Tim O'Reilly, of course, runs the show and this is the seventh edition of the conference. He started Tools of Change because O'Reilly needed to look to the future. eBooks are multiplying, but even more interesting is the fact that print has not gone away and it looks like the industry is coming to some kind of equilibrium. Importantly, the fear that a new thing is a bad thing … [Read more...] about Tools of Change – Keynotes
e-book
Open Standards in the Walled Garden – Epub3 Support Is Broken
Amenda Gomm and Tom McClusky of Digital Bindery presented the results of their testing of Epub 3 elements on various reading platforms. Some elements worked and some didn't. For metadata, Epub 3 offers a lot: container, publication, structure, and content. Focusing on the publication metadata, there are many optional elements, but when they put these elements into a document … [Read more...] about Open Standards in the Walled Garden – Epub3 Support Is Broken
Tools of Change – Author [R]evolution Day
Tools of Change started today. In addition to some technical workshops, something new is happening. This is "Author [R]evolution Day." It's an all-day series of talks for authors about what's going on with the publishing revolution. Tools of Change is mainly for the publishing professional and the type of content and the cost of attendance are not aimed at average authors. … [Read more...] about Tools of Change – Author [R]evolution Day
Macmillan Settles State Anti-Trust Actions for $20 Million
lt's easy to forget that each state has its own anti-trust statutes, in addition to the anti-trust laws of the federal government. Aside from the federal anti-trust case, Macmillan has been sued by a number of states for price fixing—basically the same thing they were accused of by the feds. Macmillan has settled with the 33 states bringing suit and the tab is $20 million. … [Read more...] about Macmillan Settles State Anti-Trust Actions for $20 Million
Macmillan CEO, John Sargent, Reverses Himself and Settles with DoJ (Updated)
In December, Macmillan CEO John Sargent said he wouldn't settle with the DoJ: "First, it is hard to settle when you have done nothing wrong. Much as the lawyers explain to me that settling is completely standard business procedure, it still seems fundamentally flawed to me somehow." Well, I guess the lawyers finally overwhelmed him or his protestations of innocence were a bit … [Read more...] about Macmillan CEO, John Sargent, Reverses Himself and Settles with DoJ (Updated)
Amazon Receives Patent on a Store for Selling Used Digital Objects
A number of sites are reporting on the imparting of this patent and some of them erroneously are also reporting that Amazon has been granted a patent to sell used ebooks. What the patent actually entails is outlined in the abstract of the patent: "An electronic marketplace for used digital objects is disclosed. Digital objects including ebooks, audio, video, computer … [Read more...] about Amazon Receives Patent on a Store for Selling Used Digital Objects
There’s a New Digital Magazine Store in Town – Magzter
According to Magzter, the online magazine store has a user base of 6 million and gets 35,000 downloads a day. The store started out in India and was founded by Vijaykumar Radhakrishman and Girish Ramdas. Now it has 1,500 magazines from India, Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia, the US, and the UK. It is hosted on the Amazon Cloud platform. The CEO, Girish Ramdas, is a 12-time … [Read more...] about There’s a New Digital Magazine Store in Town – Magzter
LeapFrog Launches Interactive eBooks Produced by Disney Publishing
LeapFrog Enterprises is releasing new interactive ebooks from Disney Publishing Worldwide, which is the worlds largest publisher of children's books and magazines. Dock McStuffins: Rundown Racecar and Wreck it Ralph:: Sugar Rush were produced by Disney Publishing for LeapFrog and are available in the LeapFrog App Center. They feature immersive activities and let kids be part of … [Read more...] about LeapFrog Launches Interactive eBooks Produced by Disney Publishing
Firebrand Acquires eBook Architects
Joshua Tallent's eBook Architects programs ebooks for authors and publishers. If you need your book converted to ePUB or Kindle format, then eBook Architects is the place to go. eBook Architects works with authors and publishers of all sizes, designing well-formatted, high-quality ebooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, and other devices. eBook Architects has a diverse list of clients … [Read more...] about Firebrand Acquires eBook Architects
German eBook Retailer, eBook.de, Ends 2012 With Great Final Quarter
eBook.de is a major ebook retailer in Germany. The latest report (through a Google translation) says that ebook sales tripled in the final quarter of 2012, and for the first time they sold more ebooks than printed books. A survey they conducted shows that ebook readers in the 40 to 49 year-old range accounted for 32% of sales, and those over 60 accounted for 20%. Nearly half of … [Read more...] about German eBook Retailer, eBook.de, Ends 2012 With Great Final Quarter
EditionGuard Lets Small Business Sell DRM eBooks
If you have a website and want to sell ebooks, then you need to be able to provide DRM. In many cases the author or publisher requires this for the book to be sold. However, investing in the deployment of your own DRM system is expensive (a license can be over $10,000) and is a technical challenge. Now that problem can be overcome by a turnkey system from … [Read more...] about EditionGuard Lets Small Business Sell DRM eBooks
How About an eBook Vending Machine?
That's what the two machines pictured above are. The top one, which is described as "specially made" in the article in Australia's Courier Mail, is installed in an Australian Mary Ryan bookstore. The creator expects to install kiosks at six other bookstores and also provide sales people with iPad Minis on which the staff can order books for customers in real time and have them … [Read more...] about How About an eBook Vending Machine?
Japan’s National Diet Library Will Offer Books Online
Japan's National Diet Library is moving into the digital age, with the help of bookstore operator Kinokuniya and Dai Nippon Printing. Dai Nippon is responsible for scanning the books and they will be offered for free on Kinokumiya's online bookstore. The project will start out with 13 works which will include Heiji Monogatari, a war epic composed in the 13th century, Kappa, … [Read more...] about Japan’s National Diet Library Will Offer Books Online
Amazon’s eBook Sales Up 70% Over 2011
Can't say it better than Jeff Bezos in the release on Amazon's earnings: “We’re now seeing the transition we’ve been expecting,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast – up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our … [Read more...] about Amazon’s eBook Sales Up 70% Over 2011