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New Reports Chart the Rise of E-books
Two new reports released in the past 10 days document the e-book market's rapid growth in the U.S. and the U.K., and suggest that a significant global spike is close at hand.
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With End of Retailer Program, Google Rebrands Its Digital Content Under Google Play
Google has ended its Google eBooks retailer partner program and folded its e-book retailing program into Google Play, a newly launched entertainment platform that will offer all of Google’s digital content under one branded service.
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Twists and Turns in Class Action Pricing Lawsuit
The price fixing case culminated March 30 with Hagens Berman filing responses to motions to dismiss the case and to a motion by Penguin to stay the proceedings and move to arbitration.
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Copia, Australian Publishers Team to Offer Indie Retailers Full e-Book Services
Copia, an e-reading software, book retail and social networking platform, has reached an agreement with the Australian Publishers Association to supply Australian booksellers with a full range of e-book and physical book retailing services and a full line of e-reading devices.
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Justice Department May Sue Apple, Five Major Houses
The Wall Street Journal reports that the DoJ has warned Apple, and five of the big six publishers--Random House is not named in the suit--that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of ebooks by adopting the agency pricing model.
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Is Amazon Contemplating Giving Up E-book Exclusivity?
Amazon may be changing its stance on selling e-books from its publishing division exclusively through its own site.
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Apple Debuts Comics and Graphic Novel Category in the iBookstore
Buying and reading comics on tablets and mobile devices took another step forward after Apple debuted a graphic novel format category in the iBookstore.
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Are Teens Embracing E-books?
A recent PubTrak survey from R.R. Bowker indicated that teens remain reluctant when it comes to e-books. Accustomed to social media, they find that electronic stories have “too many restrictions,” according to the report. But many industry players—agents, booksellers, publishers, and authors—are saying just the opposite: digital sales are booming for YA fiction.
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Smashwords Passes Milestone
Since it was officially launched four years ago at the Tools of Change conference by Mark Coker, Smashwords has distributed 100,000 e-books, a milestone it passed earlier this week.
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TOC 2012: An Indie Bookstore E-reader?
"We’re moving toward a highly evolved, hybrid market," said Jack McKeown, president of Books & Books Westhampton Beach. He was citing the current state of book buying in the TOC panel "The Changing Face of Retail Bookselling."
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BookRix Offers e-Book Distribution for Self-Published Authors
BookRix.com is launching e-book distribution services to enable self-published writers to make their books available on the Kindle, Nook, and other devices and online retailers.
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Rights and Royalties: A Game of Granularity
Thanks, in large part, to the advent of business models based on digital partnerships and fractured content—from single chapters, audiobook downloads, and video to subscriptions and bundled media—the game of managing rights and royalties has grown increasingly complex—and exciting.
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Moving Toward a Hybrid Market
Even as more consumers buy dedicated digital reading devices and tablets, a hybrid market for books is developing in which readers will buy both print and digital books. That was one of the main conclusions from Verso Digital’s “2011 Survey of Book-Buying Behavior,” presented by the company’s Jack McKeown at last week’s ABA Winter Institute held in New Orleans.
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B&T, Intel to Offer Blio, Book Retailing On Ultrabook Devices
Baker & Taylor has reached an agreement with computer chip producer Intel to bundle Blio multimedia e-reading software and full-service online bookstores on a new generation of Intel Ultrabook laptop computers.
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Amazon Launches iPad-Optimized Kindle Store
Amazon is the latest online retailer to craft a browser-based work around for purchases made on Apple devices.
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Rakuten Competes Kobo Purchase for $315 Million
The sale of the Canadian e-reading company Kobo to Japanese Internet and e-commerce giant Rakuten for $315 million has been finalized and approved by the Canadian government.
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What Sold in E Over Christmas
Last year, when we asked publishers for their five bestselling e-books over Christmas, we received lists full of frontlist bestsellers, with a handful of backlist hits in the mix. This year, we again approached publishers for the same lists—in most cases sales are only for December 25 and 26, though in some instances sales are for the entire holiday week—and results are similar. While a number of expected bestsellers drew consumers who were given a tablet or e-reader, or a gift card to one of the e-book storefronts, there were also a healthy dose of backlist titles being downloaded.
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SnapTags Push Scanning Technology Forward
In October, PW looked at publishing and QR codes, those little squares that appear on advertisements and look a lot like barcodes. While publishers are still figuring out how best to utilize that technology, they’ll have to make room for the next step in scannable code technology: SnapTags.
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Price Check Apps: Amazon’s Not Alone
While the outrage over Amazon.com’s price check app is understandable, retailers must know that it’s not unusual for consumers to use online sites as well as mobile devices to compare prices on all kinds of products.
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F+W Debuts the Man-Cave, Holiday Bookstore for Guys
Who says men don’t read? Not F+W Media, which is launching the Man-Cave, a virtual “pop-up” holiday bookstore on its online retail site featuring a selection of titles aimed at dudes.
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