As the AP covered this morning, Publishers Lunch has launched what is truly the “big book” of this year’s BEA: a free ebook that presents over 30 meaty excerpts from books that will be featured at the convention and highly-touted fall releases of all kinds. Before you see (or watch the video stream) of BEA marquee speakers Junot Diaz, Barbara Kingsolver, JR Moehringer and Neil Young, you can read samples from their books. We have official Buzz Panel book Shani Boianjiu’s The People of Forever Are Not Afraid, along with more promising debut novelists than fit on any panel (including […]
eNews
eNews: Hachette Testing Pilot Library eBook Programs with Two Distributors; The Atavist Will Launch Free Content Tool; and More
Hachette is set to test pilot ebook library programs with two unnamed distributors sometime this spring, according to the ALA, which met with the publisher last week. Hachette discontinued the sale of new ebooks to libraries back in April 2010 (though backlist titles remained on offer) and the ALA believes “these pilot programs will help HBG learn more about library patrons’ interests, usage, and expectations, and help the publisher devise the best strategy to reach the widest audience of ebook readers in libraries.” The Atavist will produce a free version of its online content platform this summer, the NYT reports, […]
Waterstone’s In “Far-Reaching” Alliance with Amazon to Sell Kindle
Already running late with its promised ereading initiative, Waterstones announced that “a far-reaching partnership” with Amazon “to launch new e-reading services and offer Kindle digital devices through its UK shops.” Downplayed in coverage of the announcement is that, even with a plug-and-play solution, Waterstones still won’t be ready to launch the initiative until sometime “in the Autumn.” First they need to install wi-fi in their stores (which apparently they had never done previously). Waterstone’s managing director James Daunt says in the press release, “The best digital readers, the Kindle family, will be married to the singular pleasures of browsing a […]
IDPF Suggests Exploring New Type of DRM
As the industry takes a fresh look at whether or not to lift DRM from ebooks to provide readers with greater flexibility (and something closer to real ownership and control of their files) and potentially loosen the “lock in” of particular platforms, the IDPF has published a draft proposal outlining another possible path. The digital standards organization suggests the possibility of developing a “lightweight content protection technology” that would be easily interoperable across multiple platforms, as an alternative both to current “heavy” DRM and to the lighter-still “watermarking” of personal data that Pottermore has used on the Harry Potter ebooks. […]
eBooks Grow to Comprise 6 Percent of Export Sales
As part of their expanding BookStats project, the AAP is now breaking out some meaningful export sales data for the first time. Many US publishers have known that export is the prime growth areas and have been devoting resources towards maximizing the opportunity. The interesting insight is that, while digital clearly cannibalizes print sales in the US, it’s fueling both print and ebook sales in export markets. From 161 reporting publishers, print export sales in 2011 were $335.9 million, and ebook sales into the same territories were $21.5 million (or 6 percent of all export sales). Significantly the biggest “export” […]
Initiatives: Faber In Audio Co-Venture with Canongate; Hay House Enrolls Bloggers
In the UK, Faber has entered in an audio co-publishing venture with Canongate (which acquired audio publisher CSA in 2010). Canongate will produce and sell audio editions of up to about a dozen Faber titles annually, the Bookseller reports. (Faber will continue to publish audio versions of their poetry books independently.) In the US, Hay House has started a blogger review program, BookNook, that is similar to Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze initiative. They aim to create “one central place for bloggers to share their thoughts and experiences about Hay House products,” providing free review copies in exchange for “an honest […]