Новости электронного книгоиздания

Program – eBook Summit
Среди докладчиков: Susan Danziger (директор), Steve Haber (президент Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division), Neelan Choksi (основатель Lexcycle), Brandon Badger (продакт-менеджер Google Books), Bob Livolsi (директор Books on Board).

Company – Emergence of new business models

Time is of the essence. As a general rule, digital products still only comprise a small fraction of sales: Around 60 per cent of those polled estimate that considerably less than ten per cent of their revenue will come from digital sources in 2009. However, this will change in the next two years in the opinion of those polled: 41 per cent of those polled calculate sales of up to ten per cent for 2011 and 58 per cent anticipate that digital products will comprise a considerably higher share of total sales. The percentage of those who assume that 26 to 100 per cent of their revenue will come from digital products in two years increased from 24 per cent (2009) to 38 per cent (2011).

The idea that digital content will generate more sales than the traditional book business is also gradually becoming more of a reality. Around 50 per cent of industry experts now see the year 2018 as the turning point: In a comparable survey taken one year ago, 40 per cent saw this date as a “changing of the guard”. In 2008, 27 per cent were of the opinion that digital would never overtake print – today that number is only 22 per cent. Sell, but at what price? The decisive question is which payment model will prevail in the digital world. The favourites from the list provided are clear.

41% опрошенных участников Франкфуртской книжной ярмарки сичтают, что через два года доля электронных книг в продажах достигнет 10%. Остальные — что еще больше. А к 2018 году ждут полного разворота в индустрии.
В отчете еще много крайне любопытных данных. Экспертный опрос кажется вполне репрезентативным — 840 профессиональных участников ярмарки.

O’Reilly Media and Microsoft Announce Plans to Expand Microsoft Press: O’Reilly to Distribute Microsoft Press Titles and Launch New Ebook Initiatives

O’Reilly Media, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced a joint arrangement to support and expand Microsoft Press from production through distribution, co-publishing and content development, marketing and management. Through this strategic relationship, on November 30, O’Reilly will become the distributor of Microsoft Press titles in North America with a global roll out in a phased approach. Both O’Reilly and Microsoft will develop Microsoft Press titles.

Ко всему прочему теперь все электронные книги от MS Press будут DRM-free, как и книги O’Reilly. Молодцы.

Best Buy and Verizon Jump Into E-Reader Fray, With iRex – NYTimes.comНа американский массовый рынок выходит iRex. Букридер с 8-дюймовым сенсорным экраном, 3G-модемом, международной связью с Verizon и встроенным магазином от Barnes&Noble по цене $399 будет продаваться в более чем 1000 магазинов Best Buy по всем США. Это очевидный конкурент и Kindle DX, и Sony Reader Daily Edition. Кстати, по прогнозам iSuppli в этом году будет продано около 5,2 млн букридеров (из них более половины — в Северной Америке).

New Dan Brown novel tops 2 million mark – Yahoo! Finance

Doubleday announced Tuesday that hardcover, audio and e-book sales for “The Lost Symbol” topped 2 million copies for its first week of release in the United States, Britain and Canada. The total is “well over” 2 million for English-language editions worldwide, according to Doubleday spokeswoman Suzanne Herz, who declined to offer a specific number.

Herz did say that around 5 percent, or 100,000 copies, of “The Lost Symbol” were sold as e-books. Doubleday released the digital edition at the same time as the hardcover despite industry worries that e-sales might take away business from the more expensive paper text.

Один из выводов — совокупные продажи Amazon не превышают 10% от всех продаж.

Graphic: A Big Boom in the Universe of Electronic Books

Kindle Nation Daily: Kindle edition of The Lost Symbol outselling Amazon hardcovers!

As of 10:30 a.m. EDT today, September 15, the Kindle edition is ahead of the hardcover edition in Amazon’s own hourly-updated sales rankings.

Может быть, это и не надолго. И, конечно, это только относительные данные продаж самого Amazon. Но факт исключительно примечательный.