Hachette and Random House’s parent companies Lagardère and Bertelsmann reported earnings Tuesday. At Hachette, ebooks made up 20 percent of adult trade book sales in both the U.S. and U.K. divisions. Read more at paidContent »
I’m looking to self-publish my writing, so I took a look at a bunch of different Mac apps that can create ebooks. The best I found were Apple’s Pages, Adobe InDesign, and Scrivener. Here’s a look the pros and cons of each program. Read more »
As the availability and awareness of open educational resources grows, educators and open-content publishers are experimenting with hackathon-style content collaborations among subject-matter experts to create high school and college textbooks over the course of a few weekends. Read more »
Reuters cites two unidentified sources who says that the European Commission has accepted Apple and four publishers’ proposed ebook pricing settlement. As we previously reported, the EU settlement includes Apple, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette and Macmillan parent company Holtzbrinck. Macmillan and Apple are not settling in the U.S. Read more at paidContent »
On November 20, Amazon will publish one of the biggest titles on its inaugural NY list: The 4-Hour Chef by bestselling author Tim Ferriss. Mediocre sales of Penny Marshall’s memoir are hanging over Ferriss’s launch. Read more at paidContent »
The government uses anti-trust law to stop cartels and ensure products can be bought and sold freely. This makes sense for ordinary consumer goods like gas or long distance phone calls, but does it make sense for cultural items like books? Read more at paidContent »
UK-based startup ValoBox, which lets publishers sell ebooks by chunks, is launching with a list of publishing partners including O’Reilly in the US and Guardian Books in the UK. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature (back after a brief hiatus) looks at the books that are selling better in digital format than in print. This week’s picks: Two books from self-published author Michelle Leighton, who’s just signed a deal with traditional publisher Penguin. Read more at paidContent »
At Apple’s iPad Mini launch event in San Francisco on Tuesday, the company also announced updates to its e-reading platform, iBooks. In addition, Apple is reportedly expanding the iBookstore to 18 more countries, including many in Latin America. Read more »
Although it’s not clear exactly why, an Amazon customer in Norway has lost access to all of the books she bought with her Kindle — a healthy reminder of how with ebooks, we have very little actual control over something we have theoretically purchased and own. Read more »
The third quarter saw many parts of the traditional media business in flux. Other developments included the rollout of new device-based content ecosystems, red flags and red ink for traditional consumer electronics makers, and a resurgence of consumer purchases of movies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With many ebook buyers set to receive small payments as a result of the $69 million settlement between 49 states and three publishers, the states have slightly modified the way those payments will work. Read more at paidContent »
Penguin is working with digital distributor 3M to make ebooks available to some libraries again — first through a previously announced pilot program with the New York and Brooklyn Public Libraries, and then through about 70 other libraries nationwide by the end of the year. Read more at paidContent »
Why is the ebook edition of J.K. Rowling’s new novel, “The Casual Vacancy,” $17.99? Thank the fact that publisher Hachette is in a sweet spot between the ebook settlement’s approval and the time that it actually takes effect at non-Apple retailers. Read more at paidContent »
Google added new Japanese reading features to its ebooks app yesterday and is now selling the Nexus 7, ebooks and movies through the Google Play store in Japan. Kobo expanded to Japan in July, and Kindle is expected to launch there in October. Read more at paidContent »
Last December, the European Commission began investigating Apple and five book publishers for allegedly conspiring to set ebook prices. Now the EC, Apple and four of the publishers have reached a preliminary agreement that largely mirrors the terms of the ebook settlement in the U.S. Read more at paidContent »
Kobo is partnering with Brazilian bookstore chain Livraria Cultura to sell e-readers and ebooks. Ebook sales makes up less than 1 percent of book sales in Brazil but are expected to grow fast. Kindle also plans to launch in Brazil this year. Read more at paidContent »
Starting in October, libraries will pay an average of 220 percent more for Hachette’s ebooks. Hachette still does not make new ebooks available to most libraries; all the books affected were published before April 2010. Random House increased prices for librairies earlier this year. Read more at paidContent »
At an event in the UK on Tuesday, Waterstones CEO James Daunt shared a few more details on how the bookstore’s partnership with Amazon will work, but admitted that working with “a major competitor” is not easy. Read more at paidContent »
Apple didn’t want to compete with Amazon on ebook prices. But it is already showing that it is more than willing to do so. And if customers are drawn to Apple’s new low prices on ebooks, it’s possible to envision the company’s ebook market share rising. Read more at paidContent »
Just a few days after the approval of the DOJ’s ebook settlement, HarperCollins has entered into new contracts with ebook retailers, and they’re already discounting its titles. What kinds of deals will you get? Read more at paidContent »
Just a few days after a federal judge approved the Department of Justice’s settlement with HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster, Amazon and other digital bookstores have begun discounting HarperCollins ebooks, revealing that the publisher quickly entered new contracts. Read more at paidContent »
Last week, a federal judge approved the DOJ’s proposed settlement with Simon & Schuster, Hachette and HarperCollins for allegedly conspiring with Apple to set ebook prices. What does the settlement mean for ebook prices now? Read more at paidContent »
Serialized ebooks aren’t a new idea, but Amazon’s Kindle Serials combine a pay-once buying process and automatic downloads that could help the initiative succeed where similar efforts haven’t. Read more at paidContent »
The Department of Justice wants the court to accept its proposed ebook pricing settlement with Apple and book publishers, but presiding Judge Denise Cote is allowing more parties who oppose the settlement — the Authors Guild and attorney Bob Kohn — to weigh in as amici curiae. Read more at paidContent »
Ebook company Kobo has signed a deal with the American Booksellers Association to allow indie bookstores to sell Kobo ebooks through their websites and stores. The new partnership replaces the ABA’s deal with Google, which had been set to end in January. Read more at paidContent »
Many newspapers have tried ebooks as a new revenue stream, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s “In the Footsteps of Little Crow” stands out. Curt Brown’s extensively researched narrative of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War is #13 on the NYT ebook bestseller list this week. Read more at paidContent »
In a filing late Wednesday in response to Apple and book publishers, the Department of Justice reiterates its claim that agency pricing and the alleged conspiracy have resulted in “unmistakable consumer harm,” but refuses to release its ebook pricing analysis. Read more at paidContent »
Twenty-four percent of Indian adults with Internet access have bought an ebook. Now that group could get a lot bigger: Amazon has launched a standalone Kindle Store in India and is selling Kindle exclusively through Indian electronics chain Croma. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature looks at the books that are selling better in digital format than in print. This week’s pick: Nordic noir title “The Boy in the Suitcase.” Read more at paidContent »
In June, the U.S. State Department was close to a $16.5 million, no-bid deal with Amazon that would have provided Kindles to overseas programs. State has now withdrawn its request for proposal. It plans to “conduct additional market research” and open up to more vendors. Read more at paidContent »
In an amicus brief responding to the DOJ’s proposed ebook pricing settlement against Apple and publishers, attorney Bob Kohn says the DOJ unwittingly showed that Amazon used predatory pricing on ebooks, and asks that the DOJ’s investigation of Amazon be turned over to the court. Read more at paidContent »
Digital self-publishing site Smashwords is making it easier for self-published authors to get their ebooks into libraries. The site is allowing certain libraries to buy Smashwords titles in bulk, and is also adding custom library pricing options for its authors. Read more at paidContent »
A little over a year after Amazon announced that it was selling more ebooks than print books in the U.S., the company has hit the same milestone in the UK. Another surprise: “50 Shades” author E.L. James has sold more books than J.K. Rowling on Amazon.co.uk. Read more at paidContent »
The bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series contains over 200 titles, and now 160 of them are available as ebooks through Open Road. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature examines certain ebooks’ paths to bestseller-dom, and highlights bestselling titles on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists that are selling more copies in digital than in print. Featured this week: R.L. Mathewson’s “Playing for Keeps” and “Perfection.” Read more at paidContent »
The American Booksellers Association and Barnes & Noble say the DOJ’s proposed ebook pricing settlement is so harmful to booksellers and consumers that they want to file their own brief in the case. Presiding Judge Denise L. Cote has said they may do so by August 15. Read more at paidContent »
Mobile analytics companies provide app publishers with data about their users. Hiptype, a Y Combinator startup, wants to do the same thing for ebooks. That could be huge for data-starved book publishers — except that for now, Hiptype only works on platforms that support HTML5. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature examines certain ebooks’ paths to bestseller-dom, and highlights bestselling titles on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists that are selling more copies in digital than in print. Featured this week: Bella Andre’s “Sullivans” series and Courtney Walsh’s “A Sweethaven Summer.” Read more at paidContent »
Self-publishing company FastPencil will begin pitching some of its authors’ books to Barnes & Noble buyers, which could give them a better chance of ending up in stores or in promotions of Nook e-readers. But it’s not a guarantee that self-published titles will end up on shelves. Read more at paidContent »
