How do you price a virtual product? The e-book battle rages on.
In today’s news, take a moment to understand the e-book price wars that made headlines this weekend. Then, see how blogs are remembering J.D. Salinger, and check out what’s new in the world of kid lit.
- Thank you, Tina Jordan of Shelf Life, for helping explain the debacle that is Amazon e-book pricing. Over the weekend, Macmillan made headlines by demanding Amazon raise the price of their e-books to $14.99 from Amazon’s standard $9.99. Yesterday Amazon agreed, apologizing to its customers and making Macmillan out to be a greedy villain. But, as Jordan points out, the truth is more complicated. While consumers assume a paperless book should be cheap, if not free, the major cost of publishing a book is in the author advance, the editing process, the marketing, publicity, etc–not in the paper, binding, and shipping that goes into a physical book. Many major publishers are losing money on their e-book sales. Jordan sums up the problem: “Unless all publishers negotiate better e-book pricing deals with Amazon, the number of books being published will decline.”
- Since the death of J.D. Salinger last week, the blog world has been filled with tributes, articles, and essays about The Catcher in the Rye and its author. One of the more creative tributes comes from Classics Rock with its list of Salinger-inspired songs (from Green Day to Guns ‘N’ Roses). The Guardian also posts several pieces about Salinger, one of which asks six current writers (including Julian Barnes and Jonathan Safran Foer) how Salinger’s work affected them. From music to modern fiction, Salinger’s cultural impact lives on.
- And in more light-hearted news, Omnivoracious gives us an update on children’s lit with its weekly “Kit Lit Roundup.” Percy Jackson is back with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Ultimate Guide, which will no doubt guide you toward seeing the movie on February 12th. The blog also highlights the new picture book Brrrr: A Book of Winter, by The Book of Sleep‘s Il Sung Na.
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