Features

Knight: Agents Need to Become Marketers (Video)

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As the tectonic plates of publishing continue to shift in the e-book era, one common theme is marketing. How does it look today? Who is responsible for marketing? What results can be expected? Agents need to become marketers, at least according to one agent.

Future Uncertain for Barnes & Noble and Other Booksellers Following Justice Department Lawsuit

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Barnes & Noble and other booksellers will have a tough time competing with Amazon following the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple and some of the largest U.S. publishers, say some in the publishing industry. With the renewed ability to set prices on more e-books that it sells, Amazon will resume discounting of e-books and selling them at a loss, putting price pressure on other retailers.

Publishers Were Ready for Pew E-Book Study

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The latest study from the Pew Internet and American Life project about e-reading and e-books found that those who read e-books are more avid readers, buy more books and read more often. These results made a splash in the book world, resulting in an explosion of media coverage and blog posts and nearly a Twitter meltdown. Publishers, however, met the news with a shrug.

Scholastic Media President Deborah Forte: Early Days for Children’s E-Books

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After years of lagging behind digital growth in the adult-trade book segment, children’s e-books posted 475% growth in January 2012 over January 2011, going from a $3.9 million-a-month business to a $22.6 million-a-month business in just a year. We spoke with Scholastic Media President Deborah Forte about the recent explosive growth in children’s e-books, Scholastic’s new e-book-selling platform Storia, and the publisher’s pricing strategy.

An Advocate for Author Boot Camp, Warrior Authors (Video)

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When the cost of e-book conversion and distribution goes down, the prospect of making profit from a back-list of books goes up. But how do publishing companies, already taxed with promoting the front-list books that they are depending on to drive revenues for the year, advantageously allocate resources to promoting such books?

It’s Hard to Compete With the Economics of Amazon (Video)

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Amazon’s focus on doing business with customers who buy everything from books to food to home goods from the online retailer puts those solely concerned with selling books at an economic disadvantage, said James McQuivey, Ph.D., vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research at the Digital Book World Conference in an exclusive video interview.

Are audiobooks books?

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I have an ongoing debate with my wife…when I listen to a book, did I “read” it?  When book discussions come up and I comment that I’ve read something, she is quick to correct me.  “You mean you listened to …

Agency Model an Advantage for Smaller Publishers? (Video)

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The so-called agency model where publishers set the prices on e-books sold through online retailers — often higher than the $9.99 that has quickly become an expected price for e-books — may offer an advantage to those publishers who do not price their books higher than $9.99.

M&A in Publishing Technology Heats up; More Acquisitions to Come

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Just when you thought you had a handle on what’s going on in the world of e-book technology, everything changes. A spate of acquisitions have quietly re-shaped the e-book conversion and e-book distribution landscape and it’s just the beginning of widespread consolidation among technology vendors that serve the book industry, say industry executives, bankers and publishers.