Penguin unveils new Greenspan epilogue as e-book

PW reports that Penguin is releasing a standalone e-book version of the epilogue to Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence. The epilogue -- which features up-to-date commentary on current market turmoil -- also appeared in the paperback edition of the book, but for those who either own the hardcover or don't want to purchase the book, they can buy the downloadable version for $5.

(Shameless plug: Readers of my book, The PayPal Wars, will recall that it dresses down Greenspan for his own roll in creating a previous financial crisis. It's available in both paperback and Kindle e-book editions.)

Amazon launches Kindle e-book reader

The battle for e-books to gain mass acceptance took an interesting turn today as Amazon unveiled its version of a portable e-book reader. Named Kindle (a great pun if ever there were), the slim device will download books wirelessly from Amazon using the Sprint's cellular network. New releases will average $9.99 per download, and users can also subscribe to newspapers and magazines. The reader itself will cost $399, a fee which includes access to the cellular network. Kindle costs $100 more than Sony's competing product.

Lonely Planet launching chapter download service

Lonely Planet has launched an innovative new program. It's called "Pick & Mix," and it allows readers to selectively download individual chapters from their travel guides as PDF files for use on mobile devices. This seems like an e-book application that could really catch on.

Netflix for books

PW reports that at least two companies are trying to copy the Netflix business model for books -- i.e. "loaner" books are mailed directly to you to read and return when finished in exchange for a monthly subscription. Booksfree has been around since 2000 and has 96,000 titles in its library. Last month it claims to have mailed out some 40,000 packages to its subscribers. BookSwim is a younger company and only has a few hundred subscribers at this point, but unlike Booksfree it does carry hardcovers in its library.

This is an interesting business model, and it sounds like Booksfree has perhaps found a viable niche for itself. But I suspect the market will prove too small for multiple players. Shipping costs (especially for hardcovers) would seem to be a significant obstacle, and there isn't likely to be much economies of scale as a company's subscribers and library grow. Also, with direct-to-consumer retailers like Amazon keeping consumers' costs down through free shipping promotions and heavy discounting (e.g. see this regarding Harry Potter), the demand for a rent-and-return service will face pressure a lot of pressure. Finally, to the extent that e-books are finally beginning to gain traction, they will also mitigate the need for this kind of service.

E-books for kids

In a sign that the e-book market continues to develop, Disney and Scholastic will offer electronic versions of some of their children's titles.

Osteen gets huge print run, Amazon has e-book reader

OK, to the extent it's possible, I'm going to refocus on publishing news...

PW reports that Free Press (an imprint of S&S) has decided on a staggering first printing of 3 million for Pastor Joel Osteen's next book, Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life. Osteen reportedly signed with S&S for $13 million, and this book is scheduled to release on Oct. 15.

There's also another development in the never-ending e-book saga (e.g. see here, here, and here). Amazon has used the London Book Fair to unveil its own reader, which is said to be comparable to Sony's.

Latest chapter in the e-book saga

E-books will mature as a product at some point -- with so many big names pushing them, they almost have to. (Even if it's to Harper Lee's chagrin.) Sony launched its new Reader just last month, and Amazon's digital "Upgrade" service was announced at Book Expo earlier this year.

The latest news come from Adobe, which is releasing a beta version of its Adobe Digital Editions software. Besides supporting multiple formats, this software will also enable a social networking feature for shared reading lists.

Sony debuts new e-book reader

At $350 it's overpriced, but the new Sony Reader launched on Tuesday looks pretty slick and the price will surely come down over time. Harper Lee was noticeably absent from the launch event.

Will they call it an iBook?

Engadget writes that multiple sources indicate Apple is working on a new version of iPod that will allow users to read e-books. Given iPod's popularity and Apple's reputation for consumer-friendly products, this might be a positive step toward solving the oft-discussed consumer experience problem that has thus far hampered e-book adoption.

Internet reading habits

Research suggests that Internet readers view news stories in "bursts" following periodic periods of inactivity. This gives online articles a longer shelf-life (36 hours on avg.) than previously expected since readership is staggered.

What could this mean for publishers? My guess is that "burst" reading is not very conducive for books, hence the limited uptake the industry's seen for online e-books. It makes me think that the importance of developing new hardware for an e-book reader is going to be key for driving the widespread adoption of digital content.

New e-book option: Amazon Upgrade

Amazon's new "Upgrade" service is in the process of being rolled out. I alluded to this in a prior post discussing digital content, but I thought it was worth ellaborating on now that the program is ready to become widely available.

Amazon Upgrade allows purchasers of regular books to add a digital copy of the book for an extra 5-10% of the sale price. Consumers exercising this option will then immediately have access to the entire book in an online library via their Amazon account. This lets buyers access content even before their book arrives in the mail (a feature which college students working on last-minute essays will no doubt appreciate) or look up key passages in a book they own when they're away from their personal library.

While many in the industry still harbor suspicion or even hostility toward digital content, Amazon has shrewdly implemented safeguards to protect publishers and authors. Amazon Upgrade files cannot be downloaded and can only be accessed via logging in to an Amazon account (preventing file-sharing), and the number of pages that can be printed out is limited to about 30% of the book's length. But the service still sounds relatively user-friendly, as it lets consumers bookmark, highlight, and add notes to their online books.

I hope this program turns out as good as it sounds. I've just signed up World Ahead for participation, so hopefully this feature will be turned on for our books within a few weeks. In the meantime, if anyone (readers or publishers) has tried out this feature, please let me know how it worked for you.

Debating Google Book Search & free content

Last Friday the Book Standard ran an article (oddly titled "Bookseller Editor Predicts Popular Digital Reading Device in Five Years") that discussed the current debate within the publishing industry over digital content. It quotes editor Joel Rickett from The Bookseller as worrying that Google's ambitious program to make library content available online will hurt publishers, while Penguin CEO John Makinson sees it as increasing distribution channels for publishers.

There are a lot of things to criticize left-wing Google for (e.g. see my prior post about Chinese censorship), but the availability of digital content probably isn't one of them. With media fragmentation going on, being able to reach your niche (or, in the case of Google, having your niche reach you) is critical. Reasonable limits on the availability of commercial content that are coupled with buying opportunities for the consumer should be sales-additive for publishing.

Harper Lee slams e-books

Publishers Weekly reports that Harper Lee writes in Oprah Magazine that she is no fan of e-books. PW quotes the legendary author as writing: "Oprah, can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up—some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal."

I suspect that part of Lee's view is based on a generational perspective -- she is in her 80s, after all. But even as a proponent of technology I've got to cede that she makes a good point. Despite years of hype, the publishing industry hasn't made a significant shift to e-books yet in part because no hardware solution has yet been able to equal the consumer experience of reading words on bound paper.

This may be changing. At Book Expo last month, it was evident that major tech companies are eager to rethink the e-book concept -- and it sounds like publishers may be ready to work with them. Amazon unveiled a new program called "Amazon Upgrade" that will allow purchases of printed books to also access the content online in digital format for a small additional fee. Google's book search program seems to be gaining acceptance in spite of fierce lobbying by techno-phobes in the industry against it. Microsoft is also on board with offering technology similar to what Google is doing. And hardware companies such as Sony are also continuing to refine portable e-book readers into more user-friendly formats -- the adoption of which will likely be aided by the explosion in popularity of portable devices such as web-enabled cell phones and Ipods.

Technology marches on, and as a publisher who has to spend 10-20% of his company's revenues on printing-related costs for each project, let me say that I hope it marches faster! But even with signs that the e-book concept is about to be revamped, Harper Lee doesn't need to worry that the printed word will vanish any time soon.