NBN Fusion

E-Books Area of Growth, Change in Years to Come

2010-04-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

The last couple of years were hardly the best for American businesses, but that didn’t stop the e-book market from expanding. Even while print trade sales flatlined, e-book sales from the thirteen publishers who report to the Association of American Publishers grew by 176.6 percent.

In 2010, the market is still growing and its landscape is changing. For one, Kindle’s domination of e-book readers seems to be at an end. Credit Suisse predicts that over the next five years Amazon’s 90 percent of e-book market share will drop to 35 percent. That’s because Apple and Google are muscling in with snappier readers (the iPad) and the easy-to-access, direct e-book downloader, Google Editions. Assuming Apple and Google are successful, these three powerhouses will soon be splitting the market roughly evenly. Should Amazon be worried? Should publishers?

While Amazon’s share of the pie will shrink to a third, the pie itself should be growing rapidly, from 1 to 3 percent of total books sold by the end of 2010. This means that while Amazon will sell a smaller percentage of books sold, its profits may triple by 2015. It will still be important for publishers to get their books onto Amazon, but it won’t be enough. Google and Apple will be equally important outlets for selling books, and there may be more room for other, smaller distributors.

As e-readers change and the market grows, the more platforms a publisher can offer their books on, the better. The better, too, for customers. With more choice about where to spend their money, buyers may spur giants like Amazon and Apple to greater technological heights or make a start-up into a new industry giant, keeping the e-book industry growing.

e-Readers on the Horizon: The Entourage Edge

2010-03-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

While Apple’s iPad has dominated recent coverage in the electronics world, especially where text readers are concerned, it is by no means the only product on the market offering multiple functions in one device. The Entourage Edge, a dual-screen e-book reader/tablet/netbook, is set to release March 26, 2010, for the price of $499 and is among the first dualbooks available on the market.

Entourage seems to be targeting the field of education with the Edge, with student use particularly in mind. Edge users will be able to annotate the onscreen text by using a stylus pen on the black-and-white eInk screen, something not yet possible with the Kindle or the nook. Users can also drag images from the black and white screen to the color LCD for view. The integrated tablet notebook operates on Google’s Android platform, allows for Internet use (which lets users make connections between the text on the Edge and what is found online), contains a virtual keyboard, has two USB ports, 3 gigs of memory (with the possibility to add up to 30 more gigs), and Bluetooth capability. The Edge can also run third-party software, such as Microsoft Office. And while education might be its early target market, it shows promise as a device that will be useful to professionals in the fields of law and medicine as more and more people seek to have information and usability portable and at their fingertips.

There’s concern about its size, though (3lbs). At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January, a blogger who got his hands on the Entourage Edge said that the device, compared to its competition, was big and clunky for an e-Book reader, but that it scored points for originality. However, considering the weight of textbooks (at an average of 3–5 lbs.each), the 3lb. Edge can pack in 30 pounds of book in just the 3, and for students lugging “libraries” around on their back from class to class, a multifunction device that gives them access not only to books, but the Internet, e-mail, and word processing, just to begin, could prove to be a relief—and an advantage.

As a first-generation product, it shows promise. Undoubtedly, with time and further technological improvements the Edge may prove to be stiff competition for Apple’s iPad, which may have the added effect of lowering the price of both devices, making these multifunction readers more accessible to users who are seeking a new way to consume books and other traditionally printed texts.

Protecting Your E-Books on the iPad

2010-03-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

The iPad will hit the streets on April 3rd, and several major publishers—Penguin, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and HarperCollins for now—are on board. When the iBookstore opens for business, these publishers will be armored against the inevitable efforts of pirates with Apple’s FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) software. DRM protects content by allowing an e-book to be downloaded only to a finite number of devices. As pirates attempt to hack the system, Apple responds with harder-to-hack software—a back and forth that began while attempting to protect music and has no end in sight.

Given the buzz about the iPad, publishers hope that this will keep e-book sales rising. The opportunity to introduce their content to millions of iTunes and Apple users is one of the reasons Penguin chairman John Mackinson is excited to have his company on board. Of course, iPad won’t just have iBooks. There will be “apps” for using “Kindle for iPhone, Stanza, Iceberg Reader, eReader, and Kobo,” just to name a few.

Prior to the announcement of the iPad, there was debate about whether or not Apple would use DRM on its iBooks. After all, Amazon has been criticized by some for using this technology and there are a handful of publishers electing to go without. Most publishers, however, including all five of the major publishers on the iPad, are opting to protect their books with DRM. In a culture where people are used to paying for books, the transition to the e-book may not mean that consumers will suddenly expect content for free. Still, it never hurts to be safe.

NBN Fusion Business Partners

2010-02-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

I’ve had a number of requests for the full list of business partners to whom NBN Fusion is distributing e-books. We are currently working with the following partners:

Amazon (Kindle and SITB)
Barnes & Noble (Nook and See Inside)
EBooks Ltd.
Follets/CafeScribe
Google BookSearch
iGroup
Ingram MyiLibrary
Ingram eBook Retail (EBDL)
Kobo (formerly Shortcovers)
Overdrive eBook Adapter
Questia
Sony

If you would like to see a new business partner added, please e-mail Catherine with the information and I’ll submit it for review.

Follow NBNFusion on Twitter for the latest breaking news about new business partners!

Barnes & Noble Adopts ePub Standard; Aligns With Adobe

2009-12-02T12:24:00.001-08:00

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/barnes-aligns-with-adobe/trackback/

E-readers may not solve publisher woes yet

2009-12-02T12:23:00.002-08:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE59T3AW20091030

Illegal downloaders 'spend the most on music', says poll

2009-12-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/illegal-downloaders-spend-the-most-on-music-says-poll-1812776.html

The Future of Reading: As the book changes form, the library must champion its own power base—readers

2009-12-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6703852.html?industryid=47109

7 Reasons Why eReaders Make Great Gifts This Year

2009-12-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356482,00.asp

Amazon's Kindle Breaks Amazon's Sales Record

2009-12-02T12:16:00.002-08:00

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356403,00.asp

Ten Predictions For The E-Reader/E-Book Market In 2010

2009-12-02T12:16:00.001-08:00

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-ten-predictions-for-the-e-book-market-in-2010/

Protect eBooks Or Trust Customers To Do The Right Thing?

2009-12-02T12:15:00.002-08:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker/protect-ebooks-or-trust-c_b_341173.html

App Attack: Mobile Reading

2009-12-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

http://www.publishingtrends.com/2009/12/app-attack-mobile-reading/

15 Twitter Users Shaping the Future of Publishing

2009-11-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

http://mashable.com/2009/10/22/twitter-publishing/

U.S. Leading the World in Mobile eBook Use:

2009-11-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/10/us_leading_the.html
“Currently, iPhone owners consume 42.1% of all mobile ebooks served up via Wattpad, which tracks ebook usage in 160 countries. And 78% of all iPhone ebook usage comes from North America.”

Estimated Kindle Sales:

2009-11-02T10:33:00.002-08:00

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ratcliffe/?p=466
“Working from my previous estimate, 783,000 as of July 1, and building in unit volume growth of 60 percent—sales revenue gains in electronics in the U.S., $217 million higher in the first three quarters of 2009 than in 2008, seems to be driven heavily by Kindle sales—I estimate Amazon has sold 1,072,000 Kindles as of Sept. 30, 2009. That would be 289,000 Kindles sold during Q3.”

FTC Clarifies Blogs and Reviews:

2009-11-02T10:33:00.001-08:00

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702752.html

Social Media Statistics

2009-11-02T10:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.crn.com/software/220900048

Social Classes and Social Networks

2009-11-02T10:30:00.001-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/10/13/social.networking.class/

Does the Brain Like eBooks?

2009-10-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

A blog from the NYT debates the way people read...

Libraries and eBooks

2009-10-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

The New York Times reports that:

“About 5,400 public libraries now offer e-books, as well as digitally downloadable audio books. The collections are still tiny compared with print troves. The New York Public Library, for example, has about 18,300 e-book titles, compared with 860,500 in circulating print titles, and purchases of digital books represent less than 1 percent of the library’s overall acquisition budget.”

“But circulation is expanding quickly. The number of checkouts has grown to more than 1 million so far this year from 607,275 in all of 2007, according to OverDrive, a large provider of e-books to public libraries. NetLibrary, another provider of e-books to about 5,000 public libraries and a division of OCLC, a nonprofit library service organization, has seen circulation of e-books and digital audio books rise 21 percent over the past year.”

Advance Word about the New B&N Reader

2009-10-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Huffington Post

Wired

Wall Street Journal

Gizmodo

eBook Consumer Buying Behavior

2009-10-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

“Other statistics of interest: 45.5% of e-book reader owners are spending between $9 and $20 a month on e-book content, and 11% of total survey respondents said they planned to purchase an e-book over the next 12 months.”

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS58530+09-Sep-2009+BW20090909

Kindle Drops Price (again) and goes International:

2009-10-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

PW Article

New York Times Article

TeleRead – good digital issues blog:

2009-10-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.teleread.org/

Electronic book readers poised to become this holiday's hot ticket

2009-09-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

Will digital books catch fire this holiday? According to an online survey, 1 in 5 shoppers said they planned to buy an electronic book reader such as a Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle this year...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/09/ebook-readers-kindle-sony.html

Clever Visual of the EBook Industry

2009-09-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

eBook Universe

AAP Sales for July Posted

2009-09-23T09:26:00.001-07:00

"E-books sales reached $16.2 million, reflecting a 213.5 percent increase for July, and a 173.9 percent year to-date."
http://www.publishers.org/main/PressCenter/Archicves/2009_September/PublishingSalesJuly09.htm

Overdrive has new phone app:

2009-09-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6695292.html

New Color eReader from Cool-er in Works

2009-09-17T10:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2009/09/11/cool-er-budget-colour-ebook-by-2010-115875-21666501/

Kindle Title Count Almost 350,000

2009-09-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Blog Kindle

eBooks on CNN

2009-09-16T11:45:00.001-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/14/ebooks.ereaders/index.html

Welcome to the NBN Fusion Blog!

2009-09-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to announce NBN Fusion, a low-cost, integrated solution for your digital and publishing needs. Being a modern, full-service distributor means handling finished books, printer files, and e-books, as well as providing online marketing tools. By embracing these changes, NBN can help you open up new streams of revenue and compete in this changing landscape.

NBN Fusion offers a variety of services including digital book sales, book production services and book manufacturing. The digital book arm includes e-book distribution, discounted conversion services, and sales to a long list of vendors. Production services include copyediting, composition, file conversion, proofreading, indexing, and consultation. Fusion’s manufacturing services will offer extremely low rates for Print-On-Demand (POD) and Digital Short Run (DSR) and can also provide quotes from preferred printers for offset and 4-color printing.

Publishers with questions are encouraged to contact Davida Breier (dbreier[at]nbnbooks.com).