It's a tough day to be a jerk, as Milo Yiannopoulos is still learning. The self-styled "provocateur"--which is polite speak for arrogant, flippant, sub-bridge dwelling troll--has lost both his book deal and his high-dollar CPAC speaking engagement in the course of a single day. His alleged crime? A video has surfaced which purports to show him advocating for legalization of … [Read more...] about Simon & Schuster Dumps Milo Yiannopoulos Book
Big Five
How Agency Pricing Has Affected the Bestseller Lists
Hugh Howey and Friends (that really should be a trademarked superhero team name, as you'll see in a moment) has launched the sixth quarterly Author Earnings report, a seemingly flawless look at how ebooks are actually selling on Amazon. The reports have always served to try to get a better picture of how self-published authors are actually faring in the bookselling landscape, … [Read more...] about How Agency Pricing Has Affected the Bestseller Lists
Does Agency Pricing Hurt Reading Consumers?
The publishing world is still rebounding from the effects of the DoJ suit against Apple and five of the then-Big Six publishers, and the effects of the judgement against the parties involved is still resolving itself. One of the current resolutions involves the expiration of key prohibitions against the publishers in how they deal with retailers. Following the Hachette dispute … [Read more...] about Does Agency Pricing Hurt Reading Consumers?
More Speculation on the Final Bill for Apple’s Price Fixing Problems
News was announced yesterday from the lawyers for the plaintiffs in one of Apple's side lawsuits over ebook pricing that the grand total the company could have to pay out to consumers is $400 million. This amount was disclosed after the terms of the settlement were released following Judge Denise Cote's approval of the settlement. This settlement isn't to be confused with … [Read more...] about More Speculation on the Final Bill for Apple’s Price Fixing Problems
US Publishers Earn More through Online Sales than Physical Stores
In a report from two entities that watch the publishing industry in the US, sales figures for 2013 show some surprising trends. These trends, followed by the Book Industry Study Group and the Association of American Publishers in their annual BookStats report, found several interesting changes in certain genres of the book market. Adult non-fiction made the leap above … [Read more...] about US Publishers Earn More through Online Sales than Physical Stores
Apple Requests Stay in Proceedings
After a lengthy court battle over ebook price fixing and collusion with several of the Big Five publishers, Apple's legal drama is far from over. Apple has now requested a stay of all proceedings while waiting for the appeals on two rulings handed down last month by Judge Denise Cote. The trial and subsequent proceedings have not gone well for the tech giant, with Apple's … [Read more...] about Apple Requests Stay in Proceedings
The Big Five Settled Out of Court and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
The wheels of justice do, indeed, turn slowly. Turtles stampeding through peanut butter kind of slowly. Because the end result of an investigation by the Department of Justice that first began back in 2010 has finally resulted in emails going out to customers informing them of the credits on their Amazon accounts. While I'm not sure that consumers are supposed to disclose the … [Read more...] about The Big Five Settled Out of Court and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
Death and Destruction: Overused Terms to Describe Publishing
Can we all agree that we will stop using terms like "killing" and "death" to describe the state of publishing? First, it's disrespectful to all the real cases presented in the news daily of actual killing and death. In case anyone has forgotten, we lost a prominent actor to heroin overdose recently, and news surfaced yesterday of a young girl being stoned to death in Syria … [Read more...] about Death and Destruction: Overused Terms to Describe Publishing
Canada Institutes Its Own eBook Terms with Publishers
Following the court drama of the Department of Justice investigation of five of the Big Six publishers, attorneys then lined up to file their own class action lawsuits on behalf of consumers who overpaid by millions of dollars for ebooks as a result of a conspiracy to arrange the prices on titles. While the battle is still not fully finalized in the US in terms of how much … [Read more...] about Canada Institutes Its Own eBook Terms with Publishers
Kindle Announces Potential Refunds to Customers
In a mass email to its customers yesterday, Amazon announced some good news for customers who've been awaiting news of the results of the Apple/Big Five settlement. Despite the fact that the email didn't contain any concrete information on when customers will receive account credits or when those credits will appear, it was a small reassurance to customers that the wheels are … [Read more...] about Kindle Announces Potential Refunds to Customers
Publishers Agree to Agency 2 Pricing Model
Many book retailers were put out by the requirement to write all new contracts with the publishers following the Department of Justice settlement with a handful of the Big Five, but it looks like a viable pricing model may have been found. Since those publishers were forced to abandon the "agency pricing" model, in which the publishers dictate to the retailers how much the book … [Read more...] about Publishers Agree to Agency 2 Pricing Model