Eoin Purcell's Blog

Icon

It's that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable.

November 1, 2011 • 9:41 am 0

Go Read This | HarperCollins’ Acquisition Of Thomas Nelson Is An Investment In Digital | paidContent

You should read the full piece, but I don’t buy the logic. HC would be far better off spending considerably less on a decent design/code house that would bring expertise inside or even in buying the time of an outside house in full than attempting to integrate a large publisher facing all the same issues it faces itself to acquire digital innovation know-how. Two better reasons present themselves for this move, the first, content acquisition and lots of it and the second defensive market consolidation.

HarperCollins is acquiring Christian publisher Thomas Nelson—publisher of the mega-bestselling Heaven Is For Real—for an undisclosed sum in a deal that will be finalized by the end of the year. Thomas Nelson has been on the forefront of experimentation with digital publishing, and HarperCollins is buying not just the company but also that digital experience.

via HarperCollins’ Acquisition Of Thomas Nelson Is An Investment In Digital | paidContent.

Filed under: Business, , , , , ,

August 8, 2011 • 6:29 pm 28

The Opportunity Apple Just Created For Publishers

Apple did book big book publishers a favour some time ago when, by giving the big six leverage over Amazon (with the launch of their new ebook platform iBooks), they enabled those large publishers to enforce Agency pricing for ebooks.

That gave the big six the power to set prices and extract a higher share of the revenue from their sales then had been the case for print books. It was a major moment in the development of the ebook market and one that has received a lot of attention and, at least from within the industry, a lot of praise.

Apple’s more recent decision to enforce tough rules on in-App sales of content has been less popular. It has forced Amazon, Google, B&N and Kobo among others in publishing and other creative industries, to change their Apps to disable links to their ebook or content stores. Further it made it impossible for an ebook retailer to sell an ebook through the Apple in-App purchase system without giving 30% to Apple. Nasty eh?

The opportunity this created and that everyone missed , even me (till this weekend when it dawned on me), is for publishers to go direct to consumers and launch their own apps selling ebooks to readers.

Think about it, ebook retailers cannot make money from selling ebooks via Apple’s in-App sales because their margins simply won’t stretch that far. In the case of Agency titles they would be losing money, even on self-published works they might be losing money. However, a publisher, selling direct through their own app, or even a branded app in partnership with a number of other publishers in a given genre, could easily afford the 30% charge and even an administration charge too so long as it was kept low.

Apple has shifted the economics of the App-economy to disintermediate the distributors and empower the content producer. Sure, in doing so they have gained power and revenue potential for themselves, but they have created an opportunity for a savvy publisher who has a brand that readers identify with.

It’s interesting that no-one has written about this yet. I suspect that might be because some of them are working on just that kind of app …

Fine evening here,
Eoin

Image Credit
AttributionNoncommercialShare AlikeSome rights reserved by feureau

Filed under: Publishing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 2, 2011 • 5:06 pm 0

Ebury reveals Less Ordinary digital list | The Bookseller

There’ll be a lot more of this, or at least you’d hope there will be, as publishers look to profit from their existing content in more ways. This is a pretty good example of what an established player can do with a bit of application and thought:

Ebury has launched a digital imprint, initially focusing on abridged versions of Eburys narrative non-fiction titles, called Lives Less Ordinary. Deputy publisher Andrew Goodfellow is behind the new range of digital shorts, which has begun by releasing 10 titles. The titles will be from 3,000 to 20,000 words, and will be priced under £1.99 on a sliding scale, according to length.The launch titles comprise How to Understand Paul Gascoigne by Danny Baker, How to Win the Worlds Greatest Road Race by Mark Cavendish, How to be an NYPD Drugs Cop by Edward Conlon, How to Hunt an LA Gangland Killer by Miles Corwin, How to Seduce Marilyn Monroe by Tony Curtis, How to Escape a Taliban Ambush by Paul Grahame and Damien Lewis, How to Become an Internet Billionaire by David Kirkpatrick, How to Survive on Tour With a Rock Band by Stuart Maconie, How to Live Forever by Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham and How to be a Modern Man by Danny Wallace.

via Ebury reveals Less Ordinary digital list | The Bookseller.

Filed under: Future of Publishing, , , , , ,

July 24, 2011 • 3:45 pm 0

Go Read This | What’s a book? It’s whatever you want it to be — Tech News and Analysis

In case you missed it, stop thinking book or ebook and think, content and the many ways to sell it:

This kind of “format shifting,” in which a newspaper or magazine takes content that has already been published and reformats it for the Kindle or some other device, makes a lot of sense. That content can theoretically reach readers who might never have picked up the newspaper or magazine, or who missed it when it was first printed, or who want to read it in book form while sitting on their couch or at the beach rather than on a computer. And if the cost is low enough, they will be willing to pay for that convenience.

via What’s a book? It’s whatever you want it to be — Tech News and Analysis.

Filed under: Books, , , , , ,

July 4, 2011 • 11:40 am 0

Go Read This | 7 Platforms Changing the Future of Publishing | Brain Pickings

Rushing to finish things, but this is worth a read. If I was betting I’d wager on Byliner and Red Lemonade, in both cases because I think they use the web to best effect AND show signs of having thought through the implications of digital distribution on publishing and the industry around it. I could be wrong, but that’s my two cents as it were:

Depending on whom you ask, these are either the best or the worst of times for the written word. As with every other branch of traditional media, the Internet has pushed the publishing industry to a critical inflection point, something we’ve previously discussed. Disrupting the mainstream marketplaces for journalism, literature, and the fundamental conventions of reading and writing themselves, here are seven startups that promise to reshape the way we create and consume ideas.

via 7 Platforms Changing the Future of Publishing | Brain Pickings.

Filed under: Future of Publishing, , , , , , ,



View Eoin Purcell's profile on LinkedIn

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,168 other followers

My Twitter

Eoin Recommends

Tom Holland

If, like me, you love good history, then Holland provides quality narrative history of a type rarely seen. Well worth reading all his work. Here

LibraryThing

Book geek social network. Search for books and jump to their descriptions or buy them, join one of the many conversations on the forum or simply catalogue, tag and share your library of books.

Patrick Rothfuss

If you like epic fantasy with realism mixed well with magic, then The Name of the Wind is for you.

RSS & Syndication

RSS allows you to read my blog in a feed reader.
Subscribe to Eoin Purcell's Blog
Or try subscribing by e-mail:
Subscribe to Eoin Purcell's Blog by Email

If you don't know what that means check this out: Here

Archives

Categories

 

February 2012
M T W T F S S
« Jan    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
272829  
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 4,168 other followers