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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: New ebook markets, battles and pricing strategies


Laura Hazard Owen's avatarGigaom

No matter what country they’re in, book publishers worldwide share some of the same challenges. They’re grappling with the digital transition — which, depending on where you live, has either already arrived or is about to come knocking. They’re battling for readers’ eyeballs, trying to make books stand out in a sea of other forms of entertainment. And they’re figuring out how to price their digital content.

These themes were major topics of discussion at the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair, which brings over 200,000 book trade professionals to Germany each fall and took place this week. Here’s a roundup of the best coverage and biggest trends from the fair.

International ebook markets: What’s the same, what’s different

By next year, more than half of all books sold in the U.S. will be purchased online rather than in stores. Russ Grandinetti, Amazon’s VP of Kindle Content, said at the Publishers Launch…

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Why tablet magazines are a failure


Guest Column's avatarGigaom

“We’re starting a new magazine,” the entrepreneur told me. “We have a potent niche to cover, and advertisers are dying for us to deliver interactive ads.”

Another woman I met with wanted to launch a tablet magazine about renewable energy. “It’s global and I have all the right connections to get it out there,” she said. “And I’ve found an out-of-the-box software solution to power it.”

Both projects impressed me. From an editorial point of view, they both nailed it. The entrepreneurs’ energy was great. A few years ago I would have been all in with them.

Today, though, my mind has changed. I fear the app-based tablet approach to magazines leads straight to oblivion, at least for individual magazine titles.

Not that tablets aren’t suited for reading. I discover most of the articles I read every day through my favorite iPad apps: Zite, Flipboard, Facebook (s FB) and Twitter…

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Goodreads Apologizes to Members whose Reviews it Deleted


Laura Hazard Owen's avatarGigaom

Social reading site Goodreads recently infuriated some users when it announced it will delete reviews that focus on an author’s behavior rather than on the contents of a book. Goodreads, which Amazon (s AMZN) acquired earlier this year, has said the policy change is necessary for maintaining a civil community on the site, but on Wednesday it apologized to some users whose reviews were deleted and said it will send them the text of those reviews for their “personal records.”

One user who received such an email posted it in full on BookLikes, a competing site that has seen an influx of users who switched over after boycotting Goodreads due to its new policy. The email said that “we should have notified you and provided you with a copy of your content when we deleted the reviews/shelves” and added:

“We’ve discussed this in more detail with our engineers, and…

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Article: Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement


The link below is to an article that takes a look at plagiarism and copyright infringement.

For more visit:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130925/09523724654/difference-between-plagiarism-copyright-infringement.shtml

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Article: Goodreads and BookLikes Troubles


The link below is to an article that looks at the troubles between Goodreads and BookLikes.

For more visit:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/10/11/goodreads-says-booklikes-deleting-user-content-call-bs/

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Article: Andrew Wylie Interview – Literary Agent


The link below is to an article containing an interview with literary agent Andrew Wylie. If you’re an Amazon user and/or fan, be prepared to be insulted by this bloke.

For more visit:
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115007/andrew-wylie-interview-literary-agent-makes-millions-highbrow

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Not My Review: The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson


The link below is to a book review of ‘The Abominables,’ by Eva Ibbotson.

For more visit:
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/oct/12/review-the-abominables-eva-ibbotson

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Not My Review: Bridget Jones – Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding


The link below is to a book review of ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,’ by Helen Fielding.

For more visit:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/12/bridget-jones-mad-boy-review

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Alice Munro: 7 Things to Know About the Nobel Winner


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Alice Munro, Master of Scattered Stories, Deserves Literature’s Top Prize