Simon & Schuster Experiences 20% Increase in Digital Sales in Q3 (Good E-Reader) Over It: Bookish Conversations We Never Want to Have Again (Book Riot) Bad Science is Coming to Get Us (Techdirt) Which Publishers Do Best at eBook Sales? (Forbes) Kindle Daily Deal: Chocolat by Joanne Harris {and} The Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding * * * Follow us @TeleRead  Join us on Facebook...

Over the past few days, a wealth of information has surfaced regarding the $69 million settlement three of the so-called 'Agency Five' publishers will be paying to 54 states and U.S. territories for the alleged price-fixing of e-books. Still, information regarding what we consider to be two of the case's more immediately fascinating aspects—the cash refunds due to consumers, and the supposed changes this settlement (and the DOJ case in general) will ultimately have on the e-book industry—are still proving a bit tough to come by. For instance, in regards to the refunds that some consumers will be receiving: How much money, exactly, will they receive? How and when will they...

From the press release: - Louise Burke, Executive Vice President and Publisher, announced today that Pocket Books, America’s first paperback publisher, has re-launched its Pocket Star line as an eBook-only imprint. As it did in print, Pocket Star will continue to feature bestselling and debut authors in popular genres including women’s fiction, romance, thrillers, urban fantasy, and mystery. Louise Burke said, “Similar to how mass market has served as a platform to develop future hardcover authors, it is our mission to use Pocket Star’s new digital-only format to establish new voices in the marketplace. An eBook imprint is flexible, cost-effective, cutting-edge and makes sense in today’s marketplace. Under...

CNet reports that Simon & Schuster, who has already settled its antitrust dispute with the Department of Justice, has joined HarperCollins and Hachette in settling the price-fixing class-action lawsuit by 29 states overseen by judge Denise Cote (who issued a ruling a couple of days ago denying the publishers’ and Apple’s motion to dismiss). The terms of the settlement have not yet been announced. This leaves the remaining defendants the same in both legal actions: hold-outs Macmillan, Penguin, and Apple. It seems doubtful any of them will be inclined to settle....

PaidContent reports that a judge has stayed an e-book price-fixing class-action case against publishers Hachette and HarperCollins on the grounds that the publishers are close to settling with state governments over the matter, and the states’ lawsuits trump the class action. Apart from Macmillan and Penguin, who are fighting the suit, Simon & Schuster wasn’t named because it has not signed a formal settlement memorandum yet. This is hardly a surprise, of course, but it’s understandable that the plaintiffs would find this a bit disappointing; damage awards would likely be higher in a jury trial than in a state...

In her latest “The Business Rusch” column, Kristine Kathryn Rusch calls attention to the fact that this year a reporting Pulitzer went to an online-only publication, the Huffington Post, for the first time ever. Most traditional news outlets have been concentrating on the fact that no fiction Pulitzer was awarded this year, because (Mrs. Rusch posits) the Huffington Post news scared them. Rusch points out that even if the Post is a non-traditional publication, the reporter who penned the story is a 66-year-old seasoned journalist who has worked for many traditional publications in his time—and uses the “traditional...

The DOJ filed suit against five publishers (Penguin, Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster) on April 11, 2012.  The DOJ then immediately filed a notice of settlement and a request for approval of the settlement.  A judge assigned to this case will then either approve the settlement and order the parties back to the negotiating table.  Any interested party has the right to write a statement to the court within 60 days to encourage or discourage acceptance of the proposed settlement. Two things are at issue here: 1) The restriction on retailers ability to discount books and 2) The Most Favored Nation clause...

According to Blomberg, the DoJ has filed an anti-trust suit against Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster in the New York Federal District Court.  The suit alleges collusion in ebook pricing. The article doesn't say much more, as all parties have denied comment. From the TOR website comes this statement by John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan: Dear authors, illustrators and agents: Today the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Macmillan’s US trade publishing operation, charging us with collusion in the implementation of the agency model for e-book pricing. The charge is civil, not criminal. Let me start by saying that...

That's what the Wall Street Journal is reporting, but I can't find anything else about it, at least so far.  Here's what the Journal says: The Justice Department has warned Apple Inc. and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple persuaded publishers to change how they price their e-books before the late Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in 2010. Several of the parties have held talks to settle the antitrust case and head off a potentially damaging...

From The Bookseller: E-books are expected to account for 17% of Simon & Schuster's total revenue in 2011, double that of 2010, according to Simon & Schuster president and c.e.o. Carolyn Reidy. In a Christmas letter to staff, Reidy reiterated that she is "particularly excited about the potential for digital publishing to reshape our international business". She said: "The transition to digital reading is happening rapidly . . . Given the explosive sales of tablets and dedicated reading devices, and consumers' increasing comfort with buying and reading e-books, in 2012 sales of digital content will undoubtedly experience a similar growth." ...

Simon & Schuster has entered a deal to start publishing books by self-publishing star author John Locke. There’s not so much that’s new about that in and of itself—after all, just a few months ago several publishers bid on works by self-publishing star Amanda Hocking. But something that is new, the Bookseller points out, is the terms of the publishing agreement: Simon & Schuster is just taking the print books and creating a new imprint to do it, and Locke will continue self-publishing his own e-books. Not only does this mean S&S is splitting print and digital rights—something publishers...

If it wasn't bad enough that the big publishers got together with Apple last year to jack up the price of ebooks with "agency pricing," now it appears that they can't even play fair with the rules they set. Recall that under so-called agency pricing, publishers directly set the retail price of an ebook. Retailers cannot change or discount the price and simply get to keep a 30% share. One core tenant of "agency pricing" is that the ebook retail price must be the same at every retailer --that was the whole point, to shut down Amazon's low prices. Now examples are cropping...