Frankfurt book fair predicts 2008 year of e-book

Liviu_5 · 10-28-2006, 11:08 PM

Hi,

When looking for information about a novel that is all the rage in France now and commanded 6-7 digit figures for UK/US rights at Frankfurt this October (Les Bienveillantes by J. Littell - got it from Amazon Canada finally and indeed it's very good), I came upon information that major publishers from UK and US stated that they intend a big e-book push in 2008. Unfortunately I cannot find more details about that and I was wondering if anyone heard more about it, details about what they intend (formats, drm, backlist) and so on.

Liviu

STML · 10-30-2006, 08:30 AM

As someone in the publishing industry, despite not being a big player, I can say with absolute certainty that there is no concerted effort to push ebooks in the future. Publishers are slowly becoming aware of the future, but talk of formats, drm and standards is very much beyond them. They say 2008 because they reckon they've got a couple of years breathing space, not because they have any idea what they're going to do come that date.

GeoffC · 06-11-2008, 12:35 PM

Interesting what you find when you go back in time...

Alexander Turcic · 06-11-2008, 12:43 PM

Heh, true. I cannot comment for 2008, but at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2007 e-book readers were virtually nil. iRex was there (nice folks), but that was about it.

STML · 06-13-2008, 05:36 AM

Yes, I'm still here too, and I think I'm still right. Despite repeated announcements from all the major publishers that they're 'taking ebooks seriously', very little has been done. See this post for a good summary of the current state:

“The iPod Moment for Books”: How Serious is the UK Publishing Industry?

Argel · 06-13-2008, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STML

See this post for a good summary of the current state:

“The iPod Moment for Books”: How Serious is the UK Publishing Industry?

I was about to dismiss this article on the basis that of the 10 best-sellers he says are not available in the UK, six were on the Mobipocket site. However I hadn't realized the extent to which Mobi books are now country limited. I looked for a few things I'd like to get into and discovered that none of them were downloadable with a UK account.

This comes as a serious shock and it's made me decide not to go ahead with the purchase of a dedicated reader, which I was just poised to do. Bit of a shame, really.

wallcraft · 06-13-2008, 09:41 AM

Never buy from mobipocket.com, it aways has the highest price for MOBI ebooks.

Does FictionWise, or any other US ebook store, limit UK buyers?

This seems to be almost entirely a publishing industry concern, since the author gets paid no mater where the ebook is purchased.

Companies like Sony and Amazon can refuse to sell stuff to anyone they want (and they are large targets for publisher lawsuits), but are there any legal issues for individuals buying ebooks in another country? For example, which set of copyright laws apply?

Nate the great · 06-13-2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Companies like Sony and Amazon can refuse to sell stuff to anyone they want (and they are large targets for publisher lawsuits), but are there any legal issues for individuals buying ebooks in another country? For example, which set of copyright laws apply?

What country are you in? Those are the laws that apply to you.

GeoffC · 06-13-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Never buy from mobipocket.com, it aways has the highest price for MOBI ebooks.

Does FictionWise, or any other US ebook store, limit UK buyers?

This seems to be almost entirely a publishing industry concern, since the author gets paid no mater where the ebook is purchased.

Companies like Sony and Amazon can refuse to sell stuff to anyone they want (and they are large targets for publisher lawsuits), but are there any legal issues for individuals buying ebooks in another country? For example, which set of copyright laws apply?

Definitely not...

HarryT · 06-13-2008, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Does FictionWise, or any other US ebook store, limit UK buyers?

Nope! I buy most of my eBooks from Fictionwise, and the rest from Baen. Both US companies.

Jack B Nimble · 06-13-2008, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

This seems to be almost entirely a publishing industry concern, since the author gets paid no mater where the ebook is purchased.

It is not actually that simple. Because of differences in copyright law, there are works that are in the public domain in some countries, but not in others. So, the author's payment can depend on where you purchase (admittedly, many of these cases are fairly old, so it may be more accurate in most cases to say that payments to the author's family may depend on where you purchase). Also, an author can have very different contracts in various countries with different publishers, so how much the author gets paid can vary widely.

An author posted here about this at some point in the past, but I cannot find the post at the moment.

Jack

sianon · 06-13-2008, 09:41 PM

I am in Australia and buy most of my e-books through Fictionwise and have not had any problems at all. I also use Audible for audio books and have found a number to titles are restricted and that I cannot purchase them here. One such title really annoys me, I have it in paper format as well as e-book, but cannot purchase an audio version

.

Argel · 06-14-2008, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Does FictionWise, or any other US ebook store, limit UK buyers?

Apparently not, but equally - in the case of the article quoted earlier - neither did Fictionwise appear to have any of the then-current Times best sellers, six of which were on Mobipocket but barred for UK sellers. So it's a choice between a site which has the books but won't let you buy them and a site which lets you buy them but doesn't have the books.

HarryT · 06-14-2008, 06:49 AM

When I did a recent price comparison of Kindle and Fictionwise prices for books on the NYT list, Fictionwise had exactly the same books available that Amazon did and, in most cases, were slightly cheaper than Amazon (if you're a "club" member, at least).

10-28-2006, 11:08 PM	#1
Liviu_5 Books and more books Posts: 917 Karma: 69499 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: White Plains, NY, USA Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)	Frankfurt book fair predicts 2008 year of e-book Hi, When looking for information about a novel that is all the rage in France now and commanded 6-7 digit figures for UK/US rights at Frankfurt this October (Les Bienveillantes by J. Littell - got it from Amazon Canada finally and indeed it's very good), I came upon information that major publishers from UK and US stated that they intend a big e-book push in 2008. Unfortunately I cannot find more details about that and I was wondering if anyone heard more about it, details about what they intend (formats, drm, backlist) and so on. Liviu

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10-30-2006, 08:30 AM	#2
STML Speculator Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006	As someone in the publishing industry, despite not being a big player, I can say with absolute certainty that there is no concerted effort to push ebooks in the future. Publishers are slowly becoming aware of the future, but talk of formats, drm and standards is very much beyond them. They say 2008 because they reckon they've got a couple of years breathing space, not because they have any idea what they're going to do come that date.

06-11-2008, 12:35 PM	#3
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,599 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	Interesting what you find when you go back in time...

06-11-2008, 12:43 PM	#4
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,171 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	Heh, true. I cannot comment for 2008, but at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2007 e-book readers were virtually nil. iRex was there (nice folks), but that was about it.

06-13-2008, 05:36 AM	#5
STML Speculator Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006	Yes, I'm still here too, and I think I'm still right. Despite repeated announcements from all the major publishers that they're 'taking ebooks seriously', very little has been done. See this post for a good summary of the current state: “The iPod Moment for Books”: How Serious is the UK Publishing Industry?

06-13-2008, 09:41 AM	#7
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	Never buy from mobipocket.com, it aways has the highest price for MOBI ebooks. Does FictionWise, or any other US ebook store, limit UK buyers? This seems to be almost entirely a publishing industry concern, since the author gets paid no mater where the ebook is purchased. Companies like Sony and Amazon can refuse to sell stuff to anyone they want (and they are large targets for publisher lawsuits), but are there any legal issues for individuals buying ebooks in another country? For example, which set of copyright laws apply?

06-13-2008, 09:41 PM	#12
sianon Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 572 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne Device: Sony 500, Bebook, Kindle, Eco reader Drs and soon the Archos 9	I am in Australia and buy most of my e-books through Fictionwise and have not had any problems at all. I also use Audible for audio books and have found a number to titles are restricted and that I cannot purchase them here. One such title really annoys me, I have it in paper format as well as e-book, but cannot purchase an audio version .

06-14-2008, 06:49 AM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	When I did a recent price comparison of Kindle and Fictionwise prices for books on the NYT list, Fictionwise had exactly the same books available that Amazon did and, in most cases, were slightly cheaper than Amazon (if you're a "club" member, at least).