By Siobhan O’Leary German publishers may soon realize that the printed map is a thing of the past. According to Buchreport’s latest figures, sales of printed maps declined 21% in mid-2008 and have dropped another 4.6% since this time last year. With more readers turning to the Internet for travel information and more travelers carrying around navigation systems in their …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: B&N’s New Ebook Store, Copyright Earns $$$
By Edward Nawotka The big retailing news so far this month in the US has been the launch of Barnes & Noble’s ebook store, which will offer 700,000 titles for sale (a half million of those are public domain titles via Google). By comparison, Amazon offers approximately 300,000 titles, but does not break out public domain works. In conjunction with …
German Buch News: Call for Book Ratings, Mobile Manga
By Siobhan O’Leary As first reported in Der Spiegel, SPD (Social Democratic Party) politician Sebastian Edathy is calling for the formation of a voluntary rating system for the book trade, similar to what exists in the film industry, to identify writings that glorify Nazism or right-wing extremist titles and prevent them from being disseminated, reported Borsenblatt. BuchMarkt follows up on …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: Hachette UK up 3.7%; U. Chicago pubs E-books
By Edward Nawotka In the UK, the Bookseller revealed that Hachette was now leading all other publishers in sales in the UK, largely based on the immense interest in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels. Its sales grew 3.7% and was the only one of the “Big Four” UK publishers — Hachette, Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins — not to have a …
German Buch News: Libreka Adds DRM, Bilandia Adds Video
By Siobhan O’Leary Libreka.de, the online book search database run by the Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels, a subsidiary of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, has begun offering DRM as an option for ebooks sold on the site. The site started selling ebooks nearly four months ago; but without DRM, writes the Buchreport, large publishers shied away. Since the …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: Frank McCourt’s Passing; Amazon’s Deletions
By Edward Nawotka Though it’s not strictly trade news, many have noted the passing of bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish-American memoirist Frank McCourt, who died from cancer on Sunday afternoon. He was 78. Frank, may a properly pulled pint be waiting for you when you arrive at St. Peter’s Gate. Trade news on both side of the Atlantic has focuses …
German Buch News: G+J’s Buchholz joins B’mann’s Exec Board
By Siobhan O’Leary Boersenblatt reports that Gruner + Jahr CEO Bernd Buchholz has been named to Bertelsmann’s Executive Board. He will continue as CEO of G+J and will receive no additional compensation for this new role. After a short stint in politics, Buchholz worked for G+J in various capacities starting in the late 1990s and has been CEO since the …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: McGraw-Hill Shrinks; Managers Buy Borders UK
By Edward Nawotka McGraw-Hill Education has re-organized it’s elhi division and laid off 335 people (after eliminating 445 people last year), reports Publishers Weekly. The wider McGraw-Hill company is eliminating another 210 positions throughout the firm. Publishers Lunch also focused on the lay-offs, noting: “The company’s announcement, however, simply focuses on ‘creating achievement-focused preK-12 education group to help students develop …
German Buch News: Merkel Commits to Frankfurt, Schwarze Becomes a Chevalier
By Siobhan O’Leary The Boersenblatt reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to attend the opening of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair on October 13th. It is still unclear which political figures will represent Guest of Honor China at the fair, but what is clear is that the opportunity for political and cultural discourse will be a priority. Longtime Aufbau …
German Buch News: Cheaper Sony E-reader, Reuss Still Ranting
By Siobhan O’Leary On the heels of Amazon’s recent price reduction for the Kindle in the US (to $299), Sony has just lowered its recommended price of its Reader in Germany by 17% to 249 Euros (from 299 Euros). Buchreport reveals that Thalia.de, Germany’s largest bookstore chain, has not only embraced the change but has taken it a step further: …