Jun 5 2012
Tuesday Midday Links: Amazon buys Avalon, Kobo offers 30% off Harlequin Titles
30% Off Harlequin Titles with “koboharlequin30″
Apple iPad dominates tablet market, Amazon’s Kindle Fire fizzles – “ABI Research on Monday revealed the results of a its latest study concerning the global tablet market, which grew a whopping 185% year-over-year. The research firm found that Apple’s iPad continued to dominate the market, and after an explosive debut quarter, demand for Amazon’s Kindle Fire has begun to slow. Manufacturers shipped more than 18 million tablets in the first quarter of 2012, with Apple accounting for 11.8 million devices, or nearly 65% of the market. Shipments of Amazon’s Kindle Fire “fizzled” allowing Samsung to ship the most Android tablets, although it still only managed to move 1.1 million units. “A pattern similar to smartphones is also occurring in tablets,” said Jeff Orr, ABI Research group director of consumer research. “Apple and Samsung have demonstrated staying power while other tablet vendors ebb and flow like the tide.” The research firm found that only two manufacturers saw shipments increase in the first quarter over the same period a year earlier: Research In Motion, which saw shipments of its PlayBook tablet grow 233%, and Lenovo. ABI’s press release follows below.” Boy Genius
Sony Unveils Wonderbook, ‘Next Step in Reading and Augmented Reality Gaming’ | Digital Book World – ” [Sony] has released Wonderbook: Book of Spells, an interactive Harry Potter reading and augmented reality game. According to a company announcement, Wonderbook features original J.K. Rowling writing and allows readers to cast spells as they read using the motion-sensitive PS3 controller. “This is an extraordinary device that offers a reading experience like no other,” said Rowling in a statement. This title is the first of a series of “Wonderbooks” from Sony, which aim to offer readers a unique, new reading experience using the PlayStation 3 video game platform.” DBW
Numbers That Make Great Reading (@ BEA) from Lulu.com – Numbers That Make Great Reading … * Lulu.com’s self-published authors have netted more than $36 million over the last ten years * 56% earned more than $25,000 * 1.9 million registered buyers have bought from Lulu * … From my inbox
Kobo Inc. | Triple Digit Year-over-Year Growth Strengthens Kobo’s Global Leadership – “TORONTO, June 4, 2012 /CNW/ – Kobo Inc. a global leader in eReading, today announced triple digit growth, growing eBook downloads by 400 percent, eReader sales by 160 percent, and eReaders by 280 percent year-over-year, cementing its competitive position for an aggressive year of expansion. Kobo’s success during its short history demonstrates its winning partnership “playbook” for booksellers and retailers as the eReading industry gains momentum around the world.” Kobo
Ten Reasons to Avoid Doing Business With Amazon.com | The Nation – “Even with Borders gone and independent booksellers struggling to get by, the war for the future of publishing rages on. As Steve Wasserman explains in “The Amazon Effect,” which appears in this week’s special issue of The Nation, booksellers and publishers have shifted toward digital books, and Amazon.com, which sells more electronic Kindle books than physical hardcovers, is well positioned to overpower its rivals. But what’s at stake in the battle over e-commerce and why should you avoid doing business with Amazon.com?” The argument is that if you are socially conscious and community supportive, you shouldn’t shop at Amazon. Amazon is an evil monopolistic company out to take advantage of its workers and spy on its customers. The Nation The problem with this piece, and with all the anti Amazon pieces, is that Amazon customers love Amazon and by insulting Amazon, you insult the customers. But it is kind of incredibly how much the traditional guard really despises Amazon whereas business magazines like Forbes can’t be more adulatory.
Amazon Media Room: Press Releases – ” Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Avalon Books today announced that Amazon Publishing has acquired the publication rights from Avalon Books to over 3,000 backlist titles predominantly in the Romance, Mystery and Western categories. Established in 1950 by Thomas Bouregy, Avalon Books has long been a home to writers specializing in wholesome entertainment across popular genres, such as Holly Jacobs, Carolyn Hughey and Carolyn Brown, whose book “The Ladies’ Room” is nominated for a 2012 RITA by the Romance Writers of America. … Avalon books will be published under the West Coast imprints of Amazon Publishing, including Montlake Romance and Thomas & Mercer. These books will continue to be available in print for booksellers and libraries nationwide. Ms. Mickelsen will be assisting for several months to support a smooth transition for authors and to help secure eBook amendments for some of the older Avalon titles whose digital rights are not owned by Avalon, with the intention of bringing these books to a wider audience.” Amazon Press Release
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Jun 05, 2012 @ 12:06:45
Unless you also boycott Apple, Google and Monsanto, boycotting Amazon is hypocritical. This is capitalism.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 12:38:35
“Amazon is just too big.” Give me a break.
href=”#comment-380809″>Ridley: This.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 13:09:53
>>>The problem with this piece, and with all the anti Amazon pieces, is that Amazon customers love Amazon and by insulting Amazon, you insult the customers.<<<
That really is it in a nutsell. Amazon has its problems, but my experience with their wonderful customer service and their incredibly cheap prices on most products has me coming back again and again.
Anyone could just as easily write a blog article on the 'ten reasons to only do business with Amazon', but in the end it's the consumers choice. Too big? LOL, that is just ridiculous reasoning. Amazon provides business space for thousands of small business as well, thus creating a community of many small vendors to choose from. Millions of worthy sites like DearAuthor benefit from shared profits on books sold, which helps keep these sites live and flourishing. While they do dominate, they are not as monopolistic as some believe, (IMHO).
Amazon may also dominate the ebook industry, but since they were the single source to revolutionize epublishing and provide authors with the first affordable solution, their position as the ebook ‘leader’ shouldn’t be surprising.
Thanks for posting that article, I got a good laugh from it.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 13:19:33
2 Kobo 50% off coupons (good on non-agency titles)…
RggiUS5091
RggiCA5091
Jun 05, 2012 @ 13:30:17
Regarding The Nation’s Amazon article: I remember being that self-righteous when I was about ten years old.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 13:58:11
I am incredibly loyal to Amazon. They have what I want, when I want, for the price I want (unless the publisher is behind a price hike), and they have great support. I will continue to support them with my business.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 14:22:43
You know what? Before agency pricing gutted FictionWise, I’d never had a NEED to buy an eBook at Amazon … So just whose fault is it that I now buy all my eBooks from Amazon? Oh, that would be the NY publishers.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 14:36:11
@ The Nation’s article on Amazon
What a ridiculous list of reasons. Some of the reasons are repeated twice but in different wording. I’m no fan of Amazon but they’re successful for a reason, and it’s not because they bully other businesses (mostly). AFAIK, they’re the only place that allow the return of ebooks if you downloaded it, read it, and hated it.
@Lulu
It’s doing that great? Wonder how it compares to CreateSpace.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 14:42:00
@Isobel Carr:
QFT
Jun 05, 2012 @ 14:53:46
@Ridley: I wish Monsanto products were labeled so I could stay away from them. Amazon on the other hand, is welcome to my $$.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 14:54:34
@Ridley: you hit the nail right on the head, Ridley.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 14:58:17
@Isobel Carr:
That.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 17:05:34
I didn’t even bother to read the Amazon article.
I’ll admit that I’m pro-Amazon, but that’s because they’ve probably literally saved my life and my sanity. In addition to everything else, I’m my mother’s caregiver. Just this past week, I bought 5 items for her on Amazon that I normally would have spent hours hunting for in different stores. I also set up another auto-ship of a grocery item. Fast, free delivery. Good prices. No hassle. Responsive CS. In addition to the ebooks I’ve bought for myself, I also downloaded about 20 for her this week (hope that’ll keep her busy).
I was at work until 3:30 this morning, went home to shower, and was back again at 8. I don’t know what I’d do without Amazon. If someone else doesn’t like/is threatened by them, that’s fine. As for me, I’m happy to make up their slack because I’m always thinking of even more ways I can do business with them.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 17:14:07
I too lve Amazon. I was on bedrest for the last four months of my pregnancy. This was a surprise late baby so I had nothing. Atlanta is so spread out shopping is nearly impossible. I bought the entire nursery from Amazon. Delivered to my door in two days flat. Diapers delivery is terrific as well. I do pretty much all my Christmas shopping at Amazon as well.
I don’t understand this monopoly fear. If thet get stupid, I’ll simply move on to the next.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 17:24:50
@Isobel Carr: Same here. I would laugh at their “we told you to go, how could you leave us?” business practices, but that would be a waste of a laugh.
@Susan: I just started two scheduled shipments, of Aveeno face care products of all things, because Amazon’s prices were $5.00-10.00 less per item than anywhere else. The items ship together for free and I’m done. Easy peasy.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 18:07:48
@Isobel Carr:
Right there with you. I hardly ever bought an ebook anywhere else before Fictionwise went on life support. Such a great business run by great people at one time. Although you could tell a difference once B&N took them over.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 19:42:49
I’ve never bought anything from Amazon, because I’ve never needed to. I really don’t foresee a time when I’ll have no other choice but them.
They’re not sending out goons to break the knees of the competition, they’re not pulling illegal manoeuvres (like certain unnamed publishing companies) to block access to their competitors. They’re just providing customers what they want, and doing it better than their competitors. How is it that, when a small company does this, it’s laudable, but when a large company does, it’s evil?
So yeah, I’m not a big Amazon fan, but I really don’t understand the haters.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 20:12:56
@Isobel Carr: Another ‘what she said’ from me. I even stayed with FW for the Harlequins, but now even those have disappeared. (Does anyone know what happened? It’s just been in about the last month that they’ve no longer been listing any Harlequins in the ‘New ebooks’ weekly listing.)
I buy almost all my ebooks from Amazon now, but very few of them are from the big publishers. Before Agency pricing, pretty much all the ebooks I bought were from the big NY publishers. After Agency pricing, I started buying Harlequins, and now I buy a combination of those and self-pubbed books (mainly backlist and new titles from authors previously pubbed by the big 5, though). I also bought a tablet at Christmas (the Acer Iconia Tab, which I really like.) I gave my laptop to my husband, and now use my desktop onlly a few times a week. So now I buy my ebooks from Amazon on the tablet, and have them auto-downloaded to my Kindle. I use the desktop every so often to put the books into Calibre so I have a backup copy in case I ever move to another platform. (I’m typing this on the tablet using my wireless keyboard.)
I think the big NY publishers caused something they’re not going to be able to put back in the box…
Jun 05, 2012 @ 21:03:27
Ha! We get the Nation from Amazon. Comes faster than the mail version.
Jun 06, 2012 @ 00:24:11
Since the Nation thought the German model of bookselling was better, I was curious and looked it up. Publishers set the price, not stores — something that had the industry subject to EU anti-price-fixing investigations. And, get this, the special, low VAT rate for items of cultural value, like books, doesn’t apply to e-books.
In sum, the publishers get to set the price and it is the same for e-books and paper books, and then the Gov’t whacks e-books with a high VAT. And, needless to say, e-book adoption is very low.
Exactly the model we want to emulate in the US, apparently.
What the Nation rant is really saying is sacrifice your own convenience and budget because we’re so much more important that you. It’s almost enough to make me send fan mail to Amazon.
Jun 06, 2012 @ 00:35:20
@Roslyn Holcomb:
I completely understand about the Atlanta spread. Goodness knows getting from one area to another is impossible, especially if you’re OTP and need everything ITP or thereabout (depending on how you define places like Perimeter Mall). I just have things sent to me from Amazon to save gas and frustration, and possibly wrecks if you’re taking a highway. (Plus, let’s face it, I like and adore free ebooks while I’m poor as a joke.) I couldn’t imagine trying to get a nursery set up with needing everything and pricing here. Too many options and not enough time. And I didn’t have to hit Walmart or a cooking store when I bought a breadmaker for a cheaper price given my Prime membership.
Jun 06, 2012 @ 13:34:25
@Wahoo Suze: Thank you for this. Amazon is a business, not a person. How is it even logical to “hate” them? Businesses in a capitalistic economy are suppose to make money. Since we all have choices, we can shop where we want.
When I added two cats to our household, I bought a different litter box system. Then the local pet stores stopped carrying the supplies I needed to maintain them. I tried to buy local, but couldn’t. Amazon not only carried the supplies, they cost 30% less. The supplies now come by automatic subscription (I never have to remember so I never run out!) and I save even more. Works for me!