Unless you’ve been living deep in the Amazon (the rainforest, not the retail giant), you have probably heard… and heard… and heard… about Amazon vs. Hachette. There have been op-eds. Stephen Colbert rants. Letters from angry authors. Counter-letters from angry authors. You should be rooting for Amazon, says some. No, you should be rooting for […]
End of Publishing As We Know It
The Publishing Industry Is Not Deserving of Special Protection
It’s rare that I disagree with or don’t defer to the experience and wisdom of publishing industry sage Mike Shatzkin, who has been prescient about the transition to e-books and adept at explaining its effects and future effects on the industry. But in a recent post, he expressed frustration at the failure of recognition on […]
This Week in Books 10/25/12
It’s been a while since I’ve done a link roundup, but I’m starting to get settled in New York and hope to begin moving to a slightly more normal schedule. Famous last words! These links may stretch back a while. Random Penguin? Penguin House? People have long speculated that there would be consolidation in the […]
What Will the Book World Look Like After the DOJ Lawsuit?
Whew! Thanks to everyone for all of your comments, Tweets, Pins, and for making Jacob Wonderbar week fun! If you’re in San Francisco don’t forget about the launch party tonight at Books Inc., hope to see you there! And there’s still time to enter the Pinterest sweepstakes. Meanwhile… I guess there was some teeny tiny […]
Why the Harry Potter E-books Are and Aren’t a Really Big Deal
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the last tome of a hardcover that I lugged around on vacation. It took up seemingly half my suitcase and weighed a ton, but because it wasn’t available in e-book form and because I don’t believe in piracy, I carried that thing across the country. Now I’m thrilled […]
Why the DOJ’s Potential Lawsuit Over the Agency Model is a Really Big Deal
It’s difficult to overstate how big of a deal it is to bookselling culture that the Department of Justice is reportedly planning to sue five publishers and Apple for colluding over e-book prices*. In order to understand why this is a big deal, here’s a brief recap of what led us here (this summary is […]