Laura Hazard Owen of paidContent brings us this great story about Open Road Media, an e-only publisher that specializes in backlist republications of titles which were not yet available in e-book form. Along with the history lesson on the history of this unique publisher, the article offers six 'lessons' other publishers can learn from what Open Road has done. The lessons include having a marketing plan, playing nice with retail partners, using video for effective promotion, being flexible to changes in the market and in the marketing plan, and knowing when to use good ol' paper. From the article: “The speed of what’s happened...

Are We in a Rut? Explaining the Increasing Homogenization of Scholarly & Scientific Publishing (Scholarly Kitchen) When the Internet stormed onto the scene, all bets were off — this revolutionary technology with limitless potential would generate all sorts of creativity, from new article presentations, new forms of peer review, new capabilities, and an end to the status quo. Fast-forward a decade and a half, and it seems little has changed when it comes to our intellectual outputs as well as the general business environment. --- Digital Signings Help Authors Grow Careers (Digital Book World) Book signings are an age-old tradition, but is it really...

MediaShift and PBS are getting into the e-book business. The first line of e-books will focus on topics within the MediaShift realm. The books are Your Guide to Cutting the Cord to Cable TV and How to Self-Publish Your Book. Both books provide a ‘how-to’ on the respective topics with the ‘Cutting the Cord’ book also including essays on the topic. MediaShift says it plans to roll out more books in the coming months. These two topics seem like safe choices in first releases. However, these topics (especially self-publishing) have been covered so much with dozens and dozens of books on the marketplace. The more...

Multi-Million Dollar Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Penguin, Author Solutions (The Digital Reader) 2012 eBook Sales Increased by 66% in the UK (Good e-Reader) The Atlantic Launches New eBook Division with e-Singles and Curated Content (Paid Content) Permission-Based Publishing: The New York Publishing Model and Why it Doesn't Work (Huffington Post) Kindle Daily Deals: Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick (and 3 others)  ...

OverDrive Media Console Now Available on Linux (Good e-Reader) 9 Ways Big Pub is Like Big Pharma (Huffington Post) Canada Post Claims Exclusive Use of Word 'Postal Code' (Boing Boing) The Digital Truths Traditional Publishers Don't Want to Hear (The Guardian) Kindle Daily Deals: Archie Meets Nero Wolfe by Robert Goldsborough (and 3 others)  ...

I know I'm coming a bit late to this party, but I was out of town while everyone was discussing James Patterson's ad. And I'm kind of glad I was. It gave me time to digest what other people were saying and form my own opinions. I wasn't in favor of the government bailout of the automobile and banking industry, for exactly this reason. We set a precedent. Now people can say, "Well you bailed them out; what about us?" Which is exactly what Patterson alluded to in his ad. That genie's out of the bottle. We're going to see lots more...

The Independent Book Publishers Association yesterday announced that it has selected Angela Bole, currently the deputy executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, as the association’s next executive director. Bole will be replacing Florrie Binford Kichler, who will be retiring from the IBPA this June. “IBPA has been uniquely positioned as the heart and soul of independent publishing for 30 years,” said Angela Bole, in a release. “Being extremely passionate about books and storytelling in all possible genres and formats, I knew right away IBPA was the perfect fit. It’s a community center, a support network, an education hub, and proof that it’s...

Tumblr has millions of active users, creating 90 million new posts a day. There are informative sites, funny sites and reflective sites. Throughout the years, some of Tumblr’s sites have become so popular some have even gotten book deals – well, 70, to be exact. Tumblr CEO David Karp revealed that number at the paidContent Live event earlier this month. “What’s even more interesting to me than people going through traditional paths are people who are using those new emerging platforms,” he said. “What’s so exciting to me about Tumblr as a media network today is this new generation of creative commercialization...

David Gaughran published a scathing article yesterday on Argo Navis Author Services and the agents who are promoting it to their clients. I wasn't surprised that yet another barely dressed up distribution service was attempting to convince authors to give up a ridiculous percentage for services which are little better (and arguably worse) than those offered by Smashwords. I've gotten used to the sudden proliferation of ways to separate authors from their royalties. I was disappointed, but hardly surprised. According to their page, Argo Navis is "specifically for authors who control e-rights or reverted print rights, and have been published by a...

When I read the DBW article yesterday entitled "7 Must-Consider Strategies for Ebook Pricing," I ended up scratching my head. What happened to "listen to the consumer and what they consistently tell you they want?" That sounds like a good idea when considering pricing e-books. Apparently not. It started with strategy #1. "Charge extra for convenience." Here's the quote: Though ebooks cost less to print, ship, and stock than paper books, they’re much more convenient for readers. So why not charge extra for that convenience? With this strategy, the price of an ebook would be higher than its equivalent in paper—isn’t immediate...

The Three Forces That Are Shaping 21st Century Book Publishing (Mike Shatzkin) Seven Must-Consider Strategies for eBook Pricing (Digital Book World) Random House Experiments with eBook Convergence via Black Crown (GoodeReader) Australia to Propose Copyright Reform that Includes Fair Use (Tech Dirt) Kindle Daily Deals: Arab Summer by David Lender (and 3 others)   ...

Last year was a positive one for U.S. trade publishers, according to the Association of American Publishers' newest “StatShot” monthly report for December 2012. Digital Book World has an extensive breakdown of the statistics from the report. Most notably, e-books accounted for 23 percent of net revenues for 2012, which is up from 17 percent in 2011 and just one percent in 2010. U.S. publishers saw a net revenue gain of 6.2 percent ($7.1 billion) compared to 2011. The top categories were Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction and Children’s/Young Adults. Between those two categories and religious e-books, publishers gained a 41 percent increase in net revenue,...