(US) Will trade publishers block new releases in public libraries?
9 July 2019 (American Libraries Magazine)
ALA is concerned over recent changes in publisher strategy. At this time, none of the Big Five employs an embargo, but this might change with Macmillan testing the waters with an embargo trial. “It is time for ALA to ramp up engagement on the library ebook lending front.”
(CN) Amazon China Closes Paper Book Section In Favor of Ebooks
4 July 2019 (PanDaily)
Amazon China no longer sells its own paper books, and third party paper books will also be taken down from shelves starting July 18. Although this is just another step in shutting down Amazon’s China businesses, cross-border e-commerce and Kindle digital books will not be affected.
(NL) Dutch agency hammers facebook ebook pirates
4 July 2019 (TechNadu)
Four Facebook users agreed to pay a settlement amount to BREIN, after having pirated thousands of eBooks.
(US) S&S latest publisher to change digital book lending terms
3 July 2019 (Books+Publishing)
Simon & Schuster has become the fourth of the Big Five publishers to change its digital book licensing terms for libraries in the past year, reports Publishers Weekly. In a statement sent to libraries, S&S officials confirmed that its ebooks will be available for two-year terms on a one copy/one user model as of 1 August.
(CA) Big 5 publishers changes library sales business model
30 June 2019 (CBC)
The last of the so-called Big 5 publishers — Hachette Book Group — will stop giving libraries neverending access to its book titles as of Monday, according to the Canadian Urban Libraries Council. Instead, the publisher will make libraries purchase ebooks and digital audio books for two-year terms, increasing the costs for libraries to build up their long-term digital collections in the same way as their hard-copy collections.
(UK) ebook sales increased by 5% in 2018
29 June 2019 (GoodEreader)
Ebook sales actually increased by 5% in 2018, which is good news for the format. It has been in state of consistent decline in the US for a number of years, but it looks like Brits have rediscovered digital audiobooks and ebooks. These two formats combined brought in over £653 million in sales last year.
(US) 1 in 4 units sold to online channels were eBooks
26 June 2019 (Forbes)
Of publishers’ sales to online retail channels, trade print books represented the largest chunk at 45.1%, but eBooks and downloaded audio were popular as well, as 24.5% of publisher’s sales to online channels were eBooks and 13.7 were downloaded audio.
(UK) Ebook sales decline 2% in 2018
26 June 2019 (Guardian)
Overall, the digital book market, which as well as audiobooks includes ebook sales and subscriptions to services such as Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, rose 4.6% to £653m. Consumer ebook sales continued their slow decline, down 2% to £251m. Sales have fallen 20% since 2014.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook Revenue Down 17%
19 June 2019 (The Digital Reader)
Nook revenues totaled $92 million for the fiscal year. Fiscal 2019 net earnings were $3.8 million compared to a net loss of $125.5 million in the prior year.
ebook sales decrease by 4.5% in the first quarter of 2019
17 June 2019 (Good E Reader)
One of the leading factors is the rise of digital audiobooks. In the first three months of the year the format increased by 35% and it brought in a respectable $133 million dollars. The decline in ebooks is good for the traditional print industry. Hardcover book sales saw a 7.8% ($594 million) increase in revenue and paperback sales saw a respectable 3.1% ($553.6 million).
Legal lessons from the ebooks antitrust debacle
10 June 2019 (Apple Insider)
Responding to a question about risk in the law and how you avoid it, Apple’s former legal counsel said that there are reasons to look for risk. “Steer the ship as close to that line as you can,” he continued, “because that’s where the competitive advantage lies.”
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