Amazon UK issued a press release Monday touting the news that ebook sales now outpace all print sales combined, measured across 2012. For every 100 print books sold from Amazon.co.uk (in all formats combined), they’ve sold 114 Kindle editions. As usual, their ratio excludes free Kindle books (but does include very inexpensive ones, and KDP titles). Amazon US passed a similar milestone as of April 1, 2011. They also declare EL James as Amazon UK’s all-time bestselling author, they say, her combined print and Kindle sales eclipsing JK Rowling’s total sales at the site. Amazon UK has sold more than […]
New Business Models
Angry Robot Tries Free eBook Bundle for UK Indies
As part of the UK’s Independent Bookseller week, Angry Robot has announced a small pilot for a program they hope to extend to other stores. Working just with Mostly Books in Oxfordshire for now, they are going to give away a free–and DRM-free–ebook edition (called the Clonefile) with each in-store purchase of a physical paperback. “This Clonefile means that customers at Mostly Books can buy Angry Robot’s books and enjoy them in whatever format they prefer, whether physical or electronic…. A dual-format offering for Indies seems like a natural extension of our customer-first ethos and a great way for Angry […]
Google Settles French Scanning Lawsuits; Creates Commercial Model for Out-of-Print Access
Google Books has achieved in France what the company has been unable to do in the US: They have settled the remaining lawsuits over their book scanning with the French Publishers Association (Syndicat national de l’édition) and the French Author’s Association (Société des gens de lettres) and instituted a commercial arrangement for selling access to out-of-print books that Google has scanned. Strategic Partner Development Manager of Google Books France Philippe Colombet says the new “partnerships…will put France ahead of the rest of the world in bringing long lost out-of-print works back to life. From now, publishers will promote and commercialize […]
Sony Announces First Potter Product, Wonderbook: Book of Spells, Combining Reading and Gaming
Sony announced their first production collaboration with JK Rowling’s Pottermore, BOOK OF SPELLS, to run on their new PlayStation3 peripheral, called Wonderbook. The new product, releasing in November in Europe and December in North America, is called “the next step in reading and augmented reality gaming. Book of Spells will feature “new and original writing” from Rowling that lets player/readers cast spells with their PS motion controller, “which becomes your own magic wand.” Rowling says in the release, “Wonderbook: Book of Spells is the closest a Muggle can come to a real spellbook. I’ve loved working with Sony’s creative team […]
Google Makes Zagat’s Free In New Local Service; Northshire Launches Syndicated Author Radio Interviews
Eight months after acquiring Zagat’s for approximately $151 million, Google has announced how they will leverage the company’s content on the internet. Full (and free) Zagat reviews are a major element in the newly-launched Google+ Local service, a “way to discover and share local information” designed to “improve the way you find great local information.” Anyone who signs up for the Google+ Local service can now get free, open access to the Zagat database, which was previously a paid subscription product. The NYT says that the company will continue to issue their 40 printed guidebooks. Director of product management at […]
Digital News: More Languages for Potter; Harris Turns Packager; and More
As promised, Pottermore has placed on sale French, Italian, Spanish and German editions of the Harry Potter ebooks. Former book-to-film agent Nick Harris, who left ICM recently, is starting a new company with funding from his brother-in-law Jason Traub. In the vein of Alloy Entertainment and Full Fathom Five, The Story Foundation will create books in the packager model–saying they will split proceeds 50/50 “most of the time” with authors–and aims to develop those books as film/TV projects and for “other multi-platform opportunities.” Harris tells Deadline he is already worked on five projects, based on his own ideas. “After parting […]