:: LNR Journalism ::

Kobo to replace Google e-books for independent booksellers

Wall Street Journal :: Kobo has struck a deal to sell e-books and its line of e-readers through independent U.S. booksellers, giving the Toronto firm a new chance to establish a foothold in the American digital books market.

A report by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, online.wsj.com

Are Amazon reader reviews killing off the critic?

Books Blog | Guardian :: News that a commercial operation has been rigging customer endorsements is a reminder of the virtues of professional critics

[Paul Laity:] it also seems to me that the Amazon scandals reaffirm the importance of the much-maligned traditional book review.

A report by Paul Laity, www.guardian.co.uk

The Amazon scandal:

"The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy" - David Streitfeld, www.nytimes.com

"Can self-publishing buy respect?" - A report by Erin Keane, www.salon.com

E-books now outselling print on Amazon UK

paidContent :: A little over a year after Amazon announced that it was selling more ebooks than print books in the U.S., the company has hit the same milestone in the UK. Another surprise: “50 Shades” author E.L. James has sold more books than J.K. Rowling on Amazon.co.uk.

A report by Laura Hazard Owen, paidcontent.org

Google should pay $750 a book, authors say in e-book suit

Bloomberg :: Authors suing Google Inc. over the digitizing of books asked a judge to order the company to pay $750 a book for illegal copying and distribution of their works, according to a court filing today.

A report by David Glovin, www.bloomberg.com

Barry Diller and Scott Rudin in talks to launch fiction, non-fiction e-book business

Deadline :: Barry Diller and Scott Rudin are in exploratory talks to launch an e-book business for both fiction and non-fiction. I’m told they have had a lot of exploratory conversations and I expect an announcement of a venture launch shortly with major investment capital.

An (exclusive) report by Mike Fleming, www.deadline.com

Consumers face long wait for $52m tied to Apple e-book ‘conspiracy’

paidContent :: A group of more than thirty states have bagged $52 million from publishers as part of a price fixing investigation involving Apple. More money is on the way. While state leaders say the money is for overcharged consumers, legal and antirust experts say the arrangement is unusual. The tens of millions at stake raise questions about the political and business motives behind the deal

Continue to read Jeff John Roberts, paidcontent.org

Scribd and the new era of the $10 textbook

paidContent :: The traditional textbook publishing model, based on dead trees and middleman, can force students to shell out hundreds of dollars for a stack of photocopies. Now, two law professors are showing how easy it can be for academics to offer an alternative at a fraction of the price. Eric Goldman and Rebecca Tushnet are both trademark experts and popular bloggers. This week, they offered a new package of course work called “Advertising and Marketing Law: Cases and Material” for sale on Scribd for just $10.

The economics behind the $10 price tag - Continue to read Jeff John Roberts, paidcontent.org

New York Magazine publishes its first ebook, with Byliner

Niemanlab :: New York magazine certainly has the skills to make an ebook. If editors didn’t want to handle production in house, they could hire one of any numerous ebook-conversion contractors. And getting the resulting work into the various ebook stores doesn’t take a Ph.D. But even though ebooks can cut out plenty of middlemen — traditional publishing houses, distributors, bookstore chains — when New York decided to publish its first ebook, it added a new middleman: Byliner.

A report by Justin Ellis, www.niemanlab.org

E-book war: Independent publishers strike back

The Atlantic :: In the fight between Apple, Amazon, the government, and publishers to set prices for electronic books, independents were overlooked. Now, they're banding together and voicing complaints.

Continue to read Peter Osnos, www.theatlantic.com

E-book bestsellers breakdown: Self-published romance climbs the lists

paidContent :: Here’s a good way for a book to become a New York Times bestseller: Have Jeff Bezos mention it on Amazon’s homepage. That’s what happened to self-published author Jessica Park, whose YA novel Flat-Out Love got a shout-out from Bezos on June 18. This week, it hits the NYT ebook bestseller list for the first time at #25.

Continue to read Laura Hazard Owen, paidcontent.org