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Posts tagged ‘iPad’

Feb 23

Publishers Take Note | From some perspectives, we are tipping right now and publishers’ metrics will show it – The Shatzkin Files

Mike Shatzkin talks about the impressive/scary growth of ebooks in the US market:

Michael Cader of Publishers Lunch reported you have to subscribe to use the links that BookScan numbers show a drop in unit sales of printed books of 4.4 % from 2009 to 2010.

But don’t take that number to any bank. It is already out of date. Cader did a further analysis of more recent BookScan data shortly thereafter showing that print book sales have dropped by over 15% compared to the prior year over the first six weeks of 2011! And the share of print sold online keeps rising, so that almost certainly means that print sales in stores has fallen even faster. Could print sales in stores have dropped 20% or 25% from a year ago? They certainly could!

Sales of iPads, Kindles, and Nooks exceeded most expectations for Christmas 2010. Dominique Raccah, the head of independent publisher Sourcebook, a company with a diverse trade list, reported on her blog that dollar sales at her company in January were 35% digital!

via From some perspectives, we are tipping right now and publishers’ metrics will show it – The Shatzkin Files.

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Feb 7

Publishers Take Note | Apple to Tighten Control of How Magazines, Content Are Sold for iPad – WSJ.com

The recent decision by Apple to reject Sony’s eReader app seems to have opened up a much larger and far more wide-ranging debate about in-App and non-iTunes purchases.

Amazon’s Kindle App sends readers to their buying system in Safari to avoid paying Apple’s toll (30%) but recent suggestions are that Apple are intent on stopping that and enforcing either full in-app purchases or at the very least offering in-app purchase as an option.

It brings to mind for me the need for publishers to have their own web strategy and not to become reliant on the platforms of others whose goals and plans are in no way aligned with theirs:

Apple has indicated the sales outside of iTunes can continue, as long as sales through its store are provided as an option. “Rest assured that we want our customers to be able to get their publications easily both from our App Store and obviously from websites or other ways they get them,” Mr. Cue said.V

Apple is tightening enforcement of a rule governing how some apps for the iPad must handle sales, a shift that affects online books as well as other electronic publications. Above, a customer looks at the Angry Birds game on an Apple Inc. iPad tablet computer at the Simply Mac store Salt Lake City, Utah.Apple hasnt disclosed details of terms it is offering publishers, but generally takes a 30% cut on such iTunes transactions. News Corp, which also publishes The Wall Street Journal, appears to be getting a similar deal for The Daily, which Apple helped develop. Rupert Murdoch, its chairman, said in an interview Wednesday on the Fox Business Network that his company is getting 70 cents of every dollar for the first year, with Apple getting 30 cents. He said the terms after that were subject to negotiation.

via Apple to Tighten Control of How Magazines, Content Are Sold for iPad – WSJ.com.

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Feb 5

Publishers Take Note | BroadbandBreakfast.com: Japanese Book Publishers Up Against Wall As IPad Spurs Cottage Industry of Book Scanning

Fascinating way to make money, hard to argue with it as a service too, why shouldn’t the owner of a book scan it for their own convenience?

Consumers such as Yusuke Ohki, who has 2,000 books in his Tokyo apartment, are scanning them and accessing them through their iPads.

Ohki has since started up his own 120-person firm that does the same thing for customers. There are as many as 60 companies offering such a service, according to Bloomberg.

via BroadbandBreakfast.com: Japanese Book Publishers Up Against Wall As IPad Spurs Cottage Industry of Book Scanning.

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Jan 17

Digital Change | MediaPost Publications iDiots Guide To Publishing On The iPad 01/13/2011

Print publishers are screwing up what could be their biggest opportunity. Many continue to botch their Web strategy, and are now doubling down by getting their iPad strategy completely wrong.The core of the problem lies in how publishers think about the iPad. Just look at the headlines: “Will the iPad save print?” asks one; “Savior crucified” proclaims another.

via MediaPost Publications iDiots Guide To Publishing On The iPad 01/13/2011.

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Jan 5

Digital Change Notes | Week after holidays, e-book sales outdo print – USATODAY.com

This is a fascinating development. I suspect a short lived one, at least for now, a factor of the initial enthusiasm of new ereader owners rather than the way the list will remain for the rest of the tear, however, a space to watch and a sign that ereaders and ebooks change change the industry quite rapidly:

Millions of gift-wrapped iPads, Kindles, Nooks and other digital reading devices resulted in an unprecedented surge in sales of e-books last week.USA TODAYs Best-Selling Books list, to be published Thursday, will show digitals new popularity: E-book versions of the top six books outsold the print versions last week. And of the top 50, 19 had higher e-book than print sales.Its the first time the top-50 list has had more than two titles in which the e-version outsold print.

via Week after holidays, e-book sales outdo print – USATODAY.com.

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