Comments on: Fictionwise acquired by Barnes & Noble for $15.7 million in cash

By: John Ugyan

John Ugyan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:52:33 +0000

I have had the Fictionwise ebook for a few years and loved it, but I foung the ebook inventory. I looked around and found the only alternatives to be Amazon and Sony. You can’t buy the Amazon book in Canada, so I bought Sony’s new $400 job because it has the bakclight while the $300 one does not. I did this after finding that Sony’s ebook inventory was substantially larger than that of Fictionwise. However, the Sony unit has been a big disappointment. While I would have bought it enyway, because I wanted the backlight, they don’t tell you that having the backlight means that the screen loses it’s special background which makes it easier to read in daylight and especially sunlight. So, the readability is the same as the Fictionwise unit but costs more than 3 times more. Furthermore, it is not a backlit unit as it the F unit. Instead, the light, which is a much harsher light, comes from the side and is quite distracting. You cannot lower the light intensity.
In the dark, the F unit is much more comfortable to read. Finally, I have to return my unit to Sony because very shortly after receiving my unit, it started to develop tiny specks of dust? behind the glass screen and this is intensifying to the point where there are over a dozen of them. It seems that the unit is improperly sealed and dust somehow gets inside it. The bottom line is that while Sony has a lot more books, their unit is far more expensive, and far lower in quality, than the Fictionwise ebook. So, I am happy to hear that Barnes and Noble is buying the company because it will likely mean a much greater inventory of ebooks, which will be available in a much better unit than that offered by Soney. (IF the new company doesn’t change the unit!)

By: Kay Dee

Kay Dee — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:30:01 +0000

Mixed feelings. Happy for the Pendergrasts, uneasy about the implications. Like another writer, I am skeptical about BN following through with the Fictionwise vision. I like Amazon, but I BUY Fictionwise because they do not limit me to one device and the nonDRM. Before Fictionwise, I frequented another ebookstore (I cannot remember the name–digital something) that went belly up with no notice and I lost access to a lot of purchased material. I am afraid that such a thing could happend as a result of this deal. I also hope that the size of the inventory will not change. FW has the largest and most diverse inventory of all the ebook vendors and at really good prices.

Please do not change a thing.

By: Paul Bristow

Paul Bristow — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:53:09 +0000

I’ve bought hundreds of books and magazines from Fictionwise, with only one restriction. I will not buy anything with DRM. Fictionwiise has been great because with one purchase I can read my books on multiple devices. The fictionwise team understand this, and I just hope that B&N maintain this non-DRM business. If they add DRM, I stop purchasing.

Having said that, as long as Fictionwise continues in the way it has been, I will continue to be a very happy, very satisfied customer.

By: Paul Biba

Paul Biba — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:21:12 +0000

ficbot: all I can tell you is that Scott was quite clear in saying to me that they would only sell to a company who has the same vision as they have. He said he anticipates no changes in the way Fictionwise is currently operating.

By: ficbot

ficbot — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:41:47 +0000

I am terrified! Brnes and Noble is an *American* giant company. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that—I suppose Fictionwise was too—but they are a very large American company, and I worry that we will start to see things like geographical restrictions a la Books on Board in Europe, or even worse, exclusivity a la Amazon Kindle, still not available to non-Americans.

Paul, if you really do have an inside line wit Steve and Scott, can you put my mind at ease and confirm for me that they intend to continue supporting their international customers and that any new products and developments will be available to everyone?

I am going to stick with the freebies, and my existing unread purchases, until the dust settles on this. I am not spending any more money until I get some kind of assurance that I am not going to be locked out of this anytime soon.

By: Bill McHale

Bill McHale — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:22:07 +0000

It seems to me that this is a smart move by Barnes and Noble. It doesn’t take much analysis to realize that the only part of the publishing industry that is growing right now is e-books. Whats further, they have to have recognized that they are quite late to the e-book game. Amongst the dedicated reading devices it is the Kindle, the Sony PRS and everything else is a fairly distant third. The PDA/smartphone/iPod/iPhone world is better balanced but still it would be a big leap for B&N to start from scratch at this point. It makes a lot of sense for them to acquire an independent like Fictionwise; it gives them access to developers, product and a built customer base.

Now the key of course is recognizing that Fictionwise’s success is built on a particular model. If B&N is smart they will leave that model essentially unchanged… Try to support lots of devices, keep a friendly DRM scheme and if possible get eReader software on dedicated reading devices.

With Kindle software now on the iPhone, B&N, Sony and others are I think going to have an uphill battle to prevent Amazon from becoming the dominant player in the industry, but at least it is still doable.

–
Bill

By: Elizabeth Burton

Elizabeth Burton — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:53:26 +0000

A kiosk in every B&N where you can purchase an ebook and either download it to your hardware or have it burned to CD/DVD–a consummation devoutly to be wished.

B&N’s lack of support for small publishers is strictly based on the requirement that print books be returnable, which many small presses with tight budgets can’t afford. They have always been willing to add small press books of sufficient quality to their database or get them via Ingram if available there for special orders. Emphasis being on “sufficient quality.”

By: David Nygren

David Nygren — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:13:46 +0000

Any counterbalance to Amazon at this stage is a good thing. True competition will be good for this process. DRM issues aside, my biggest hope is that B&N finds a way and the courage to take a smaller ebook royalty than Amazon’s 60%. Their doing so, if they can become a major player, might force Amazon to do the same. Lack of physical inventory and distribution, I feel, means that a 60% cut for the seller of ebooks is absolutely unreasonable.

For more on my crazy ideas about how B&N (or someone) might do this, click the link on my name.

By: Mark Coker

Mark Coker — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:48:16 +0000

Congrats to the Pendergrasts. Well done.

By: Ryan Chapman

Ryan Chapman — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:45:02 +0000

I’m of two minds. On the one hand, this provides much more support for FW. On the other, it’s one less retailer in the marketplace. We’re back to B&N and Amazon as defaults for online purchasing for most customers. It would be nice to balance out the market with a few other ebook retailers.

By: Fred Kiesche

Fred Kiesche — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:20:53 +0000

“If the Pendergrasts’ current plans survive…”

I’ll wait and see, but I’m not optimistic. Most mergers and acquisitions end up no where near being what the original bright and shining vision was.

If Barnes and Nobles goes with no DRM and multi-formats, I’ll be happy. If they lock the entire shop down into eReader and DRM, oh well, there’s always Baen and Gutenberg and Manybooks…

By: Chris Meadows

Chris Meadows — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:17:26 +0000

And it's been confirmed by a press release. The deal was valued at $15.7 million. Pocket change for a shop like B&N, but not a bad price for a standalone e-book shop.

By: Rob Preece, Publisher

Rob Preece, Publisher — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:13:50 +0000

Wow.

Fictionwise was the big independent in the industry, and also the company most willing to work with small publishers and non-DRM. I’m sorry to see them go as an independent force, and not especially happy that BN made the purchase as they haven’t traditionally been especially friendly to small publishing.

Still, great news for Scott and Steve to cash out their position after a lot of hard work. And wonderful that if FW was to be acquired, it would be acquired by someone committed to books and not automatically leading to more consolidation in the industry.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com