After a premature wave of reports declaring the Kindle Fire a raging success before any consumers tried it, the press is now moving to the expected next phase of coverage: discovering the problems of a first-generation device. Today’s NYT has it both ways: Fire “is less than a blazing success with many of its early users” but “it would be foolish to underestimate Amazon.” Those poor early buyers “seem to have bought it on a mixture of faith and hype.” Gosh, where would that have come from? The news in the article is that, “in less than two weeks, [Amazon […]
eReaders
eNews: Indiebound Reader App Launches; eBooks in Europe; and More
Indiebound has launched its ebook reading app, Indiebound Reader, in conjunction with Bluefire, as announced in August (and originally set for release in October). So far the app is only available for Android devices, but “it will soon be available” for iOS devices. Consistent with Apple’s revised rules, the iOS version will be for reading only, and will not include in-app purchasing. Indiebound Reader page At the same Reuters Global Media summit where Penguin ceo John Makinson spoke of “dark clouds” hovering over the publishing horizon in 2012, Hachette ceo Arnaud Nourry was more optimistic about the prospects for digital […]
Kindle Launches in Spain and Italy, and More eNews
As promised earlier this fall, Amazon’s newest Kindle Stores launched Thursday in Spain and Italy, along with local-language Kindles retailing for 99 euros and the Kindle Direct Publishing service for authors and small publishers. The Italian Kindle Store features over 16,000 Italian-language Kindle titles, while the Spanish store offers more than 22,000 Spanish-language Kindle titles, including 3 exclusive backlist nonfiction titles self-published through KDP by El País journalist and bestselling author Rosa Montero. (Montero also has 2 Kindle titles available from her current publisher, Planeta imprint Seix Barral, and 4 more of her backlist books published with her agency Balcells in an earlier experiment […]
Retail News
Initial accounts of overall retail sales on Black Friday were positive, with ShopperTrak estimating that sales were up 6.6 percent, setting a new record total and recording the strongest year-over-year gain since 2007. On Small Business Saturday, the Obama family went shopping at Kramerbooks on Dupont Circle, reportedly buying The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, Tails, The Tiger’s Wife, The Phantom Tollbooth, Zen Shorts, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and Descent into Chaos: the United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. For Cyber Monday, Open […]
International: Ediciones B, Planeta Launch Digital Imprints; and More
Spanish publisher Ediciones B launched a new digital imprint, B de Books, where the house will publish e-originals and ebook editions of its trade titles DRM-free, some at prices that are aggressively low for the Spanish market. Patricia Cornwell’s THE SCARPETTA FACTOR was available at launch for €1.99, and John Locke’s LETHAL PEOPLE will be released in January at €2.99. Commenting on the decision to publish DRM-free, B de Books director Ernest Folch said DRM had become a “barrier to readers” and is ineffective, since “DRM-protected titles are pirated the minute they hit the market.” El Cultural (in Spanish) Meanwhile Planeta […]
Kobo Offers Ad-Supported Reader; Fire Ships Early, to Tepid Reviews; LAT eBooks
Within the next two to three weeks, Kobo will match Amazon’s ad-bearing ereaders with their own “Kobo Touch with Offers” with “valuable offers and sponsored screens in discreet places outside of the reading experience.” The ad-driven model will sell for just under $100, a $40 discount over the ad-free model. Amazon has begun shipping the Kindle Fire a day early, and will start shipping their new eInk readers tomorrow, six days ahead of the promised date. Early reviews of the Fire are surprised to find that this inexpensive semi-tablet acts like what you would expect for the price. In the […]