News

Independents v Big 6 Market Share(Based on Nielsen Bookscan Data)
How Much of the Total Market for Books is Controlled by the Big Six Publishers?
I have not seen any sort of figure, hypothesis, or guess in any article or blog about this question, which is odd, because the extent of the market domination of these giant … Read More »

“Follow the money” is good advice for anyone trying to get to the bottom of a business dispute. This has been next to impossible in the case of the squabble over the distribution of eBooks; none of the parties can release any numbers. A great many people who have tried to understand this dispute have … Read More »

Discounts matter. Here is a little history to illustrate that point:
When the mall stores—B Dalton, Walden—arrived on the scene, followed closely in the 1970s by the big box stores—Barnes & Noble, Borders—the big publishers rolled right over to their demands for better discount and of course the independents had to follow.
For the most part these … Read More »

The advent of the e-book may seem to have made the distinction between professional and vanity press publishing less important. Electronic distribution obscures the traditional gate-keeping functions of publishing houses, distributors, and booksellers.
The electronic-format vanity houses argue it is possible now for authors to go straight to consumers and therefore skip all the hypercritical (and … Read More »

The conversation about the pricing and marketing of print books and e-books has not been well informed. Here is information about how the numbers actually run. The place to start is with print books.
What Should a Printed Book Cost?
The royalty rate is usually 10% of the cover price for a hardbound book, 7.5% for a … Read More »