Tis the season to make predictions, and so we asked digital luminaries from both sides of the pond for their 50 words about digital publishing in 2015. Here, by way of introduction is my own prediction and analysis about what may pass next year: In 2014 the digital book business enjoyed a somewhat puzzling year.… Read More
The Bookseller's Books of 2014: 66 by Women, 54 by Men
‘What are these lists good for?’ And how 2014 of The Bookseller staff to have asked itself this. It has been a very “wait a minute, what are we doing?” kind of year in publishing. And not always a lot of answers at the ready. Or maybe too many answers at the ready, no way… Read More
Wait! Not Another Selfie! Instead, Take A Shelfie!
Is A Picture Worth A Thousand eBooks? So there I was the other day, putting together a story for The Bookseller’s The FutureBook about Vancouver’s BitLit. That’s the young start-up company that wants you to have ebook editions (free or at a discount) of books you’v’e already bought in print. A lot like when you buy… Read More
New And Serious Talk For Authors
Quiet Qualms, Important Inquiries Most major ebook retailers have suffered anemic or declining sales over the last 12-18 months. The gravy train of exponential sales growth is over. Indies have hit a brick wall and are scrambling to make sense of it. Mark Coker In a way, Mark Coker of Smashwords may be saying what we… Read More
Elsevier offers DRM-free ebook-bundling through BitLit
Elsevier has become the latest publisher to partner with Vancouver start-up BitLit to offer discounted ebook editions of a part of its book catalog. “And one of the exciting things is that Elsevier is going DRM-free on the bundling,” BitLit co-founder Peter Hudson (pictured) tells The Bookseller. “Not even watermarking. So Elsevier becomes one of the big three… Read More
BitLit has data you thought you'd lost — on its 'shelfies'
“They really are the Big Five. They’re not just saying that. They really are.” Peter Hudson cracks up as he says this. He’s the co-founder with Marius Muja of the still-young Vancouver-based start-up BitLit. As we report today at The Bookseller, the company has just announced a major new partnership with Elsevier for some 5,000 science… Read More
Diversion Books Launches EverAfter App
Is The Romance Market Really Bottomless? An innovative independent publisher in New York City, Diversion Books has announced a new venture: EverAfter is described in its inaugural press release as “the first bookstore experience exclusively dedicated to romance ebooks,” offering “in-app purchase.” The consumer copy on the app’s landing page puts across its information in this customer-facing language: Always… Read More
The FutureBook Digital Census: What's Powering Digital Publishing?
Early indications from The FutureBook Digital Census: As our Bookseller colleague Joshua Farrington writes, the response to the survey has been strong: So far more than 1,000 respondents have completed the survey about the digital book industry, with close to 60% indicating that plain vanilla e-books are still leading the transition. is this a statement you… Read More
Waiting for the pundits to vote on Amazon's new 'Kindle Scout'
The name of the new programme rolled out, it seems, at 3:01 a.m. Eastern time in the United States today by Amazon is “Kindle Scout.” And the way to understand that name is to think like a reader: Amazon is inviting you to be a “scout” for something called “Kindle Press.” My colleague Sarah Shaffi… Read More
At Frankfurt Book Fair: 'Surprise' support for subscriptions
As my Bookseller colleague Philip Jones is writing for us today in Turn up the volume, Frankfurt Book Fair 2014 provided, if nothing else, a look at digital now under sail in early, calm waters. He writes, “The one common factor is that we have have all become participants rather than watchers. The being dazzled bit looks to have gone.… Read More