Mar 01

Indie Author Makes Millions in the Kindle Store

Digitaltrends has an encouraging story for authors and readers that should send publishing industry executives (and agents) scrambling back to the drawing board. Contrary to what they’ve been trying to get us to believe, the eBook Revolution has changed things and the old business model cannot be grafted or forced onto digital publishing.

Apparently, Indie novelist Amanda Hocking is making millions of dollars by publishing her eBooks directly to Amazon’s Kindle Store for .99 to $2.99 each.

According to the traditional publishers, this can’t be happening. An eBook’s success depends entirely on signing with a medium or large, well-connected publishing firm. Right? Well, not right, according to Amanda Hocking.

It just goes to show you that the democratization of publishing via the eBook Revolution is ongoing, and readers can be trusted to pick a winner if given the chance.

Feb 28

Rupert Murdoch = Draconian Overlord of Publishing…

Ok. Maybe I overstated the case, but the publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch’s empire has declared war on public libraries. A Harper Collins eBook can be loaned out by a library only 26 times! TWENTY-SIX! Murdoch says that number is based on a several factors “including the average lifespan of a print book, and wear and tear on circulating copies.” Come on!

This attack on the public purse in the days of tight municipal budgets is a form of eBook Piracy that would shame the most active eBook Pirate. Read the story entitled: “The benign piracy of libraries vs Harper Collins” at Mobylives.

Feb 27

More on the Apple Apps changes.

Many thanks to Jorgen for sending along a link to a FutureBook story that continues with the discussion that has developed since Apple changed its requirements for iPad Apps that allow consumers to purchase through a third party.

The new rules are Apps must allow an either/or button so consumers can buy through the third party or directly through iTunes. Sounds simple, but it comes down to a 30% commission on the sale that might be a deal breaker.

Feb 26

French Publishers Pass on Adobe DRM

Jorgen dropped off a link to a TeleRead story about 100 French publishers deciding to pass on the Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM) that many publishers have adopted to control the sale and distribution of eBooks. (It also regulates the options of consumers who buy the eBooks legally.)

Worth the read. (The Google translation of the French worked for me.)

Feb 25

E Ink: History and possible future.

ITBusiness.ca has an interesting post called “E Ink pushing boundaries of display technology” that chronicles some of the history of E Ink and speculates on its future. Well worth the read.

Feb 24

Publishing Logs Growth in the eBook Revolution

The Bookseller.com has an interesting post on the impact of digital publishing on the status quo and it looks good so far with statistics showing 3,151 new publishers registering for ISBNs in 2010. (The highest in 10 years.)

The story credits print-on-demand technology (POD), eBooks and self-publishing with the change.

One can see that the near monopolies enjoyed by the traditional publishing houses are in the process of being taken apart which explains their reluctance to join the eBook Revolution in the first place.

Feb 23

Watch out iPad. Here comes the HPad…

PDFDevices.com reports on Hanvon Technology Co. Ltd. of China planning to announce a new line of products that includes the HPAD A112 eReader. This news will come at CeBIT2011 in Hanover, Germany in March. The Android 2.2 driven tablet with a 7-inch color touchscreen is rumored to hit the market at $545 (US) which puts it in the same price neighborhood as Apple’s tablet.

*Of note is Hanvon’s claim to launching Triton, the first color E Ink eBook Reader.

Feb 22

The Digital Bookstore of the Future

The Online Journalism Review’s Robert Niles offers us his idea of how a 21st century digital bookstore is going to look and how the bricks and mortar stores we’ve got can remain relevant in the future.

Feb 21

More on eBook Piracy

Personal Finance Bulletin posted on the apparent explosion in eBook Piracy. It seems that Kindle Books, Nookbooks and iPad books are turning up on torrent sites in FREE bundles.

eBook Pirates cannot be stopped by outrage; but, honest eReaders can be encouraged away from the black market by lowering the price of eBooks, removing the DRM and selling the eBooks with as few strings attached as possible.

Feb 20

eBook Piracy continues to flourish.

David Carnoy at CNET Reviews offers an interesting take on eBook Piracy and gives his reaction to finding his own book in the stolen bundle.