Reading in the Cloud: “Spotify for Books” from The Publisher’s Standpoint

In Guest Contributors by Guest Contributor

Based on the Spotify model, streaming e-book subscription platforms are tricky to monetize properly for publishers — though they appear to be inevitable. By Javier Celaya MADRID: Yesterday I offered two different points-of-view on whether the streaming, cloud-based Spotify model was suitable to the book world — the first, from the reader’s angle, and the second one from the author’s …

Flat World Knowledge’s “Freemium” Textbooks Gain 140,000 Users, Average $34 Per Sale

In Feature Articles by Guest Contributor

• Flat World Knowledge, a three-year-old textbook publisher, has released 24 titles which are now in use by 140,000 students at over 800 universities in the United States and another 50 abroad. • The company allows students to read the textbook for free online, while selling them POD, e-book and other editions. Over half of users opt for these additional …

What is the Future of “Freemium” in Book Publishing?

In Discussion by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story looks at Flat World Publishing’s “freemium” model for publishing college textbooks. The model isn’t exactly new: authors ranging from Chris Anderson to Cory Doctorow to Seth Godin have long advocated giving digital or online-only editions away for free in order to entice readers to purchase print books. Big Six and other publishers have been …