Continuing our theme of the Content Explosion that will make literally millions of new books available in the marketplace (and make an even bigger hash of Bowker’s already flagging tracking of new ISBNs every year), the University of Michigan announced yesterday that they will make available “more than 400,000” public domain titles in print-on-demand versions. The nonexclusive two-year agreement is a partnership with BookSurge, which will offer the books via parent company Amazon. “The university will set the list price of each book. The agreement calls for a sharing of revenue between BookSurge and the university.” The university notes that […]
The Day's Other eNews: Plastic Logic Will Use AT&T for Wireless Delivery, and More
AT&T is expected to announce today that Plastic Logic will use AT&T’s network to support wireless connectivity for their coming ereader, comparable to Kindle’s relationship with Sprint. Since AT&T’s network is compatible with cellular carriers and devices in other countries, the company could support Plastic Logic’s European launch as well as their American initiative. (The units are manufactured in Germany.) Plastic Logic would not indicate whether users will be charged for the wireless services, consistent with the lack of detail on most of the specifics of the company’s plans. Their reader will have wifi connectivity as well as wireless capability, […]
Bookselling: Target Is Timesworthy
Target’s ability to select and sell titles to its customers that may not be major bestsellers in traditional bookstores is the focus of an NYT feature, which says their Bookmarket club “has highlighted largely unknown writers.” Their picks are focused on trade paperback fiction, and include special designations such as a recent “Hand-Picked Titles From Emerging Authors.” Among the successful picks, which can sell 50,000 to 150,000 copies at Target alone, have been Michelle Richmond’s The Year of Fog, Meg Waite Clayton’s The Wednesday Sisters, Lisa Genova’s Still Alice, Diane Chamberlain’s The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, and Tatiana de […]
It's Ready: Barnes & Noble Launches eBookstore, Partners with Plastic Logic
BN launched their anticipated ebookstore yesterday, offering approximately 200,000 real titles along with 500,000 free public domain titles from Google, “including hundreds of new releases and bestsellers at only $9.99.” The NYT says they define new releases as “a new e-book for the first six months of its availability.” In a conference call (to which we weren’t invited) the company promised to add another 300,000 titles or so within the next year. They are claiming in the release to have the “world’s largest ebookstore,” though Cool-er made that claim earlier in the year as well and asserted 750,000 titles (while […]
Related Items: Class Action Specialists Want to Sue Amazon Over Orwell Removals; Plastic Logic "Fully Funded"
In other Amazon ebook news, class action law firm KamberEdelson sees an opportunity to sue Amazon over the recent removal of unauthorized George Orwell books from Kindle users’ libraries. Partner Jay Edelson “says he intends to argue that the recall infringes on consumers’ property rights. He will also argue that Amazon’s ability to delete books makes the Kindle less valuable to consumers, who believed they were purchasing a device that would allow them to store books forever. Edelson says he intends to seek to represent all Kindle owners in the case against Amazon.” The firm co-represents the plaintiff class in […]
House Judiciary May Call GBS Settlement Hearings; EU to Discuss in September
The WSJ cites source who says the House Judiciary Committee “has been moving toward scheduling a hearing” on the proposed settlement of the Google Book Search lawsuits, though a representative for committee chairperson Re. John Conyers “said he wasn’t aware of a hearing being scheduled” and explained that “just because a committee was making inquiries about a topic, it didn’t mean they would necessarily hold a hearing.” Google spokesperson Gabriel Stricker says they have “been in touch with members of Congress and understand that there’s interest in having a hearing to explore the settlement.”WSJ Separately, the European Commission has agreed […]