Booksprung » explanations

Patent lawyer explains rejected Google Books settlement for the rest of us

Chris Walters — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:52:32 +0000

If you’re in publishing, you probably can already hit all the main points of the Google Book Search settlement story without crib notes, but it can still seem like a complicated mess to outsiders. The website Practical eCommerce asked an attorney who specializes in intellectual property law to explain what’s going on, and I think he does a pretty great job of it.

One of the big problems with the [orphaned books] agreement was it was only Google. The U.S. Department of Justice in fact [realized it was] sanctioning a monopoly here. Why should Google have the right to circumvent copyright law or supplant copyright law with this private agreement? That may be good for the authors and it may be good for the publishers and it’s certainly going to be good for Google, but they’re not the only game in town. So, now if Amazon wants to do something similar, they’re going to have to go back to square one and renegotiate this whole deal. And Microsoft is going to have to do it all over again, and then we’re going to have multiple bodies out licensing this stuff around.

If you’re still unsure about what the heck’s going on between Google, the Authors Guild, and individual authors and publishers, check it out.

“Google’s ‘Orphaned Books’ Litigation; Effect on Digital Sales” [Practical eCommerce]

(Photo: Ben Woosley)

Today’s bargain book: “Curious Folks Ask 2″ by Sherry Seethaler

Booksprung Editor — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:23:35 +0000

“Curious Folks Ask 2″ by Sherry Seethaler
Price: $0.00

Amazon Summary:
188 jargon-free answers to questions about the natural world — like how much does the earth weigh, and why do some people float while others sink? — sent in by readers of science writer Sherry Seethaler.

Read the first chapter right now:

Click here to view the Amazon page.

Please note that prices may have changed since posting. Always check the current price on Amazon before making a purchase.

Confused about formats and ereaders? Here's why

Chris Walters — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:25:36 +0000

I used to go on and on about things like “lock-in,” which is when a company uses a proprietary file format in order to keep their customers from buying from competitors. I don’t really talk about it much these days because I decided to focus on what’s good about the Kindle instead of what’s not quite so consumer-friendly.

That doesn’t mean it’s not important, though, and earlier this month Gizmodo Australia published a good overview of why everyone in digital publishing is using different formats, and how it matters to readers.

One thing Gizmodo notes is that if you’re waiting for digital rights management (DRM) to go away as it eventually did with MP3 files, you might have to wait a long, long time:

You may be thinking that it’s just a matter of time before ebook stores all go DRM free. That would be wishful thinking at best. While ebooks might seem a lot like digital music circa 2005, you can’t rip a book, so the only way to get a bestseller on your reader is to buy it legally, or to steal it. It’s pretty much that simple. There will be free books, there will be unencrypted books, and the torrents will rage with bestsellers (as they already do). Still, DRM’s gonna be a hard fact of life with every major bookstore, since they’re going to at least try to keep you from stealing it. You don’t see Hollywood giving up DRM, do you?

Of course, it’s not regular customers who steal, and DRM tends to punish the rule-followers while the rule-breakers ignore it. You can strip the DRM from the majority of ebooks sold by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, for example, so long as you’re willing to break your licensing agreement and possibly the law depending on where you live.

If you don’t care about the details and just want to quickly know which formats work on your Kindle, I’ve posted a reference guide here.

“Giz Explains: How You’re Gonna Get Screwed By Ebook Formats” [Gizmodo Australia]

(Photo: daemonv)

Why you can't shop within the Kindle iPhone app

Chris Walters — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:52:17 +0000

The next time you go to buy a Kindle book on your iPhone and get frustrated that it has to close the app and open the browser to go to Amazon, blame Apple. Or blame Amazon–it’s really a business decision by both of them not to cooperate with the other too much.

Business Insider reported last month that when the original Kindle iPhone app was submitted last year for approval, it had in-app purchasing functionality the way you’d expect. Apple requested that Amazon remove it before approval, though.

Before you blame Apple too much, note that Apple demands a 30 percent cut of anything sold on the App Store, including in-app purchases. That means that most likely, Apple would have allowed Amazon to sell books from within the app if Amazon was willing to give Apple 30 percent of the revenue.

Seeing as how it’s unlikely Amazon–or any company worth its reputation–will ever willingly give up its profits to another company so easily, you can see why it agreed to pull out the functionality.

“Apple Stacks The Deck Against Amazon’s Kindle App” [Business Insider via TeleRead]

Two of the best explanations of the Amazon/Macmillan book battle

Chris Walters — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:52:42 +0000

This whole issue of how ebooks are priced, what they’re worth to consumers, and how to make money off of them is actually pretty complicated. It’s also fascinating, at least to someone like me; for the first 18 months after I bought a Kindle I demanded that no publisher ever go above the $10 mark. (I’ve since softened my stance somewhat for new releases, although personally I don’t buy ebooks over $10 regardless.)

Two of the best explanations I’ve found come from published writers who have an obvious interest in what Amazon and publishers end up doing:

Read “Amazon, Macmillan: an outsider’s guide to the fight” by Charles Stross

Read “Why my books are no longer for sale via Amazon” by Tobias Buckell

Bonus! Read “Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing” by Joe Konrath for an alternate take on earning money from ebooks if you’re a midlist writer.

Set aside 10-15 minutes and read these two (or three) guys for some great insights, for example on Amazon’s reasons for holding to the $10 price point (hint: it’s not really for our benefit), on how much it costs to publish a high quality ebook, and on how to price more efficiently to take advantage of what different customers are actually willing to pay (hardcore fans are usually willing to give more support to their favorite authors).

This post originally appeared on Kindlerama.