Category: Books & Reading

Books & Reading Ebook News For publishers The Book Industry

Factoid: 54% of ebooks have no territorial sales restrictions

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Managing territorial sales restrictions is a complex, important business. Trade publishers in particular are very concerned that vendors like eBooks.com adhere strictly to the rules they set. Matthew Dunlop, who is currently leading a complete re-build of the eBooks.com website, took time out to optimise some aspects of our file ingestion system and emerged with these gems: Of the 1.4 million titles in our database, 54 per cent are allowed to be sold anywhere in the world. Of the remaining 46 per cent, there are only 11,495 permutations of territorial…

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Books & Reading

The end of print is nigh

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A recent report from the Association of American Publishers signalled that the apparently inexorable growth in ebook sales has stalled. Having captured 24 per cent of the book market, the digital juggernaut ran out of puff and stopped. To the relief of booksellers and bibliophiles everywhere, it looks as if ebooks are going to take their place as just another format, alongside audio-books, leaving plenty of room for printed books. Almost from the moment ebook sales took off, the format recorded triple-digit annual growth rates in the United States. But…

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Books & Reading Ebook News

Has the print book trumped digital? Beware of glib conclusions

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Nick Earls, The University of Queensland While just a few years ago, headlines predicted eBook supremacy and the demise of the paper book, that’s now reversed. They’re now saying the Kindle is clunky and unhip and paper books are cool and selling well as eBook sales crash. But are today’s claims any more accurate than those of 2012? The latest round of headlines was triggered by UK Publishers’ Association figures noting a fall in consumer eBook sales of 17% in 2016, while physical book sales rose 8%. This statistic seems straightforward enough on…

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Books & Reading Ebook News The Book Industry

Screen Fatigue and the Decline in Ebook Sales

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Recent reports suggest that screen fatigue is behind a decline in ebook sales. The reasons are more to do with usability and market saturation. Last Thursday the Guardian published two articles about ebooks. The first, by Mark Sweney declared, incorrectly, ‘Screen fatigue’ sees UK ebook sales plunge 17%. Another piece in the same issue penned by Paula Cocozza carried this headline: How eBooks lost their shine: ‘Kindles now look clunky and unhip’. On the same day, The Telegraph ran a story by Charlotte Runcie sub-titled, helpfully, 10 Reasons Ebooks Suck. What’s happening here? These articles and the chatter they spawned among those who…

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