Faber Chief Executive Stephen Page believes “the challenge of gift to digital” is one of the major issues yet to be resolved in the book business. By Edward Nawotka In today’s feature story about the state of the UK book market, Faber Chief Executive Stephen Page noted the increased importance of gifting for physical books and believes “the challenge of gift …
Electronic Publishing Bingo or A Picture Worth 1,000 Blog Posts
By Edward Nawotka This illustration from the blog of the ever insightful writer John Scalzi is a picture worth 1,000 blog posts…
SURVEY: How Can Booksellers Futureproof Their Business?
Tell us what should booksellers should prioritize to save themselves. By Edward Nawotka Over the years booksellers have added coffee shops, stationery, toys, games, music download stations, movies, e-readers . . . As discussed in today’s lead story the future of bookselling looks to be multichannel. What do you think booksellers should prioritize to futureproof their business? Take our survey …
English E-books Are In Demand Worldwide, Though Primarily as a Stopgap
By Edward Nawotka “I believe there is significant potential for English language e-books on the international markets,” David Steinberger, president and publisher of Perseus Book Group, told us last month during an interview at the Digital Book World publishing conference. “What you have to understand is there has always been demand, even in non-English speaking countries. The publishers have tried …
Don’t Trip: App Lets You Read and Walk at the Same Time
By Hannah Johnson We all know what happens when you walk and look at your phone at the same time: accidents happen (seriously, click here to laugh). Well now, you can avoid running into things while you are reading e-books on your smartphone by using the MegaReader app. MegaReader announced a new feature, the “Heads Up Display”. This feature overlays …
The Atavist: New Publisher/E-Reading Platform to Launch Soon
By Hannah Johnson What can you do with a 7,000-word article or essay? Magazines typically won’t run something that long; blog readers won’t take the time to read something that long, and book buyers won’t pay for something that short. Enter The Atavist, a new e-reading startup founded by two journalists with a lot to say and not enough space …
For Digital Publishers and Device Manufacturers, CES 2011 Was All About the Deal
By Hannah Johnson LAS VEGAS: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) concluded on Saturday with over 140,000 total visitors and 2,700 exhibitors representing a huge range of products and companies, from the largest technology giants like Microsoft and Sony to small startups — and now, media companies. Since its debut in 1967, the focus of CES has been on hardware. Well-known …
Staying on Top of the Emerging Tablet Device Market
By Hannah Johnson The tablet market just grew recently. Both the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the HP Slate will go on sale this year to compete with the iPad and the upcoming RIM Blackberry Playbook (coming out sometime next year). Of all the tablet PCs, the HP Slate is the most computer-like. It runs Windows 7 and ships with 64GB …
Does Java-based E-Reading Still Have Potential in North America and Europe?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story looks at Wattpad’s global growth, particularly in Southeast Asia, where the majority of users continue to rely on feature phones running Java-based e-readers. This market has been largely abandoned in the North America and Europe in favor of catering to smartphone users demanding advanced features. Wattpad offers free ebooks, which is part of the …
By Sticking with Java, E-Book Publisher Wattpad Exhibits Huge International Growth
• In August, Wattpad published usage analytics for downloads and readers of the company’s ebooks. The report covers desktop usage, as well as some 1,000 different phone models from 600 carriers in 160 countries (excluding China). • While English-language books and readers using smartphones remains the strongest segment, growth among Southeast Asian readers using Java-based feature phones is nearly as …