Amazon has announced a new program called AmazonEncore in which they will license and republish previously-published books that they believe have been overlooked and also by authors that they believe show potential for greater sales. The announcement notes that in addition to offering titles through Amazon, the Kindle store and Audible, they will make Encore books available to the trade. Amazon intend to publish the English-language edition of encore books in all countries where they have a web site.
The first book chosen is by 16-year-old Cayla Kluver and is her self-published fantasy romance novel LEGACY, which Encore will republish in hardcover in August. Amazon acquired world English rights from the original publisher Forsooth (created by Kluver's mother to publish the book).
It is not clear today whether all Encore’s books will be from previously self published titles and whether Amazon is trying to make serious inroads into attracting self published authors into their stable, or whether Amazon is taking steps to redefine itself as an end to end player. There is no reason why the same model can’t be applied to orphan works, previously mainstream published works under a new licence and whether they will also now buy into reprint runs. Amazon has the clout and focus to make any descent book a bestseller, even if that is within there own fortress. Some may say that this will further strengthens their control of the market and their bottom-line.
The driver for the new venture will be based on, "information such as customer reviews on Amazon websites." Amazon has long captured feedback and if added to its sales data and also that from its other services such as ABE it makes a solid base on which to select its titles. ‘Brought back by popular demand’ is also a very customer centric approach which will resonate with many who may today see shelf space being bought and what some may also call manufactured winners.
Showing posts with label reprints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reprints. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Nothing New Here!
It is often interesting how we all join up dots differently and that we know what we know but all too often don’t know what we don know. Today we were alerted to a recent piece in the Los Angeles Times ‘Reprints are King in Parts of the Book World.’
The report questioned, ‘whether the increasing number of reprints is because of reader dissatisfaction with contemporary literature or the flowering of an archivist, curatorial instinct, they are certainly part of the decentralization of literary culture.’ And also reported that, ‘Reprints may be how new novels that surely deserve larger audiences may finally find the readership they should have had the first time around..’
The lack of understanding of reprints, repackaging, classics, public domain works was clear.
There are those publishers that specialise in bringing back books into print that for whatever reason deserve to be available. Some may be literary classics, other erotica, or mystery, or romance, or war and military. The majority are public domain but others are published under licence and some are publishing orphans that are adopted. This is nothing new its been around as long as many can remember it has merely become easier to do.
Recent articles in the Bookseller have referenced a new Erotica list of Victorian titles, goulish tales both by Penguin and Wordsworth and Faber’s modern classics on demand and specialist lists by the likes of Persephone. Penguin’s value added digital extras also present a new twist and others have re-jacketed the Austin classics to look like chit lit! The list of publishers is significant and includes; Everyman, OUP, Penguin, Wordsworth, B&N, CRW, Studio, and many many more. But reprinting is not new neither is it a adverse reaction to modern literature. It is however interesting to see the variance in list price for what is often the same free text.
The new digital world makes it easier to find titles, digitally capture them and bring them back both digitally and imprint. The primary skill lies in the selection and understanding the potential winners. The next is to understand what needs to be done to represent and repackage them. The largest risk it that some may make a land grab and adopt orphans that are still in copyright because they can.
The consumer rarely picks up a book and looks at the copyright page and says, ‘I can’t read this its not new!’
The report questioned, ‘whether the increasing number of reprints is because of reader dissatisfaction with contemporary literature or the flowering of an archivist, curatorial instinct, they are certainly part of the decentralization of literary culture.’ And also reported that, ‘Reprints may be how new novels that surely deserve larger audiences may finally find the readership they should have had the first time around..’
The lack of understanding of reprints, repackaging, classics, public domain works was clear.
There are those publishers that specialise in bringing back books into print that for whatever reason deserve to be available. Some may be literary classics, other erotica, or mystery, or romance, or war and military. The majority are public domain but others are published under licence and some are publishing orphans that are adopted. This is nothing new its been around as long as many can remember it has merely become easier to do.
Recent articles in the Bookseller have referenced a new Erotica list of Victorian titles, goulish tales both by Penguin and Wordsworth and Faber’s modern classics on demand and specialist lists by the likes of Persephone. Penguin’s value added digital extras also present a new twist and others have re-jacketed the Austin classics to look like chit lit! The list of publishers is significant and includes; Everyman, OUP, Penguin, Wordsworth, B&N, CRW, Studio, and many many more. But reprinting is not new neither is it a adverse reaction to modern literature. It is however interesting to see the variance in list price for what is often the same free text.
The new digital world makes it easier to find titles, digitally capture them and bring them back both digitally and imprint. The primary skill lies in the selection and understanding the potential winners. The next is to understand what needs to be done to represent and repackage them. The largest risk it that some may make a land grab and adopt orphans that are still in copyright because they can.
The consumer rarely picks up a book and looks at the copyright page and says, ‘I can’t read this its not new!’
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