Barnes & Noble Launches World’s Largest eBookstore
Introduces “Every Device” Strategy
Upgrades eReader Application
Free Downloads
Announces eBookstore Partnership with Plastic Logic
New York, New York – July 20, 2009 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, announced today the launch of the Barnes & Noble eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks), the world’s largest eBookstore, on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), enabling customers to buy eBooks and read them on a wide range of platforms, including the iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry® smartphones, as well as most Windows® and Mac® laptops or full-sized desktop computers. In addition, Barnes & Noble announced that it will be the exclusive eBookstore provider on the forthcoming and much anticipated Plastic Logic eReader device.
Barnes & Noble’s launch encompasses:
* Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore offering its customers seamless access to more than 700,000 titles, including hundreds of new releases and bestsellers at only $9.99, making it the world’s largest selection of eBooks available in one place. The company expects that its selection will increase to well over one million titles within the next year, inclusive of every available eBook from every book publisher and every available eBook original, which is a fast growing marketplace.
* More than a half-million public domain books from Google, which can be downloaded for free. Readers can discover and explore this rich treasure trove, including everything from classic works by well-known writers to long-forgotten and obscure titles that are historically much harder to access.
* An upgraded version of its eReader application, which was part of the company’s Fictionwise acquisition earlier this year. This device-agnostic eBook application supports both wireless and wired access to the new Barnes & Noble eBookstore. Millions of internet-enabled devices are currently supported by eReader, including the nation’s two leading smartphone device families from Apple and BlackBerry®, as well as most Windows® and Mac® laptops or full-sized computers.
* First-time users of the eReader will have the opportunity to download free eBooks, including titles such as Merriam-Webster’s Pocket Dictionary, Sense and Sensibility, Little Women, Last of the Mohicans, Pride and Prejudice, and Dracula. See site for further details.
* A strategic commerce and content partnership with Plastic Logic, whose eReader device is especially designed for business professionals. Barnes & Noble will power the eBookstore for the Plastic Logic eReader device. The ultra thin 8.5 x 11 inch wireless eReader is slated to debut in early 2010.
* The free, full-featured B&N Bookstore app for iPhone and iPod touch users, which is now the #1 downloaded book app in Apple’s App Store. In addition to enabling customers to easily place orders for books, movies, and CDs, the app also lets users search millions of products simply by snapping a photo. Using the iPhone’s camera, customers can snap a photo of the front cover and within seconds get product details, editorial reviews, and customer ratings – even find and reserve a copy in the nearest store. The app also includes a store locator, bestseller lists, book recommendations, and a store events calendar.“Today marks the first phase of our digital strategy, which is rooted in the belief that readers should have access to the books in their digital library from any device, from anywhere, at any time,” said William J. Lynch, President of BN.com. “As America’s #1 bookstore and newsstand, our goal at Barnes & Noble is to build a service that revolves around the customer, enabling them to have access to hundreds of thousands of titles and read on their smartphone, PC, and many other existing and future devices. We want to make eBooks simple, accessible, affordable and convenient for everyone.”
Новости электронного книгоиздания
Цифровые книги: производство и экономика
Амазоновский садик за колючий проволокой станет экзотикой: B&N заключил соглашение с Plastic Logic
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Студия WALRUS сделала в iBooks Author журнал
Смотреть, естественно, можно только в iBooks на iPad. Или как PDF ;)
Даже крохотное сумасбродное издательство занялось буктрейлерами: Ritual America – Feral House
Реклама новой книжки Feral House о масонской Америке.
Сет Годин о непиратстве
Web users have been trained long enough to know what they want: everything.
That’s the promise of the web. Every book for sale at Amazon. Every search result visible on Google. Every auctioned item right there on eBay.
Not piracy. Availability.
The music industry got confused about this and decided that people merely wanted to steal music. What’s clear now from the rise of iTunes as well as ad and subscriber-supported services like Spotify is that people will happily pay as long as it brings most everything along for the ride.
And Netflix shows us that subscriptions are generally more welcomed than a la carte sales.
Into this world walks the MPAA, the movie business and the folks who make books.
And once again, there’s the same mistake: they think piracy is the problem. It’s not. The problem is that these providers are doing nothing to embrace ubiquity, because their heritage is all about scarcity.
When the VHS came along, the MPAA insisted that the movie industry would be killed by it. They finally listened to the market and made a fortune. And when DVD came along, the same thing happened. Form factors change and the business model that supports them must change as well. The business model for an ebook can’t possibly be the same as it is for a paper book, despite the best efforts and hyperventilation of a few overpaid book publishing executives.
When in doubt, move toward ubiquity. When wondering, favor subscriptions.
Readers will pay.
Moviegoers will pay.
If you give them what they want, which is everything, right now, easily found and discussed.
Исландия – наше будущее
Finally, one of the biggest reasons why the Icelandic publishing industry is so vibrant is almost counter-intuitively that Icelandic authors are underpaid . . . and accept it. Before the translation boom, the only way even bestselling Icelandic authors could expect to make a (slim) living off of their books was through government grants and a day job.
К вопросу о голодных авторах.
Вниманию @falanster: продажи эл.книг независимыми книжными магазинами растёт. В США
Matt reported that the percentage of ebook sales to total sales on ABA member web sites rose from 0.7% to 5.2% in 2011. That’s a 750% increase, which is impressive even though the Google eBook capability kicked in during that year. But it is also actually understated, because the total volume of business on these sites rose by 82%. So the share increase of 750% is in an environment where total sales nearly doubled.
Онлайн торговля челнов Американской ассоциации проадцов книг выросла в 2011 году на 82%, при этом продажи ими электронных книг выросли в 7,5 раз и составили 5,2% выручки. Думаю, российским книжным магазинам, за исключением, разве что, «Москвы», до этого пока оооочень далеко. Хотя бы потому, что у них и онлайновых магазинов-то почти нет. Но почему бы не задуматься?
Клондайк
When I phoned Neil Gaiman last week to ask him about the stramash over Apple’s new iBooks Author app , he said publishing these days was like “the Klondike. Nobody knows what’s going on. All they know is that there’s gold in them thar hills and they want to try to get hold of it.”
Очень точное сравнение. Не потому что Нил Гейман, а потому, что ровно то же самое, только по-русски, сказал мне мой друг, издатель, который The Guardian не читает, несколько дней назад. Правда, он ещё пожелал не застолбить случайно «минусовый» участок…
Новости электронного книгоиздания в Google Currents. Подписывайтесь ;)
Currents users can find your edition by visiting this link on their device’s browser:
Или короткий урл: http://goo.gl/AvhR6
Александр Иличевский: Монолог про электронный контент
Как писатель я даже заинтересован в том, чтобы мои тексты выходили в электронном виде. Мои книжки продаются за 300—400 рублей. А в электронной версии — за 70—80. «Упадет доход, лучше продавать на бумаге», — говорят мне. Разумеется, доход поначалу будет падать. Но держась за бумажные копии, вы препятствуете изменению мира. А мир меняется к лучшему. Сейчас происходит реальное воплощение мечты Михаила Бакунина, великого русского анархиста, который мечтал об умном союзе автономных личностей. Вся структура мира уже пронизана горизонтальными связями, на основе которых и могла бы появиться прекрасная умная анархия. Сеть — основа сегодняшнего мироустройства.
Государство существует только потому, что люди не могут договориться и ищут посредника. Но уже скоро люди научатся договариваться сами. Без всяких антипиратских законов.
Очень внятный текст
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