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Book publishers are up against tough competition for readers’ attention, and nowhere is this more evident than in a Google search. On a search results page, we not only compete against other book titles and authors, but we also compete with our own distribution channels, free Web content, video, news and even Google’s own scanned copies of our books. If you find yourself frustrated that you don’t rank in Google as high as you think you should, you’re not alone. So what’s a book publisher to do?

Google's open-source Android mobile operating system, a device manufactured by HTC of Taiwan to operate on the T-Mobile network, didn't make much of a splash. The press was unabashedly nonplussed. Out of the gate, the launch of the first Android phone, called the T-Mobile G1 with Google, failed on at least one count: matching the appeal of the iPhone.

76,000 The number of copies of “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down,” by Kaylene Johnson—the only biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin—regional publisher Epicenter Press printed in a few days, due to an overwhelming, nationwide demand in the week following the announcement of her Republican vice-presidential nomination. That same week, Zondervan announced that it would release a biography of Palin in October entitled “Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader.” Source: Book Business Extra, Sept. 12, 2008 10,000 Number of copies Barnes & Noble (B&N) originally ordered of Robert Kuttner’s “Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of

An important characteristic of digital content is its ability to deliver to multiple platforms simultaneously—to print, Web and mobile channels. Invariably, the same content will look different when viewed on various output devices, and it should. Each device has its own display characteristics, and the design of the presentation should be optimized for that device. I can hear the groans from publishers already. Reach for the ibuprofen now, because it gets worse: Content also varies within the same delivery medium. For example, content may be syndicated on the Web to multiple delivery partners, whose respective delivery models require alterations to the design. Even large-print

As Steve Potash, CEO of Overdrive and president of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), said last spring at IDPF’s annual meeting: The world of digital books is expanding, and there is a steady flow of major publishers and technology providers adopting the .epub standard. What we’re going through now is a ramping-up stage during which it can’t be either/or—nobody is saying that we will accept or deliver only in .epub. Accepting only .epub formats is likely to be the first move that’s made, because the advantage to publishers is that they will have only one electronic book version with one ISBN of which

Amazon.com Inc. announced that Kindle customers will have an exclusive opportunity to download and read new biographies of potential first ladies Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama in advance of their print publications. “Michelle Obama: Grace and Intelligence in a Time of Change,” by Elizabeth Lightfoot, was made available on the Kindle Wednesday. The print version is scheduled to be released Nov. 26 by The Lyons Press, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press. “Cindy McCain: Elegance, Good Will and Hope for a New America,” by Alicia Colon, will be available on the Kindle Monday. However, this book will only go to print if

A “slow, but steady decline” is how Rhonda Herman, executive vice president at reference publisher McFarland & Co. Inc., characterizes the market for reference books. “We are cautious about sales and will feel lucky if sales remain flat.” The reality of an economic downturn is starting to sink in—McFarland’s volume is flat, Herman says, “but actual income is down 2 percent. The reason for this is that we are experiencing higher than normal overstock returns, which is not surprising in this market.” Both direct and indirect costs are hitting the bottom line at the Jefferson, N.C.-based publisher. Higher fuel costs are forcing up the

Amid the arterial cacophony of northern Delaware, the city of New Castle is a quiet outpost of an earlier age. Cobblestone streets laid out during the 17th century offer fine dining, museums, river views and, every October for the last 15 years, Oak Knoll Fest, a celebration of the art of fine press bookmaking. Participants come from around the world to meet master printers, attend panel discussions and browse exhibits from artisans specializing in engraving, binding, papermaking and letterpress. The modern interstate jockey, stumbling upon the town and festival halfway to somewhere else on nearby I-95, might find him or herself disoriented, charmed and—let’s

Imagine this scenario: A pallet of books arrives at a distributor’s warehouse. It is scanned, allowing the system to keep track of the location of every book as the shipment is robotically de-palletized, stored and machine-prepared for shipment to retailers. Arriving at the point of sale, cartons are scanned at the door and all contents entered instantly into inventory, with special-order customers notified automatically that their book has arrived. Customers and employees can then discover with the click of a mouse exactly where a book is located in the store, and inventory, even at the largest bookstores, takes no more than 20 minutes.

Amazon.com Inc. has purchased Shelfari, an online social network for book lovers (www.Shelfari.com), the Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday. The online retailer would not disclose the purchase price. Josh Hug, Shelfari’s co-founder and chief executive, said the acquisition will benefit the social network’s members, noting Amazon’s resources and experiences building large platforms, according to the AP. Shelfari was launched in 2006 and had been partly funded by Amazon. Both companies are based in Seattle. On Aug. 1, Amazon announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Victoria, B.C.-based AbeBooks (www.AbeBooks.com), an online marketplace for used, rare and out-of-print books. Abebooks holds