Some feel Amazon’s growing power and influence threatens to create a hegemony. By Edward Nawotka I want to make a confession: I have an Amazon Prime account and I use it…a lot. I have a small child at home, limited time to shop, and a fast Internet connection. Amazon, in our household, has become synonymous with shopping. Though I have a …
UK’s Waterstone’s Pins Hopes on aNobii “Social Bookselling” App
Beleaguered bookseller Waterstone’s is counting on aNobii, a book-oriented social networking site originally developed in Hong Kong, to help save them. By Roger Tagholm LONDON: Troubled UK chain Waterstone’s is pinning its hopes on the aNobii app which it officially launches next month. Not much has been said about this so-called “social bookselling” website, but it was clear from talking to …
Has Apple’s iPad Cornered the Market for Children’s E-Books?
By Edward Nawotka When will a viable competitor to the iPad emerge? Today’s feature story discusses the Tools of Change conference at the Bologna Book Fair, where nearly all the talk developing apps and e-books for the iPad. The simple fact is, up until now, nothing has been able to compete with the iPad when it comes to the readability …
Barnes & Noble: From Thug to Love
Editorial by Edward Nawotka For a long time Barnes & Noble, the United States’ largest bookstore chain, was the bully of bookselling. B&N was the bookseller whose massive expansion into superstores in the ’80s and ’90s was seen as the catalyst for the closure of numerous independent booksellers across the country. They were the booksellers who absorbed much beloved small …
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 …
Which E-readers Might Have the “Second Mover Advantage”?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story looks at the success German retailers had selling e-books this past holiday season. At Thalia, Germany’s largest bookstore chain, their Oyo e-reader proved one of their most popular items of the season. First is good, but second has it’s advantages, as proven by the increasing popularity of the NookColor. Likewise, in the United States, …
Friends, Romans, Librarians: Lend Me Your E-book (Part 1)
Today, in the first half of a two-part series on library e-book lending, writer Erik Christopher considers the models offered to librarians by the United States’ two largest e-book retailers, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. By Erik Christopher The digital age has complicated things, especially for libraries. Not only do patrons want traditional services, like books and reference materials, they …
Smack Talk: Millions of Kindles Sold in last 73 Days; B&N Counters Nook’s the “Best”
By Edward Nawotka When my 15-year-old nephew, a freshman in high school, turned to me at dinner on Saturday night and asked which Kindle he should get for class — I knew the device had “tipped.” (He is choosing between a Kindle 2 for $89, having rejecting my offer to give him my Kindle 1, and a new NookColor). But …
B&N’s NOOKBooks en Español Gives US Retailer Unique Position in Global E-book Market
By Emily Williams There has been a lot of talk about digital content in Spanish-language publishing over the past three years, and publishers have started the e-book ball rolling with major digitization and e-distribution initiatives, but one key link has still been missing: the final retail connection with the consumer. The booksellers in Spain seem to be dragging their heels, …
Open Road, Autography Offer Novel Solutions to Personalizing and Signing E-books
• In lieu of having a book signed at author events, Open Road Integrated Media offers readers the chance to have their photo taken with the author. • Computer app Autography allows authors and content creators to digitally sign their work by inserting a page behind the title page of an e-book. By Edward Nawotka E-books, for all their utility, …