Technically Speaking

Indigo to develop own ereader

2009-06-03T16:16:00.002-04:00

As reported by Michael Cader: CEO of dominant Canadian retailer Indigo Heather Reisman disclosed after a TV interview today that the company is "in final talks with a number of e-book reader manufacturers and will be choosing one to launch as their own in Canada by the end of this year." Reisman indicated that neither Sony nor Amazon will be their partner.
CTV tech blog

E-Paper and LCD, beautiful together...

2009-06-03T14:56:00.004-04:00

e-paper screen, a new kind of LCD technology that uses standard LCD fabrication tools to create an LCD/e-paper/transflective screen that displays full color in direct sunlight and takes very little power. This is not to be confused with the Kindle’s e-ink technology. Think of it as a new form of LCD that has e-ink properties - readability, low-power cost, and barely any lag - in full color.

Source: CrunchGear

Simon and Schuster creates Digital Publisher Role

2009-04-24T14:46:00.002-04:00

Source: PublishersLunch, Thursday, April 23: Current Touchstone Fireside publisher Mark Gompertz will take on the new role of evp, Digital Publishing, reporting to Reidy. She notes, "not only are annual eBook sales rising faster than anticipated, but we are weekly being presented with new and exciting opportunities for making our content available, be it for transactional or marketing purposes. Gompertz "will lead and facilitate our digital publishing efforts, bringing an editorial perspective to work with our imprints, authors, agents, sales and marketing as we develop new business models and new forms in which our content, both original and previously existing, can be exploited digitally. His job will also entail originating and acquiring digital content, developing policies, working out processes, and educating and informing us so we can all learn as we seek new revenue streams." And he "will work side by side" with chief digital officer Ellie Hirschhorn and her staff.

How much does it cost to make a Kindle?

2009-04-24T14:17:00.001-04:00

Source: PublishersLunch, Friday, April 24, 2009: On Wednesday iSuppli put out a press release saying they had calculated that price of the raw components that comprise the Kindle 2 as approximately $185 dollars, with the e-ink screen ($60) and wireless communication module ($40) the two most expensive parts. In a rare comment, cfo Thomas Szkutak insisted in a conference call including a NYT reporter that "the production cost was significantly higher than that." And that does not include allowances for wireless communication costs, packaging, freight, customer service, technology/development, advertising/promotion and many other costs (never mind the opportunity cost of the prominent site home page space given to Kindle over any other product offering, and the small loss per unit takes on new and bestselling Kindle books sold below actual publisher wholesale cost). For comparison, the AP says Apple's iPhone 3G costs $174 to build and lists for $599 to $699 without a service contract. (Amazon's gross margin across North American sales was 26.9 percent.)

EINK Production,

2009-04-07T10:30:00.004-04:00

EINK screen production ramps up

Taiwan-based Prime View International (PVI) has shifted over half of the LCD module (LCM) capacity at its Yangzhou plant in China to produce electrophoretic display (EPD) modules to meet increasing demand for electronic reading devices, according to company chairman Scott Liu.

PVI's Yanzhou plant has a monthly capacity of 1.6 million units for LCMs, but the company is stepping up its EPD production amid sluggish demand for LCD panel, market sources noted.

Source: digitimes.com

Challenges to Google/AAP/Author's Guild Lawsuit

With May 5 the deadline for filing objections to Google’s settlement with the AAP and the Authors Guild, the consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has sent a letter to the Justice Department asking the department to delay the settlement, which still needs court approval. The letter cites two objections to the agreement: a so-called “most favored nation” clause and the mechanism to deal with orphan works. The group maintains that because the settlement was negotiated between Google and the AAP/authors, there was no one representing the public interest in what Consumer Watchdog calls an agreement that will transform publishing.

Source: PublishersWeekly

Stats to keep you up at night...

2009-04-02T14:35:00.001-04:00

Facebook Isn't Just for Kids Anymore

Over the past six months, the largest growing demographic of Facebook users has been 35-54 year olds, with a 276.4% growth rate. Not far behind was the 55 and over demographic with a 194.3% growth rate. This is only slightly behind the growth rate of the largest group of Facebook users: the college crowd of 18-24 year olds.

SOURCE: iStrategyLabs

Americans Keep Cutting Entertainment Budgets

According to a March Harris Poll, 74% of American adults expect to spend less on entertainment and eating in restaurants in the next six months, an increase over November when 65% planned to decrease spending on eating out and 64% expected to reduce entertainment spending. Only 21% say they expect to have more money for discretionary spending in the next six months, slightly down from 25% in November.

Source: Harris Interactive

Digital Entertainment Survey UK

2009-02-27T14:26:00.002-05:00

Check out this interesting survey, the 2008 Digital Entertainment Survey, commissioned by Wiggin, is a comprehensive audit of entertainment and digital activity in the UK today, investigating behaviour, trends, preferences and attitudes across all forms of entertainment activity.

Does Free Hurt Sales

2009-02-13T14:49:00.002-05:00

RH did an interesting study on this and presented at the 2009 Tools of Change conference, a summary is below...

RH said that for the 8 giveaway titles of theirs they studied, "the free downloads were correlated with a slight increase overall sales. As the report describes it, one RH sci-fi/horror novel "was promoted heavily around the time of the download [which began right before publication] and sales grew by a third at the time of the free download before dropping to lower, but not small numbers in the weeks that followed." For another sci-fi title with a film tie-in, the promo download offer "coincided with a 4 % increase in sales of the MM edition that had been released a year earlier. In the 4 weeks that followed, sales of the print edition were more than 40 % higher. Sales of the EBK were twice what they had been before the promo was announced." In a different promo, offering a free download of a high-profile literary first novel shortly after pub, it coincided with a rise in CD sales and EBK sales. But HC print sales, "which had been declining, did not improve during the promotion." For all books in the RH study, avg. sales rose 19% during the promo period, and were up 6.5 % during the defined promo and post-promo periods. There was great divergence however, with actual sales ranging from a 74 % decline to a 155 % gain. For O'Reilly, they monitored 3 P2P sites and found only eight frontlist titles from books the house published in 2008. (They also noticed that overall, books comprise a very small share of the files sites such as Pirate Bay and Scribd.) On avg., those unauthorized postings were made 20 weeks after publication (the fastest was posted in four weeks). As soon as an unauthorized download was detected, they monitored sales of that title--and on average, sales rose 6.5 % here, too.

Google, AAP, and Author's Guild

2008-12-22T15:52:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, the Authors Guild, the AAP and Google recently reached a proposed settlement of copyright infringement lawsuits arising from Google’s Library Project in which Google has been digitizing university library books without copyright holders’ permission.

The proposed settlement will affect both authors and publishers of books copyrighted in the United States. Starting in early January 2009, the proposed settlement will be presented to authors and publishers by the Authors Guild, the AAP and Google. Authors and publishers will have four months to decide whether they want to “opt out” of the settlement. Those who want to “opt out” must do so by May 4, 2009. Those who agree to the settlement may participate with Google in sales, subscription and advertising revenues.

Though the proposed settlement is complex (it covers both Google's past digitization of some 7 million books without permission and Google's right to display those titles in the future), the AAP and the Authors Guild will be working with their respective memberships to explain the settlement before May 4, 2009.

If you receive inquiries about the settlement, we recommend that you refer them to the following sites/web pages so that they can become familiar with the terms of the proposed settlement.

Settlement web site: http://books.google.com/booksrightsholders/

Note that you can sign up for email updates concerning the settlement.

You can read the actual proposed settlement agreement at: http://books.google.com/booksrightsholders/agreement-contents.html
There is also a good, understandable description of the proposed settlement, the draft Class Notice, at:

http://books.google.com/booksrightsholders/notice.html.

Applel threatens to shut down iTunes

2008-10-21T17:02:00.004-04:00

We've been following a developing story between music publishers, the Copyright Royalty Board, record companies, and Apple the past several weeks. What caught our attention is that Apple threatened to shut down iTunes over the fight. Wow! In question is the rate that record companies must pay songwriters and music publishers for digital recordings that are sold by download. Specifically, the NMPA asked the CRB to raise the mechanical royalty rate paid to them from the record labels by 66%. (Acronyms and explanations are below…)

The move comes as part of music publishers' drive to start collecting mechanical royalties for compositions on digital records sold online. This marks the first time a mechanical royalty rate has been set for music sold by digital download. (Mechanical royalties are copyright royalties for musical compositions written by songwriters and used in recordings.)
The characters in this drama are:

CRB (government)
NMPA (music publishers)
RIAA (record labels)
DiMA (e.g., iTunes) – INTERESTED PARTY
ASCAP ( represents songwriters for radio, tv and internet use (streaming) of songs) – INTERESTED PARTY

What do the acronyms mean?

NMPA – National Music Publishers Association (music publishers)
ASCAP – American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (composers and songwriters)
RIAA – Recording Industry of America (record labels, e.g. Warner)
DiMA – Digital Media Association (Apple/iTunes, Amazon, BestBuy, etc.)
CRB – Copyright Royalty Board (government regulatory board)

Putting these players into context and sadly over-simplifying things a tad…

Songwriters – individuals who write music and/or lyrics to musical compositions
Music Publishers – companies that license those songs to record labels
Record Labels – record labels who produce and/or distribute recordings using those songs

Who is fighting for what…

NMPA wants higher mechanical royalties so that songwriters can earn more
Record Labels (through RIAA) want to keep mechanical royalties low so they don’t have to pay as much to songwriters to protect margins
DiMA is fighting against any mechanical royalties for digital downloads of music because eventually those royalties will affect how much additional money the music labels will want from the digital retailers to make up for their increased costs.

Apple threatens to shut down iTunes

In a somewhat surprising move, Apple—not a direct party to this matter -- threatened to shut down iTunes if the CRB imposed mechanical royalty rates.

What the CRB decided

Rates for physical recordings, e.g., CDs, will stay the same, 6.1 cents per song, under a decision handed down Thursday by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which rejected the NMPA petition for a 66% rate hike. Rates for digital downloads of recordings will be the same as for physical recordings. The decision came after Apple sent a letter to the CRB that it might have to close iTunes down should it have to pay record labels money to cover the music labels’ costs for musical compositions. Apple claimed that the new rate for digital records would make the iTunes store unprofitable.

(The truth of the matter is that the increased cost to record labels – and thus to Apple – is relatively small so this claim seems rather weak. Also, most record companies, through contract, end up paying much less than the CRB rate, i.e., much less than 61 cents per song. )

What this means

Nonetheless, we have to ask to what extent did Apple’s letter claiming dire circumstances influence the CRB’s decision? We don’t know, but Apple is a very powerful player in the digital industry. Assuming that Apple – or other large market players -- can and will wield the same type of influence over the book industry, what should book publishers learn from this?
The influence of large industry players (the proverbial 800-pound gorilla) is something to always keep in mind. That kind of influence should prompt book publishers to grow their distribution portfolio to protect against companies with monopolies or near monopolies. We should be building direct B2C relationships, broadening our digital library (public and academic) distribution channels, and distributing more content to more digital content resellers. We need to build and cultivate many channels -- even if individual channels are small, the sum of the many parts will give us economic stability and more protection from monopolies, give consumers greater choices, and give our authors broader reach.

We need to consider alternative forms for distribution, such as, but limited to:

DRM free/watermarked files, which will allow consumers to move content to any device, thereby freeing them to shop at many different locations, thus allowing for many different retailers to flourish. (Publishers should still monitor P2P networks and fight online piracy though).
Develop and/or encourage interoperable reading platforms that allow consumers to share content with family and friends. (Some sort of DRM would have to be created that tracked how many times the owner of the file could lend the file, but we shouldn’t restrict the owner on how many and what devices content can be consumed on).
Develop enriched content only available through the publisher which will build direct B2C relationships and add new sales/distribution channel.

These are just a few ideas and we don’t want to lose sight of all the good things that Apple and iTunes have done. They have made a better mouse trap and they should be given credit for that, but that does not mean we shouldn’t be mindful that we, the content publisher, may get caught in that trap…

The Long Tail - Should we be exploiting it?

2008-09-25T14:36:00.008-04:00

A couple of weeks ago at the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) annual meeting Harvard Business School Associate Professor Anita Elberse gave a presentation that muted some of Chris Anderson's theory on the long tail, see her presentation here. That prompted the Digital Media Group to think about our own plans regarding converting and marketing backlist titles.

In short, we agreed with the professor's assessment that consumers gravitate to bestsellers and "blockbusters," and that niche titles are precisely that, niche. Studies have shown that when consumers reach into the long tail to try something new or "undiscovered," more often than not they discover that there was a reason it didn't sell well to begin with.

On the flip side, it's been well documented that big box retailers have flourished not only for the low prices they provide, but for the variety of selection they offer. By extension, it makes sense that online aggregator's will flourish if they can provide more content to consumers. The physical store only has so much space to stock inventory, by contrast, the online retailer has infinite space; they can afford to stock the less wanted because the economics of virtual inventory allow them too.

We've been tracking our long tail sales this year and they've remained consistent month-to-month at about 10-20% of total sales for the month, see chart below.

So, the question remains, if content providers make backlist niche content available, should we have specific marketing plans and promotions to highlight that we've made that content available? In the long run, it probably doesn't make sense to do that. Just because its affordable to make that content available, doesn't mean we should focus on that content. We can't lose sight of the content that most consumers are asking for. In the near future, we'll have to discover a balance, for example, do we spend 80% of our time marketing the front list and 20% marketing the backlist niche? Maybe the percentage of sales will dictate that, i.e. if backlist niche sales make up 10% of our sales, we'll spend 10% of our time focusing on those titles. Maybe its event driven, i.e. elections, holidays, or other special events when we reach back into our catalog and spend a little time shedding light on the oldies but goodies. We're not sure yet, but we do know that we'll have to answer that question soon...

Some other interesting articles in the past week include:

Judge dismisses Universal's Infringement Allegations

2008-06-12T13:32:00.004-04:00

Source: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/11. Story forwarded by Alex Lencicki. A federal judge has dismissed a copyright infringement allegations from Universal Music Group (UMG), affirming an eBay seller's right to resell promotional CDs that he buys from secondhand stores. Troy Augusto, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and law firm Keker & Van Nest, was sued by UMG last year in the United States District Court for the Central District of California for 26 auction listings involving promo CDs. At issue was whether the "promotional use only, not for sale" labels on those CDs could trump Augusto's right to resell materials.

In dismissing UMG's lawsuit late Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero ruled that the promo CDs are gifts distributed by UMG, as they are mailed free and unsolicited to thousands of people without any expectation or intention of their return. The first sale doctrine says that once the copyright owner sells or gives away a copy of a CD, DVD, or book, the recipient is entitled to resell that copy without further permission.

Clearly, this ruling impacts the book business.

B&N Launches Retail Site for Mobile Users

2008-06-12T13:26:00.002-04:00

Source: publisherweekly Barnes & Noble has launched a retail destination designed specifically for those with BlackBerries and smartphones. The new site, www.bn.com/mobile, caters to those who want to order books and other products from their mobile devices

“Our goal is to serve our customers from wherever they are, in a multitude of platforms,” said Marie J. Toulantis, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble.com. In addition to search capabilities, B&N Mobile also allows customers to locate stores and events, check inventory and track orders. "

Online Piracy

2008-06-12T13:18:00.003-04:00

Source: http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9960159-2.html A very interesting article with the co-founder of Scribd, an online file sharing network that has gotten a lot of attention for users posting copies of books. An except from the interview is as follows...

WW: This is off topic, but how fast do you guys pick up on content that has copyrights?

Alder: There are two ways, one is in our copyright software, so anything that's been taken down before gets automatically flagged as a copyright violation. So for example, we were getting Harry Potter books every single week. Now that the filter is up, if you tried to upload it you'd get a message that says 'you cannot put that up.' And then we also do anything that people notify us about, either users or through the DMCA. And then occasionally if something is really obviously copyrighted, like a book we remove it. We try not to police our own site though, because it's really hard to tell.

Technically Speaking Live Session: Website Launch

2008-06-10T14:21:00.003-04:00

Thanks to everyone for attending our first Technically Speaking Live session, held Thursday, May 22. This session covered our new Website Launch. We very much appreciate all your questions and feedback.

Below we’ve included some of the information shared at the meeting.

If you have additional comments or suggestions for the Website, please email: webmaster@hbgusa.com.

If you have topics which you would like to have discussed for future sessions of Technically Speaking Live, please email: david.stack@hbgusa.com.

HIGHLIGHTS OF NEW HBGUSA WEBSITE

Rich Content:

Every book and author published by HBG has its own page on the new site. Book Detail pages are automatically generated with basic title data and enhanced with rich content and media such as articles, interviews, links, and the unique “lightbox” video player (new videos will be added to the site continuously, starting with a handful at the initial release). HBG’s OpenBookTM program will be available for some titles, allowing visitors to preview pages and read first chapters; enthusiasts can then place the widget on their blogs and social networking sites to share with their online community. HBG will soon be rolling out many more book-browsing widgets on the site.

New Pages:

Among the new content on the site is the Media & Publicity section, a convenient resource for journalists and producers seeking Author Experts to speak to specific topics for interviews. Also new to the site are unique pages for each of HBG’s publishing groups and imprints, complete with histories, publisher bios, and featured authors and books.

Better Searching:

The Advanced Search feature enables users to search for both books and authors or illustrators by title, author/illustrator name, ISBN, format, publisher, imprint, genre, and pub date. The Book Rights & Permissions pages include a new rights availability search feature that connects users with information about serial, audio, international, or film and TV rights to HBG titles. Author Tour & Appearances details are also readily searchable from any page within the site.

New Contemporary Design:

The contemporary new look of www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com creates a vibrant and cohesive feel throughout the site, while allowing for individual designs specific to key markets, such as the unique Kids and Teens sections.

Improved Content Management:

HBG partnered with POP, a Seattle-based design and technology firm, to design and build the site. The site content is managed by the RedDot Content Management System, an enterprise class, user-friendly tool that allows site management to be shared across the company.

O'Reilly "Tools of Change" Publishing Conference

2008-04-29T13:44:00.004-04:00

O’Reilly’s second annual Tools of Change for Publishing conference was held in New York Feb. 11-13th. The conference was sold out with approximately 900 attendees. Publishers and technology vendors used this show to launch new products and services.

David Stack, Senior Manager, Digital Media, shares some of his general impressions below:

I would consider the TOC to have been a success and a value to the publishers attending. What TOC may have lacked in scale and keynote star power, it made up for in focus. You could also give them points for style: Much like O’Reilly publishing, TOC "walked the walked" in terms of technology – free WIFI, live-blogging, web-archiving, electronic scheduling, etc.

What impressed me the most about this conference was the clear sense of purpose (the practical tools) and the strong point of view (the benefits of change). I would add that these qualities are shared by most successful blogs. The many new “tools” of the exhibitors were well-represented and ably demonstrated. While some exhibitors who doubled as keynote speakers leaned a little heavy on the sale pitch, in most cases, the evangelism for “change” was earnest and felt earned.

What the keynote presenters didn’t offer in terms of groundbreaking insight – most were careful to note that we were in a transformative period and could not guess the future – they made up for in passion and enthusiasm for the possibilities of digital publishing. Meanwhile the publisher audience maintained a healthy dose of skepticism throughout so that the TOC was not simply a case of preaching to the choir.

Naturally the attending publishers were all at different stages in their “digital development” – from beginners to advanced – from firmly entrenched to embracing change. For this reason, I would have liked to have seen some smaller breakout discussion sessions. Because the event was held in New York this year, more publishers were able to attend. There were some good networking opportunities, but I think TOC could have moderated some peer-group discussion to great benefit. Based on the audience comments (under their breaths) throughout the presentations, I got the sense that we might have heard some interesting debates, and seen some true colors.

I found the best sessions focused less on the abstract “possibilities” and more on the practical experiences of publishers in the digital space: O’Reilly reported on its experience with free content and new business models; Harlequin offered some case studies of its digital experimentation; and Hearst shared its success with mobile publishing. I would recommend reading these presentations in their entirety. Though DRM has been debated many times before, Kirk Biglione (a popular DRM blogger) presented a succinct and somewhat witty take on the mistakes the music industry made with DRM. I would recommend his presentation as well.

Most of the presentations have been archived at: http://en.oreilly.com/toc2008/public/schedule/proceedings

HarperCollins Publishers Offers Free Promotional Samplings of Book Online

2008-04-29T13:43:00.001-04:00

HarperCollins Publishers announced a variety of online promotions to allow consumers exclusive sampling of books on www.HarperCollins.com. In the “Full Access” Program, a select number of titles can be seen in their entirety for a limited time; in the “Sneak Peek” Program, readers will be able to view 20% of many new titles two weeks before their on sale date; and the remaining titles in the digital warehouse are now available for 20% viewing after the on sale date in the “Browse Inside” Program.

In the “Full Access” Program, HarperCollins is working with individual authors to test how free access affects books sales. For a one month period the following books will be available in their entirety on www.HarperCollins.com: Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello; I Dream in Blue: Life, Death, and the New York Giants by Roger Director; Mark Halperin’s The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President: Who the Candidates Are, Where They Come from, and How You Can Choose; Mission: Cook!: My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy by Robert Irvine; and Warriors: Into the Wild, the first volume of the bestselling children’s series by Erin Hunter. In addition, a Neil Gaiman title will also be included. After sampling online, consumers can follow a link to buy the book from any retailer. Additional title promotions will be decided upon on a case-by-case basis moving forward in consultation with authors.

Random House Offers Individual Chapters For Sale Online

2008-04-29T13:42:00.004-04:00

Random House announced a pilot project to sell individual chapters of a book online, starting with a single title: Chip Heath and Dan Heath's MADE TO STICK: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The six chapters and epilogue are being sold for $2.99 each (The hardcover book is listed at $24.95). Buy one and you get the introduction and index free. Consumers who buy a chapter will receive an email with a link for downloading the purchased file, which cannot be shared electronically. Adobe Systems Incorporated is providing the software (Adobe Digital Editions) and service (ADEPT) for fulfillment and copy-protection of these files.

Tor Books Offers Weekly Free Digital E-Books

2008-04-29T13:42:00.003-04:00

Tor Books announced a program that promises free digital books from bestselling and award-winning SF and fantasy authors. Subscribers will receive a TOR newsletter and a link to download a digital book. A new book will be offered every week. The first week's free ebook was Mistborn, by rising fantasy star Brandon Sanderson. Followed by Old Man's War by John Scalzi, 2006's winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Borders Opens Digital Concept Stores

2008-04-29T13:41:00.002-04:00

Borders has opened its first “next generation” digital concept store February 14th, in hometown Ann Arbor. The first of 14 outlets scheduled to open in 2008, the new store offers a refreshed design that emphasizes online interactivity with Borders and its partners via computer kiosks throughout the store. The highlight is a new fully staffed Digital Center that offers onsite music and audiobook downloads, as well as self-publishing kits, customized photobooks and family histories. It caters to contemporary shopping habits, bridging the virtual and bricks-and-mortar retail worlds.

LibreDigital Launches Service for Publishers to Sell Custom-Compiled Books

2008-04-29T13:40:00.001-04:00

LibreDigital, a division of NewsStand, Inc., announced the availability of its next-generation eCompile Service, a technology enhancement to the LibreDigital Internet Warehouse for Publishers that empowers publishers to provide consumers with book “mash-ups” – or custom books made from content compiled from different book titles in publisher portfolios. The updated service allows publishers to instantly re-compile and repurpose their content so readers can order a single book with content from multiple titles, while allowing publishers to protect copyrights.

Publishers Weekly Signs Up Electronic Galley Service

2008-04-29T13:39:00.001-04:00

Publishers Weekly announced a partnership with Rosetta Solutions, Inc., a leading global publishing services company. PW will be the first major book review medium to implement netGalley, a new online service designed to help publishers connect with both traditional and new media communities through electronic distribution and tracking of galleys, press materials, title metadata, and promotional plans. PW will use the netGalley application to capture information at the point of submission. One of the key benefits of netGalley to participating publishers will be the ability to upload vital book and promotional information. Hachette's Orbit imprint is the only current "pilot" participant.

AuthorHouse and Gather.com Form Self-Publishing Imprint

2008-04-29T13:38:00.001-04:00

AuthorHouse (http://www.authorhouse.com), a self-publishing service, announced a partnership with Gather.com, a leading social networking community for adults. AuthorHouse and Gather.com have formed a special Gather Community Press imprint, under which all self-published books through this partnership will be printed. Each participating author will receive one complimentary copy of their work and a total of five copies of their work when a $99 package is purchased. AuthorHouse lets all authors have complete control over the content and look of their book, in addition to allowing them to retain all rights to their work.

Smashwords Launches eBook Publishing Platform for Publishers and Authors

2008-04-29T13:37:00.002-04:00

Smashwords, a new digital publishing startup, unveiled an ebook publishing platform for authors and publishers. The company began accepting applications for a limited number of beta testers at http://www.smashwords.com. Smashwords allows anyone to become a published ebook author in minutes. The site is ideal for full length novels, short fiction, essays, poetry, personal memoirs, non-fiction and screenplays. Authors receive 85% the net sales proceeds from their works, and retain full control over sampling, pricing and marketing. The site offers authors free viral marketing tools to build readership, such as percent-based sampling; dedicated pages for author profiles and book profiles; support for embedded YouTube book trailers, author interviews and video blogs; widgets for off-site marketing; reader reviews; and reader "favorite-ing."

Oprah Offers Free eBook Download

2008-04-29T13:27:00.004-04:00

Oprah Winfrey Show has announced that a free downloadable version of Suze Orman's bestselling book WOMEN & MONEY (Spiegel & Grau) is available at Oprah.com for a limited time (two days). The PDF file was offered in both English and Spanish versions, and the site includes this message: "This book is copyrighted. You may view and download the file, but you may not copy the file or share or forward it to any other person.” This represents the first time Ms. Winfrey has offered an entire book for free to her viewing audience.