Dorchester Publishing Switching From Paperback to Digital Books
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that paperback publisher Dorchester Publishing has decided to all digital. Staring Monday, Dorchester will switch from mass paperback to ebooks and print-on-demand. The WSJ says Dorchester decided to make the switch to digital books after its book unit sales fell 25% last year.
Dorchester publishes 25 to 30 books a month. Nearly 65% of its titles are romance novels. The WSJ article says romance readers have been embracing ebooks. One reason why romance readers like them is "because customers can read them in public without having to display the covers."
Dorchester Chief Executive John Prebich says, "It wasn't a long, drawn out decision, because we've been putting in the effort but not getting the results."
Video: Kate Price Shows Authors How to Do a Booksigning in Style
Authors: now this is how you do a book signing. Glamour model Katie Price's second novel Paradise has zoomed to the top of the British fiction bestseller charts and we're sure the elegant ensemble she wore to her first booksigning had something to do with it. The ghostwriter (oh, come on now, you know there's a ghostwriter) is no doubt cashing her check and drowning her sorrows in a stiff drink. Take a look:
J.K. Rowling Reportedly Close to Allowing Harry Potter Ebooks
J.K. Rowling is one of the few remaing authors who have resisted ebooks. Years ago she was warning fans to avoid a fake ebook website. That was 2005 and the ebook industry has significantly matured since then. Amazon.com has sold millions of its Kindle ebook readers. Apple recently launched the iPad, which highlights ebooks as one of its many uses. Barnes & Noble and Borders both have ebook devices. Barnes and Noble has the Nook and Borders recently announced the Kobo. New ebook readers seem to launch each week.
The Booksellerreports that J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels may be on the verge of being converted into ebook formats.
Neil Blair, partner at the Christopher Little Agency (CLA) which represents Rowling, said the agency was "currently considering all the options and opportunities that this evolving space provides". The agency was "actively" looking, whereas previously it had just been "monitoring the developing area", he said.
Richard Charkin, executive director of Rowling's print publisher Bloomsbury, declined to comment on whether Bloomsbury was in discussions with the author on e-book plans, saying: "That's between us and CLA."
The pricing for Harry Potter ebooks will be significant. There has been a lot of debate about ebook prices in the industry and the prices for J.K. Rowling's ebooks could set a standard. J.K. Rowling's ebooks are also likely to set sales records.
Amazon to Remove Free Books From Kindle Bestsellers List
Publishers Weeklyreports that Amazon.com plans to remove free titles from its Kindle bestsellers list. The list is currently filled with ebooks that cost $0.00. No date for the revised list has been given but PW says a rep told them the change will take place in a "few weeks."
The Kindle bestseller list has been used by publishers to gauge consumer behavior towards e-books, as well by consumers use to point them to titles. An executive at HarperCollins said she thinks Amazon is certainly doing the right thing by splitting the list, noting that consumers "want to know what books everyone is reading, and buying," and that a list which combines free downloads and books for sale doesn't deliver this information. When asked if she thought the separation of the lists might make promotional e-book giveaways less effective, she said it might.
It was a little absurd to call free ebooks bestsellers since they are not actually sold. The current Kindle bestseller list is still showing the free ebooks.
Authors Can Quickly Fix Errors With Ebooks But Potential for Overdoing It Exists
A post on the Wall Street Journal's Digits blog says authors can update electronic versions of books for Amazon.com's Kindle. Readers who have purchased the book receive a note that the book has been updated. F. Paul Wilson, author of An Enemy of the State, calls the update capability a "thing of beauty."
In the case of his book "An Enemy of the State," an error occurred in the process of converting his book to Kindle format-the process inadvertently dropped the last three chapers before the epilogue. Readers complained to Amazon, and so it contacted Wilson to fix the Kindle version of his book.
"I've had goofs in my hardcovers in the past, but we were never able to fix them until the next printing or edition, and no way to get the changes to people who had already bought the book," says Wilson. This gaffe was fixed in a matter of days, he says.
The positive aspect of digital corrections is that factual errors in books can be easily and rapidly fixed. Digital corrections could be a negative if authors tinker constantly with their novels and readers keep receiving notes that a novel has been updated. The Christian Science Monitorwrites that the digital updates could lead to a "doomsday scenario" where a "a great work of literature is tinkered and noodled to death."
HarperCollins Signs Book Deal With Decemberists Singer/Songwriter
HarperCollins has acquired a book series by Colin Meloy, the lead singer and songwriter of The Decemberists. The three book series will be a middle-grade series illustrated by Carson Ellis. The three-book deal was negotiated by Donna Bray, Co-Publisher of the Balzer & Bray imprint at HarperCollins, with Steven Malk of Writers House, after an auction involving five other publishers. The first book is scheduled for publication in Fall 2011.
"The germ of this series goes back a long way," Meloy said. "For me, this is the culmination of a long-term collaboration with Carson, matching words and art. I grew up on a steady diet of Lloyd Alexander, Roald Dahl, and Tolkien; this is our humble paean to that grand tradition of epic adventure stories."
Colin Meloy formed The Decemberists in 2000. Their most recent album, The Hazards of Love, debuted at #1 on the iTunes Store album chart and at #14 on the Billboard 200. The band has sold more than one million albums worldwide.
President Obama's 2009 tax return was recently made public. The Washington Postreports that President Obama made about $5.5 million from his two books: Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope.
The first book -- about Obama's early life and his struggle to find a racial identity -- earned about $3.3 million in 2009. The second, a more policy-oriented book, brought in $2.3 million for the president and his family.
In 2008, the books together earned them $2.6 million.
The Post says about $1.6 million of the President's total book income came from people buying his books overseas. If you can climb to the pinnacle of politics like Barack Obama, then you too can become a bestseller.
2009 Report: Self-Published Titles Increase, Traditional Publishing Flat
Bowker has released statistics on U.S. book publishing for 2009. The data was compiled from Bowker's Books In Print database. Bowker is projecting that traditional U.S. title output in 2009 was virtually unchanged. Output of new titles and editions dropped less than half a percent, from 289,729 in 2008 to a projected 288,355 in 2009. However, there was a big jump in the number of self-published or non-traditional books published in 2009. Bowker projects that 764,448 non-traditional titles were publishing in 2009 - an 181% increase over 2008.
"The data surrounding traditional publishing suggests that the weak economy is still having an adverse effect in what and how much consumers are willing to purchase," said Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services for Bowker. "However, looking at the overall picture, we're seeing that the face of publishing itself is changing. Non-traditional publishing, especially related to print-on-demand, continues to offer new avenues and opportunities to grow the publishing industry. Given the exponential growth over the past three years, it's showing no signs of abating."
Companies like BiblioBazaar, which cranked out over 270,000 titles in 2009 - really help add to the total number of non-traditional books published.
Amazon Cuts New Ebook Deals With Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins
Reuters reports that Amazon.com has cut new ebook deals with Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins. The deals allow the publisher to set the prices for the ebooks. The agreement is similar to deals Apple is said to be cutting with publishers for the iPad's bookstore.
CBS Corp's (CBS.N) Simon & Schuster and News Corp's (NWSA.O) HarperCollins will be allowed to set their own prices for e-books under their agreement with Amazon, the report said.
Amazon, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins did not respond to requests for comment.
Ebook prices will be going up for new releases. Amazon.com has been selling new ebooks for $9.99 but with the new deal publishers are said to want to charge between $12.99 to $14.99 for new releases. That's a jump of 30% to 50%. Authors and publishers are likely to sell fewer ebooks with these big price jumps.
Time asked author Elmore Leonard ten questions. One of them was about writing advice for young writers. Elmore said, "I would say just start writing. You've got to write every day. Copy someone that you like if you think that perhaps could become your sound too. I did that with Hemingway, and I thought I was writing just like Hemingway. Then all of a sudden it occurred to me, he didn't have a sense of humor. I don't know anything he's written that's funny."
Elmote Leonard also says he first writes by hand and then types his work on an electric typewriter. He does not have a computer. Elmore Leonard also thinks writers who refuse to let their books be adapted into films are crazy. He also talked about characters and point of view. Take a look:
John Grisham has ended his long holdout on releasing ebook versions of his bestselling novels. Reuters reports that Grisham's publisher Random House announced that all 23 of Grishams' books are now available as electronic books from major retailers including Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.com.
The former lawyer, whose best sellers include "The Firm" and "A Time To Kill", had previously held off selling his books electronically, expressing concern that e-books would wipe out traditional book stores and make it harder for new writers to succeed.
But beginning Tuesday, all Grisham's fiction and non-fiction books will be available through e-book retailers, publisher Random House said.
Grisham has been critical of the ebook format. He said last year on the Today show, "If a new book is now worth about $9 then we have seriously devalued that book." John Grisham also told Matt Lauer, "If half of us are going to be doing it, then you're going to wipe out tons of bookstores and publishers and we’re going to buy it all online. I'm probably going to be all right - but the aspiring writers are going to have a very hard time getting published."
John Grisham did not give a statement now that all of his books are being sold as ebooks.
Apple's iTunes App store is a growing source for content. People download a wide variety of apps from navigation tools to shopping aids, but they also buy games and books on iTunes. Mobclix reports that the number of book apps on iTunes now outnumbers the number of games. You can see the latest chart here, which shows there are nearly 27,000 book apps on iTunes.
Penguin's digital publisher, Jeremy Ettinghausen, told the Guardian that most of the books listed on iTunes are free downloads. Ettinghausen also says "it's very easy to produce books for the iPhone" which helps explain why books outnumber games on iTunes.
Apple is hoping that when the iPad goes on sale on April 3rd more people will start buying books from iTunes.com. You can read more about how the iPad can be used as an ebook reader here.
B&N To Test Book Bundles That Include Ebook and Printed Book
Publishers Weekly is reporting that Barnes & Noble is considering a plan to bundle print books and ebooks. The digital and print book bundles will launch in about 60 to 90 days. The plan was announced by Barnes & Noble.com president William Lynch at the AAP annual meeting.
Publishers Weekly also reports that William Lynch predicts there will be less bookstores in the future but they won't completely go away.
While he predicted there will be fewer bookstores in the future, he said bookstores will never go away, agreeing with "interviewer" David Young of Hachette Book Group that bookstores are where bestsellers are made, particularly for books that are put in the front of the store.
The bookstores that remain will have to find ways to keep customer foot traffic high if they want to continue to be the place where "bestsellers are made."
Grand Central is launching a new book imprint called Grand Central Life & Style. Imprints Wellness Central and Springboard Press will be merged into the new imprint. Karen Murgolo will oversee the new imprint; she is currently the publisher of Springboard. Publisher's Weekly reports:
Topics falling into the Life & Style line will range widely, including everything from cooking to beauty & fashion to home design to fitness and parenting. Currently slated titles include Food Network star Claire Robinson's 5 Ingredient Fix and Good Morning America pet care expert Dr. Marty Becker's Your Dog: The Owner's Manual.
Grand Central's Matthew Ballast told PW that the new imprint will release between eight and twelve titles a year and will focus on more commercial titles.
Borders has reversed course and is leaving open a number of Waldenbooks that were scheduled to close. The company has been in the process of closing most of its Waldenbooks chain stores.
In early November, Borders (BGP) announced that it would close 200 of its 330 Waldenbooks stores by early January, cutting 1,500 jobs in the process. But with the new year approaching fast, the bookstore chain is changing its tune ever so slightly, and now plans to spare about 20 stores originally slated for the chopping block.
In Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, Palmer Park Mall manager Beth Samuelson told The Express-Times that store employees removed closing signs last week, and on Monday, corporate offices verified the decision to keep the store open. "It was a total surprise. All the signs saying: 'Store closing: Everything must go' all came down."
Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis wouldn't explain why some stores were remaining open or how those stores were selected. She says that the company won't be explaining the decision, so it's a bit of a mystery.
The Wall Street Journal is 
J.K. Rowling is one of the few remaing authors who have resisted ebooks. Years ago she was 
President Obama's 2009 tax return was recently made public. The Washington Post 
John Grisham has ended his long holdout on releasing ebook versions of his bestselling novels. Reuters 
Apple's iTunes App store is a growing source for content. People download a wide variety of apps from navigation tools to shopping aids, but they also buy games and books on iTunes. Mobclix 