Today Barnes & Noble is opening for their business their previously-announced PubIt! program, allowing individual authors, self-publishers and small publishers to upload their ebooks for direct sale through Nook/BN. In the press release, they underscore that their program has “clear and competitive terms — and no hidden fees.” BN is offering a royalty/revenue share of 65 percent of list price for titles between $9.99 and $2.99 (slightly lower than Amazon on the surface, though there are no “delivery” charges, no surcharges based on file size, and no provision that BN can lower the price and pay royalty on that basis). […]
eNews
Shipment Data Shows iPads Outnumbering All eReaders Combined
IMS Research has released their second quarterly report on the ereader market, covering Q2 2010, promising data on “actual shipments on eBook frontplanes, eBook displays, eBook readers, iPads and iPad displays.” They say that the iPad is being produced in greater quantities than nearly 40 ebook readers combined, with 3.3 million iPads and a total of 2.4 million ereaders. The company has increased its full-year forecast for iPads to expectations of 15.6 million units shipped in 2011, growing to a whopping 46 million units in 2011. (They’re just guessing, but that doesn’t include other tablets.) They also report that both […]
eShorts: BISG Renews Study, Xerox Expands Espresso Relationship, Blio’s Underwhelming Launch
The BISG‘s Today quarterly survey of Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading has been funded for another two years. Executive Director Scott Lubeck notes: “By employing collective industry resources, this study is providing a baseline for understanding what we need to know about the new book consumer, now and in the future.” In time for some attention at next week’s Graph Expo in Chicago, Xerox has “announced” again that starting in “early 2011” they will “market, sell or lease and service” the Espresso Book Machine. The companies originally announced their intention to market and sell jointly at the beginning of the […]
Kobo Partners As “Featured Reading App” for New Blackberry PlayBook Tablet
Research in Motion (RIM) announced their Blackberry PlayBook tablet device today. It’s smaller and lighter than an iPad, though a little bigger than Samsung’s Galaxy tablet–even better suited to reading in the estimation of some. As rumored, it features a new operating system developed just for the device. The promotional video includes a clip of the Kobo store and reader at work, and a Kobo executive tells Lunch their app will be “preloaded at launch” on the device. Tomorrow the two companies are due to officially announce Kobo as the “preferred eReading app” for the PlayBook, giving “users around the […]
Rosetta Announces New Royalty
Arthur Klebanoff’s Rosetta Books has officially announced their new “standard ebook royalty rate.” They promise to pay 50 percent of net receits on the first 2,500 units sold and 60 percent thereafter, typically licensing rights for five years.
Indie Booksellers Meet with Connecticut AG to Explain How Agency Model Helps them Compete with Web Giants
Connecticut booksellers Fran Keilty, Suzy Staubach, and Annie Philbrick along with ABA and NEIBA staff met a week ago with Connecticut Senate hopeful and current Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Their purpose was to explain to the AG “that they strongly support the agency model for the sale of digital content because it prevents predatory pricing practices by online superstores and allows for a wide diversity of retailers in the marketplace. In addition, they noted that the agency model benefits consumers because it ensures the continued distribution of books by small, independent businesses with a wide variety of viewpoints.” Staubach says […]