This is a Rights Business

This weekend saw an interesting letter published in The Daily Telegraph ‘Books on Demand’. The letter focused on print on demand and claimed that, ‘Publishers appear to be selling material that is freely available online to extract money from unsuspecting book buyers.’

The complaint was against ‘publishers’ and was in danger of tarnishing all with the same brush. Ruth Allen was rightly annoyed to discover that a $15 Print on demand book in the US which she claims was a copy of four of her articles, which were largely her work and made freely available over Wikipedia under their Creative Commons licensing copyright agreement. She objects to her altruism being used by others for profit but as we were unable to find the material under her name on Wikipedia, it is almost impossible for us to validate her claims.

We fully support Creative Commons licensing and its fair use, but respect that its unfair usage may be difficult to control in this digital age where exploitation is merely a click, or a short ‘low risk’ print run away.

We recently discovered a more traditional book work that had been republished as a print on demand rendition by its publisher, even though the contract did not permit that, reversal conditions had been met and the request for a reversal had been ignored. We only discovered the infringement by accident and the situation has been now resolved. The question is, how much infringement is now creeping back under the print on demand long tail.
We wonder if we will all be spending more and more time monitoring and searching for infringements in the future, with more and more take down notices being issued retrospectively. The Scribd and Wattpad platforms have demonstrated how easy it is for some to infringe and also how difficult it is for all to proactively manage content. In addition to the online threat we also now have a growing print on demand environment which itself is creating ‘low risk’ opportunities to publish first at little risk and be dammed.

We now talk about term licensing of digital rights but who will know when the term has expired? We openly dispute to volume of orphan works out there with the numbers often varying according to the position taken on their adoption. It is becoming easier to scan and copy books and torrent sharing is here today. There has always been serious book piracy, it is not new but just getting easier.

Some would suggest that a rights business without a rights registry in a digital world is an open door for those who wish to exploit it and a nightmare for those who want to protect their property and rights. We are no experts on copyright but would suggest that there must be a better way than expecting the owner to spend their time ensuring that the rights have not been infringed

French Government To Organise A Giant Music Sale

At what level is government subsidy in the arts acceptable and where is the line? The protesters current demonstrating in France against the French government austerity measures and raising the of the pension age must be somewhat perplexed to hear that the government plans to state-subsidise the buying of music!

The plan is an attempt to convince young people that it is better buy music rather than ‘steal’ by file-sharing and involves selling pre-paid cards with a face value of 50 euros at a cost 25 euros. The French government will stump up the difference and estimates that over two years the plan will cost about 25 million euros and result in the purchase of some one million cards.

Restrictions will apply in that consumers will be limited to one card each per year and music download sites will be asked to cut the price of downloads, extend subscription periods and contribute towards the marketing campaign for the cards. Individual sites will only be allowed to receive a maximum of 5m euros from the scheme. The European Commission has approved the plan and said that it would not be anti-competitive.

Is it any different to the UK subsidy of arts such as the opera? Government already spend hard cash to support reading, libraries, schools and PLR (Public Lending Rights payments to authors) so is this any different?

Whether we agreed with file sharing music or not offering users financial subsidy isn’t going to change anything but merely further highlight the practice and opportunity. It also starts to devalue the product as the consumer sees 25 euros not 50 and is still more than zero. Finally what happens when the 50 euro card has been used? Are consumers expected to not buy anything more for the rest of the year or simply say ‘I have learnt my lesson and will now pay full price…until the next year.’

Borders US Rushes In To Join The Self Publishing Offer

It appears anything Barnes and Noble can do so following B&N’s launch of PubIt, Borders follows them into the self-publishing beauty contest and joins the likes of others such as Amazon, Lulu and Smashwords with their new Borders Get Published program for eBooks. The program will be driven by the BookBrewer publishing platform.

Authors will be able to publish and sell eBooks through the Borders eBook store, as well as other partner eBook retailers. The author can pay $89.99 for the basic package, which assigns an ISBN and make it available to major eBook stores at a price set by the writer. Alternatively the author can pay $199 and buy a package which gives them an Pub file, that they can share with friends, family and press and submit to other eBook stores.”

However it wasn’t clear to us on visiting the site exactly what you got and the quality of the delivery. With time this could improve bit today it looks like a rush job to join the party and the wording certainly would not instil confidence if we were to want to self publish.

Agency Pricing: Amazon UK Tells its Customers Who Is To Blame For Higher Prices

Below is a letter from the Kindle team in the UK to their staff. Its a pity its not taken as an advert page in the broadsheets as it clearly states the case from the consumer perspective and that is a hard one to argue against. The case for mid and back list authors would be just as compelling.

Dear Customers,

Recently, you may have heard that a small group of UK publishers will require booksellers to adopt an "agency model" for selling e-books. Under this model, publishers set the consumer price for each e-book and require any bookseller to sell at that price. This is unlike the traditional wholesale model that's been in place for decades, where booksellers set consumer prices.

It is indeed correct that this group of publishers will require Amazon and other UK booksellers to accept an agency model for e-books. We believe they will raise prices on e-books for consumers almost across the board. For a number of reasons, we think this is a damaging approach for readers, authors, booksellers and publishers alike.

In the US, a few large publishers have already forced such a model on all US booksellers and readers. You can read the thread we posted about that change here:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum?cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx2MEGQWTNGIMHV&displayType=tagsDetail

As we're now faced with a similar situation in the UK, we wanted to share our thinking and some details about what we have observed from our experience in the US.

First, as we feared, the US agency publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster) raised digital book prices almost across the board. These price increases were not only on new books, but on older, "backlist" books as well (in the industry, "backlist" books are often defined as books that have been published more than a year ago). Based on our experience as a bookseller setting consumer prices for many years, we know that these increases have not only frustrated readers, but have caused booksellers, publishers and authors alike to lose sales.

There is some good news to report. Publishing is not a monolithic industry - there are many publishers of all sizes taking a wide range of approaches to e-books. And most publishers in the US have continued to sell e-books to us and other booksellers under traditional wholesale terms. They make up the vast majority of our Kindle bookstore - as a simple proxy, in our US store 79 of 107 New York Times bestsellers are priced at $9.99 (£6.31 GBP) or less, and across the whole US store over 585,000 of 718,000 US titles are priced at $9.99 or less.

Unsurprisingly, when prices went up on agency-priced books, sales immediately shifted away from agency publishers and towards the rest of our store. In fact, since agency prices went into effect on some e-books in the US, unit sales of books priced under the agency model have slowed to nearly half the rate of growth of the rest of Kindle book sales. This is a significant difference, as the growth of the total Kindle business has been substantial - up to the end of September, we've sold more than three times as many Kindle books in 2010 as we did up to the end of September in 2009. And in the US, Kindle editions now outsell hardcover editions, even while our hardcover business is growing.

In the UK, we will continue to fight against higher prices for e-books, and have been urging publishers considering agency not to needlessly impose price increases on consumers. In any case, we expect UK customers to enjoy low prices on the vast majority of titles we sell, and if faced with a small group of higher-priced agency titles, they will then decide for themselves how much they are willing to pay for e-books, and vote with their purchases.

Thank you for being a customer,
The Kindle UK Team

Comments are already being posted against the letter. To read the letter and comments posted

Kindle to be Pre-Loaded on Verizon Androids

Verizon Wireless have announced that they will preload Amazon.com's free Kindle ereader application across Android smartphones. This will include Motorola's Droid 2 and the Samsung Fascinate. Kindle for Android is already available via Google's Android Market but this move signals a that the battle to get software preloaded on devices is getting hotter and follows similar moves by Amazon’s smaller competitor Kobo. The move also starts to add further beef to the Android offer over Apple. What is clear is that Apple’s venture into ebooks and their iBookstore may yet prove as shallow as Sony’s bookstore in its offer and a mere side game as the battle moves onto a clear multi platform and any device war.

We wonder whether someone will now take the bold step and buy Kobo and whether that would be to develop it or effectively take it out?

Social Network Demand Grows

So which countries would you expect to be top of the social network usage and who would you expect to have the greatest number of friends? What do believe will be the result of mass adoption of social networking on our trading relationships and communications?

Reseach firm TNS has interviewed 50,000 consumers in 46 countries and drawn some interesting findings.

They found that Malaysian users have the highest average number of friends (233) and also spend the most time on average per week on social networks, some 9 hours. In Russian, users spend an average 8.1 hours per week online and Turkey some 7.7 hours a week on social networks. The average number of friends second place goes to Brazil (231) followed by Norway(217) and at the other end of the table we find Japanese users with just 29 and China with 68. however, it not clear whether the different cultures lead some to have fewer, but closer friendships, whilst others have wider and open ones which embrace more friendships.

The research concluded that for some 61% of the online population around the world, digital sources are now overtaking TV, radio and newspapers as the media channel of choice. This clear presents a great opportunity for some but also a significant shift in behaviour and potential to move into an ‘on demand’ culture.

The study also found that consumers now spend more time on social networking sites, than even using e-mail. The trend is also to access social networks via mobiles with a third of US online users expect to be accessing social networks via their mobiles in the next year and with the increasing to 50% in Sweden.

Finally, the study also claims that 80% of users in China, compared to 32% in the US, have written their own blog.

Whatever the specific findings, the research clearly demonstrates the impact that social networks are having globally and how they are changing how and who we communicate with. Building social communities is becoming big business and many are embracing it as the way to communicate on line. However for business to adopt, they have to recognise that it may take more effort to maintain relationships and that they are potentially going to be far more demanding than even email.

Amazon's Kindle Singles to be Top of the Pops?

We have long argued that the world of the short story is suited to the digital form and that we should break out of the ‘250 page’ straight jacket that has for so long restricted writers.

Now enter Amaazon again to show the way and offer a home for works of a short nature. Does it matter if the work is 10,000, 30,000 or 75,000 words? Amazon has the common sense to realise that 30 to 90 pages may well be perfect for a digital read. So offering writing by instalments as well as accommodating short stories.

"Kindle Singles” will have their own Kindle Store section and be priced very attractively to generate interest and readers.

Now comes the challenge of attracting not just would be writers but also established writers, thinkers, icons, leaders, historians to make the singles a place to be seen and read.

Combining Amazon’s platform, their channel and ability to sell volume and a novel short story idea sounds a winner.

Amazon weren’t the first internet bookstore they were the 14th but were the first to get the service proposition right. Today they may not be the first to start digital short stories but they have all the ingredients to get this right too.

Windows Phone 7: Glance and Glare?

In April 2007 Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, said of the the iPhone that it was "the most expensive phone in the world" and that it "doesn't appeal to business customers". He said that it had "no chance" of gaining significant market share. Although Microsoft still dominates office and consumer PC markets it has surrendered much in the mobile marketplace in the past three years. History proved Ballmer wrong and whilst Microsoft now has single digit market share, Apple now have significant market share and being potentially overtaken by Google and their Android platform.

Ballmer and Microsoft have now unveiled a range of phones using their new Windows Phone 7 system. Its new interface is aimed at integrating phonebooks, social networks and other information around "hubs" . Ballmer claimed it would give users, ‘the ability to do everything on their phone but easier and faster. Less stop and stare, more glance and glare.’

It now faces a different market and business models where the likes of Nokia, RIM and Apple, are all developing both the software and the hardware,of which the hardware is the most profitable,and with Google’s Android platform, driving searches and selling mobile ads. Microsoft is now going to charge a license fee to manufactures and wanting the search and ad revenues.



Microsoft has also adopted a different approach to others by creating Windows Phone 7 for small-screen devices such as smartphones and continuing to adapt its new PC operating system, Windows 7, for tablets. This approach is at odds to Apple's, whose iPad uses the same iOS core as the iPhone, Android, which has already ported to tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy and even RIM, whose new tablet will use a new operating system that is then expected to run its BlackBerry phones in the future.

One side will argue that the tablet demands a computer orientated operating system, others that they miss the point of the word mobile. Whatever the position adopted it is hard to see everyone changing to adopt the Microsoft approach, so it may be a valid position, but no necessarily the winning one.

Six handsets will be available to preorder in the UK next week with Samsung, HTC, LG and Dell all being hardware launch partners for the Windows Phone 7 and Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange all committed to carrying them.


Microsoft has kept a tight rein on the user presentation and set up under Windows Phone 7. Applications are grouped under six Tiles and within a tile the user can scroll up and down through a list of options or entries. The Games Hub links in with the Xbox Live service. The Zune, Office and Bing Search Hubs are aligned to their existing bigger brothers. Automatic over-the-air syncing with a home, or office wi-fi setup, will allow the phone to synchronise content.

So what about that "app store". Today, Microsoft are forcing those who worked on their previous generation of Windows Mobile phones to rewrite them, but this may be inevitable given the scope of change? The move however is likely to please Silverlight and .Net developers, but may not please others who use different tools. They are still likely to see a significant number of apps being developed and the questions then become how many times does a developer have to cut code to support all the various platforms and will the consumers take to them?

Once it would be hard not to see Microsoft winning and being successful, but today it is often the reverse and their once dominant position is continually being eroded and their judgement found wanting. Will Windows Phone 7 succeed, or will the premise that 'phones are different' be its downfall?

Five Digital Publishing Considerations

We offer five insights into tomorrows world we believe should be considered in any digital publishing strategy.










The Future is Online

Many are still grappling with digital downloads and the various interpretations of epub standards, the myriad of ereader devices and how to price and sell digital titles. However when we look at other media markets we can already see a shift from download to streamed content or content on demand, from ownership to rental or subscription. Spotify and Pandora are changing music from buying tracks to renting music on demand. Video and TV is no different and here the shift is from schedules to viewing on demand.

Some think that books are different but why buy and download when the elibrary is effectively in the cloud? Why download when your GPS can already restrict what you can and can’t read? Why buy a file that is free from any armchair via your local library?

Online technology is now accessible 24x7 and as already proven, your latest read can be cached for continued enjoyment offline and can also be platform supported and not device dependant.

The Future is Agnostic

Today our views, interests and cultural awareness is restricted by what we can find and access, how we access it, what we can do with it and how we use it.

Interestingly, we are shaped more by what we don’t know, than by what we do know.Media is a classic example of where the technology and cultural restriction to information and content can narrow our perspective and thereby who we are.

Someone who grew up in the 50s did not have the access to the rich variety of music that existed then. Their taste was dictated by what and who they knew and could hear. Today, we all have access to just about every conceivable genre, taste and also every manifestation of any work every produced. This opportunity has been created by technology. However, the way in which we discover, access, experience and form opinions on music is varied and often haphazard. As a result everyone’s taste is more eclectic and the music industry now has to support a rich variety of taste. Genre and sub genre are still important but people expect access to a width and depth of range of music.

Merely expecting to sell front list titles forever maybe the quickest form of suicide we can think of.

The Future is Mobile

The most successful reading device to date, the book, is truly mobile.

The future may not be what we have in our pocket today but it will be what we have in our pockets tomorrow. User intuitive interfaces, micro technology and a different approach to mobile are going to shape the devices we will use. Th one thing that is certain is that we will not be tethered to anywhere or anytime. Digital reading will happen just as mobile email, wireless connectivity and digital music, games and video have all happened. The key is mobility. Today we take our phones everywhere and they are switched on 24X7. They go to the beach, in the car, on the underground and as they develop, must become our primary interface to everything. Books are not excluded merely waiting to happen.

The Future is Polar

We have ready seen the entry of the technology omnivores and they aren’t going away.

What is clearly happening is that the economies of digital scope and size are introducing new entrants who care less about books and more about selling devices, advertising, bandwidth and promoting their own brand. They only respect the existing channels if they support their brand and its they who own the transactions, the customer, the information and its their name on the tin.

This is actually creating a new opportunity for those who previously were forgotten and expected to die and small publishers and booksellers now have greater and different opportunities. The challenge is with those who once had the economies in their favour, the chains and larger publishers. Its fast becoming a case of ‘the king is dead long live the king.’

The Future is Vale Added

We have long argued that there is only two people that matter, the author who creates value and the consumer who pays for it. Everyone in between has to earn their place and add value.

This is changing the role of agents, publishers, service providers, distributors, wholesalers, bibliographic and secondary publishers, marketers, booksellers and librarians.

Reading Technology Searching For A Problem

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

We were just pointed to ‘something interesting’ at business insider and clicked to watch 'the future of the book' as viewed by design and innovation consulting firm IEDO.

The idea is based on exploiting technology in three conceptual ways which are supposed to turn us on as readers and make reading compelling. Unfortunately it begs the question as to whether the guys behind the idea; read, have read and if they have read, what they have read.

It introduces through:
Concept 1: Nelson. This feature makes immersive reading redundant and introduces layers of parrelel materials, discussions and media coverage. So may be ok for reference material but absolutely redundant with fictional materials. Who is going to create the ancillary material, what rights are attached to what content and where’s the money for the extra layers of costs.

Concept 2: Coupland. Which creates interactive social groupings , book clubs, reading assignments, galleries. Fine and some valid things here but who organises and why reinvent what works today- facebook. People are ecletic in their reading and lifestyles and it is questionable whether this ‘me too’ reading focus actually does anything about selling books which are a click away at Amazon.

Concept 3: Alice.Which goes further than Nelson and was obviously invented by a gamer. Here the reader can unlock hidden chapters, communicate with characters, and even contribute content in a co-operative or collaborative model. But what about moral rights and the cost of development to the return and why not just invent the game in the first place.

We hope the extended media people aren’t taking us all down the old CDRom days where many ‘exciting’ ventures burnt many naïve fingers. Judge for yourselves. There are some interesting points but its not hard to guess which we voted on their poll.

Frankfurt 2010

A CEO ask us what we felt was different at this years Frankfurt Book Fair. Was it 2010, or 2007 and who could tell in many cases? His question was prompted by the what he perceived to be the same people, sitting on the same chairs, on the same stands and it was clear to him that many stands had been refurbished this year. Who says publishing is conservative? Was it after all, a ‘groundhog day’?

We did see a couple of new mezzanine sanctuaries build into the sky in Hall 8. Where these built to hide those quiet and intimate conversations from the floor, make the visitor climb the stairs to the top and feel grateful, or like the towers in San Gimignano, erected to show off one’s wealth.

We attended a few of the new 'hot spot' sessions but felt uncomfortable with everyone. Were these meant to be like speakers corner , or a street market where the speaker cries out with passion and conviction and demands a connection with the audience. We didn’t think so and found the acoustics often poor and speakers either trying too hard or not at all. The panel sessions were as good as the panel and the questions but didn’t work for us. One panel session even had more on the panel than in the audience! The difficult thing we found was that once you sat on those cardboard boxes and the presentation started it was hard to get up and walk away as the speakers was only a few feet away and desperate to keep your attention. We felt that they somehow lacked that two way dialogue and rapport that is needed in such an intimate setting and this is not down to setting but speakers. It was like having a super group electric rock band playing in your front room in front of the family whilst grandma knitted away in the corner.

Following the lesson of this year’s London Book Fair we deliberately avoided the usual wall to wall ‘speed dating’ full diary of wall to wall meetings. We actually left gaps in our diary and were pleasantly surprised that it worked and we met up with everyone we need to plus others and were not waiting for the bell every 30 minutes and that manic rush to the next table.
Finally the sun shone.

Android Keeps Rising

Nielsen says Android was the most popular OS on smartphones in the first half of the year and Apple and RIM were in a "statistical dead heat for second place."

PubIT Is Another Nail In Traditional Publishing Model

Barnes and Noble booksellers released their PubIt platform, which allows authors to self-publish ebooks titles to sell on their site.

Barnes and Noble is a publisher as well as a bookseller and long before it acquired Sterling it had a very successful reprint and packaging operation. Now it has ventured into the self publishing market with its PubIt service. The service allows authors and publishers to upload their ebooks for sale on the Barnes and Noble website. Obviously others such as Amazon have long recognised this opportunity and even struck exclusive channel deals on it.

PubIt, enables an author to register, upload their ebooks and book covers, and name their price within minutes. Authors receive 65 percent of any title that is priced between $2.98 and $10.00 and for titles priced below or above this band, royalties are reduced to 40 percent. This approach promotes the author to offer titles below $10 and above the free or very low pricing which could impact everyone’s revenues. I novel and clever approach to pricing that others could ;learn from. The split may not be as lucrative as Apple or Amazon's 70/30 split but if its not exclusive does that really matter?

In another move others could once again learn from authors can log in to PubIt and once their title is live, can track their sales. This removes the mystic of what is selling or not and gives the author power to react accordingly and even monitor any promotional activity.

Authors can upload their books from Microsoft Word, or RTF, TXT, or HTML. The PubIt tool then converts the file for use on Barnes and Noble's Nook ebook reader. PubIt can now be offered across Barnes and Noble’s entire family of NOOK products and software, including NOOK eBook Readers, third-party eBook Readers powered by the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, and NOOK software-enabled iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android smartphones, and Windows-based PCs, laptops or netbooks.

Barnes and Noble can also monitor the winners and have the obvious opportunity to respond and negotiate with the author to turn these into POD or even full print runs for their stores.

Now if you are a mid or back list author why wouldn’t you revert your rights and and ensure you control your royalties to these major channels and outside of the traditional self publishing one.

Mobile Patent Wars

Microsoft has filed a patent infringement law suit against Motorola, claiming that its Android-based handsets violate its patents it holds covering office functions. However is the gauntlet really against Google and their Android system on the launch of Windows 7?

Android proved to be very successful and clearly is capable of overtaking Apple's iOS operating system so is a clear threat to Windows 7. Apple has also launched a suit against phone maker HTC claiming that its Android handsets violated some of its patents. HTC has issued a counter-claim, saying that Apple's technology infringes HTC patents. In addition Oracle has sued Google this year, claiming that Android infringes patents it holds in the Java technology it acquired from Sun Microsystems last year.

Microsoft has filed its claim with the US District Court for the Western District of Washington and the International Trade Commission. The claim covers nine that relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphones and include the synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power. Well on that count virtually every smartphone is guilty and why Android and why now is the obvious question? Last week Apple even claimed ownership of the word POD and failed to recognise what everyone else knew.

The litigation and counter litigation culture is fast becoming a joke within the market and even those of us who believe in patents and copyright question whether the system is now being played and the only winners are the lawyers.

RIM India: Dammed if they do and dammed if they don't

We all thought that RIM had done a deal with the Indian government so it could retain its highly lucrative Indian market. We now learn that the problem is back and RIM continue to be involved in a no win situation.

According to the Economic Times site the Indian government has apparently been unable to intercept BlackBerry service communications and was the issue that brought it close to closure in India back in August. In August the Indian Department of Telecommunications gave RIM until the end of October to satisfy its demands to provide access to encrypted services the Indian government required to combat terrorist attacks and other criminal activities.

RIM remains optimistic of a positive outcome but if one isn’t found then RIM could face a critical dilemma where on one hand they could bleed customers or on the other they bleed India and one of its fastest-growing markets. So its dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t RIM.

Off the Peg or a Designer Tablet Sir?

Ok would you buy a tablet from a High Street fashion retailer? Would you buy one from a cheap reseller?

Next the UK apparel retailer is now offering a 10in Android 2.1 tablet for £180. It comes with 8GB of Flash storage, a 1024 x 600screen, 1GHz ARM processor, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity, USB ports , a Micro SD card slot, and a headphone socket. So why and how are the obvious questions?

Why is simple, why not when you have a strong retail presence a mail order arm and already sell much more than just clothes? How is also simple, in that it is just a rebadged of a far eat model, so is low risk and just a case of shifting the units. There will be a number of cheap and cheerful tablet offers in the lead up to Christmas and although the Next offer appears to be not so cheap and cheerful we think that it will not be alone for long.

It is somewhat ironic when LG announce the delay in their tablet so they can focus on their smartphone and more lucrative offer to compete with the iPhone that we have others wanting to have a slice of the tablet market. The question is whether customers want to buy a Next tablet 'off the peg' or would prefer a designer label Apple iPad, or a higher specification and practical Dell Streak or Samsung Galaxy, or a corporate BlackPad?

Where's the Value Chain in Agency Pricing?

To some the agency model appears to be the way forward and the answer to discounting of ebooks. To others it seems to not only like a step backwards towards fixed price maintenance, but similar to the boy sticking his finger into the dam and hoping it will stop the flood.

This week came an interesting piece from the Doris Booth, Editor in Chief of Authorlink titled ‘Publishers’ Agency Model Punishes Mid-List Authors’ and we recommend it be read, irrespective of your persuasion. Booth has a witty take on the conversations that may have happened between the publisher and reseller and also points out the flaw in Macmillan CEO, John Sargent’s public defence of his actions from a mid list author’s prespective.

Many analyse the maths and conclude their perspective is correct. It is hard to argue with maths, but we first must agree on the common figures which are to be manipulated and there we often unfortunately loose the will to live. We however take a very simplistic ‘value chain’ approach that views, the author putting value in at one end and the consumer putting cash in at the other. Everyone in between has to add value and justify the cash they take out, or their place in the chain. There is no divine right to exist and no matter who you are, you have to earn your place between the author and reader.

In free markets competition is healthy and although it often drives down prices and rewards this keeps everyone on their toes and ensures the consumer gets a competitive price. A fixed price market often creates pockets of fat and can result in a poor deal for those that count, the creator and the consumer, whilst making a guaranteed deal for those that should be striving to add value.

It is interesting that the agency model was introduced with Apple iBookstore and introduced contractual price fixing on ebooks and a simple way for them to calculate revenues. Why are physical books different why isn’t price fixing introduced to these and why is the consumer subjected to false regulation in one format and not in another?

Some believe the agency model creates a level playing field for all resellers. The reality is that the only level playing field is between the giant technology companies and resellers. The rest could be said the be wearing very unattractive one piece swimming costumes in a beauty contest competing with a bikini clad Amazonian. Guess who wins that contest?

The agency model like the Google Book Settlement before it appears to being force on the industry by some who some would say know best. However just like these other leaps into the dark it appears to be ill conceived and now faces review by two state Attorney Generals. Also there are tax collection issues and the need for retail pricing strategies that are often foreign to publishers. It has already been adopted by a number of large publishers and resellers, but the issues surrounding the new agency pricing may be far from over.

You Know When You've Been Googled

As the Irish Streetview went live the Irish Times quickly found two lads showing some bare faced cheek to the camera.The Irish Times pic shows the boys in unedited, while Google Streetview has now fogged over the unwelcome parts!

There Is More to Reading Than Digital

So who will adopt ebooks as their main source of reading and will they become exclusive ereaders, or will people adopt a different approach according to type of book?

This week we have two interesting perspectives. One from The Technology Review MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which offers some thoughts in their article ‘The Death of the Book has Been Greatly Exaggerated’. The second from a survey by Scholastic, who surveyed over 2,000 children ages 6 to 17, and their parents for their report 'Reading Books in the Digital Age'.

The year 2015 is fast becoming the 'Nostradamus Year' of the book. We ourselves have even have predicted that 20 to 25% of market share will be digital by then and that some sectors will be ‘digital’. Others have been more outspoken, saying that the figure will be more like 50% and some even predict that the death of the book we knew and grew up with will be sooner.

The MIT article talks of a ‘peak of inflated expectations’, which will move to a ‘trough of disillusionment’ before it grows back, through a ‘slope of enlightenment’, to a ‘plateau of productivity’. They question the disparity between actual sales statistics and claims from the likes of Amazon that ebooks are outselling hard-cover books and that they own some 80% of today’s world's ebook market.

They argue that the backlash against ebooks, by those who aren't so in love with technology for its own sake, has yet to begin, ‘Unlike the move from CDs to MP3s, there is no easy way to convert our existing stock of books to e-readers. And unlike the move from records and tapes to CDs, it's not immediately clear that an ebook is in all respects better than what it succeeds.’

It is an interesting argument and when we step back and look at music and video, we saw a migration that was in many ways forced by technology change. Once the music producers moved onto the next platform, the old one died and we all either converted our collections, or reinvested. Books are different we don’t see a mass burning of the old books to make way for the new. The eBook still has to be created by a manufacturer and digital conversion is not yet a DIY offer. The old technology isn’t going away and the market is too vast in terms of works and players and unlike many media sectors, isn’t controlled by a few.

MIT state that old books are not going away. We currently live in a front list world but is that a false world manufactured by publishers or real one responding to consumer demand? Does the reader instantly turn to the publication page and check the book is new – we think not. So when many more works become available digitally will these capture our interest at the expense of the front list and book of the month?

MIT recognise that publishers have ‘largely made it impossible, or at least difficult, to loan, trade or re-sell ebooks, for fear of piracy’. This is a major shift in consumer behaviour and is ignored at our peril. Its ironic that a time we talk about reading groups, lending books to friends and general sharing of a good books, we stop it with one fell swoop with DRM. As Christmas approaches just how easy is it to buy a ebook as a gift?

As you would expect, the Scholastic report found that the older kids (57%) spend more of their leisure time online and with their gadgets rather than reading books for pleasure, but a third said that they would read more books for fun if they had access to ebooks on an electronic device. However, two-thirds said that they would not want to give up their traditional print books. So is it access to ebooks, or access to the books by a specific device that is the block, or do we have a case of a child's intent being disconnected from their action?

Parents are key to providing the devices and encouraging their use, but the report finds that most parents believe that electronic devices take away from time their kids spend reading, being physical, and engaging with family. Also if the parents themselves aren’t users then they are not going to be committed to promoting the devices.The report found only some 6% had a device and only 16% have plans to buy one.

The report did alarmingly identify a high level of trust in information available on the Internet from the children surveyed, with some 39% of 9 to 17 year olds declaring that the information they found online was “always correct.”

Finally we must accept that readers look for different things from different works according to what they want form them and the role they are playing at the time. A student will want and use a textbook differently from their teacher, who will use it differently again to the researcher. Again we don’t just read one genre of books but are often very eclectic in our reading. The problem is that these huge differences in need are ignored by many who see just books and assume that all are the same.

Who do you think reads Comic Books and Graphic Novels ?

Reseachers Simba Information have published a report entitled, "Overview of the US Comic Book and Graphic Novel Market 2009-2010." The most startling findings is that they claim 25% of the comic reading public is over the age of 65. So are we all presuming to know the market and forgetting the silver joy riders and labelling as children's book category?

The interesting thing we can’t gleam for the press release is what will happen as these comics go omline and digital and will the same demographic split exist or shift?

It is easy to dismiss the older generation and believe that it is all about the young but with an aging population and greater time, acceptance of new technology and disposable income, the silver surfers are a force that should be focused on and not brushed aside.

press release

Sykpe and Facebook to Join Forces?

Imagine the largest social network site joining forces with the largest VOIP provider and the boost that both will get in connecting peoplei every way!

The dots will soon be joined if the partnership, according to All Things Digital, between Facebook and Skype happens. It is claimed that the companies will integrate functions enabling users to call and SMS Facebook friends from Skype, Skype will integrate Facebook Connect and users will be able to video chat with Facebook friends.

Skype claims some 124 million active users and 560 million registered users, while Facebook claims over 500 million users. The geographical strengths of each service will also create further growth for both. It also enables Facebook to gain better leverage in the mobile market. It certainly looks both a logical and win win relationship.

The user will gain free Skype basic services and free Facebook with revenue being created from click-through ad revenue and in licensing.

A Tablet a Day?

We all know that the Galapagos islands offer a unique and Darwinian experience and so its somewhat strange that Sharp has named its new tablet devices as well as a new e-bookstore, ‘The Galapagos system’.

Targeted for release in Japan the two Android tablets also include a bookstore with some 30K titles including newspapers, magazines and books. The devices are 5.5” and 10.8 and will allow for vertical writing and special Japanese characters.

Another day and another big hitter enters the Tablet races.

BlackPad Becomes A Playbook

Tablets will be somewhat confusing for many today as we all have heard or seen the iPad but now are being bombarded with competitive offers? What will differntuate one from another? Who will prevail? Are Apple the winners long term or merely the first to market?

RIM who produce the Blackberry has now announced its Blackpad or as its called Playbook.



They clearly still owns the corporate smartphone market with some 39% share in the US, so will their Playbook be adopted and dominate in a market it is familiar with and where it enjoys a solid reputation. We know many corporates that carry two phones today will this make one redundant and will corporates embrace it as a replacement notebook and a must have for the businessman on the move?

The Playbook will have a 7” screen with front and rear facing cameras to enable video conferencing. It will have Bluetooth and wi-fi. It will have no 3G capabilities but will enable a data connection to 3G networks by tethering to a Blackberry smartphone. It wil like everybody but Apple run Flash. It will have micro-HDMI and micro-usb ports.

However, it will not use the new Blackberry OS 6 operating system but QNX software, which was recently acquired by RIM. The new QNX system is designed specifically for the tablet size computer and will avoid any issues of adjustment from a smartphone OS to the tablet platform. The downside is that it is another operating system and another app barrier for some.

RIM expects to ship the device to corporate customers and developers in October and be fully available in early 2011. But the price remains under wraps and in a congested market may be an issue.

The market now includes or declared offers from Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, HTC, Acer, Google, Microsoft and Cisco. Will the app, or the technology, the connectivity, the package, the operating system or the price decide the winners and losers? We still believe that the race win be between Apple and Google and open and closed approaches. The big loser is likely to be Microsoft whose focus is still rooted to the PC World.

Seabird Shows the Near Future of the Mobile?

Where would you expect to see the future of the mobile? Some would say Apple, others Google, some HTC, or Samsung, or LG, or Motorola, but today we have a concept mobile which certainly captures the imagination and says ‘yes’ and ‘why not?’and doesn't come from any of the above.



Seabird was created by Billy May, a member of Mozilla Labs community in his spare time. Seabird is not a Mozilla or Mozilla Labs project but part of the Mozilla Labs Concept Series and like Pranav Mistry, May has looked at how we interact with technology and frustration we all have with smartphones today.

Seabird has two pico projectors which enable them to project onto a nearby screen for easier viewing and a full size virtual keyboard on to the table on which the device is docked. The users merely then users the virtual keyboard and is in many ways very similar in its virtual keyboard concept to that shown by Mistry. When the dock isn’t used the pico projectors can provide a split virtual keyboard on each side of the device.

We love the small Bluetooth dongle that slots into the back of the phone and the immediate loss of those white wires. However, the dongle does much more and can be used to control the cursor, select and zoom. Everyone would also love the concept of wireless charging and no charger.

The concept is built on Android and is shaped like a teardrop with a bulge protruding from the top at the back which is used to elevate the projector lenses.

While Mozilla says it has no intention of developing a phone like it, the technologies in it are only one step away from being packaged today and someone is bound to follow up. We want one!

Cookstr a Vertical CookWorld?

Why not have a dedicated portal just for cooking where you link cooks, recipes, restaurants reviewers and of course consumers? It makes a lot of sense and is a clear vertical which touches all.

We looked at Cookstr.com which was foundered and is headed by Will Schwalbe who was previously at Hyperion Books and before that William Morrow. He is supported by Katie Workman, who was previously Associate Publisher of Workman Publishing. The site is clean and gives the perfect meeting place to discover cooks, cookbook authors, recipes, restaurants and has profiles of the cooks, a foodie blog. The user can print off a recipe send it to a friend and will soon offer MyCookstr, where they can save recipes, make notes, and shopping lists.

At first it shows the potential of the vertical and the wealth of content available. You can buy a cookbook, but the reader is referred to a cascade of US stores to complete the purchase, which somehow breaks the connection just formed and may be fine for some but why do you want to to do it and give them a beauty contest. There doesn’t appear to be any video clips, GPS linking to nearest restaurant or links as to where you can source produce, but this is only a beta site! You can buy kitchen gifts and advertising is coming. It clearly is one step better than the cook magazine and breaks the spine of the old cookbook.

We presume the author/cook always owns the recipe irrespective of any compilation or cookbook which gives us an interesting issue when the chapter/recipe/article can be traded outside of the book.

The question we had was how you make money on the individual recipes which after all is what everyone will want especially if you can print it off for free. We also see a design that is still basically publisher centric and not consumer centric in that it has joined the cook recipe and consumer dots but missed the restaurant recipe, supplies and consumer ones. We liked it as a site and it obviously can port to a mobile app is linked to twitter and Face Book and it shows want can be done with some slick design.

WSJ views on RIM Tablet

Interesting insight from Wall Street Journal on RIM Tablet

Top Tips For Booksellers From Gothenburg Book Fair

We were please to speak at this week’s Gothenburg Book Fair and our speech followed a similar approach to that we adopted a couple of months ago in our speech in Korea. We shared the stand with; Michael Tucker CEO of US Books Inc and also President of the American Booksellers association, Susanne Meinel of the German Börsenverein, Margie Scott Tucker who is Michael’s wife and runs Marketing and HR at Books Inc and finally Johan Stenebo author and retailer with over 20 years at IKEA internationally.

Our presentation first reviewed the five common drivers that have prevailed over the last 4 years and featured heavily in the 1600 articles we have written our blog and the lessons learnt. We then once again stepped boldly forward with2020 vision into the future. Finally we offered booksellers ten tips as to what they should be considering doing in today’s Digital World.

Our 10 tips for booksellers to think about:

They may not all be right for everyone today, some may have already been started but they should all be considered and revised regularly.


1. Own the customer relationship
2. Create communities
3. Sell Books in all formats and do what is says on the tin - be independent
4. Think Mail Order on the Internet
5. Be Promiscuous
6. Stop competing with your allies
7. Forget POD and adopt DOD (Digital on Demand)
8. Price Right
9. Don’t Sell ereaders its not your business
10. Keep abreast of the digital market

All the presentations conveyed the same messages and it was interested to hear the practical steps Books Inc had taken in what many believe is the most hostile book market of Silicon Valley. Michael and Margie both conveyed that Books Inc was an ‘experience You Can’t Download.’ Their community and program involved some 1000 events a year and involved Author Events, Book Clubs, Shopping Nights , Children’s Storytimes and complimented by a full communications program.

The panel discussion and questions raised were searching and we hope to be able to offer you links to the video of the presentations shortly.

Our thanks to Lasse Winkler, Editor of Svensk Bokhandel (Swedish Bookseller) and Mats Ahlstrom, Djursholms Bokhandel (Stockholm Bookseller), for organising such a well attended and successful conference

Has HP backed the wrong horse with its Slate tablet?

A YouTube video claims to show HP's much rumoured Slate.



Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer first showed the Slate at CES inJanuary but HP then bought and the operating system waters became muddy between Palm’s webOS and Windows 7. The Slate includes front and rear cameras and USB connectivity has an Atom processor/ However the Slate is apparently still based on Windows 7and a PC environment not a touch screen one and the comprimises Windows has to make may inhibit the device’s take-up in the market.

Its interesting to note that the biggest problem Microsoft faces today is that its Windows 7 system is a compromise and unlikely to capture the emerging touchscreen market and that would significantly leave them outside of the party just when its getting hot inside. Samsung’s has its Android-powered Galaxy Tab which on the face of it is going to set the main competitive thrust against Apple’s iPad.

The video shows that it takes more than hardware to get the tablet market and HP appear to be backing the wrong horse.

Google is now going after the music business

It is rumoured that a new Google service will offer digital track and album downloads à la iTunes, on a per-track or per-album basis and also a "digital locker" streaming service allowing users a $25 per year subscription to online access to their music library via desktops or mobile devices. Any tracks purchased via the download option would also have those tracks automatically added to the locker as well.

It is claimed that Google also wants a license to allow users to listen to a full-length preview of any song once, after which they would be limited to 30-second previews and will enable users to create playlists that they can share with friends that would allow them to listen to each track in the playlist once before being limited to 30-second previews.

Google clearly are after the media space and to offer media on demand albeit books, music and of course video via YouTube

Blockbuster and Chapter 11

Blockbuster, the company that once owned the video rental business, has announced $900 million debt and that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a last chance and throw of the dice Blockbuster are now fighting for their lives in a world that has now clearly moved to movies on demand and instant access to movies on PCs and other devices.If the courts approve Blockbuster’s Bankruptcy plan it will clear its debts and only have a $125 million loan to its new ownership group and importantly access to additional $50 million credit line to finance operations.

Currently, all 3,000 Blockbuster stores in the U.S. will remain open and the company hope that this move will reposition its brand and build on its library of over 125,000 titles, and our position as the only operator that provides access across multiple delivery channels stores, kiosks, by-mail and digital.

How do such a giant as Blockbuster get into this mess? The answer is that they missed the likes of Netflix, didn’t position themselves for digital and 3,000 stores don’t count in an online world or even in a world where video disks get serviced through the mail. By the end of the year it is claimed that you will be able to stream Netflix movies on more than 100 different devices, whereas Blockbuster is on less than six devices.

It is a salient lesson to all High Street players in the media world that being the biggest and best doesn’t guarantee tomorrow only that you have further to fall.

Spanish Court Rules in Favour of YouTube

A court in Madrid has ruled that YouTube is not liable for copyright infringement for video material users have uploaded from Spanish television station Telecino. YouTube is not obliged to monitor all content and determine infringement and in ruling the court overrules a provisional ruling two years ago, which ordered YouTube to stop hosting any Telecino videos.

However, YouTube must respond quickly to claims from copyright holders about infringement and cooperate with the holders of the rights to immediately withdraw the content once the infraction is identified.

The ruling was welcomed by YouTube, which said that it was a vindication of EU laws which protect online service providers from liability for material that third parties publish. Some say that the ruling now protects copyright owners’ interests but also enables the likes of YouTube to operate and not get bogged down checking every clip.

This ruling also aligns with an earlier US District Court one that ruled similarly in their favour against Viacom. YouTube also now qualifies for similar protection in the US and in the EU. The court said that YouTube only becomes liable for infringement once it has been told of specific videos that infringe specific copyrights and that it should act to remove these from its site.

Europe however is not united on this issue, a court in Hamburg allowed a collecting society's suit to go to trial on the issue earlier this year and claimed that there "are some good reasons to think that YouTube indeed has some duty to take care of detecting illegal uploads". Also a Belgium court in 2007 ruled that ISP Scarlet should use technology to filter out of its traffic files which infringe copyright.

Safe Harbour may appear to be the easiest way to manage copyright today, but it is reactive not proactive and in effect tries to put the cat back in the bag after the event. The reality is that once the cat is out, it is out. Today’s technology there should enable ways in which we can certify authorisation, licence and track infringement and merely depending on owners to track everything, everywhere, appears to be a legal cop out.

Latest Litopia After Dark

Another Litopia After Dark session worth a listen. last Friday I joined New Zealand author Philippa Ballantine,Donna Ballman from Florida, Dave Bartram and Litopia's Peter Cox.
Its fun to do and worth a listen as usual.

http://www.litopia.com/podcast/who-blew-my-cover/

HTML5, Silverlight and Flash

Whilst many talk of HTML5 being the way ahead they forget the reasons why the likes of Adobe’s Flash and Microsoft’s Silverlight platforms have attracted their own followings. HTML5 will be the future base that is a fact but will not replace the need for Flash or Silverlight.

Silverlights 5.1 new tools enables creators to provide full surround-sound with a video stream, decode the stream and allow users to experience the full 6-channel output. Now that many devices will already be capable of handling the enhanced audio. BSkyB's Sky Player and Netflix both utilise the Silverlight patform for streaming and surround-sound could offer obvious benefit when streaming to HTPCs or internet-enabled TVs.

Corporate IT have previous objected to video video-based applications, arguing that they are complex and expensive to deploy, need a high bandwidth which could impact other critical services such as email. Adobe have now introduced Flash Media Server 4 with several feature which could make video a standard for corporate networks and address these concerns.
HTTP Dynamic Streaming, enables video files to be stored in any available Web cache locations, which means that they require less bandwidth to deliver them to individual users and allows applications to be scaled to service a larger numbers of users.
IP Multicast uses routers to broadcast a video stream to multiple clients across a corporate network. Corporate updates and messages can be delivered as video all of its employees across everywhere at the same time.

Peer-Assisted Delivery addresses’ large-scale video delivery through peer-to-peer networking such that when a user requests a video, the server will identify client with available bandwidth to receive the transmission which in turn can then pass it to other clients until it reaches the user. Thereby spreading the load.

With both Microsoft and Adobe gunning to build media platforms and Google wanting to establish Android as the mobile platform of choice it hard to see how Apple can continue to play the role of King Canute over these platforms.

How Do We Identify Digital Content?

We now have ebook identifiers in the for of ISBNs which works fine for the work itself and we can have a separate ISBN for each rendition. We have a ISTC identifier which may help to group renditions to a work but has still bee adopted and or fully embraced within the trade. We don’t have an identifier for chapters or part works and although the ISBN may work it would appear to some to be a sledgehammer to crack a nut, especially if these were not effectively linked to the work. There are other issues or opportunities to link ISBNs to licencing, permission or access rights and ownership. After all we know that there is no Rights registry and the speed that the Google Book Settlement is going this review we be probably done and dusted before any decision is made.

Some ten years ago a group tried to force the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) onto the trade as a means of identifying ebooks. This somewhat naïve approach was thankfully shot down and effectively buried but is a reminder to all that the practical approach needs to be sought and it has to benefit all not just the few.

Finally we must remember that there is now a wealth of books coming into the digital arena that never had an ISBN are public domain or orphans. Some orphans may have an ISBN today which has long reverted in the physical world. Any solution should cover not just today’s books but also yesterdays.

Earlier this year BISG's Identification Committee began a review of the International ISBN Agency recommendations for the identification of e-books and digital content. They have now announced that they have contracted with Michael Cairns to ‘conduct an objective, research-based study that describes, defines and makes recommendations for the identification of e-books in the U.S. supply chain’.

We feel that their choice of Michael, who steeped in the trade and also ex head of Bowker, is a wise choice. The challenge now is to get the common understanding of the issues, an open debate of the options and a cross industry buy in to practical solutions that can be applied not just in the US but globally within the trade.

Apple Open Up In a Flash?

We we see a reversal of a very public position we have to ask why and what the driver is. Today we have seen a significant shift by Apple towards its App developer tools and potentially Adobe's Flash.

We have all seen the logical rise of the Android platform. It may not have been the first to the market but it certainly has the right approach today to capture the ground on what looked to be a clear category killer –Apple.

Now Apple has announced that it will relax some of the restrictions it placed earlier this year on app developers and that it will also publish review guidelines for its App Store. Is this the long overdue climb down by Apple or an attempt to placate the people who feed the market – the developers.

Apple website has more than 250,000 applications for download – but previously had vermently blocked Flash but are now relaxing their rules so that developers can write programs for it without using Apple's own software.

The move has many layers to peel back. First it negates the threat of an anti-trust investigation which had looked possible after Apple blocked apps written using Adobe software tools. Second it positions Apple to slow down the clear shift to Android.

Market Reachers IDC now predict that Android will overtake Apple’s iOS platform by 2014 and will increase its current market share from 16% to 25% whilst they predict Apple’s iOS's market share will drop to 10.9%. This is obviously just a forecast but we have to acknowledge some significant sales of Android powered smartphones with the likes of selling Motorola 2.7 million and HTC 5.4 million smartphones in the last quarter and the likes of Samsung, Dell and LG still to make their impact. Andriod through its wide adoption by manufacturers is now hitting Apple both in the US and in the wider global market.

Third it potentially lifts the threat of investigation by either the United StatesDepartment of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into complaints from AdMob, an analytic firm Google purchased earlier, that it was being shut out of iOS and couldn't collect statistics about ads on that operating system.

In April, Steve Jobs published his infamous open letter to Adobe "Thoughts on Flash", which was very scathing on Flash's performance, security, reliability and usability on a touchscreen device. We welcome the new move and now hope that Flash can at last be used on the Apple platform and Steve Jobs will step back from forcing the industry to spend development effort in order to protect his business.

However we have to be cautious as exactly what Apple will allow and how it will allow it but the wind is certainly shifting and for the good of all.

Power to the ARM Chip

When you look under the hood of the mobile devices that we all read about today you will find ARM architecture. It’s in the iPhone and if it were Intel, we would have a sticker on many smartphones saying’ Powered by ARM’.

Their Cortex A15 processor may not be the next off the production line and not due out till next year and in devices maybe in 2012 but it claims to give a performance five times greater than today. This step change puts ARM into a different league and one that goes far further than mobiles. Many players such as Microsoft already licence ARM architecture and there are many questions as to whether ARM can compete at 32bit let alone move to 64bit at the top end.

It biggest mobile rival, Qualcomm, has been increasing its offer on its own ARM variant, the Snapdragon and plans to increase the speed to 1.5GHz next year.
What these moves signal is that the mobile platform is about to become even more powerful and change the way we interact with technology even more than it does already.

Someone Somewhere Just Bought a Book

The Book Depository have a live page on their website that shows what books people are buying around the world at any given moment. It's a weird experience watching windows pop up against countries and although it’s rather compelling is there a point?

Someone in UK bought " AQA AS Business Studies"
Someone in Australia bought "Star Island"
Someone in Belgium bought “Beasts of Burden”
Someone in United States bought “Getting to Yes”

In the box there is the jacket picture and details of how long ago the book was bought and what the delivery charge was.

We think there is a point. First the idea of showing what books are being sold around the world is interesting. Second being able to click on any box and be taken straight to the detailed page to qualify and buy is a sound move. Third it starts to introduce books in a random but interesting way based on purchases (just like a random reader recommends). Forth it could increase customer loyalty when they see their book is shared by other readers. Fifth it demonstrates The Book Depository’s reach and their delivery rates. Finally, its innovative and novel and refreshing to see something so simple yet so logical.

Baidu Follows in Google's Footsteps

Baidu, Inc. was created in 2000 and is ‘the’ Chinese search engine with some 75% of Chinese online queries. In April, Baidu was ranked 7th overall in Alexa's internet rankings and it provides an index of over 740 million web pages, 80 million images, and 10 million multimedia files. Baidu proactively censors its content in line with Chinese government regulations.

Baidu looks like it is following in the footsteps of Google and a look at their services start to look very familiar. They have now started an e-book adding 500 applications to its website. Readers will be able to read and store ebooks. Prices for e-books will be based on the agency model and governed by publishers but titles could be as low as 5 yuan (73 U.S. cents).

The company now intends to develop its “box computing” service, which links the delivey of content including books, video games and other entertainment, to online searches.

"Baidu" is a quote from the last line of Xin Qiji's classical Chinese poem "Green Jade Table in The Lantern Festival”. In ancient China, girls had to stay indoors and the Lantern Festival was one of the few times they could come out. In the sea and chaos of lantern lights, they would sneak away to meet their love and exchange promises to meet again next year.

Samsung: A Sweet and Easy Tablet to Swallow

When we look at Tablets we have to consider connectivity charges, functionality, portability and of course price. There will be probably two camps aligned as they are today to the mobile world one Apple the other Google and of the others, with the potential exception of Microsoft, they will capture some traffic but are unlikely to make it to the end of the race.
So we all know the limitations of the iPad and await its subsequent later models but what about the Android pack and is there a real contender that stands out today or is it to be a case of the numbers in the pack as with mobiles?



Samsung’s new Galaxy Tablet is worthy of a serious look. It has a 7” display, runs on Android 2.2 but has two significant pluses that Steve Jobs will have difficulty matching. One it can support both HTLM5 and Flash so no one is left out. Secondly it also operates as a phone which potential could reduce on-going charges and offer, albeit a bit big, a one stop device. The Galaxy weighs only 380g and offers portability for making phone calls, video calls, browsing the web, sending emails, watching TV, listening to music, reading ebooks and much more. It already has been shipping with Kobo ereading application and as a Android is perfectly capable of supporting Amazon and other Android enabled apps.

The price is still to be announced but is expected to be significantly less that the iPad and will be determined by the various operators who could offer attractive subsidies and especially those who are bright enough to offer a second SIM card option which would enable the user to use the same account to flip between their mobile and the tablet. Again something Apple appear determined not to allow through the SIM design.

So the Galaxy Tab may not be as big and ‘sexy’ as Apple’s iPad but to us it looks like a safer and better bet than Apples constant upgrade program and today’s woefully lacking iPad.

Toshiba have also announced its own tablet, the Folio 100, which also runs on Android 2.2 and is somewhat larger with a 10” display but looks to be a more expensive option to Samsung.

Forget Celebrity Books Lets Have Celebrity Book Clubs

Celebrity payola is back and they appear to be queuing up to cash in on their names and brand.

In the US Oprah Winfrey is about to make a book club comeback with her sticker going on books on September 17th . The books will of course be brand new hardbacks.

Meanwhile in the UK it appears we can’t get rid of Richard and Judy, who are bringing back their Book Club in yet another guise. On the same day the Book Club returned the duo have also categorically ruled out a return to daytime TV on which they last appeared with their Book Club mark 2 on the digital channel ‘Watch ‘in 2009. The second time they failed to capture the audience and saw their audience dropped as low as 8,000. Having worked together for 21 years on TV they have now said they had no plans to come back to television, either together or apart. Perhaps they are past their TV sell buy date?

However not only have they turned their backs on TV they believe the brand is so strong that they can exploit it even without the TV audience, celebrity couch and media attention. They honestly believe that their sticker on a book on the High Street is enough, they even have done a deal to make it an exclusive to WHSmiths. Some would suggest this is vaniety to the extreme others that the public will remember the duo and like sheep follow the two everywhere.

It is unclear what the commercials are but some would suggest someone has to pay and they aren’t doing it for free.

So we now have bypassed literary review and ignored peer review and like everyone else believe celebrities know best. Would a Jordon, Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Wayne Rooney or Peter Andre sticker sell books. We already have ghost writers so why not ghost reviewers and endorsers? Why not the Del Boy Trotter Book Club which would go well with the image of Richard and Judy and the suitcase.

Madeley and Finnegan will review a book every two weeks and post their reviews online, alongside interviews with the authors and reviews from book lovers across the UK. But what is the point and why is it exclusive to WHS? Is this the same WHS are discounting the 'Blair' best seller?

Remember that other recent celebrity book review programme with Jo Brand, Gok and company? Do we now just believe a celebrity book endorsement is the difference between success and failure and forget the content?

Ping: Social Music Networking From Apple

The world of social networking just got a new player. Apple has launched Ping, a social network based on the latest version of its iTunes software and focused on music.

Ping, builds networks of music lovers artists and aims to step into the musical shoes of MySpace. "It's a social network all about music," said Mr Jobs, on its launch in San Francisco."We think this will be really popular very fast because 160 million people can switch it on today," he said.

Apple believe that because they are already where many are buying music that Ping is a natural extension. The question however is whether the social aspect is better suited to music sharing and artists wishing to post material up to be found. Ping assumes Apple is music and this extension is a natural pull but they may be wrong Jobs billed it as a new way to discover music but maybe only if you want to buy it.
The service allows users to create their own profile on iTunes, lists friends lists and what they are listening to and concerts they attend. But is this what buyers want or is it assumption too far?

Ping will have to compete with not only Facebook, MySpace and You Tube but also the likes of Spotify and Last.fm. Not there businesses are about selling music so there may be some trick even Apple have missed.