The bookseller has released new versions of its ereading apps for Apple mobile devices and PCs, now unified under the Nook brand (as previously covered). The iPad version of their app now lets readers “rate” the books they’ve read, and the line of apps promise much more customization of fonts, colors and other aspects of the screen appearance.Release In the UK, WH Smith has taken the lead in ebook pricing wars, offering all ebooks at half the publishers’ digital list price.
Archives for August 2010
Lunch Weekly for Monday, August 16
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Carter Sickels’s THE EVENING HOUR, set in a small mountain community […]
Hoping for Some Sales Power
The Secret author Rhonda Byrne’s new book THE POWER may be more important for Simon & Schsuter than the so-called “besieged book world,” but with 924,000 pre-orders for this Tuesday’s release strong sales would certainly be welcomed by retailers. As the WSJ reports, Atria has delayed the ebook release, supposedly for some “fine tuning.” Unfortunately Byrne will not be doing television interviews in support of the book–so Atria has prepared a campaign of TV ad spots instead. The article also mentions what may be August’s most-anticipated release, the laydown of Suzanne Collins’ MOCKINGJAY on the 24th.WSJ Crain’s offers a sweeping-if-not-particularly-specific […]
People
Jane Friedman has left Writer’s Digest to work as a visiting professor of e-media, in the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.
eNews: New Sony Readers, Wordnik’s Thesaurus, Amazon’s DTP for UK
It would be a bigger headline if Sony were not rumored to be releasing new ereaders soon. This reports claims they will be “attractively priced” and, also as expected, used the newer, brighted eInk screens.Sony Insider Wordnik.com has launched their online thesaurus, which they say is better than standard references since it “shows related words in context.”ReleaseSite As expected, Amazon has opened their digital text platform in the UK to go along with their recently-launched ebookstore, accepting works in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. The UK royalty is 35 percent for now. Amazon indicates to the Bookseller “it […]
Barnes & Noble: Talks Collapse, Company Wins In Delaware, Burkle Launches Proxy Fight
As Friday the 13th today would have provided more appropriate timing for the latest events in Barnes & Noble’s corporate soap opera. Though the press release was reportedly ready to go announcing the settlement between the company and activist shareholder Ron Burkle, and Delaware vice chancellor Leo Strine had been notified a settlement was close (NYT), during a conference call yesterday morning “to review final details…negotiations broke down” (WSJ). By 12:30 Barnes & Noble announced they “were unable to conclude an agreement on mutually acceptable terms”; hours later, Strine issued his ruling, not unsurprisingly supporting the company. He concluded that […]