to comply with his duties under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The clothing boutique Kitson sold twice as many books in 2010 as the year before. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 15:56 Almost three quarters of primary head teachers are expecting funding for books to be inadequate in 201112, as the Publishers Association has warned of a challenging year for book sales to schools. As schools begin to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 23/02/2011 - 15:33 A High Court challenge is being launched over library closures in Gloucestershire and Somerset, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind. A challenge to the coalition government's "vague" Big Society concept,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Royal Mail's request to increase the amount it can charge for bulk mail has been slammed as a "shortsighted" move that could cause long-term damage to the magazine business by Barry McIlheney, chief executive of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 09:00 Publishing Scotland chief executive Marion Sinclair has urged Scottish publishers to look abroad for opportunities, likening the current situation in digital publishing to "the Wild West". Speaking yesterday [21st... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There may not be a ton of enthusiasm in the publishing world for Apple's new policy for subscription services--particularly when it comes to giving Cupertino a... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 07:06 Author Margaret Atwood used her Tools of Change keynote speech to warn the industry not to eliminate authors, and make sure they are paid enough to "pay for the cheese sandwiches". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Somebody call the cops -- eh, antitrust authorities. Apple's subscription plan is here, and it's as bad for many, if not most, publishers as rumored. The first of several key sentences from Apple's press announcement: "Publishers may no longer provide links in their apps... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 07:56 Amazon.com has launched a free Kindle app for webOS to use with the new HP TouchPad. The app allows customers to "buy once, read everywhere" across other devices such as Kindle, iPad, iPod touch, Blackberry and iPhone. Dorothy... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 16:03 Amazon has appointed three staff to roles in the UK team. John Gahagan will head up Amazons UK Books business, with both the UK Books and print on demand teams reporting to him. Amy Worth will now lead the UK Kindle content... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European publishers have added their voice to the chorus of criticism of Apples plans for iPad newspaper subscriptions. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Apple's approach to magazine and newspaper subscriptions and third-party ebook sales stink of the kind of practices that got Microsoft into trouble with trustbusters on two continents during the late 1990s and early 2000s. A year ago, publishers embraced iPad as the... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 12:19 The transition to the agency model could be halted as publishers outside of the new terms could wait as much as a year for an Office of Fair Trading investigation into ebook pricing to be completed. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 09:01 Publishers are being warned to check their Google Books data online as thousands of titles have been mistakenly attributed to publisher BPR. Independent UK publisher Childrens Story Publishers spotted the mistake after its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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