On Tuesday Amazon was granted a business method patent, first filed for approval way back in the pre-Kindle days of July 2004, that covers the sale of book previews and excerpts. The complex filing also includes various scenarios for giving customers “personal viewer” discounts and credits in return for reading certain promotional excerpts, as well as schemes to vary preview fees “dependent on the work being viewed and/or the consumer’s prior purchase or previewing activity.” For now there’s no basis for concluding that this is something the etailer plans to implement, and the original filing is so old that it’s […]
eNews
eNews: Poll Says 8 Percent Own eReaders; Another 3 Percent “Very Likely” to Buy One Soon; Konrath’s Sales Report; Blackberry’s “BlackPad” Due Soon
The Harris Poll released an interesting survey on ereading conducted among almost 3,000 adults conducted in August. They find that 8 percent of American adults currently use an “electronic reader device, such as a Kindle, an iPad or a Nook.” Another 3 percent are “very likely” to purchase an eReader in the next six months, and another 9 percent said they were “somewhat likely” to do so. But a big fat 80 percent are not likely to do so. Over half of ereader owners believe they are reading more than they did before–and the poll confirms that those owners read […]
AAP eBook Sales Pop In July; Audio Apps for Self-Publishers; Keeping Tabs on HP’s Announcement
After a somewhat confoundly-sluggish stretch, monthly ebook sales collected by the AAP and IDPF from 12 publishers (thus dominated by the six largest trade publishers) have risen again–popping from $29.8 million in June to $40.8 million in July. That’s a new monthly highpoint, well surpassing the previous high of $31.9 million from January. (The month-by-month 2010 recap is below.) What could have changed so much in the marketplace in July? In the last week of June, Apple released iOS 4, extending the iBooks app and store to iPhones and iPod Touches (and they released the newest iPhone as well). But […]
Hachette UK Underway with Agency Transition
As previously announced, Hachette UK is currently executing its transition to an agency model for selling ebooks. Unlike in the US, however, where the five big houses switched terms on a designated day, Hachette UK is making the change via a “short transition period” according to company spokesperson Clare Harington. The Bookseller reported on an e-mail from wholesaler Gardners to customers communicating about the change and identified today as the switchover day, but the company indicates its an ongoing process. Right now Hachette UK ebooks no longer appear on major sites like Waterstone’s and WH Smith, while Amazon UK continues […]
A Tablet A Day (At Least)
Samsung officially introduced their forthcoming Galaxy Tablet last night, but did not announce pricing. They do, however, have agreements with all four big US cell carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile). They indicated earlier that Kobo will power their reader app and ebookstore. Motorola co-chief executive Sanjay Jha confirmed speculation that the company is working on an Android tablet of their own, hoping for a release “early next year.” Meanwhile, in reporting earnings recently, Best Buy ceo Brian Dunn “said internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50 percent,” the WSJ […]
iBookstore Said to Have 130,000 Titles
Walt Mossberg believes (like many) that the iPad is “a very good ereader.” He reviews reading apps from Apple, Amazon and BN/Nook and finds things to like–and dislike–about each. The hidden “news” is his finding that the iBookstore is up to 130,000 titles. From his modest price tests, he doesn’t seem to understand the books from the five big agency-model publishers will always be the same, but books from other publishers can vary.WSJ