Sony

Haynes Publishing is launching its first range of eBooks, and interestingly is bypassing the ‘traditional’ means of selling them such as Amazon and Kobo, opting to sell them independently through its own website, reports The Bookseller.

While the UK-based publisher produces books across a broad range of subjects, it has carved a sizable niche for itself since the 1960s, with its range of illustrated Haynes Manuals aimed specifically at those seeking to do a little bit of DIY car-maintenance.

It sometimes feels like the price-fixing settlement between e-book publishers and the government has been stretching on for forever. But it now seems Amazon is prepping Kindle customers for a potential, partial refund if they bought e-books between April 2010 and May 2012. That is if the court approves the settlements in various states.

PCWorld says customers could be getting back anywhere from $0.30 to $1.32 per e-book from Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. Those publishers agreed to paying $69 million into a fund for the settlement.

Author J.K. Rowling drew more than a million Harry Potter fans for a live global webcast during which she shared never before heard tidbits about the world of Harry Potter, including back story details, as well as her next writing project and Pottermore.

Around 7,300 exhibitors from 100 countries are expected to attend this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. The leading international trade fair for books, media and digital content reveals an industry that is redefining itself in the midst of the most comprehensive paradigm shift since the introduction of the printing press.

Last year when it launched its Nook Tablet Barnes & Noble strongly hinted that it was looking to add a video service to the device that would allow users to buy and rent movies and television shows.

Well, it took a little longer than expected, but today the company has announced that it's launching Nook Video this fall in the U.S. and the UK this "holiday season" with content from major studios, including HBO, Sony, Starz, and Warner Bros, and Disney.

A judge has preliminarily approved the states’ $69 million ebook pricing settlement with publishers, but consumers won’t receive any payments until after a hearing is held in February 2013. Payments would range between $0.25 and $1.32 per ebook.
states, u.s. states, map, united statesphoto: Shutterstock   

Federal district judge Denise Cote has preliminarily approved (PDF) the states’ $69 million ebook pricing settlement with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.

The Department of Justice’s ebook pricing settlement was approved last Thursday, and HarperCollins, one of the three settling publishers, has already entered into new contracts with ebook retailers – including Apple. The retailers can now set their own prices on HarperCollins titles. So what kinds of changes are we seeing? A roundup of select titles (the prices are correct as of Tuesday morning, but are subject to change).

Launching the exclusive e-book store of the biggest-selling book series of all time was no mean feat.

J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore, the exclusive retailer of the Harry Potter e-books and digital audiobooks, needed an e-commerce platform that could stand up to the challenge.

After reviewing the options, Pottermore chose Intershop’s Enfinity E-Commerce platform to power the launch of its exclusive Pottermore Shop.

In its response to recent filings from Apple, publishers and booksellers on its proposed ebook settlement with three publishers, the Department of Justice addresses few specific complaints (PDF; full filing embedded below). Rather, citing the “unmistakable consumer harm that has resulted from the conspiracy in this case,” the DOJ calls on Judge Denise Cote to approve the settlement without a hearing.

Last week, attorney Bob Kohn and the Authors Guild sought permission to act as “friends of the court” in the proposed settlement and filed amicus briefs.

In the weeks that I’ve been putting together my ebook bestsellers breakdown, which examines the titles that are doing better in digital formats than in print and investigates how titles hit the bestseller list, one common key to success pops up over and over again: The power of a sale. A one-day Kindle Daily Deal can drive enough sales to propel a title onto the New York Times ebook bestseller list for just one week. And self-published authors’ low-priced titles are taking up more and more spots.