The Rise Of E-Books

The Nook tablet is seen during a demonstration at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York in this 2011 file photo. The share of US adults reading a digital book jumped in 2012 while the share of those reading a traditional book fell, accoridng to a new survey. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/File 

Digital Reading Rises, While Books Fade -- Christian Science Monitor  

Share of adult Americans reading an e-book jumps from 16 to 23 percent in a year, Pew survey finds, while traditional book reading falls from 72 to 67 percent.

The tastes of the reading public are turning digital. A Pew Internet Research Center survey released Thursday found that the percentage of Americans aged 16 and older who read an e-book grew from 16 percent in 2011 to 23 percent this year. Readers of traditional books dropped from 72 percent to 67 percent. Overall, those reading books of any kind dropped from 78 percent to 75 percent, a shift Pew called statistically insignificant.

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My Comment: My favorite e-book library is here.

How Brick-And-Mortar Bookstore Thrives Because Of Amazon

The Man Who Took On Amazon And Saved A Bookstore -- Forbes

Certain business ideas seem doomed to fail. You can walk into a restaurant or retail chain and know instantly that its days are numbered.

That’s the gut sense I had when I learned that someone new had bought the Harvard Book Store – a comforting oasis for bibliophiles and casual browsers – just a few blocks from my office in Cambridge. In a town where independent bookstores have been folding faster than Starbucks can open coffee shops in China, this naïve optimist embarked on his new venture in the dark days of the recession, under the shadow of Amazon, and as e-books began their zenith rise.

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My Comment: An exception in the trend of closing bookstores.

Can Fiction Survive The Ebook Age?

A little light reading? ... reading an ebook at the beach. Photograph: Alamy

Can Literary Fiction Survive The Ebook Age? -- The Guardian

Some claim that literary fiction has 'lost the next generation' of readers – but brilliant writing remains as important as ever

The death knell has been sounded for literary fiction often enough that it's great to see someone cheering it on. But when Francesca Main added the words "Go print" to a tweet celebrating the strong performance of literary paperbacks, it was enough to launch a fierce debate about what literary fiction is really for.

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My Comment: If the content is there ... the readers will also follow.

A Look At The Future Of Books

People looking at an e-book reader app on the Apple iPad.

A Dark Day For The Future Of Books -- CNN

(CNN) -- Wednesday was a dark day for the future of books.

The Department of Justice charged Apple and five large book publishers with conspiring to raise e-book prices. Three of the five publishers quickly capitulated rather than face the risk and expense of a protracted legal battle.

Much of the case revolves around the decision of five of the largest six publishers to simultaneously adopt the agency pricing model immediately before Apple launched the iPad and iBookstore in April 2010. At that time, Amazon commanded about 90% of the e-book market. Amazon priced many books at $9.99 -- which was below the cost at which Amazon was paying the publisher -- in an effort to drive e-book adoption among consumers and capture market share.

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Yahoo Mulls Plan To Put ADVERTS In eBooks

Birds Eye Fish Fingers: Could nautically themed books be 'brought to you' by brands such as Birds Eye?

Moby Dick (Brought To You By Cap'n Birdseye): Yahoo Mulls Plan To Put ADVERTS In eBooks -- Dialy Mail

* Video ads WITHIN text of books
* Words could even be inserted into text of novels
( Two patent applications submitted in U.S. last week

Yahoo is investigating plans to put adverts inside ebooks on devices such as Amazon's Kindle or Apple's iPad.

The idea could lead to increased product placement on modern novels - or books offered for free in exchange for adverts within the text.

Adverts could range from simple sponsorship - 'Oliver Twist is brought to you by Scots Porage Oats', to videos within the text.

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My Comment: Smart .... very smart. This is a cool war for online libraries to make money on their products.

U.S. Sues Apple Over 'Price Fixing' E-Book Deal With Five Major Publishers

Ebooks To Be Cheaper As U.S. Sues Apple Over 'Price Fixing' Deal With Five Major Publishers -- Daily Mail

* Justice Department to sue Apple
* Separate deal with publishers
* Could end 'price fixing' for ebooks
* Ebook prices risen up to 50% in last two years

America's Justice Department could sue Apple as early as Wednesday over alleged electronic book price fixing.

The DoJ will settle with several publishers as early as this week, two people familiar with the matter said.

The case could have major knock-on effects for pricing on electronic books online and on devices such as Amazon's Kindle.

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My Comment: Some Publishers are already settling with the Justice Department, and some are predicting that the DoJ will lose their case.

Death Of The Paperback

Photo: The rise of e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle has seen paperback sales decline

Death Of The Paperback In E-Reader Revolution: Sales Drop By 25% In A Year -- Daily Mail

From the Da Vinci Code to Harry Potter, the paperback has been a literary staple for decades.

It was almost 80 years ago when the likes of Penguin Books made quality fiction available for mass market consumption at affordable prices.

But now, with sales down by nearly 25 per cent year-on-year, some senior industry experts are heralding the ‘death of the paperback’.

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My Comment: And I expect this trend to continue.

Printed Book Sales Plummet As The E-Reader Grows In Popularity

A New Chapter In Publishing: Printed Book Sales Plummet As The E-Reader Grows In Popularity -- Daily Mail

* Sales of printed novels fell by a quarter in the first two months of this year

The rise of e-readers - such as Kindle - is thought to be behind a slump in sales of the printed novel in the UK, figures have revealed.

In the first eight weeks of 2012, Britons bought 7.6million printed novels - almost two-and-a-half million fewer than books bought in the same period in 2011.

The slump - which does not include non-fiction and children's books - coincides with a jump in sales of e-readers, which include Kindle and iPads.

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Kindle E-Book Outsells Print Versions For First Time Ever

Bestseller: The e-book is outselling text versions for the first time ever

Is It The End For The Paperback? Kindle E-Book Outsells Print Versions For First Time Ever -- the Daily Mail

Sales of digital e-books have outstripped real books for the first time, according to Amazon.

Four years after the launch of electronic novels, the firm announced it has sold 105 e-books for every 100 printed books over the past six weeks.

While e-book sales have previously outsold hardback books, never before have they exceeded sales of all books, in both hardback and paperback forms.

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My Comment: We predicted this years ago .... but it is still a surprise to now know that this point has been reached.

Amazon Sells More E-Books Than Paperbacks

Amazon.com Touts More E-Book Sales Than Paperbacks -- Computer World

Third-gen Kindle sold millions in fourth quarter, CEO Bezos says.

Computerworld - Amazon.com said it is selling more Kindle e-books than paperback books.

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos said in a fourth-quarter earnings statement Thursday that the e-book-selling milestone "has come even sooner than we expected."

The company said that in all of 2010, it sold 15% more Kindle e-books than paperbacks. In July, Amazon.com reported that it had sold more Kindle e-books than hardcover books. For all of 2010, it sold three times as many Kindle e-books as hardcovers. Free Kindle books are excluded from those figures.

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Stephen Fry Autobiography Is ‘Publishing First’

The enhanced ebook version of Stephen Fry's autobiography, The Fry Chronicles, features additional videos and photos

From The Telegraph:

'The Fry Chronicles', Stephen Fry’s new autobiography, has been launched simultaneously as an ebook, hardback novel and iPhone app

Fry, who is well known for his love of technology, has embraced multiplatform publishing for his new book, The Fry Chronicles, which documents his life from his time at university to his first experiences of acting.

The autobiography is available in traditional hardback format for £20, while the ebook costs £12.99. An app, designed for Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad costs £7.99.

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E-Books Are Still Waiting for Their Avant-Garde

From Gadget Lab/Wired Science:

E-readers have tried to make reading as smooth, natural and comfortable as possible so that the device fades away and immerses you in the imaginative experience of reading. This is a worthy goal, but it also may be a profound mistake.

This is what worries Wired’s Jonah Lehrer about the future of reading. He notes that when “the act of reading seems effortless and easy … [w]e don’t have to think about the words on the page.” If every act of reading becomes divorced from thinking, then the worst fears of “bookservatives” have come true, and we could have an anti-intellectual dystopia ahead of us.

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British Library To Offer Free Ebook Downloads

Jane Austen: Originals cost £250

From Times Online:

MORE than 65,000 19th-century works of fiction from the British Library’s collection are to be made available for free downloads by the public from this spring.

Owners of the Amazon Kindle, an ebook reader device, will be able to view well known works by writers such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy, as well as works by thousands of less famous authors.

The library’s ebook publishing project, funded by Microsoft, the computer giant, is the latest move in the mounting online battle over the future of books.

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Did Apple Just Undercut Amazon On E-Books?

From PC World:

The $10 bestseller e-book might not be dead yet: Apple reportedly can sell e-books on the iPad for the same prices Amazon once offered.

The New York Times reports that Apple worked a provision into its agreement with publishers, requiring them to occasionally sell bestselling books at a discount, possibly as low as $10 per book.

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Digital Handcuffs For Apple Ebooks?

From L.A. Times:

Apple's old digital rights management software (DRM), FairPlay, is slated to make a comeback with the e-books it will be selling on its iBook Store. While music users have been free of these "digital handcuffs" for the last year, Alex Pham reports that readers will not be.

When Apple launches its iBook store to sell titles for its new iPad device in March, many of its titles are expected to come with a set of handsome digital locks designed to deter piracy....

Next month, Apple will be dusting off those digital cuffs for books, according to sources in the publishing industry.

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E-Books: Publishers Poised For Victory In Latest Battle

Photo: Google is thought to be offering the book trade more from e-book sales

From Times Online:

Publishers look set to win the latest round in the battle for supremacy on electronic books, with Google ready to offer major concessions as it prepares to enter the increasingly competitive e-book market.

Following the unveiling of Apple’s iPad, which will feature an electronic bookstore when it launches next month, and Amazon’s humiliation last week by a book publisher in a prices row, Google is thought to have given in to the book industry by offering it a higher share of the sale of e-books.

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Why I'm An ebook Convert -- Commentary

The Kindle . . . ideal for a furtive read of celebrity memoirs.
Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

From The Guardian:

A Kindle or ebook won't have that 'new book smell' – but no one's going to judge you by its cover.

Following my blithering about the iPad the other week, I found myself thinking about ebooks. That's my life for you. A rollercoaster. Until recently, I was an ebook sceptic, see; one of those people who harrumphs about the "physical pleasure of turning actual pages" and how ebook will "never replace the real thing". Then I was given a Kindle as a present. That shut me up. Stock complaints about the inherent pleasure of ye olde format are bandied about whenever some new upstart invention comes along. Each moan is nothing more than a little foetus of nostalgia jerking in your gut. First they said CDs were no match for vinyl. Then they said MP3s were no match for CDs. Now they say streaming music services are no match for MP3s. They're only happy looking in the rear-view mirror.

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Apple's iPad And The Evolution Of Books -- A Commentary

Consumers seem underwhelmed by Apple's iPad, according to a survey by Retrevo, a US shopping website. Photo from The Telegraph

From The Wall Street Journal:

Steve Jobs recently walked on to a stage in San Francisco and answered a question that authors and publishers have been asking for years: How would he adjust Apple's iPhone technology and iTunes platform to the horizons of the reader? His answer was the iPad, a typically alluring device, featuring a screen big enough for the comfortable reading of books, and a new iBookstore, bringing the text of Harry Potter within reach of America's millions of iTunes users for the first time.

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Behold ‘The Amazon Effect’: Now Murdoch’s Gunning For The $10 E-Book

From Wired Science:

Smelling blood in the water after Amazon caved to Macmillan’s demand to stop selling e-books of their titles for only $10, News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch says he, too, wants that deal.

Murdoch’s media empire includes HarperCollins books, which has had 20 titles on New York Times best-seller lists in the past three months, including Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue ($29) and the hot political tome Game Change ($28). Reuters reports Murdoch told analysts Tuesday that Amazon appears “ready to sit down with us again” and renegotiate the deal under which Amazon prices new e-book titles at $9.99. That’s even though the publisher still gets a wholesale payment based on a higher price and Amazon eats the loss itself.

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iPad Rattles The E-Bookshelves

Bestseller: The iPad features iBook, an application for buying and reading books.
Credit: Apple

From Technology Review:

But Amazon's e-book dominance may be hard to change.

Over the weekend, a massive disappearing act took place on the virtual shelves of Amazon.com. In a dispute over e-book pricing, the online retailer blocked customers from buying titles--e-book or print--from Macmillan, a publisher whose imprints include Nature Publishing Group, the literary line of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and the science fiction and fantasy line Tor.

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