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90% of Authors Don't Earn a full Time Income from Writing
ebooks - Will there be a 2nd hand market?
Will there be a 2nd hand market for books?
What happens with inheritance with iTunes and Kindle Books? Are they then gone?
Can books be loaned? On the Kindle, its up to the author.
With physical books, the answers are easy. With eBooks, not so easy. With e-Books, the product does not degrade with use, as a physical book does.
And what happens when a device ends, with all the eBooks that only worked with that device? Will the Nook be around in a couple of years? What of the books on the Kobo, that Borders was pushing?
DRM, Digital Rights Management, a fancy word for copy protection is used on many e-books, and makes managing moving books around a headache. I have heard, there is third party software to remove DRM, but what a headache.
Secondhand Downloads: Will Used E-Books and Digital Games Be for Sale? - Bloomberg Business Labels: amazon, e-books, future, kindle
Is Amazon a Charity?
Amazon is an amazing company, and I have been a customer for a long time. When they were first starting, they sent out travel mugs to some customers, and I still have one. But, their profit margins don't make sense. It's hard to keep on losing money as a business. The raising of their free shipping minimum from $25 to $35 is a big change. Shipping, unfortunately costs.
This is a great quote:
“Amazon, as best I can tell, is a charitable organization being run by elements of the investment community for the benefit of consumers,” Slate’s Matthew Yglesias joked earlier this year.
The Amazon Mystery: What America's Strangest Tech Company Is Really Up To - The Atlantic
Same Old Amazon: All Sales, No Profit - Business Week Labels: amazon, book stores, e-books
Don't Burn Your Books—Print Is Here to Stay
Another view on the future of physical books, that is very positive. The article has a beautiful first sentence. The e-book had its moment, but sales are slowing. Readers still want to turn those crisp, bound pages.
Don't Burn Your Books—Print Is Here to Stay
- WSJ
The e-book had its moment, but sales are slowing. Readers still want to turn those crisp, bound pagesLabels: bilingual books, e-books
Books go digital as print sales slump
It's amazing how fast this is happening.
Books go digital as print sales slump - Telegraph
I still have a preference for reading a physical book, especially a picture book or when I am reading to another and sharing it. Such as a picture book.
And also when I am reading in the bath tub or a spa, a physical book has an advantage :-)Labels: bilingual books, e-books
Settlement over e-Book Pricing to Undo Apple's Agency Model for Pricing?
If true, this is going to help Amazon become even bigger, but it will help consumers get lower prices. The current model means the publisher sets the minimum price for their books, and got all the major e-Book publishers to agree to this (Apple, Amazon, and BN). If the agency model is not allowed, it means that Amazon can sell below cost in order to attract customers betting they will make a profit on other items the customers buy.
Settlement over e-Book Pricing to Undo Apple's Agency Model for Pricing? - MacrumorsLabels: amazon, e-books
e-Book investigation by US Justice Department
Overstock sells e-Books
May be there is hope for the individual bookseller! And not everyone will be forced to either go to the publisher, or Amazon/bn.com
Overstock is still needing to go through a gatekeeper, such as Barnes & Noble.
Overstock gets (e) book smart with Barnes & Noble - Internet Retailer Labels: e-books
iPad Helping Book Publishers Gain More Control Over eBook Pricing
Amazon E-Library Is Publishing’s Profit Model
Cheapest E-Books Upend the Charts
I wonder if what happened in the Apple iPhone App. Store is going to happen to e-Books? Many applications are now 99 cents. Its great for a consumer, but as a business its troubling to think about how many 99 cent apps you would need to sell to make your investment back.
Cheapest E-Books Upend the Charts - WSJ Labels: e-books
eBooks can only be loaned 26 times?
A physical book has a lot of positives! Once you buy it, its yours. There is no way anybody can electronically go back and re-possess it (like Amazon did to one book). Or put this type of limitations on it. And you can also resell it.
Good question - can you resell an e-book? My guess is no.
ebooks on borrowed time - Guardian
HarperCollins says US libraries can lend its ebooks only 26 times as print books have to be replaced after thatLabels: e-books
Book Selling - Huge Increase in eBooks
Brea Borders Saved - For Now!
Borders Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection - WSJ.com
I like visting our local Borders and I hope its not one of the 200 that are going to be closed. I view the reason for the bankruptcy as a combination of bad management, bad business model, and changes in technology.
Borders missed web based book sales, and Amazon's trick of no sales tax through excellent lawyers has not helped them. Very late to the game with e-Books. And lots of management turn over. And traditional book sellers are still working on a 1930's model that over prints books ,with 40% of books pulped. The exception being for the rare best sellers that are blown out by Costco, Amazon, WalMart, etc... And this is not even getting into what Print On Demand will do in the future (and Amazon is already heavy into this).
Borders Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection - WSJ.comLabels: e-books
25% of Harper Collin Books Sold in January were e-Books
Barnes & Noble says e-books outsell physical books online
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