In this issue: Read about the explosion of foreign ebook sales and Great Britain’s literary digital distraction. Metadata is had to deal with, both on production and consumption. We hear more about the agency model, another Big Six publisher settles with the DOJ, DRM is still a hot topic, and the IDPF would like to see a new standard crafted.
Harlequin consolidates it’s digital marketing channels and it seems iOS apps are lousy for digital publishing. Learn Grisham’s best-selling tricks (which he learned from Brian Garfield). The largest book club ever is on Twitter and Hay House wants to tap into bloggers review power. Also, don’t miss the two clever infographics at the end!
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MARKETPLACE:
Foreign ebook sales increase 333% for US publishers
« Sales of e-books by U.S. publishers to readers in other countries increased to $21.5 million in 2011 from $4.9 million in 2010, a 333% increase. U.S. publishers work with “nearly 15,000 international retailers in 200 countries” and export roughly 90% of their titles to the 750 million people outside the U.S. who can read English.… »
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MARKETPLACE:
One third of Brits now ereading, says Bowker study
« Nearly a third of British adults (31%) say they are likely to buy an e-book in the next six months, according to a new study from Bowker. • According to report Understanding the Digital Consumer, the percentage of adults who have purchased an e-book has seen an almost threefold increase since February 2011. • The Kindle has become the e-reader of choice for UK adults, with 40% of those reading e-books using the Kindle most often to do so. Tablet devices have more than doubled market share between February 2011 and March 2012, with 12% reporting that they use them most often.… » -
METADATA:
“Ebooksellers get metadata wrong,” say almost 100% of publishers
« Imagine if when a book hit Barnes & Noble store shelves it had a different cover than when the proof left the publisher. • That’s what nearly all publishers are experiencing with their e-books, but in a digital way. • According to an upcoming study from the Book Industry Study Group set to come out in a month, 95% of publishers have had the experience of creating their e-books with one set of metadata and seeing an altered set of metadata at the point of sale, online booksellers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple*.… » -
METADATA:
In the digital era, publication isn’t preservation
« When a print book is published its metadata is literally attached to its content. The author and title, publisher and imprint, price, ISBN and barcode, as well as the size, the shape, the binding are clear, easily referenced at a glance. Part of the complicated process of digitizing books [faces is] how to record and connect all of this information to a digital file. • First of all, it’s not always readily obvious that the metadata is correct. But just as important, the connection of metadata to digital book content is more tenuous. Without a hard copy to refer back to, a piece of information that goes missing may not be retrievable.… » -
AGENCY MODEL:
There’s no level playing field without agency pricing—and not in the way you think
« As we know, successful publishers unlearn old behavior very slowly. So it has taken some time for the big general houses to shed their prejudice against selling direct to end customers even though, in the digital age, it is actually essential that they do so. Why? • Because the business of publishing digital books delivered online is entirely different than the business of publishing printed books sold through intermediaries.… » -
DOJ:
Simon & Schuster settles ebook antitrust suit with state attorneys general
« Simon & Schuster, one of the five major book publishers accused in multiple lawsuits of conspiring with Apple to fix e-book prices, has settled the complaint filed by numerous states’ attorney generals, CNET has learned. • Last month, Simon & Schuster also settled a complaint by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as did Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Book Group and News Corp.’s HarperCollins. The defendants that refused to settle and deny wrongdoing are Apple and Macmillan Publishers (owned by Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck holding company), and Pearson PLC’s Penguin Group.… » -
DRM:
Does ebook sharing create economic damage?
« A fear of piracy is one thing, but a fear of sharing? With the new digital age of publishing upon us there are many variables at work, among them whether or not allowing sharing of e-books among consumers is cannibalizing sales or otherwise causing economic damage. In today’s feature story, futurist Gerd Leonhard speaking at the World E-Reading Congress in London on Monday said that “Sharing should be non-negotiable.” It does not “cause economic damage,” he reiterated.… » -
DRM:
The IDPF proposes new, “light” DRM for ePub
« The IDPF on May 18, 2012 published a draft of use cases and requirements for lightweight content protection technology for EPUB, available at: http://idpf.org/epub-content-protection. Comments from members and other interested parties are requested by Friday, June 8. Comments are particularly solicited regarding the priority of this activity versus other potential IDPF-mediated projects. Also requested are comments on any additional high priority use cases and requirements not encompassed in this initial straw-man document, and regarding the overall desirability of a solution embodying the proposed requirements, or any standardized solution in this area.… » -
MARKETING:
Harlequin reorganizes marketing channels into single digital unit
« Earlier this month Harlequin reorganized its North American digital, retail, direct-to-consumer, and physical sales and marketing channels into a single division, which will be spearheaded by Craig Swinwood, named coo of the entire division. “By bringing these groups together under a single division, we wanted to strengthen the focus on the customers, enjoy the synergies of the marketing group and help build Harlequin’s brand further,” Swinwood told us Friday morning. “We’re committed to being available wherever, whenever, and however women want to shop.”… » -
iOS:
“I hated every moment of our experiment with apps,” publisher says
« Jason Pontin’s latest column is perhaps the most simultaneously complete and concise summary of publishers’ disappointment with mobile apps. • When Apple released the iPad in April 2010, the Technology Review publisher writes, “traditional publishers had been overtaken by a collective delusion. They believed that mobile computers with large, colorful screens, such as the iPad, iPhone, and similar devices using Google’s Android software, would allow them to unwind their unhappy histories with the Internet.”… » -
iOS:
Why publishers don’t like apps
« For traditional publishers, the scheme was alluring. They lost their heads. One symptom of the industry’s euphoria was a brief-lived literary genre, the announcement of the iPad edition. A touching example of the form is this 2010 letter by the editors of the New Yorker, published by Condé Nast, dashed off in a style that was uncharacteristically breathless: “This latest technology … provides the most material at the most advanced stage of digital speed and capacity. It has everything that is in the print edition and more: extra cartoons, extra photographs, videos, audio of writers and poets reading their work. This week’s inaugural tablet issue features an animated version of David Hockney’s cover, which he drew on an iPad.”… » -
ON WRITING:
Ten rules for suspense fiction — by Brian Garfield
« [Note: In 1994, John Grisham revealed to Newsweek that he credited the following article by Brian Garfield with giving him the tools to create his ground-breaking thriller, The Firm, as well as subsequent books. Garfield himself is a noted bestselling novelist, as well as a screenwriter, producer, and nonfiction writer. He won the Edgar Award for Hopscotch, which was made into the prize-winning movie of the same name, starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson. … This article was published twice by Writers Digest. Its first appearance was in 1973 in the magazine. The second was in the 1994 Writer’s Yearbook — “At last: The real secret behind John Grisham’s success.”]… » -
SOCIAL MEDIA:
A 64,000-member book club, 140 characters at a time
« I run a book club. It’s a highly democratic operation, and the members choose what books they want to read. What with varying tastes and all, building a consensus can prove challenging. That may be true of any reading group, but my predicament is unusual: this book club has, at last count, 64,483 members.… » -
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Hay House inspirational publisher fires up bloggers book review program
« True to its philosophy of personal empowerment, Hay House, the international leader in inspirational and transformational publishing, is launching its own blogger community website HayHouseBookNook.com, with the goal of providing one central place for bloggers to share their thoughts and experiences about Hay House products.… Bloggers will receive free copies of Hay House products in exchange for an honest review on their blog and a consumer site.…Bloggers will benefit from Hay House’s massive digital platform which includes a database of 2 million email names…… » -
INFOGRAPHIC:
How a book is born (because you kids love the infographics)
« Here’s the heartwarming, only slightly messy, and roughly 74% accurate story of how an idea churns through the publishing process just like—as a publisher we once knew put it—a rat travels through an anaconda. Don’t think too much about that analogy. Just enjoy this flowchart that takes you from a brilliant idea to a best-selling trade book. And stop asking your mother embarrassing questions.… » -
INFOGRAPHIC:
Top 10 most-read books in the world
« Based on number of books printed and sold over the last 50 years. Some titles may have had more copies printed than some of these books, but a vast number of those books were not sold, so we’ll assume that they did not get read. (Data source: 10 Most Read Books in the World via Squidoo)… »
+say+they+are+likely+to+buy+an+e-book+in+the+next+six+months%2c+according+to+a+new+study+from+Bowker.+%26bull%3b+According+to+report+Understanding+the+Digital+Consumer%2c+the+percentage+of+adults+who+have+purchased+an+e-book+has+seen+an+almost+threefold+increase+since+February+2011.++%26bull%3b+The+Kindle+has+become+the+e-reader+of+choice+for+UK+adults%2c+with+40%25+of+those+reading+e-books+using+the+Kindle+most+often+to+do+so.+Tablet+devices+have+more+than+doubled+market+share+between+February+2011+and+March+2012%2c+with+12%25+reporting+that+they+use+them+most+often.&img=http%3a%2f%2fwww.thebookseller.com%2fsites%2fdefault%2ffiles%2fimagecache%2fnews_page%2fereadersummer.jpg&pageInfo=%7B%22hostname%22%3A%22zondervan.com%22%2C%22publisher%22%3A%22f33e9e61-aa08-4353-87b8-3e75196b421e%22%7D){kind=small}
+as+did+Lagardere+SCA's+Hachette+Book+Group+and+News+Corp.'s+HarperCollins.+The+defendants+that+refused+to+settle+and+deny+wrongdoing+are+Apple+and+Macmillan+Publishers+(owned+by+Germany's+Verlagsgruppe+Georg+von+Holtzbrinck+holding+company)%2c+and+Pearson+PLC's+Penguin+Group.&img=http%3a%2f%2fassets.snsassets.com%2fimages%2fsimonschuster_logo.png&pageInfo=%7B%22hostname%22%3A%22zondervan.com%22%2C%22publisher%22%3A%22f33e9e61-aa08-4353-87b8-3e75196b421e%22%7D){kind=logo}
&summary=Here's+the+heartwarming%2c+only+slightly+messy%2c+and+roughly+74%25+accurate+story+of+how+an+idea+churns+through+the+publishing+process+just+like%e2%80%94as+a+publisher+we+once+knew+put+it%e2%80%94a+rat+travels+through+an+anaconda.+Don't+think+too+much+about+that+analogy.+Just+enjoy+this+flowchart+that+takes+you+from+a+brilliant+idea+to+a+best-selling+trade+book.+And+stop+asking+your+mother+embarrassing+questions.&img=http%3a%2f%2fwww.weldonowen.com%2ffiles%2fimagecache%2fblog_post_main_photo%2f_images%2f201205%2fidea-to-book.png&pageInfo=%7B%22hostname%22%3A%22zondervan.com%22%2C%22publisher%22%3A%22f33e9e61-aa08-4353-87b8-3e75196b421e%22%7D){kind=small}
&img=http%3a%2f%2fvisualnews.columnfivemedia.netdna-cdn.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2012%2f05%2fTop10Books_JaredFanning.png&pageInfo=%7B%22hostname%22%3A%22zondervan.com%22%2C%22publisher%22%3A%22f33e9e61-aa08-4353-87b8-3e75196b421e%22%7D){kind=small}
Note: This resource has been curated for your enjoyment and education. It is intended to reflect what publishers and leaders in the Christian publishing industry are thinking and talking about — it does not reflect the positions or opinions of Zondervan, its authors, agents, employees, or leadership.
