ePublishing Week in Brief – 20th to 24th of February 2012

Amazon.com withdraws thousands of ebooks in pricing row with publishers

Some 4,000 ebook editions from Independent Publishers Group pulled from sale in dispute over new retail terms

Thousands of ebooks from independent publishers have been removed from sale on Amazon.com after a clash over trading terms.

The Independent Publishers Group, the second largest independent book distributor in the United States, said in an update that “Amazon has decided not to offer our Kindle editions at this time. Our other electronic formats are available from booksellers nationwide.” The removal of more than 4,000 Kindle ebooks, including IPG bestsellers Pamela Des Barres’ groupie memoir I’m with the Band, child discipline title 1-2-3 Magic by Thomas Phelan and murder mystery Snow Blind by Lori Armstrong from Amazon.com follows the IPG’s refusal to agree to new terms from online retail giant, according to its president Mark Suchomel.

“Amazon.com is putting pressure on publishers and distributors to change their terms for electronic and print books to be more favourable toward Amazon. Our electronic book agreement recently came up for renewal, and Amazon took the opportunity to propose new terms for electronic and print purchases that would have substantially changed your revenue from the sale of both,” Suchomel told publishers in an email printed in the book trade newsletter Publishers Lunch.

More about Amazon vs. Publishers

Publisher sues Aussie English schools for pirating books, CDs

Tri Viet-First News Company is suing HCM City’s Australia International Language School and Viet Nam Australia Society English Centre for their illegal copies of 11 English-language titles and CDs.

This is the first-ever lawsuit related to illegal copying of books in the country.

Vu Trong Quan, manager of the company’s Communications Department said these two foreign language centres, as the two largest illegal copiers, had released thousands of the company’s TOEFEL and TOEIC coursebooks, materials and CDs.

He said they keep the First News logo, its address and the names of Tre and Compass publishers on their illegal, substandard copies. The company has made official warnings for the violation of intellectual copyrights several times but have been ignored.

The company is asking each of the two foreign language centres for VND380 million (US$18,100) compensation based on the company’s trade losses.

Quan said the trade losses could be counted via statistics, but the negative impact on the trademark couldn’t.

Le Hoang, former director of Tre publishing, said illegal copiers negatively affect publishers when they publicly sell their illegal products, the copyrights for which publishers had to pay a lot of money.

He said publishers wait for relevant authorities to prevent this illegal activity without taking any active action to deal with this.

Quan said illegal copies of the company’s books, materials and CDs have been available for many years in the market, and some sell for more than the original price.

“It is time for the company to fight to stop these violators.”

The Viet Nam News yesterday contacted the Australia International Language School but the school’s directors were not available for comment.

More about Publisher sues English school

 

Qbend launches platform for publishers to go online

Qbend online portal will provide highly personalised service to the publishers at a nominal charge.

US-based enterprise Qbend on Thursday launched a “first-of-its-kind” platform for publishers to set up customised online portals to sell ebooks .

Claiming that the company will revolutionise the Indian publishing industry, Qbend chief operating officer Kaushik Sampath said globally “there is a huge shift happening, with publishers moving from print to digital platforms”.

He said the Qbend online portal will provide highly personalised service to the publishers at a nominal charge.

“Our portal will allow the publishers to create their own brand and their own online store. Working on a revenue-sharing basis, we will even provide a six-month trial period before which the publishers don’t have to pay anything,” Sampath said.

More about Qbend

Rowling Returns With a New Book, This Time for Adults

J.K. Rowling, the British author whose “Harry Potter” fantasy series ignited a passion for reading for millions of children around the world, has emerged from a five-year publishing hiatus with a new book: this time for adults. Little, Brown and Company, part of the Hachette Book Group, said on Thursday it had acquired the rights to publish the book, whose title and publication date was not named.

“Although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series, which has been published so brilliantly by Bloomsbury and my other publishers around the world,” Ms. Rowling said in a statement. “The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher. I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life.”

More about J.K. Rowling book for adults

Barney Rosset, First Amendment crusader, dies

Barney Rosset was not an author and never completed the memoir of his brave and wild life. But few over the past 60 years had so profound an impact on the way we read today.

Barney Rosset, whose groundbreaking publishing house Grove helped expand the limits of free speech, died Tuesday. He was 89.

Rosset, the fiery and fearless publisher who introduced the country to countless political and avant-garde writers and risked prison and financial ruin to release such underground classics as Tropic of Cancer and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, has died. He was 89.

Rosset died at a Manhattan hospital Tuesday night, said Kelly Bowen, publicity manager for Algonquin Books, which is to publish Rosset’s autobiography. Rosset had recently had heart surgery.

“Barney was a great, great American publisher,” said Morgan Entrekin, publisher of Grove/Atlantic Books, who called Rosset an inspiration and a publisher powerfully motivated by his feelings of social responsibility. “He was extraordinary. I would say that if there’s a Publishing Hall of Fame, he definitely is going in it.”

More about Barney Rosset

YUDU Media launches Easi-App at Publishing Expo 2012

Easi-App, designed especially for Apple Newsstand, provides an affordable entry-point app solution for magazine publishers

YUDU Media, the award-winning provider of digital publishing solutions, will launch ‘Easi-App’ at this year’s Publishing Expo held at Earls Court 2, February 28th & 29th 2012.

Easi-App, designed especially for Apple Newsstand, provides an affordable entry-point app solution for magazine publishers. The quick, simple and cost-effective solution is ideal for independent publishers who previously decided to wait before publishing their magazines on the Apple iPad. With the installed base of over 50 million iPads and the clear evidence that Newsstand has been a major success in boosting downloads, the economic arguments are now overwhelming.

More about YUDU Media

INTERQUEST Announces Speakers for 2012 Digital Book Printing Forum

Press release from the issuing company

INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry, today announced a powerful lineup of speakers and panelists for its 2012 Digital Book Printing Forum in New York.

According to INTERQUEST President Gilles Biscos, “We strive each year we deliver this event to bring together the primary forces actively developing, refining, and putting into practice digital book manufacturing. This year our attendees will be rewarded with a wide range of perspectives, insights, and experiences offered by our participants. I’m very excited and proud of the lineup we’re bringing to New York this year.”

Bethlam Forsa, Executive Vice President, Content Development and Publishing Operations at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will kick off the 2012 Digital Book Printing Forum with the opening keynote address. She will provide insight into how a major publisher views the future of educational books, including the respective roles of printed and electronic content. Her part in helping standardize and optimize the company’s print publishing operations as well as her involvement with Apple’s iBook 2 platform gives her a unique perspective on the subject.

Following the keynote address INTERQUEST will present key results from recent research it has conducted in digital book printing. A panel of leading book printers will then present their experiences, applications, and challenges in digital book manufacturing and explain how recent technological developments are helping them enhance their solutions. Speakers include Larry Bennett, President of Distribution Services, Bookmasters; Adam DeMaestri, President, BR Printers; Nick Lewis, President, Publishers’ Graphics; and Dale Williams, Vice President, Strategic Content Imaging (SCI).

Following lunch, executives from leading digital printing systems vendors will update their companies’ strategies, developments, and recent successes in the book market. Speakers include Scott Schiller, Director, Worldwide Marketing and Business Development, Inkjet High-Speed Production Systems, Hewlett-Packard Company; Kris Albee, Director of Marketing—Continuous Feed Product Marketing, Océ North America; George Promis, Vice President, Continuous Forms Production Solutions & Technology Alliances, Ricoh Production Printing; and John Conley, Vice President Commercial Print and Publishing, Xerox Corporation.

After additional INTERQUEST research findings are presented, a panel of experts will focus on challenges and developments related to workflow, paper handling, finishing, substrates, and inks. Speakers include Katie Kriemelmeyer, President, AGS, a Consolidated Graphics Company, andBruce Beiderman, National Accounts Manager, Standard Finishing Systems; John Pecaric, Senior Vice President of Operations, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, and Yuan Yu, New Business Development Manager, Cabot Inkjet Colorants; as well as Steve Franzino, Vice President Technology, Courier Corporation and Paul Bradshaw, Senior Vice President, Publishing Papers, Appleton Coated LLC.

In the final session of the day, publishers will share their experiences with digital book printing as well as their views on the dynamics of eBooks and printed books and the impact of new digital printing technologies on their business. Speakers include David Hetherington, Vice President, Academic/Educational Merchandising and Digital Printing, Baker & Taylor;Ann Arnow, Executive Vice President, Bridge Publications Inc.; and Laura Mars, Vice President Editorial, Grey House Publishing.

Following the final session participants are invited to a cocktail reception hosted by Xerox from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. Forum attendees may also attend the Publishing Business Conference Keynote and the Publishing Business Expo, featuring nearly 70 industry-leading suppliers and solutions providers.

The 2012 Digital Book Printing Forum will be held Tuesday, March 20, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Marriott Marquis New York in midtown Manhattan during the annual Publishing Business Conference Expo organized by Book Business magazine. The Digital Book Printing Forum is sponsored by leading players in the market, including Appleton Coated LLC, Bridgeport National Bindery, Cabot Inkjet Colorants, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh, Oce/Canon, Quad/Graphics, Standard Finishing Systems, Webcom, and Xerox. The event is supported by the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN).

For more information about the event, please visit the forum’s web site:http://www.inter-quest.com/seminars.html