Google reported second quarter earnings after the close of the market Thursday. The segment in which they report Google Play sales — “other revenues” — was up 53 percent compared to a year ago, and up 3 percent from the previous quarter. It comprised $1.6 billion for the quarter. The company said “digital sales of apps and content in our Play Store drove the year-over-year growth.” In the investors conference call, the company added that “Google Play continues to grow at breakneck speed across all types of digital content, helping developers and content partners reach users around the world.” At their IO […]
McGraw-Hill Trims Output, Cuts 18 Jobs
The McGraw-Hill Professional division laid off 18 employees this week — more from the Chicago office, we are told by someone at the company, but with additional reductions from the New York office. President of McGraw-Hill Education Professional Philip Ruppel confirmed, in answer to our query, the “elimination of positions in editorial, marketing, and production.” He noted by email: “we are announcing a portfolio shift of our front list publishing to our employees this week. The changes impact our general interest publishing of new titles for the foreseeable future and have resulted in” those layoffs. Ruppel added: “As the normal course of […]
Roth and Green Drive Trade Sales Growth In First Quarter
The AAP has released sales statistics for both February and March 2014, showing overall trade sales of $1.414 billion, rising 7 percent compared to a year ago, up $92 million. All of the market growth and then some (another $6.5 million to be exact) is due to children’s/YA books, thanks to robust sales for both Veronica Roth and John Green. (As usual, AAP data is based on the roughly 1,200 publishers that report their sales to the organization.) In formats, hardcover sales rose the most during the first quarter, up 13 percent. Adult ebooks were down slightly, by $2 million, […]
This Is Not A Test: More on Kindle Unlimited
Somehow the idea that Amazon is “testing” Kindle Unlimited got inserted into early stories yesterday, and has been repeated through much follow-on coverage. This is not a test, people. A proper test would be a live, actual offer to a selected group of people, or for a clearly limited period of time. We still don’t know whether yesterday’s offering page that went live and then was pulled down was a glitch or an intentional glimpse, but it was not a test. We have reported multiple times, starting in early May, on discussions Amazon has had with publishers about their ebook subscription plans. […]
Authors and Kindle Unlimited
Authors understandably have questions about Amazon’s not-yet-officially-released Kindle Unlimited subscription service. To expand more explicitly on what we wrote in our first post on Wednesday morning: For Authors/Publishers Participating By Direct Agreement These credits/payments will work in a manner similar to other ebook subscription terms, we are told. Any time a reader goes beyond an agreed upon threshold of a particular book — 10 percent to 20 percent is the range that we have heard — it is then treated as a full “sale” and the publisher is paid the normal wholesale price of the ebook (and will report that […]
Apple to Pay As Much As $450 Million In eBook Settlement
As expected, on Wednesday the full details of the proposed settlement agreement in Apple’s ebook pricing litigation were filed with Judge Denise Cote. (Previously, the terms of the agreement had not been announced.) In a “pragmatic settlement,” the parties agreed to three possible outcomes, which could have Apple paying as much as $450 million. But no payments will be made any time soon, since it hinges on “resolution of Apple’s appeal,” which could be a long time away depending upon how far they are able to pursue it. If Apple ultimately loses their current appeal, they will pay $400 million in […]