Citing “people familiar with the situation,” the WSJ reported late last week that Apax Partners (which owns a majority stake in Cengage) and Apollo Global Management are “leading contenders” to buy McGraw-Hill Education, both having done “serious due diligence” on the division. Bids on the ongoing auction were due last Thursday though “after McGraw-Hill decides on a preferred bidder, the two sides will have to reach agreement.” That’s all a polite way of confirming that there are only two bidders still interested in the unit, and the offering prices are likely still below what McGraw-Hill said they were looking for. The […]
ebookstores
eNews: Kindle Japan Store Opens on October 25, with Paperwhite and Fire Devices Set to Ship on November 19
Amazon is finally opening its Japan Kindle store on October 25, which includes more than 50,000 Japanese-language Kindle books from publishers such as Bungeishunju, Gentosha, Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shinchosha, Shogakukan and Shueisha, and includes 15,000 manga titles within that total. The Japanese Kindle store outpost will also sell the Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi and 3G for ¥8,480 ($106.31) and ¥12,980 ($162.72), and the Kindle Fire and Fire HD for ¥12,800 ($160.50) and ¥15,800 (USD $198), respectively. The Paperwhite devices will ship from Amazon.co.jp starting November 19 while the Fire devices will be available a month later, on December 19. Retailers K’s Holdings, […]
eNews: iBooks Expected to Add Countries; CoreSource Adds Retailers; Pew Data Should Be Viewed Carefully; and More
With confirmation expected to this afternoon’s Apple presentation (which starts at 1:00 Eastern), there are reports on various blogs and websites that 18 more countries are listed as “pending” to sell iBooks–including New Zealand, Brazil, and Mexico, along with 16 other countries in Latin America, South America. After 10 months of posturing, French newspapers Les Echos reports that the European Commission has issued a stern warning to France over their lowered 7 percent VAT on ebooks. If the rate isn’t lifted in a month, the EC might go to the European Court of Justice. As the Bookseller points out, the […]
eNews: Guardian Highlights Harsh Amazon UK Kindle Contracts; Bertrams Partners on Online Bookseller Wordery; and More
The Guardian reports on a UK Amazon contract they have seen that seeks to account for 20 percent VAT before calculating the publisher’s share of digital list price–even though Amazon sells ebooks via their Luxembourg subsidiary and only pays 3 percent VAT at the moment. (That said, by 2015 EU law will change and the loophole will be closed–VAT will be applied based on where the purchaser resides, rather than the country pretending to sell the goods.) Former IT director of the Book Depository Will Jones is launching another independent online bookseller, Wordery, with titles supplied by Bertrams. The platform […]
Avon’s New Facebook App Doubles as Experiment in DRM-Free Purchasing; Amazon’s Whispercast For Bulk Kindle Distribution
Avon launched a Facebook app, Avon Social Reader, which excerpts up to 20 percent of approximately 30 titles and gives Facebook users the ability to share a given book, once browsed, in their News Feed or timeline. The app doubles as an experiment in DRM-free purchasing, allowing users to click through to buy the selected titles at AllRomance.com (though they can also choose to purchase DRM-enabled versions of the books at other online retailers.) The DRM-free editions will be delivered as secure Adobe ePub files. Avon vp, publisher Liate Stehlik said in a statement the DRM-free experiment was “a publishing […]
Briefs: FBF Trade Attendance Declines Slightly; Retailers Send Mail On eBook Settlement Credits
The Frankfurt Book Fair said that trade attendance decline 1.6 percent–while total visitors including the German public rose slightly, by 0.6 percent. FBF said in their release that “the fact that the number of visitors declined only marginally during the trade visitors’ days reflects the fact that the industry remains optimistic and is well equipped to face its challenges.” As previously announced, major ebook retailers started notifying qualifying customers by email that they will be entitled to unspecified store credits as part of the settlement of the suit by state attorneys general and the three Settlers. Amazon’s mail landed first, […]