Apple

If one were to walk to a Barnes & Noble and found empty shelves and whole sections stocked only with the same book or magazine, over and over again, it would give one the impression that the store was either being mismanaged, or about to go out of business. But Apple's App Store, which is in just such a shape, gets little attention because few bother to complain about the disrepair, and the store is only a minor part of Apple's business anyways. But for publishers, this is a big deal - a very big deal.

Even as the universe of printed matter continues to shrivel, the book - or at least some of its best-known features - is showing remarkable staying power online. The idea is apparently embedded so deeply in the collective unconsciousness that no one can bear to leave it behind.

Amazon brags that on its latest e-reader, "the pages are virtually indistinguishable from a physical book." It recently introduced the Page Flip feature, which mimics the act of skimming.

Noted in NPR's Thursday, November 21 report on the National Book Award winners was that "a visibly shocked (James) McBride accepted the fiction prize. Considered the clear underdog, he said he wouldn't have minded if any of the other finalists won because they 'are all fine writers.'"

McBride's novel The Good Lord Bird is about a young slave (delightfully named 'Little Onion') who joins the abolitionist John Brown in his anti-slavery mission.

According to the media, the e-book era in Japan began in 2010, with the debut of Apple Inc.'s iPad, Sony Corp.'s Sony Reader and other e-book services.

The market has been growing, but not as fast as in the United States. In Japan, regular use of the technology remains limited.

In 2013, if you're involved in children's entertainment, you're increasingly unlikely to be focusing on one medium or product. TV channel CBeebies makes mobile games, virtual world Moshi Monsters makes magazines, and apps company Outfit7 is working on a TV show from its Talking Friends apps. It's also why a book publisher like Egmont's new thing is a "multi-platform humour brand" called Jelly Pie, which launched earlier this year as an HTML5 website, a YouTube channel and a mobile game. 

Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) has unveiled a new ad campaign starring 30 Rock actor Jack McBrayer to push the book chain as a holiday shopping destination with something for everyone, and promote the new Nook GlowLight e-reader.

In an announcement, Barnes & Noble unveiled its "It All Happens At Barnes & Noble" TV ad campaign starring the charismatic and recognizable actor. The ads feature McBrayer shopping at Barnes & Noble for all of the people on his holiday shopping list, showing that at Barnes & Noble shoppers can find something for everyone.

We asked some of our favorite thinkers in the publishing world: "What trends will shape the industry in 2014?" Here's what they had to say.

The overarching question all publishers must ask, the existential über-question trumping all others, is: Where will revenue and earnings come from in the future?

Judge Denise Cote has appointed an "External Compliance Monitor" to oversee and review Apple's internal antitrust compliance policies as stipulated in the injunction won by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year. As reported by CNET, Judge Cote appointed former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich, one of the two candidates proposed by the government. Bromwich has previous experience as a monitor for both a police department and the oil industry, noted CNET. According to the injunction, Apple is to be monitored for a period of at least two years. 

The federal judge who found Apple guilty of colluding with five of the six largest publishers in the U.S. in an e-book price-fixing scheme has chosen the external antitrust compliance monitors charged with making sure the company doesn't overstep the law again.