E-book sales are showing an "explosive rise" for a number of publishers, according to Crain's New York (via iReaderReview.com), which reported that at Random House, "September 2009 sales (of Kindle e-books) were $22.6 million--a huge increase from a year ago when they were just $2.9 million. The Lost Symbol was a huge part with 100,000 e-book sales in its first week out (5% of total sales). In first half of 2009, Random House Kindle e-book revenue grew 400% from a year ago."
Anticipating the impact of e-book sales on this year's holiday retail climate and beyond, iReaderReview.com observed:
- We’re either in the middle of, or at the beginning of a huge tipping point--either Holiday Season 2009 or the year of 2010. By end 2010 e-book sales ought to be 10-20% of total sales.
- Publishers need to start figuring out how to survive on $7-$8 per e-book sale.
- Publishers should have a contingency strategy in case their take on e-books falls to $4-$5 per e-book.
- A huge opportunity for new companies to become successful publishers.
- The hard numbers are not the only sign that we’re seeing an intensification--lots of people are wondering about the shift, including more articles on the magic of physical books.
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There's no place like your home page for the holidays. The Associated Press (via KFDM6-TV) reported electronics will top gift lists for travelers this holiday season, and noted that Priscilla O'Reilly, a spokeswoman for the Overseas Adventure Travel tour company, "says a Kindle ($260) or other electronic reader is great for travelers who love to read on the road but who don't want to lug books around. Netbooks, which are small and less powerful than regular laptops, are another splurge gift, lightweight to carry and easy to use in cramped spaces like tray tables."
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In a piece headlined "Library in a Pocket," the New York Times asked the question many industry observers have been pondering in recent months as more e-reading devices hit the market: "Does the future of book reading lie in dedicated devices like the Kindle, or in more versatile gadgets like mobile phones?"
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Cool idea of the day: The always innovative (and entertaining) Green Apple Books & Music, San Francisco, Calif., is donating 100% of the profits from sales of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life to the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, according to the Green Apple Core blog.
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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her new book may be dominating national media attention this week, but back home in Anchorage, "the emergence of new bestsellers priced for cheap and the rise of digital books are prompting bookstore owners in the state's largest city to rethink their stores and position themselves for an uncertain future," the Daily News reported.
"It's like a perfect storm," said Julie Drake, co-owner of Title Wave Books, who told the Daily News that "she and her husband, co-owner Steve Lloyd, began thinking hard about their future last spring, soon after the recession hit Alaska and hurt their sales. The first e-book reader, Kindle, had launched the previous spring. The couple decided to return to Title Wave's origins as a used-book seller. They stopped buying most new books--Alaska books are still on the menu--and non-paper novelty gifts. They lowered their prices. In making the changes, the couple returned to what they loved doing the most."
"We enjoy being hands-on with the used books. It's like a treasure hunt," she said.
Regarding the influx of e-book readers, David Shimek, owner of Metro Music and Books observed: "I think there will always be booksellers. In some ways books are actually better positioned than a lot of other products . . . most people would rather have a book than a computer screen to look at. A friend of mine purchased a Kindle a few weeks ago and now he's scratching his head, wondering where he left it. I don't know what happens when you lose your Kindle but I don't think it's good."
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Graphic Arts Center Publishing "filed to liquidate in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Portland [Ore.] on Friday, less than three years
after it reorganized under bankruptcy protection," the Oregonian reported.
"They're
having a hard time like everyone else," said Michael Powell, owner of
Powell's Books. "They did every cost cutting thing they could do."
Powell,
who had been on the publisher's board until early this year, "blamed
its demise on declining book sales, the difficult economy and fewer
independent bookstores, which was 'the bread and butter for them,'" the
Oregonian wrote.
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New York indie booksellers Marva Allen of Hue-Man Bookstore, Christine Onorati of WORD and Sarah McNally of McNally Jackson were guests on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show, where they discussed "their business and the first Independent Bookstore Week NYC."
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Karen Hall and Chris Walker are the new owners of Black Bear Books, Boone, N.C. The Mountain Times reported that the couple "have owned property in the area for nine years, often visiting in the summer, and they decided it was time to settle down and find a way to spend their time and energy in Boone."
"We were up here this summer and wanted to find something to do," said Hall said. "I've been in a lot of bookstores, but this was the first one I thought I'd like to own."
"We both love books," Walker added. "We're big readers. We want to settle in and learn, and it's been great so far. We've met a lot of wonderful people."
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Two more novels by this year's Nobel laureate, Herta Mueller, will be available in English translations. The New York Times reported that Metropolitan Books has acquired rights to Everything I Possess, I Carry With Me (Atemschaukel), which will be published in September, 2011; and The Fox Was Always a Hunter (Der Fuchs War Damals Schon Der Jager), to be released in September, 2012. Philip Boehm will translate the books.
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It's a cold, cold virtual world indeed. The New Oxford American Dictionary chose Facebook's "unfriend" as its 2009 Word of the Year, according to the OUP blog.
"It has both currency and potential longevity," observed Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxford’s U.S. dictionary program. "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. Most 'un-' prefixed words are adjectives (unacceptable, unpleasant), and there are certainly some familiar 'un-' verbs (uncap, unpack), but 'unfriend' is different from the norm. It assumes a verb sense of 'friend' that is really not used (at least not since maybe the 17th century!). Unfriend has real lex-appeal."
Other finalists for this year's Word of the Year included hashtag, netbook, paywall, sexting, freemium, zombie bank, birther, ecotown and deleb.
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O'Reilly Media and Ingram have signed a new multi-year distribution agreement--effective November 30--designed to support and expand O'Reilly's previously announced distribution and publishing deal with Microsoft Press.