It’s a light news day, but a number of interesting publishing folks have been rolled out blogs in recent days, so if you’re looking for more things to read, consider: Oxford University Press digital publishing and business development guru Evan Schnittman has his own blog now (he used to contribute more occasionally to the OUP group blog), Black Plastic Glasses. Brian O’Leary at Magellan Media Partners (and sometime consulting partner with Mike Shatzkin at the Idea Logical Company) is posting on issues related to both books and magazines. Charlotte Abbott and Kat Meyer are blogging “for those who read & […]
eNews
Some Kindle User Data
Further to our London Book Fair report on Bowker PubTrack’s consumer survey data about demographic preferences for different e-readers, and the larger theme of understanding that different people prefer different e-reading platforms, Richard Curtis’s blog tipped us to a popular Amazon forum asking “Kindle Owner’s Age.” Though there are a lot of posts to page through, the forum is highly recommended for anyone wanting to better understand the Kindle consumer. We extracted about 75 percent of the responses on age (representing about 700 responses, taking equally from the earliest and most recent postings, which show very similar age distributions). Per […]
Justice Department Looking at Antitrust Implications of Google Settlement
It’s been pretty grey whether the judge presiding over the settlement of the Google Book Search settlement would have any compelling interest in the potential virtual monopoly that Google would be granted over electronic rights to orphan works, but now the Justice Department has opened an inquiry. The NYT says Justice notified the parties to the settlement “that they were investigating various antitrust issues related to the far-reaching agreement.” The paper adds, “The inquiry does not necessarily mean that the department will oppose the settlement, which is subject to a court review. But it suggests that some of the concerns […]
Amazon's Next Purchase: Stanza
Amazon has bought Lexcyle, makers of the Stanza reader application, for an undisclosed price. Stanza has been downloaded by approximately 1.8 million users. Lexcycle says on its web site, “We are not planning any changes in the Stanza application or user experience as a result of the acquisition. Customers will still be able to browse, buy, and read ebooks from our many content partners.” But of course it’s now up to what Amazon plans. When launching their iPhone app for Kindle, Amazon made it clear that they find the iPhone an inferior platform for long-form immersive reading, but fine as […]
BN Finally Launches a Competitor to Audible
Barnes & Noble.com has launched an online mp3 audiobook, offering over 10,000 titles at an “average price” of $10 to $20 per download. A launch promotion offers nine free titles, including: The Babysitter’s Code by Laura Lippman, Great Day by Kurt Vonnegut, Super Goat Man by Jonathan Lethem, Best New Horror by Joe Hill, Fathers by Alice Munro, Truth or Dare by Elizabeth Berg, Ysrael by Junot Diaz, and Merrano of the Dry Country by Louis L’Amore. EVP of e-commerce Tom Burke calls it “a natural progression in our commitment to book lovers and audiobook fans.” Overdrive is maintaining and […]
UK CEOs Consider Emerging eBook World
A packed London Book Fair panel today gathered today four UK-based big houses ceos: John Makinson from Penguin, Tim Hely-Hutchinson from Hachette UK; Gail Rebuck from Random House UK; and Victorian Barnsley from Harper UK; each expressing varying degrees of the requisite “enthusiasm” about digital opportunities current and future. True to form Hely-Hutchinson remains the most cautious member of this group: ebooks “will have a place in the market, but its not the end of the story.” (He sees ebooks as only 5 percent of the market in five years.) He warned that it would be “very foolish to be […]