Thursday, February 25, 2010
E-Reader Sales Will Surge at $150 Price Point
January 25, 2010
E-reader Sales Will Surge at the $150 Price Point
See full report on ZD Net
The e-reader market is set to surge—once the devices hit an optimal price of about $150, according to research from the Yankee Group, according to a report by by Larry Dignan on ZD Net.
In a survey by Yankee Group e-readers will generate $1.3 billion in revenue in 2010 and hit $2.5 billion by 2013.
The number of companies pitching e-readers has swelled. At CES 2010, there were a bevy of models introduced—all taking aim at Amazon’s Kindle. Yankee Group estimates that 6 million e-readers will be sold in 2010. By 2013, 19.2 million e-reader units will be sold a year.
Yankee Group defined the e-book reader as devices with the following characteristics:
* Processor speeds limited to 700 Mhz or less;
* ePaper displays;
* Storage capped at 4 GB.
Yankee Group’s forecast is based on the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, Interead’s COOL-ER, Plastic Logic’s Que, enTourage’s eDGe, Hearst’s Skiff and Foxit’s eSlick.
Friday, February 19, 2010
AAP Reports Book Sales Up 4.1% in 2009
AAP Reports Book Sales Up 4.1% in 2009
Year End E-Book Sales Reach $169.5 Million
NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/February 19, 2010--The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports for the month of December 2009, book sales decreased by 0.2 percent at $1.5 billion but were up by 4.1 percent at $11.2 billion for the year.
The Adult Hardcover category rose 9.7 percent in December with sales of $119.9 million; year-to-date sales were also up by 6.9 percent, reaching $1.6 billion. Adult Paperback sales decreased by 10.3 percent for the month ($119.0 million) and were down by 5.2 percent for the year at $1.4 billion. The Adult Mass Market category declined by 29.6 percent for December with sales totaling $51.9 million; sales were down by 4.0 percent year-to-date at $775.6 million. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category decreased by 49.5 percent for the month with sales of $58.8 million, and sales for year-to-date reached $765.1 million, down by 5.0 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category decreased by 14.1 percent in December with sales totaling $46.8 million, though sales were up by 2.2 percent for the year at $577.7 million.
Audio Book sales posted an increase of 13.0 percent in December with sales totaling $16.4 million; sales to-date decreased by 12.9 percent at $177.2 million. Religious Books saw a 0.6% increase for the month with sales of $52.7 million, though sales were down by 9.0 percent for the year at $588.7 million.
E-books sales reached $19.1 million in December, reflecting a 119.7 percent jump for the month and reached sales of $169.5 million, a 176.6 percent increase, for the year. A ten-year historical on trade e-book sales is below.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books increased 6.4 percent in December at $6.5 million; sales decreased by 3.0 percent for the year with sales of $58.2 million. University Press Paperback sales posted an increase of 9.7 percent for the month with sales totaling $9.2 million; sales were down 0.1 percent for the year totaling $61.8 million. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category reflected a 0.0 percent change in December ($112.6 million) but decreased by 2.9 percent for the year ($766.4 million.)
Higher Education publishing sales rose by 8.5 percent for the month at $910.4 million and increased 12.9 percent for the year with sales reaching $4.2 billion. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted an increase of 46.8 percent in December with sales of $200.0 million; sales declined by 13.8 percent for the year at $3.5 billion.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Macmillan Books Reappearing on Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble nook eBook Reader in Stock
nook eBook Readers In Stock This Week in Barnes & Noble Stores
New York, New York - February 8, 2010 - Barnes & Noble, Inc. announced that its popular nook eBook reader is in stock online at nook.com and will be rolling out in the majority of Barnes & Noble stores beginning mid-week.
Barnes & Noble quickly sold out of nook stock online over the holidays. Since then the company has ramped up production and is shipping stock to the majority of its stores, beginning this week. Customers can visit the Barnes & Noble nook In-Store Locator at www.bn.com/nook/instore, updated daily beginning February 10, to find local stores with devices in-stock.
Enhanced in-store connectivity allows nook customers to seamlessly access fast, free Wi-Fi in Barnes & Noble stores. There, they can browse the extensive library of more than a million eBooks, magazines and newspapers.
". . .Demand for nook continues to be very high, and we're pleased our customers will be able to try and buy nook in our stores and online and enjoy it in time for Valentine's Day," said William J. Lynch, President of Barnes & Noble.com.
New Barnes & Noble in-store content will be updated weekly and available for a four-week period. nook users can stay apprised of upcoming exclusive More In Store content at www.bn.com/nook/moreinstore.
Barnes & Noble has continued to optimize nook software for an improved reading experience with the newly updated nook v1.2. Automatic over the air (OTA) updates, which do not require any action from nook customers, are underway and will be conducted seamlessly through this week. nook customers currently using the previous version can also immediately download v1.2 at www.nook.com/support, where additional update and technical support information is available.
nook marries innovative technology and minimalist design with access to the Barnes & Noble's digital store of over one million eBooks, newspapers and magazines. It offers both 3G wireless and Wi-Fi access and is the first to offer digital lending for a wide selection of eBooks through its LendMe(TM) technology.
To learn more about the free Barnes & Noble eReader software and Barnes & Noble eBookstore apps, visit www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks.
Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 775 bookstores in 50 states.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Hachette Joins Macmillan in Pricing Battle
Hachette Joins Macmillan in Pricing Battle
NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/February 5, 2010--In a letter to literary agents yesterday, David Young, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said the publisher, like Macmillan, will transition to a new "agency pricing model" for their e-books. The announcement added clout for publishers in pricing wars against Amazon.com.
In the letter Young said Hachette has been considering the model for some time and has now decided to implement the strategy, thus becoming the second major publisher to move to the new model. Macmillan's titles were removed from Amazon.com last week as a protest against that publisher's demand for better pricing.
The agency model lets publishers set their own pricing and provides a commission (reportedly about 30%)to the retailer rather than the old wholesale discount model that applies to print titles. Until now, retailers have given publishers little control over pricing, but publishers are now fighting back.
Young noted in his letter: "There are many advantages to the agency model, for our authors, retailers, consumers, and publishers. It allows Hachette to make pricing decisions that are rational and reflect the value of our authors’ works. In the long run this will enable Hachette to continue to invest in and nurture authors’ careers – from major blockbusters to new voices. Without this investment in our authors, the diversity of books available to consumers will contract, as will the diversity of retailers, and our literary culture will suffer."
He added that "the agency relationship will allow us to make more titles available to more consumers on more platforms. This expands the author’s reach and readership, which is at the heart of what we do as a publisher. Ultimately, these new terms open doors to all online e-book service providers and create more avenues for delivering e-books to readers."
Hachette intends to release HBG e-books simultaneously with the hardcover (or first format print edition).
"It’s important to note that we are not looking to the agency model as a way to make more money on e-books. In fact, we make less on each e-book sale under the new model; the author will continue to be fairly compensated and our e-book agents will make money on every digital sale. We’re willing to accept lower return for e-book sales as we control the value of our product – books, and content in general. We’re taking the long view on e-book pricing, and this new model helps protect the long term viability of the book marketplace."
He said this new model is preferable to withholding books, and is in authors’ and HBG’s best interest.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Amazon.com Yields to Macmillan Price Demands
Amazon.com Yields to Macmillan Price Demands
February 1, 2010--Amazon.com this past weekend capitulated to Macmillan publishing in a battle over pricing.
Amazon on Saturday apparently pulled all Macmillan titles from its site to protest Macmillan's demands for higher prices. However, on its web site Sunday, Amazon indicated it would meet Macmillan's price demands.
Macmillan CEO John Sargent told the media Sunday that the publisher is in negotiations with Amazon in trying to resolve differences, but he declined further comment.
The New York Times dramatizes the face-off on the front-page of its business section: “After a weekend of brinksmanship, Amazon.com on Sunday surrendered to a publisher and agreed to raise prices on some electronic books.”
Amazon wants to keep prices for e-books at $9.99, including bestsellers. Under Macmillan's model, to become effective in March, e-books will be priced from $12.99 to $14.99 upon release and prices will change over time.
Amazon.com indicated over the weekend that it will yield to publishing giant's demands and agree to sell electronic versions of its books even at prices it considers too high.
"We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books," Amazon said in a web site posting.
Amazon wants to hold down prices as competitors such as Barnes & Noble, Sony and Apple, cut into its dominant position in the marketplace.
Macmillan and other publishers have criticized Amazon for charging just $9.99 for best-selling e-books on its Kindle e-reader, saying the low prices could hurt hardcover sales.
Macmillan is one of the world's largest English-language publishers with divisions including St. Martin's Press, Henry Holt & Co. and Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
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