By Edward Nawotka As discussed in today’s lead story, European laws governing the sale of books vary wildly from country to country, often favoring print over e-books. Many of the major markets have fixed book pricing and part of the reasoning behind fixed book prices is that it allows all retailers to compete on a level playing field when it …
In Europe E-books are Approached with “Concern, Not Hysteria,” says Italy’s Mussinelli
By Daniel Kalder MILAN: “The problem in Italy and in Europe in general, is that data on e-books is scarce, says Cristina Mussinelli, a digital publishing consultant for the Italian Publishers Association and European member of the IDPF board. “There is no central entity collecting information in an organized way, and the ways in which different countries collect data may not …
Is 2011 the Tipping Point for E-books in Europe?
Europe’s e-book market is growing, but is it robust enough to attract the mass market? By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story looks at the growth of e-books in Europe, which has been slow and pragmatic and has long lagged behind the US and Japan. But the introduction of several new platforms, devices and digitization projects at the end of 2010 …
EU Report Urges 7-Year Limit on Commercially Digitized Works
By Hannah Johnson Yesterday, the European Commission released a report which proposes a seven-year period of use on digitized, public domain works. This proposal seems aimed specifically at Google and its ongoing book scanning project. The New York Times reports: “During a period of preferential use, a public domain book, for instance, that was digitized by Google would be available …
Best of Publishing Perspectives 2010: Europe
Publishing Perspectives aims to bring you new and important stories from the international publishing community, stories that don’t always get reported in English. Today, we present our list of this year’s best stories from Europe that represent the major issues and developments there over the last 12 months. France France’s Fnac Introduces FnacBook, E-Reader War Heats Up Read the article …
Dedalus Saved by Fairy Godmothers: How the UK’s Esoteric Literary Publisher Survives Trying Times
“We exist to do the difficult things of publishing,” Eric Lane of Dedalus on life running “the most literary publishing house in Europe.” By Daniel Kalder CAMBRIDGESHIRE, UK: I first encountered Dedalus Books’ esoteric literary catalogue in the old Science Fiction Bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a strange place: upstairs they sold Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and French editions …
Indie Swiss Pubs Promote Books on Juice Bottle Labels
By Siobhan O’Leary An association of independent Swiss publishers known as Swips is juicing up its marketing activities on behalf of its members. Literally. Founded three years ago, the organization is now teaming up with organic smoothie producer Traktor to launch an unconventional new campaign giving its 22 member publishers the opportunity to feature poems, book excerpts or very short …
New Study Finds Dramatic Difference Between Author Rights in Germany, Spain, France and UK
By Olivia Snaije The book and writing “observatory,” le MOTif, funded by the Paris regional government, is becoming increasingly visible in France’s book world. Le MOTif has just released a study on author rights in Europe, the result of a year-long research project about the legislatures, economic and legal aspects of the industry and more than 50 interviews with publishers, …
Is the Lack of Interest in Translations a Global Problem?
By Edward Nawotka In today’s editorial Chad Post makes a compelling argument for the utility of publishing both translations with the potential to be blockbuster bestsellers and those that cater to a more niche audience. Post is writing primarily with American readers in mind, with the understanding being that US publishers are largely reticent to publish translated works due to …
Romance vs. Sexy Literary Fiction: What’s the Distinction?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story examines the publishing history of Stephen Vizinczey’s In Praise of Older Women, a novel that is considered by many to be a classic of modern European literature — but has had a checkered publishing history in the United States. Surely, there have been no shortage of literary censorship cases in the United States — …