ePublishing Week in Brief – July 30^th to August 2d, 2012

Four self-published authors on New York Times ebook bestseller list

Colleen Hoover’s Slammed to reach eighth place this weekend ahead of ebooks by James Patterson and Karin Slaughter

Four self-published authors will have a total of seven novels on the New York Times ebook bestseller list this weekend, and the founder of self-publishing powerhouse Smashwords is predicting the number is only going to grow.

The highest-ranking self-published author on the 5 August NYT chart is Colleen Hoover, whose ebook Slammed (“A girl falls in love with a neighbour who enjoys slam poetry, but they encounter obstacles”) comes in in eighth place, ahead of ebooks by established bestsellers James Patterson and Karin Slaughter. Hoover, who self-published Slammed seven months ago and has just signed a traditional book deal with Simon & Schuster, also has her second novel, Point of Retreat, in 18th place on the NYT chart.

RL Mathewson’s romance novel Playing for Keeps (“When a woman stands up to her aggravating neighbour, romance ensues”) is in 16th place, Lyla Sinclair’s slice of erotica Training Tessa in 17th, and Bella Andre has three self-published romance novels in the chart: If You Were Mine in 22nd place, Can’t Help Falling in Love in 23rd, and I Only Have Eyes for you in 24th. The 25-title chart is dominated, as it has been for much of the summer, by EL James’s Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy – itself originally published as fan fiction.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/02/self-published-authors-bestseller-ebooks?newsfeed=true

The ’50 Shades’ effect: ‘Gabriel’s Inferno’ lands major publisher

Following in the steps of E.L. James’ runaway bestseller “50 Shades of Grey,” the sexy book series “Gabriel’s Inferno” has been picked up by a major publisher. Penguin’s Berkely imprint paid seven figures for “Gabriel’s Inferno” and “Gabriel’s Rapture,” written by Sylvain Reynard.

There are many, many authors who hope their books will be compared to “50 Shades of Grey,” a self-publishing phenomenon that has found surprising mainstream success. Reynard’s books deserve the comparison for one reason in particular: They, like “50 Shades,” began as “Twilight” fan fiction.

“This book was born as a serialized ‘Twilight’ fan fiction story called ‘The University of Edward Masen’ (abbreviated as UOEM by readers) written under the pen name Sebastien Robichaud. The original manuscript has been removed and the site for Robichaud has been deleted, Galleycat writes. The site obtained a copy of “The University of Edward Masen”; it puts sections of it side by side with the version of “Gabriel’s Inferno” currently in print, which show the texts to be quite similar.

That another, second self-published/independently published sexy romance series based on “Twilight” has been picked up by a major American publisher makes one thing clear: Readers of “Twilight” really liked the idea of Bella and Edward getting together in a hot-and-heavy way. That kind of fantasy is fine, as long as people are penning their versions as a hobby.

But what happens when a book that began as fan fiction becomes a bestseller? Do its origins matter? Are the new versions of the romantic duo at the center — in “Gabriel’s Inferno,” professor Gabriel Emerson and his student Julia Mitchell — significantly different from Edward Cullen and Bella Swan? Can Stephenie Meyer lay claim to her characters as intellectual property? Should she?

http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-jc-the-50-shades-effect-gabriels-inferno-lands-major-publisher-20120801,0,6353786.story

Martha Stewart Living 2Q Loss Narrower Than Expected

Reuters

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as higher revenue from its merchandising business helped offset declining sales at its publishing business.

Merchandising revenue, which accounts for nearly a third of total revenue, rose 12 percent to $14.5 million. Publishing revenue fell 16 percent to $34.1 million. Total revenue at the diversified media and merchandising company fell 13 percent to $47.9 million.

“While our publishing strategy is gaining traction, it will take additional time to yield the targeted results,” CEO Lisa Gersh said.

“This will slow our planned return to profitability, but we continue to anticipate improving performance for the company in 2012.”

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/07/30/martha-stewart-living-2q-loss-narrower-than-expected/#ixzz22VkNNfZe

Publishing a closed book to blind poor

THE United States and European Union are blocking a treaty that would give the world’s blind and visually impaired people – 90 per cent of whom live in the developing world – easier access to published works in formats they can use.

A ”treaty for blind people” has been under discussion at the World Intellectual Property Organisation since 2008, but negotiations have made little progress. In the latest round of talks, inGeneva, negotiators deferred a decision on the issue once again, to the dismay of activists.

”This is not just a legal issue – for us this is a moral issue. It’s about human rights,” said Teresa Hackett, program manager at Electronic Information for Libraries, a non-profit group based in theNetherlands.

There are about 256 million visually impaired people in the developing world, according to an estimate by the World Health Organisation.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/publishing-a-closed-book-to-blind-poor-20120731-23cun.html#ixzz22Vkosekg

Amazon Splits With Peers in Pushing Online Sales Taxes

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) (AMZN) and brick-and-mortar stores urgedU.S. senators to pass legislation to let states collect sales taxes from online retailers based elsewhere, as other Internet companies said they oppose the measure.

Federal legislation would create “an even-handed national framework for sales tax collection,” Paul Misener, vice president for global public policy at Amazon, the largestU.S.online retailer, told the Senate Commerce Committee.

The legislation would let states impose new and complex tax burdens for companies that would have to comply with 9,600 jurisdictions, Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, a group backed by EBay Inc. (EBAY) (EBAY), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) (ORCL) and Facebook Inc. (FB) (FB), said in written testimony for a hearing today.

“Amazon and big-box chains would benefit if Congress allows states to impose new tax-collection burdens on their smaller online-only competitors,” DelBianco said.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-01/amazon-splits-with-peers-in-pushing-online-sales-taxes

 Amazon shares up nearly 8 percent on profit hopes

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc shares jumped 8 percent on Friday after quarterly results gave Wall Street hope that the world’s largest Internet retailer is focusing on profits.

Amazon reported a big drop in second-quarter net income late on Thursday and forecast a possible operating loss in the third quarter as the company plows ahead with a massive investment drive on multiple fronts.

But the company’s gross profit margin, a closely watched measure of its profitability, topped 26 percent in the second quarter, the highest level in at least nine years.

The increase in gross margin was partly driven by the growth of Amazon’s online marketplace for third-party merchants, known as 3P. This business accounted for 40 percent of unit sales in the second quarter, up from 36 percent a year ago.

When Amazon sells products itself, it reports the total value of the sale as revenue. The cost of that product is then subtracted for a gross profit margin.

When a third-party merchant sells products on Amazon’s marketplace, the company gets a cut of that sale. That commission is reported as revenue, and most of it falls straight to its bottom line as profit.

So as Amazon’s 3P business grows, the company’s overall revenue growth may slow, but profit margins should increase.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-amazon-shares-idUSBRE86Q16O20120727

Ebooks growing rapidly at Lubbock Public Library

In three years, the circulation of eBooks at the Lubbock Public Library has soared from 15,000 to almost 45,000.

Ebooks growing rapidly at Lubbock Public Library

In three years, the circulation of eBooks at the Lubbock Public Library has soared from 15,000 to almost 45,000.

Most of the eBooks are so popular there is a waiting list, according to Jane Clausen, library director.

Although the librarians don’t foresee a time when the sensory world of traditional books will disappear, there definitely is a new demand for books that can be checked out remotely from a cell phone, tablet or computer.

The first three quarters of the library’s fiscal year, which began in October, recorded 27,675 eBooks circulated to readers. Just a year ago for the same period, readers had checked out only 10,527 electronic books.

“We like them both,” Clausen said of traditional paper books and those that come digitally.

Both are reported to be growing, but the growth in digital versions is speeding ahead dramatically.

Janet Henderson, technical services manager, said, “Our demand for these electronic materials has gone up 250 percent. This is going through the roof — it’s totally going through the roof.”

The library has shifted into a platform called OverDrive to handle the digital demand.

http://lubbockonline.com/life/2012-07-28/ebooks-growing-rapidly-lubbock-public-library