Macmillan is the latest big publisher to announce an adjustment of their library ebook terms, this time in a letter from ceo John Sargent to authors and agents. Their policy has a twist to balance protecting sales with “ensur[ing] that the mission of libraries is supported”: Exactly one copy of every ebook will be available to each library system for purchase upon publication for $30, which is half the current library price, and that one copy will be available in perpetuity, for unlimited one-at-a-time lends. But any additional copies of their new-release titles will be windowed for 8 weeks after […]
Sales
Amazon Changes Third-Party Seller Rules
Amazon instituted new selling and shipping rules for third party media sellers that will increase the fees reaped by the etailer, and effectively end of the economic viability of selling so-called “penny books” on the site. As of March 1, 2017, the fees for selling media products, including books, will rise in two ways. The per item fee will increase to $1.80, up from $1.35 per item, and going forward “will be a fixed fee rate and not variable.” Additionally, the referral fee they charge will go from 15 percent of the item price to 15 percent of the total sales (including […]
Goodreads Enters eMail Deals Business
One tried and true digital marketing tool (for now, at least) is email deal newsletters, and now Goodreads is joining the game. Goodreads Deals will alert site members when an ebook on their “want to read” list or an author they follow is discounted. They are also offering daily deals email newsletters in three genre fiction categories, along with “bestsellers,” and they say they plan “to expand into more genres as quickly as we can.” The program starts in the US. In the press release Goodreads ceo Otis Chandler says, “This program is also a powerful new marketing tool for authors and publishers; […]
Quantifying Nook’s Decline, and More
As Barnes & Noble ceo Ron Boire first announced in Thursday’s investor call, Nook UK will shut down on March 15, and customers are being are transferred to Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand. Nook explained the transitions to customers online. The same date is when Nook told customers they will stop selling apps (though they are having a final sale until then). The company’s stock rallied Thursday on decent earnings and the continued reduction of Nook — though it’s still below where it was until before the previous quarter’s report. And while the company’s account of the “lowest number of store closings […]
New Insights on eBook Unit Sales from Nielsen
At Book Expo America last week, Nielsen svp global managing director Jonathan Stolper presented some data from across Nielsen’s tracking services, including — for the first time — ebook data from PubTrack Digital. Because of misunderstandings about how various industry data views are compiled, you may have encountered some confused or incorrect accounts of this new data elsewhere. PubTrack Digital reports actual unit ebook sales, in the same way that Bookscan reports actual unit print book sales. While Bookscan reports weekly — getting sales data direct from retailers — PubTrack Digital reports monthly, and gets sales on a delayed basis […]
November AAP Sales Down Again On Weak Hardcover Shipments
After a surprisingly positive October 2014 sales report, the AAP’s statistics for November returned to the pattern that they have followed for most of the year: Adult sales declined almost 8 percent, down $37 million to $442 million, as children’s rose, up $23.6 million to $190.6 million. The real weakness was in those market-leading new hardcovers that we have been talking about in past reports, with net sales in November of $155.5 million — versus $206.2 million in 2013. eBook sales also declined for the second consecutive month, at $116 million overall, with adult ebook numbers roughly flat and children’s/YA […]