Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is writing a digital-only “pamphlet” for Hyperion, FAITH IN THE DREAM: A Call to Our Nation’s Liberal Majority to Restore American Values, described as “a short inspirational call to action for all Americans and an antidote to our current climate of cynicism and disillusionment.” Hyperion will release the $2.99 ebook in May. That book and readers’ reaction to it will serve as the building block for a full-length work from Patrick, to be published in 2014. They see it as “the launching point for social media interaction with readers that will contribute to the second book.” […]
Pricing
DBW: Verso Survey Finds Less Price Resistance, More Piracy, and Shift to Tablets
As we reported in advance of DBW, Verso’s survey indicates a continuing rise in ereading resisters, with over half of respondents “not at all likely” to purchase a dedicated reading device. But part of that may be due to the rising attraction of tablets, which were a separate query item. Over 15 percent of people say they already own a tablet–about the same adoption as for ereaders–but here another 21 percent are somewhat to very likely to buy one in the next year (compared to about 15 percent likely ereader buyers). Verso’s Jack McKeown believes that the “picture of the […]
An Off-Catalog Pelecanos Book, Priced for Discovery
Reagan Arthur Books is trying an interesting strategy with an unexpected George Pelecanos novel, which they will publish next January 23. The 272-page page WHAT IT WAS is a stand-alone, which will be published as a 99-cent ebook and a $9.99 trade paperback. And for staunch fans, they are producing a limited-edition, signed and slip-cased hardcover for $35, with all three editions releasing at the same time. (The new title was quietly listed on bookselling sites in August, though we didn’t realize the interesting price promotion strategy until this week.) Arthur says they wanted Pelecanos’ next regularly-published hardcover to be […]
Librarians Hopeful As HBG Considers Resuming Frontlist eBook Sales
Library Journal updates the state of negotiations on new models for selling ebooks to libraries. While some librarians have apparently convinced themselves that Hachette Book Group has a plan to start selling them frontlist ebooks again, Hachette executives make it clear their internal debate is still underway. SVP for Hachette Digital Maja Thomas has been meeting with the relevant parties, but the HBG team has not made any decisions. “It’s an extremely sensitive issue and there is a lot of passion on both sides, and we’ve been working diligently here for months on it,” she says. “I will present [her […]
More eNews: Dystel & Goderich Will ‘Formally Represent’ Self-Pubbed Work By Clients, Kindle Heads to France, and More
Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, which represents several notable self-publishing successes including J.A. Konrath and John Locke, announced on their blog they will officially “represent” clients who want to self-publish and help them with the process. As they explain: “what we are going to do is to facilitate e-publishing for those of our clients who decide that they want to go this route, after consultation and strategizing about whether they should try traditional publishing first or perhaps simply set aside the current book and move on to the next.” DGLM will charge their regular 15 percent commission for services in […]
eNews: Google Doodles, Harper Promotes Enhanced eBooks
Google eBooks has added a “doodle mode” to a select collection of children’s activities books (from the “Everything Kids” series) that lets readers use a computer mouse as an electronic “crayon” to write in enabled ebooks. The feature works in all “modern browsers,” a category that apparently does not include Internet Explorer. Also, HarperCollins is highlighting their enhanced ebooks with a giveaway of enhanced versions of Jane Leavy’s THE LAST BOY and Bernard Cornwell’s THE FORT through select etailers, through June 22 (e.g. not on Kindle). Publisher of Harper Media Ana Maria Allessi says the titles “are a demonstration of […]