EU raids ebook publishers in price fixing investigation | World news | The Guardian: I don’t believe this is just confined to France. At heart, this drives a stake through the argument that big publishing houses can price e-books at the current level (Agency Agreement) in place. “The European commission has launched morning raids on…
Easons staff pass no confidence vote | The Bookseller
Easons staff pass no confidence vote The Bookseller “The board of Easons has said it backs Conor Whelan, who has been managing director of Easons since September 2009, after senior staff working in Dublin cast a vote of no confidence in him. Irish union organisation Siptu said around 60 Dublin employees who hold the management…
Borders US: What we hear and need to hear
Today was one of those days at the office. You know the ones. Nothing seems to stir beyond the hum-drum, and then, all of a sudden, the floodgates open. No. Today’s news that the economic doctor – with defibrillator in hand – had finally glanced up at the clock and called the ‘time of death’…
Borders US Files for Bankruptcy with $1.29 Billion Debts (Updated)
Borders US formally applied for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 protection in the New York courts this morning. Borders listed debts of $1.29 billion and assets of $1.275 billion in documentation lodged with the court. Unsecured creditors listed include many book publishers and distributors, estimated to be owed $230 million. [Publishers Weekly] UPDATE (5PM, GMT): Publishing…
Irish Bookseller Waterstone’s To Close Flagship Stores on Sunday
One of the most familiar landmarks in Dawson Street Dublin is Waterstone’s bookshop, a mainstay of the busy thoroughfare for many years. However, the company this morning announced the closure of the Dawson Street branch, as well as its Jervis Street branch and nine other branches in the UK (Colchester, Worcester, Guildford, Stafford, Hemel Hempstead, Coventry,…
Lulu Launch Discount Manager
Lulu (254.65) has launched ‘Discount Manager’, a new service allowing authors to set a discount on their books. The discount will come off the listed price of a book, but cannot be set below the minimun cost of the book set by Lulu. Authors should be aware that this is really just a tool to…
Bowker Release Book Consumer Trends Report 2009
Bowker release book consumer trends report for 2009. The Independent Publishing Magazine | TIPM Media
Barnes & Noble for Sale?
US book retailer Barnes & Noble has yet to officially confirm that company founder and main shareholder Leonard Riggio is contemplating a bid for the whole company with a large investment group. The news reported by Reuters this morning may lead to other interested parties, including billionaire Ron Burkle. Share prices for the company rose…
NPD Group: PC Game Digital Downloads Reaching Parity With In-Store Purchases
I don’t normally cover the software games market here, but I thought this piece over on Joystiq.com quoting a press release from market research company , The NPD Group, was interesting. While US based, it does give us an insight on the PC gaming market, and that sales parity between physical and digital distribution channels…
CNET’s David Carnoy Looks Beneath The Amazon Numbers
David Carnoy on CNET Reviews has some pretty sharp analysis on Amazon’s announcement this week that e-books were now outstripping hardback sales. His piece yesterday called What Amazon didn’t say about e-books questions what might really be case if Amazon actually revealed gross revenue figures behind e-books and hardbacks. “I’d like to see gross revenue from…