"Analysts attributed the failure of its book clubs to the rise of online bookstores which took a big bite of the profits of the traditional bricks- and-mortar bookstores." – The Bookseller.
Maybe related in the long term, maybe not: Chinese e-book site draws 200M page views a day: Boost for young novelists like Fu Tian (photo), a recent TeleBlog item based on an NPR report.
The Bookseller article itself mentions online stores without saying if they sell E or P. But I can’t help but wonder if E was a long-term factor in the decision to back off. Remember, the Kindle is made in the Far East, which in many ways is becoming E-Book Central.
For now, however, I’m guessing that the biggest factor was simply an economic slowdown or fear of one.
Not sure I track this reasoning. Publisher book clubs sell direct–they’re old-fashioned competition to brick and mortar bookstores.
I do think China’s recent history of copyright avoidance may slow publisher penetration of this market. Given the costs of translation, marketing, returns, and staffing, it takes some significant sales to justify entering a market. Piracy would make it harder to justify this decision.
Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com
Thanks, Rob. I want to see all book clubs prosper, no matter where they’re located, but long term they’re up against a tough row everywhere, just as with b-and-m stores. That’s my point: similar factors apply. People can download books instantly without the hassles of the club paperwork. Just wait until the tech gets better. But who knows? Maybe their activities will go online, including annotations-related ones. “Join our club, read the regular bestsellers, but enjoy the company of Authors X and Y as they guide you virtually through their books.” Agree with you re piracy. And I don’t think DRM will do the trick. The right biz models, on the other hand, could–although they won’t be easy to come up with. Thanks. David