This week in publishing (February 28–March 6)
Posted By Sue Collier on March 7, 2011
Here’s some of what’s happening in publishing right now:
From The Creative Penn: Signed e-books—really?
As a digital publisher, we get challenged on the fact that our books aren’t ‘real’. A person can’t hold the paper, they can’t smell the glue – it’s not a tangible product. I personally disagree, books aren’t paper and ink – they are the stories that bring us away to places we’ve never been and to meet characters that are fantastical or horrible or lovable.
From The Book Designer: Smart phones—the next home of the e-book?
You can’t imagine Captain Kirk (of Star Trek fame) going anywhere without his communicator, can you? One device, so many uses. I was a kid who loved science fiction and tales of the possible future, and the communicator was a dream that wouldn’t die. Someday there would be a magic something sitting in our pockets and purses, a device we couldn’t imagine that would make life better in every way.
From Publishers Weekly: Random House switches to agency model for e-book sales
Random House, Inc., the last of the big six houses still using the wholesale model for e-book sales, announced plans to adopt the agency model effective March 1 and the company has begun implementing the switch with accounts today. A Random House spokesperson said the company is making the change now because it is the right time. The adoption of the agency model is “part commercial motivation for our customers; part investment in their digital sales growth and ours; part ensuring our authors that their e-books will be even more widely available anywhere anytime,” the spokesperson said.
From Daily Mail: Harry Potter e-book publisher Bloomsbury sells 18 times as many digital books in 2010
Bloomsbury, the publisher of the Harry Potter books, today said its e-book sales grew 18-fold in 2010.
Digital books now account for 10 per cent of Bloomsbury print sales as more customers downloaded titles to read on iPads, Kindles and other hand-held devices.
From Huffington Post: Self-published author Amanda Hocking makes millions from ebook sales
Unknown, living paycheck to paycheck in Austin, Minnesota, rejected by publishers all over New York, Amanda Hocking decided to self-publish on ebook platforms only. She sold 100,000 of her works in December, and over 10 months she’s more than 900,000. She’s 26 and is now making enough money to quit her day job and become a full time writer, in fact she’s a millionaire. She’s going to be featured in Elle Magazine’s April issue, all without what everyone thought was essential to make it as a writer: a big New York publishing house. Watch the local news story below:
From Galley Cat: Bristol Palin confirms book deal with William Morrow
Bristol Palin has landed a book deal with HarperCollins imprint William Morrow for her memoir, Not Afraid of Life. Publication is set for this summer.
The book by Palin (pictured, via) had been rumored for weeks, and the official release calls it an “intimate behind-the-scenes look at her life.” On February 7th, the book was briefly listed on Amazon and then removed.
From C-Net Reviews: The rise of the 99-cent Kindle e-book
Not long ago I did a story about how e-book piracy was accelerating and that publishers should be concerned. But while piracy is certainly an issue, there’s something else lurking out there that may be a bigger problem: e-book price erosion. Or put another way, the blogification of the book industry.
From JA Konrath—the Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: The list experiment update
Eighteen days ago, I dropped the price of my ebook, The List, from $2.99 to 99 cents on Amazon. I was selling 40 copies a day prior to that. Currently, The List is #37 in the Top 100 Bestsellers on the Kindle. It’s selling 620 copies a day on Amazon.
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