Oct 08

eBook Piracy on the Rise

CNet News has the results of a recent study on eBook Piracy. Have a look at the post, there’s a graph and everything.

I thought it would be nice addition to yesterday’s eBook Rumors post. Notice in the survey they blame iPad’s release in part for the increase in piracy, and fail to mention that the biggest publishers in the industry jacked the prices of eBooks up just prior to iPad’s release. (Didn’t that have any impact?)

Read along and you find the survey author, Attributor, “has announced partnerships with Macmillan and Kensington Publishing Corp.” So, we begin to see why eBook pricing is missing from the list of reasons for the increase in piracy. The survey provider has vested interests.

Oct 07

Publishers Driving eBook Prices out of Affordable Range

Thanks Jorgen for a link to this Salon story by Dan Gillmor outlining the lose-lose scenario that publishers have foisted onto the public by taking pricing away from Amazon and other book sellers, and switching to the more expensive agency model that is now showing eBooks priced higher than their physical paper equivalents.

It’s an excellent piece that shows the true greed of these publishers who are trying to push up their failing profits but sticking it to the consumer with grossly inflated price structures.

This kind of thing just slows down an otherwise exploding digital publishing market. It’s a rip off and unfair to consumers who have adopted the new technology.

As a result of this highway robbery, overpricing by publishers is creating the environment for eBook piracy and illegal file sharing to flourish. Jorgen sent along another link to this story at The Next Web that goes into great detail about the negative impacts unfair pricing has on an otherwise (generally) honest public. People only think about obtaining information illegally when they feel they are being cheated. And OVERPRICING DRM-locked digital eBooks is cheating.

On the other hand there is a silver lining for independent authors and small publishing houses who are not ruled by greed, and can introduce new authors to the reading public at affordable prices. That’s a win for the reader too!

Oct 06

Digital Publishing Levels the Playing Field for Kobo

The National Post has an excellent feature on eBook retailer and distributor Kobo that shows the Toronto start-up and offspring of Indigo Books & Music Inc. is more than capable of going blow for blow with Internet giants Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble and Sony.

It all comes down to keeping it simple. After launching its $150 eBook eReader (now wireless at a lower price) and starting a price war that saw industry giants Kindle, nook and Sony Reader plummet in price, this retailer that sells into 200 countries attributes most of its success to a focus on selling eBooks to a wide range of hand-held devices and eBook readers while keeping their one tangible product, the Kobo eReader, a simple machine with pay and play options.

Now that RIM’s PlayBook is shipping with Kobobooks preloaded, it’s easy to see that the Kobo approach is working.

Read the full feature here.

Oct 05

The eBook Revolution Continues.

Our intrepid friend Jorgen has dropped off yet another link, this time to an excellent Daily Finance post by Sarah Weinman that lists the results of eBook related surveys. You’ll be surprised by some of the numbers and encouraged that all the evidence points to an eBook Revolution shifting into high gear.

Oct 04

Brave New Digital World for Libraries

Thanks Jorgen for a link to a MetroWest Daily News story about the impact of the eBook Revolution on the future of libraries. Borrowing rates are increasing with traditional paper and audio books, but with new numbers showing eBook usage spiking at 949%, it is clear that the new media is going to have a significant impact.

As the article suggests, that might require a re-think of how the actual buildings look and function.

Oct 03

Toshiba’s Book Place offers Digital Reading for Laptop and PC.

The Inquirer has a story announcing Toshiba’s leap into the eBook Revolution with its own store and program that focus on PC and laptop reading. The Japanese electronics giant’s Toshiba Book Place is available for PC or Mac.

The program interfaces with Toshiba’s own bookstore and offers a million public domain and thousands of commercial titles.

I’ve downloaded the software, and it looks slick and is easy to use. Reminds me a lot of Adobe’s Digital Editions. However it does not read EPUB and uses a proprietary format.

Oct 02

Kobo and Kindle – Yes, but Kobo first.

An interesting addition to the story about Research in Motion’s (RIM) full-color BlackBerry PlayBook tablet due out in 2011. We mentioned here that both Kindle and Kobo were ready to provide eBooks for the iPad competitor. This story at the Register tells us that in fact Kobo will come preloaded on the device. While we can imagine the Kindle App for PlayBook will be ready launch day, Kobo’s preloaded status will give their bookstore the high ground.

Oct 01

An Article that Kills the Lies that want to Kill the eBook Revolution.

Many, many thanks to Jorgen for a link to an excellent piece by Marion Maneker at BNET.com called “Are E-Books Killing the Literary Novel? Nonsense.”

Read this article because it cuts right through publishing industry lies against digital publishing, and shows us the essential truth of the eBook Revolution.

If you’re a writer, small publisher or lover of quality books, you have to read this article.

Sep 30

Kobo Releases Wireless eReader – Border Sells it for $140.00

Read this ZDNet story about eBook partners Kobo and Borders releasing the $140 Kobo E Ink WiFi eReader. Available November 1st the $139.99 device will build on Kobo’s first eReader version that ran with USB connection and $150 price tag (it started the eBook Reader price-war). With the new untethered device ready to compete in the ever evolving eBook Marketplace, one looks forward with anticipation to Christmas pricing.

Get the specifics on the Kobo wireless eReader right from the horse’s mouth.

Sep 29

The Future of eBooks Now.

A great link here from Jorgen to a FutureBook.net post called: “We’ll all lose money. And then we’ll learn.” An informative piece that updates the constantly updating eBook marketplace as it relates to pricing, author profits and piracy.

I think the goal is clear when dealing with piracy and file-sharing: “Affordable pricing is the key.” And as explosive as the market is, time is still required for trends to be established and understood.

A note here regarding the post’s title: The status quo will “lose money,” just as established authors might see a temporary adjustment in their cash-flows. But the vast untapped resource of authors who were shut out of the old (Bestseller or Die) system will actually start to make money from their titles. After that, talent (and luck) will decide who makes a living as a writer.