E-Books on Tablets Fight Digital Distractions – New York Times – Julie Bosman & Matt Richtel
People who read e-books on tablets like the iPad are realizing that while a book in print or on a black-and-white Kindle is straightforward and immersive, a tablet offers a menu of distractions that can fragment the reading experience, or stop it in its tracks.
Interesting article! Be sure to read both pages.
Random House Raises E-Book Wholesale Prices Significantly – Publisher’s Lunch – Michael Cader
Random House announced their library ebook pricing, effective as of March 1, which will dampen some of the enthusiasm for the house’s commitment to the “unrestricted and perpetual availability of our complete frontlist and backlist of Random House, Inc.” in ebook form. The new prices, which librarians tell The Digital Shift represent up to a tripling, are calibrated to “bring our titles in price-point symmetry with our Books on Tape audio book downloads for library lending. These long have carried a considerably higher purchase price point than our digital audio books purchased for individual consumption.” The new price structure for library wholesalers is:
- New hardcovers, “for the most part” are $65 to $85.
- Titles available for several months, or generally timed to paperback release, move to a range of $25 to $50.
- New children’s hardcovers are $35 to $85.
- Older children’s titles and children’s paperbacks are $25 to $45.
The response to this depends on the various libraries, and also each library’s ebook lending patterns from patrons. Pricing levels, of course, will adjust accordingly.
James Atlas Joins Amazon Publishing; Atlas & Co. Stops Releasing New Titles – Publisher’s Weekly – Calvin Reid
According to accounts from sources, James Atlas, founder of the independent publishing house Atlas & Co., has joined Amazon Publishing and his indie house has stopped releasing frontlist titles. Atlas is said to have reached an agreement with Amazon’s Larry Kirshbaum to publish a series of short biographies for Amazon Publishing.
Hmmm…
Introducing Paragon Books: Little Learners! These books are geared toward babies’ and toddlers’ development, including
I think this is absolutely precious, and I’m thrilled to see that not everything has gone digital, especially for children. A very important part of childhood cognitive development (from what I’ve learned in many of my psychology classes) is interaction with the physical world. This includes sights, sounds, touching various textures, discovery – these things aren’t fully developed (especially touch) with e-technology.
BISG Report: Book Purchases Up, but Not From Bookstores – Publisher’s Weekly
Consumers who read e-books are increasing their purchase of books—both print and e-book formats—online and especially through in-app purchasing, and decreasing their use of brick-and-mortar stores, according to the first installment of Volume Three of the Book Industry Study Group’s “Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading” survey.
I think it’s very interesting that, when e-readers first appeared, the public cried over the “loss of the print book” (I know I definitely did). But, as this study shows, print book purchases are increasing! This could be for multiple reasons. From my experience, I’d say it’s because if I liked a book I read on my Nook, I ended up buying a print version to display on my shelves.
London Review of Books: Charlotte Brontë’s lost manuscript L’Ingratitude – available to read in French and English
The Guardian: Charlotte Brontë’s lost short story to be published
A long-lost short story written by Charlotte Brontë for a married man with whom she fell in love is to be published for the first time after being found in a Belgian museum a century after it was last heard of.
The tale, written in grammatically erratic French and entitled L’Ingratitude, is the first-known piece of homework set for Brontë by Constantin Heger, a Belgian tutor who taught both her and her sister Emily, and is believed to have inspired such ardour in the elder sibling that she drew on their relationship for her novel Villette.
Per the Trend, Penguins Sales are Roughly Flat as Profits Rise – Publisher’s Lunch – Michael Cader
For the full year, ebook sales “doubled on the previous year and accounted for 12 percent of Penguin revenues” worldwide, and “more than 20 percent in the US” and they “expect this percentage to increase significantly again in 2012.”
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Alongside the “fantastic” peformance at DK, Makinson said that children’s publishing “was very strong…around the world,” and is “one of the few areas of the market continuing to show very healthy trends.” In the US, Penguin USA ceo David Shanks added that their children’s group “actually sold a lot more books than they had the previous year, even without Borders” in the marketplace.
Study: Increasingly, children’s books are where the wild things aren’t – Science Codex – U of Nebraska-Lincoln
Was your favorite childhood book crawling with wild animals and set in places like jungles or deep forests? Or did it take place inside a house or in a city, with few if any untamed creatures in sight?
A new study has found that over the last several decades, nature has increasingly taken a back seat in award-winning children’s picture books — and suggests this sobering trend is consistent with a growing isolation from the natural world.
A group of researchers led by University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociology professor emeritus J. Allen Williams Jr. reviewed the winners and honor books receiving the prestigious Caldecott Medal from the award’s inception in 1938 through 2008. In total, they examined nearly 8,100 images contained in nearly 300 books. Caldecott awardees are the children’s books judged by the American Library Association to have the best illustrations in a given year.
This makes me a little sad! At a time when we should care about our environment the most, the books are reflecting our neglect!
Are Teens Embracing E-books?: The Digital Divide – Publisher’s Weekly – Karen Springen
A recent PubTrak survey from R.R. Bowker indicated that teens remain reluctant when it comes to e-books. Accustomed to social media, they find that electronic stories have “too many restrictions,” according to the report. But many industry players—agents, booksellers, publishers, and authors—are saying just the opposite: digital sales are booming for YA fiction.
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As for the dreaded cannibalization of print, it does not appear to be happening in YA. “The whole pie grows,” says Hilt. “There’s a lot more evidence that users are going back and forth between digital and physical. People are now buying more books when they become digital readers. The key is to have the book available in all formats.”
The goal for books of any format is to create more readers. The article is very optimistic that more and more teens will embrace the e-reading experience. The YA market is expanding, and it also allows for any self-conscious adults who may otherwise steer clear of the YA/children’s section of bookstores to browse more freely with e-readers.
News from…everywhere.
Scribbles & Wanderlust 