Today’s links of interest:
- Gossip Girl books: Central Florida mom doesn’t want library to let young readers see them
Oh, you poor misguided mother. You are not doing anything to prevent the reading of these books, though you are opening up your kid’s life for ridicule. - Dan Brown Tops Sony’s Most Purchased eBooks of All Time List
Sony touts the download of its 10 millionth book with a top ten list. - Q A: The U. of Chicago Press’s E-Book Giveaway
Oh, sure, lots of people give away ebooks. Here is an example of one publisher doing it as a serious marketing program. - Hachette Earnings: As ‘Twilight’ Fades Out, Publisher’s Sales Numbers Dim
Digital sales at 8%, so there’s a bright spot. Also, new Stephenie Meyer book coming out. Will it catch the Twilight wave? - ALA’s Bleak Near-Term Outlook Forces Layoff of Four Plus Four Open Positions Cut
This speaks to the state of our world. Greatly saddened by this news. - Amazon to Drop Free Books from Kindle Bestseller List
There will be two lists: one for paid titles, one for free titles. - You’re Welcome, You Bastards
Michael Arrington has a new feud. This time, a magazine asked TechCrunch to post excerpts. Only later did they clarify they meant excerpts of excerpts. Oh and Simon Schuster sent a cease and desist letter. So much wrong here, so sorry for the author. - Hay House Publishing Partners with Author Solutions, Inc., to Launch Self-Publishing Division, Balboa
It’s not so much a trend as a business decision. - Shaken by JA Konrath Press Release
AmazonEncore to publish bestselling author J.A. Konrath’s upcoming book. In what is first (we believe), an author is going through Amazon for first publication rights, digital and print. Expect more deals like this. - Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for Calls
How is this going to impact the currently overburdened infrastructure. Laughing about the person who doesn’t make calls on his iPhone…because he can’t (sounds too familiar!). - Steve Jobs Offers ‘Freedom from Porn’
As much as we get the idea being espoused here, it leads to the big question of definition. Which, you know, is harder than it looks. - Why iPad apps won’t help magazines.
Short answer: using technology to replicate the print experience (but not quite) is not the answer. - BA president warns of trade’s future irrelevance
Interesting comments from the head of the British Booksellers Association. - HarperCollins’ Debbie Stier Breaks Down Publishing In 2010: ‘A Tale Of Two Cities’
Great discussion with Debbie Stier of HarperCollins. She has our vote for publisher of the year! - Experiential Reading
Sarah Jae Jones, at Publishr, tries to identify reader types (well done!) and map them to reading formats. Was with her until the distinctions between genre readers and bookworms. See more blurry lines than sharp distinctions when it comes to actual reading consumption. - Barnes Noble Announces PubIt!(TM), An Easy-to-Use Digital Publishing and Distribution Platform for Independent and Self-Publishers – MarketWatch
Yet another self-publishing program for the world! - Financier Bennett LeBow Poised to Take Control of Struggling Bookseller Borders
And so it goes and so it goes and so it goes. - After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all
Who else thinks Mark Twain will show today’s memoirists a thing or two about mining their life story? - Dohle Remodels Random House
Interesting look at the evolution of Random House under Markus Dohle. - Book Sales Up More Than 16.6 Percent in March
This number is absolutely fascinating. Trying to figure out what caused the bump. - Losing the secondary business can kill you
Interesting look at how secondary businesses support the main business and what happens when you lose those income streams. - Ingram CEO at BEA 2010: ‘Digital Versions Didn’t Cause Piracy’
Seriously, Jonathan Galassi sounds like a guy who doesn’t like new stuff (or the Internet). - Disney Takes Over Marvel Publishing; Cursor Signs with PGW
Great new for Cursor. (at Publishers Lunch — reg required) - Global E-books and The Agency Model at IDPF’s Digital Book 2010
While there are many criticisms of how the Agency Model was implemented, it’s stuff like that makes us worry: …some books were even removed from customers’ bookshelves although they had been previously purchased. - Personanondata: BookExpo CEO Round Table: Michael Cairns – Content to Strategy
Are we alone in thinking the biggest problem comes from publishing CEOs who believe it’s all about device? To wit: …agreed emphatically that there will be a bigger market but we shouldn’t shouldn’t forget there needs to be big investment to buy reading devices. - BookExpo America 2010: Show Returning to Three Days
Interesting commentary about the difference between those who like the new 2 day format versus those who need three days. Wondering how much of that need was precipitated by the volcano-closed London fair? - Penguin, Amazon Reach E-book Accord
How sad is it that this is actually news? - BookExpo America 2010: ABA to Partner with Google
This is a positive development. - Planning the next publishing model: a new take on “no returns”
Mike Shatzkin lays out a compelling, logical approach to printing and distribution in a world where the majority of sales move online. Like this. - iBookstore books cheaper to buy in print and via Kindle
As the iPad rolls out around the world, confusion reigns in pricing. - Book owners have smarter kids
True! - Borders Adds Libre e-Reader to its List
Either Borders’ strategy is genius or will lead to mass confusion. Here’s hoping they’re breaking the cycle with this second, less expensive device. - For new ATT users, no more all you can eat data
Current subscribers remain on the old plan (bookmark this article for the eventual day when ATT changes their billing system). New subscribers get charged more. - Jonathan Karp Replaces David Rosenthal at Simon Schuster
That is all. - Sony: ebooks to overtake print within five years
Or not.
