Random House promotes digital president Madeline McIntosh to COO
Random House has promoted Madeline McIntosh, president of sales, digital and operations, to the position of chief operating officer, effective immediately. Read more at paidContent »
Morning lowdown: WWDC 2012, the rules of viral, $150 answers
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
What will the global e-book market look like by 2016?
photo: Flickr / Mr. iMaax
New data from PwC’s media report projects that e-books will make up 50 percent of the U.S. trade book market by 2016. What will happen in the rest of the world during that time? PwC gave paidContent an exclusive look at the new report’s e-book data. Read more at paidContent »
Why is the U.S. State Department paying Amazon $16.5 million for Kindles?
The U.S State Department has signed a no-bid, $16.5 million contract with Amazon to provide Kindles — 2,500 of them to start — for its overseas programs. Why has the government decided the Kindle is the best e-reader — and what’s Amazon providing for that money? Read more at paidContent »
Five digital lessons from BookExpo America 2012
This week, the book industry gathered at the ugly, cavernous Javits Center in Manhattan for the largest book trade event in the United States. (“I feel like I’m in Costco,” actress-author Molly Ringwald told the AP.) Here are five digital lessons from the week. Read more at paidContent »
Morning lowdown: Bradbury backlist; Facebook App Center; Netflix for porn
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
B&N: DOJ e-book suit endangers consumers, bookstores and copyrighted expression
photo: Barnes & Noble
In a brief filed with the Department of Justice this morning, Barnes & Noble says the proposed e-book pricing settlement “represents an unprecedented effort” to become “a regulator of a nascent technology that it little understands.” In fact, B&N argues, e-book and hardcover prices have fallen. Read more at paidContent »
Social reading, discoverability and other unsolved problems at BEA 2012
Social reading and discoverability are not the same thing, but they have something in common: They’re the things everyone is talking about at BookExpo America this week but nobody has solved. Read more at paidContent »
The morning lowdown: Digital ad growth stalls, eHarmony gets hacked, Salon pivots
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
IPG announces DRM-free option for client publishers
IPG, the Chicago-based distributor that recently made news due to its battle over terms with Amazon, has announced that it will offer its roughly 400 client publishers the option to publish their books DRM-free. Three months ago, Amazon yanked over 5,000 IPG titles from the Kindle […] Read more at paidContent »
Kobo launches e-book self-publishing platform, “Writing Life”
Digital reading company Kobo is launching a competitor to Amazon’s KDP and Barnes & Noble’s PubIt: Kobo Writing Life, a free self-publishing platform for independent authors and publishers. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon acquires 62-year-old publisher Avalon Books
photo: Flickr / uitdragerij
Amazon has acquired Avalon Books, a small publisher that focuses on hardcover mystery, romance and Westerns, and will make its titles available digitally for the first time. Avalon Books has been geared primarily toward the library market; now Amazon will try to go wider. Read more at paidContent »
Macmillan’s Tor/Forge will launch DRM-free digital bookstore this summer
photo: Flickr / jonny2love
Macmillan’s science-fiction/fantasy imprint, Tor/Forge, will launch a DRM-free digital bookstore this summer, Macmillan announced at Publishers Launch BEA today. Sci-fi authors Cory Doctorow, John Scalzi and Charlie Stross also spoke out on DRM. Read more at paidContent »
Why India and Brazil are the next hot e-book countries
photo: Flickr / gaby_bra
India and Brazil are on their way to becoming e-book powerhouses, but their path there looks different from the transition in the US and the UK. Here’s why. Read more at paidContent »
Facebook for kids, Bloomberg’s media empire and other stories to read today
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
Oprah’s back with a digital book club
Oprah’s Book Club, which turned featured books into major bestsellers, is back after two years — with some improvements for the digital age: “This time it’s an interactive online book club for our digital world,” Oprah Winfrey says. Read more at paidContent »
5 things the book industry will be talking about next week
BookExpo America, the U.S. book industry’s largest trade event, hits NYC next week. Look out for discoverability questions, startups and “Hunger Games” wannabes — and don’t miss the two elephants in the room. Read more at paidContent »
Letters to the DOJ: Public speaks out on e-book pricing case
photo: Shutterstock
As the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple and five big publishers for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices moves forward, the public has the chance to respond. Here are some of the most interesting letters sent to the DOJ so far. Read more at paidContent »
The morning lowdown 5-31-12
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
Penguin, Macmillan respond to DOJ in e-book price fixing suit
Penguin and Macmillan, the two publishers fighting the Department of Justice’s e-book price fixing lawsuit in court, have both filed responses to the DOJ suit. Macmillan’s response is shorter and more fiery; Penguin’s is longer, with more colorful details and explainers. Read more at paidContent »
Zagat goes free with launch of Google+ Local
Since Google bought Zagat last September for a reported $125 million, the company hasn’t done much with Zagat’s local content. That changes today with the rollout of Google+ Local, which incorporates Zagat scores and summaries into its listings — and makes Zagat free. Read more at paidContent »
iPad textbook publisher Inkling adds HTML5-based Web platform
iPad textbook publisher Inkling is making all of its titles available on the Web through an HTML5-based platform. Read more at paidContent »
Are enhanced e-books bad for kids’ reading skills?
photo: Amazon
New research suggests that enhanced e-books’ special features can be distracting both to young kids and to their parents reading the books with them. Read more at paidContent »
Another Macmillan imprint drops DRM
Pan Macmillan Australia’s digital-only imprint Momentum will remove DRM from all its titles by August, the company announced today. Last month, Macmillan sci-fi/fantasy imprint Tor/Forge announced it will drop DRM by early July. Read more at paidContent »
The morning lowdown 5-29-12
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
After 3 months, Amazon restores IPG’s Kindle titles
photo: Flickr / bfhoyt
Three months after Amazon yanked book distributor IPG’s 5,000 titles from the Kindle store in a fight over terms, the two companies have come to an agreement and Amazon has restored the titles. IPG’s letter to clients is below. Read more at paidContent »
Is this the next “50 Shades of Grey”?
This weekly feature tells the backstory of how one e-book became a bestseller, and highlights bestselling titles that are selling more copies in digital than in print. This week: The next “50 Shades of Grey”? Read more at paidContent »
5 key takeaways from paidContent 2012
It’s all about the platform — except when it isn’t: Speakers at paidContent 2012 spoke about the opportunities, challenges and constraints of creating digital content. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon bans Kindle Store spam (finally)
Amazon is finally banning some of the junkier content in the Kindle Store, including “content that is freely available on the web, unless you are the copyright owner of that content.” Read more at paidContent »
The morning lowdown 5-24-12
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
Richard Russo: Amazon puts great young writers in “particular peril”
Amazon is a “predator,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo said at paidContent 2012 this afternoon, and he believes that young undiscovered writers are at particular risk. Read more at paidContent »
Does social beat search, or does “peacocking” get in the way?
Most people want to share content that makes them look good — a concept that Gravity CEO Amit Kapur called “peacocking” at paidContent 2012 this afternoon. Sometimes that urge is a good thing, but sometimes it gets in the way of delivering a truly personalized online experience. Read more at paidContent »
Hachette lets you read free chapters from upcoming books on Facebook
Big-six publisher Hachette Book Group is making free chapters of upcoming books from bestselling authors like James Patterson and Michael Connelly available through a new Facebook app. Read more at paidContent »
The new digital newsstand: Enabling “pass-along” — and saying no sometimes
The biggest challenge for a media company like Meredith is shifting focus to consumer engagement across platforms, Meredith’s Liz Schimel said at paidContent 2012. Part of that means making the brands available on the right platforms, but not all platforms. Read more at paidContent »
Publishers intimidated by big data should think about “little data” first
Big data is an intimidating concept for publishers who don’t collect much info about their customers already. A first step is to think about “data-driven decision making,” and little data, says bitly’s Hilary Mason. Read more at paidContent »
The morning lowdown 5-22-12
Some of the stories people are talking about this morning… Read more at paidContent »
Why the Waterstones/Amazon deal could hurt Waterstones
photo: Flickr / Globalism Pictures
UK bookstore chain Waterstones is partnering with Amazon to sell the Kindle in its 294 stores starting this fall. The deal is bad news for Barnes & Noble. But it may not be so great for Waterstones, either. Here’s why. Read more at paidContent »
Free Publishers Lunch e-book offers excerpts from hot fall titles
photo: Publishers Lunch
Book publishing industry newsletter and website Publishers Lunch is previewing hot fall titles — by authors like Junot Diaz, Dennis Lehane and Barbara Kingsolver — in a free e-book, “BEA Buzz Books,” ahead of major publishing fair BookExpo America in June in New York. Read more at paidContent »
Exclusive: Why Glenn Beck is selling pillows, salsa and survival kits
Glenn Beck is launching an online marketplace that sells goods from small businesses and describes its business model as “real-world trickle-down economics.” “I strongly believe in the power of small businesses,” Beck says. “Their stories, their products and their passion is what makes America great.” Read more »
UK’s Waterstones will sell Amazon Kindle (sorry, Nook)
photo: HMV Group
UK bookstore chain Waterstones has signed an agreement with Amazon to sell the Kindle in its 300 stores and “launch new e-reading services.” The news is a blow for Barnes & Noble, which was rumored to be working with Waterstones on the Nook’s international launch. Read more at paidContent »
