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Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

Amazon.com has taught readers that they do not need bookstores. Now it is encouraging writers to cast aside their publishers.

Amazon will publish 122 books this fall in an array of genres, in both physical and e-book form. It is a striking acceleration of the retailer’s fledging publishing program that will place Amazon squarely in competition with the New York houses that are also its most prominent suppliers.

It has set up a flagship line run by a publishing veteran, Laurence Kirshbaum, to bring out brand-name fiction and nonfiction. It signed its first deal with the self-help author Tim Ferriss. Last week it announced a memoir by the actress and director Penny Marshall, for which it paid $800,000, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said.

Publishers say Amazon is aggressively wooing some of their top authors. And the company is gnawing away at the services that publishers, critics and agents used to provide.

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Future racks up more than 2m Apple Newsstand downloads in 4 days

Future Publishing racked up more than two million container downloads in the first four days after Apple unveiled its Newsstand functionality as part of its iOS 5 update. Future launched more than 50 titles on Newsstand when it launched on Thursday 13 October, making it the most prolific publisher in the space. The mix of free, paid-for and premium products has attracted north of two million downloads, and represents consumer spending well in excess of normal monthly revenues.

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 Amazon to start Japan ebook business: reports

US online giant Amazon will start a Japanese-language ebook business as early as this year, the Nikkei business daily and Jiji press said Thursday.

The company, which already has a strong retail presence in Japan, is in the final stages of talks with major Japanese publishers, the Nikkei said.

Amazon is also considering a launch of its Kindle reader for Japanese customers, the Nikkei said.

The company was hoping to start the business in time for the Christmas sales season, Jiji said.

Amazon’s Japanese representatives declined to comment on the report.

Japanese publishers have been reluctant to provide content to Amazon over concerns that the retailer will sell ebooks at bargain prices, the Nikkei said.

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Canada Supreme Court: Hyperlinks cannot libel

The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously ruled that online publications cannot be found liable for linking to defamatory material.

The decision effectively shields anyone who publishes a link, as long as the linking itself is not defamatory.

The case concerned a Vancouver businessman and political volunteer who claimed a site defamed him by linking to an libellous article.

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