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Explaining my skepticism about the likelihood of success for a general subscription model for ebooks

July 22, 2012 by Jess 4 Comments

In a prior post, I observed that the apparently-successful subscription offerings for books were in niches. And I said I believed that a more general subscription model wouldn’t work for ebooks the way it has seemed to work for music (Spotify), movies and TV shows (Netflix), and audiobooks (Audible). By that I meant two things. […]

Filed Under: Authors, Direct response, eBooks, General Trade Publishing, Licensing and Rights, Supply-Chain Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon Prime, Audible, Bloomsbury, Books24x7, F+W Media, Grove/Atlantic, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle Owners Lending Library, Leonard Shatzkin, Lonely Planet, Neteflix, Norton, Rosetta Books, Scholastic, Simon Lipskar, Spotify, Workman/Algonquin, Writer's House

Subscription models seem to me to be for ebook niches, not a general offer

July 16, 2012 by Jess 32 Comments

Another fledgling ebook retailing venture came through our office this month touting a subscription proposition. I told the entrepeneur “I’m skeptical of the subscription model for ebooks,” and he said, “I know”. We had a great chat, but I’m still skeptical. When I say that, I mean I’m skeptical that a general offering subscription model […]

Filed Under: Direct response, eBooks, General Trade Publishing, New Models, Publishing History, Supply-Chain, Vertical Tagged With: Angry Robot, Audible, Baen Books, Book-of-the-Month Club, continuity series, Discover a New Love, Disney Digital Books, Dzanc, F+W Media, Harlequin, iTunes, Literary Guild, Netflix, O'Reilly, Osprey, Pearson, Recorded Books, Safari, Sesame Street eBooks, Sourcebooks, Spotify, TED conferences, The Atavist, Time-Life Books

Selling direct will become an essential capability for publishers to have

June 18, 2012 by Jess 35 Comments

One question on which I have had a long-standing difference of opinion with most of my friends in the biggest publishing houses — or at least with their publicly-stated views — is whether it is sensible for them to sell direct to end consumers. That conversation was joined last week among three very smart people […]

Filed Under: Direct response, eBooks, General Trade Publishing, New Models, Supply-Chain Tagged With: "The Lean Startup", Andrew Rhomberg, Dominique Raccah, Eric Ries, F+W Media, Fritz Foy, Jellybooks, Macmillan, Madeline McIntosh, Random House, Seth Godin, Sourcebooks, Vogue Knitting Magazine

Publishers Launch conference at BEA will cover a wide range of digital change issues

May 29, 2012 by Jess 7 Comments

What are the important topics to discuss today concerning publishing and digital change? I think we’ve got most of them covered at Publishers Launch BEA, the one-day conference we’ll stage at the Javits Center next Monday, June 4. Our all-day event has sixteen distinct presentations and panels. There may be a topic of interest to […]

Filed Under: eBooks, General Trade Publishing, Global, Industry Events, Licensing and Rights, New Models, Publishers Launch Conferences, Supply-Chain Tagged With: "What Technology Wants", Aerbooks, Amanda Close, Baker & Taylor, Blanca Rosa Roca, Bowker, Carolyn Pittis, Chris Bauerle, Chris Dufault, Citia, cloud services, Codex, Comixology, Copyright Clearance Center, Curtis Brown, Dan Vidra, David Cully, David Steinberger, David Wilk, David Wolfson, F+W Media, Fritz Foy, Hachette Book Group USA, HarperCollins, Hugh McGuire, Ingram Content Group, Jack Perry, Javier Celaya, Jean Naggar Agency, Jennifer Weltz, Joe Mangan, Kelly Gallagher, Ken Michaels, Kevin Kelly, Kindle, Kobo, Laura Daily, Laura Hazard Owen, Linda Holliday, Macmillan, Michael Cader, Michael Healy, Michael Tamblyn, Molly Barton, PaidContent, Patricia Arancibia, Penguin, Perseus, Peter Hildick-Smith, Phil Ollila, Pressbooks, Publishers Lunch, Publishing in the Cloud, Random House, Rick Joyce, Ron Martinez, SaaS, Sara Domville, Scott Stein, Semi-Linear, Simon & Schuster, Simon Lipskar, Sourcebooks, textr, Tim Knowlton, Tor.com, USA Today, Waterstone's, Writer's House

There’s no level playing field without agency pricing, and not in the way you think

May 17, 2012 by Jess 43 Comments

In the 1990s, Bernie Rath was the head of the American Booksellers Association. (Bernie was not a popular man across the industry. Lawsuits about trading practices that troubled publishers really began with him.) He pushed the idea that publishers should stop printing prices on the books. Bernie’s logic was very simple. He pointed out that […]

Filed Under: eBooks, General Trade Publishing, New Models, Publishing History, Supply-Chain Tagged With: Amazon, American Booksellers Association, Baen Books, Bernie Rath, Ellora's Cave, F+W Media, Harlequin, Leonard Shatzkin, Markus Dohle

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Mike Shatzkin

Mike Shatzkin is the Founder & CEO of The Idea Logical Company and a widely-acknowledged thought leader about digital change in the book publishing industry. Read more.

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