Monday News: Agency pricing redux; how we choose movies; Bad Sex in Fiction Awards shortlist; and self-auto-correcting

JanetPublishing NewsAgency pricing / Ebooks / films / infographic / literary awards / publishing / Self-publishing / video2 Comments

Agency returned – Now that Hachette v. Amazon seems to be resolves, let the Monday morning quarterbacking begin! Actually, this seems to be a pretty good — and relatively brief — analysis from The Bookseller on how Hachette’s desire to return to Agency pricing is now in tension with a much-changed bookselling marketplace at Amazon, especially in the wake of self-publishing’s downward trending of e-book prices.

But after two years of agency-lite, or modified agency, that allowed limited discounting, we are getting back to Original Agency.

But Amazon doesn’t come away empty-handed. It clearly gained some additional margin, while it has put in place “specific financial incentives” for Hachette to price e-books cheaply. Amazon’s PR has been that lower e-book prices create greater revenue, and it is in its business interests to reward that. Similarly, those publishers operating under agency will need to demonstrate how higher e-book prices create a more diversified marketplace without disadvantaging authors or readers. –The Bookseller

Behind the Box Office: What Influences the Films We See – For those of you who dislike infographics, this one will not likely change your opinion. But it’s a quick and dirty snapshot of how influential sources like YouTube, and promotional media like trailers are, in directing foot traffic to certain films.

Last year, 68% of Americans and Canadians—a jaw-dropping 228.7 million people—went to the movies. And 11% of them go at least once per month. How do they decide what to see? Google conducted a study with Millward Brown Digital to learn how moviegoers research and choose the films they watch. YouTube, which reaches more frequent moviegoers than any top cable network, is a commonly used source: Four out of five moviegoers who use video sites to research a film come to YouTube. –Think With Google

Bad Sex In Fiction Awards 2014: Not even a Man Booker prize could save Richard Flanagan from a nomination – Here is the short list of books nominated for the 2014 Bad Sex in Fiction Awards (IIRC, Literary Review will also have more detailed examples in their next issue). This year’s Mann Booker recipient Richard Flanagan has been nominated, as has Michael Cunningham’s The Snow Queen and Saskia Goldschmidt’s The Hormone Factory.

Announcing the nominees for the award, which will be given on 3 December, the magazine said: “The judges also considered Andrew Marr’s Head Of State, which started arrestingly – ‘they bucked like deer and squirmed like eels. And after that, vice-versa’ – but failed to sustain its early promise.

This year marks the 22nd annual award and the current holder is Manil Suri for The City of Devi. –The Independent

Can We Auto-Correct Humanity? – I’ve never been a fan of the whole ‘technology isolates us’ argument, especially when so many people who might otherwise be isolated have been connected to others via technology. Still, I think the message of this popular Prince Ea video — that we have the power and the choice in how we use social networks — is a good one nonetheless. –YouTube

Janet

isn't sure if she's an average Romance reader, or even an average reader, but a reader she is, enjoying everything from literary fiction to philosophy to history to poetry. Historical Romance was her first love within the genre, but she's fickle and easily seduced by the promise of a good read. She approaches every book with the same hope: that she will be filled from the inside out with something awesome that she didnʼt know, didnʼt think about, or didnʼt feel until that moment. And she's always looking for the next mind-blowing read, so feel free to share any suggestions!

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