Dean Koontz

Looking Forward to 2013 (Digital Book World) Good-bye books, hello e-books (ZDNet) E-Books Destroying Traditional Publishing? The Story’s Not That Simple (NPR) Kindle Daily Deals: Under the Dome by Stephen King; Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz; and two other choices * * *      

The post Morning Links — Are e-books really killing traditional publishing? appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

James Patterson released 14 blockbuster novels last year while writing hardly a word. Whether you consider it genius or fakery, his writing franchise has made him a bogglingly wealthy man. Patterson has taken top spot in the just-released Forbes fiction rich list, with an estimated income of $US94 million ($NZ118 million) last year. He outstrips the number-two ranked Stephen King, who settled for making ends meet on a mere $US39 million ($NZ48 million).

In an effort to make ebook gift-giving more spontaneous and fun, Los Angeles-based startup Livrada is partnering with Target to sell gift cards for bestselling ebook titles like 50 Shades of Grey and Gone Girl in the chain’s 1,771 stores nationwide. The pilot program, which is initially available for Kindle and Nook and will be available on other platforms by the end of the year, launches on Sunday, July 15 with six books. Five are published by Random House: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, 44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel, Odd Thomas by

Auryn, Inc., the most award-winning digital publisher of interactive children's stories for the iPad and other tablet devices, today announces the availability of Trixie and Jinx, the second ebook app by blockbuster author Dean Koontz.

For a long time, publishers and readers have argued that each book is unique and thus one cannot substitute, say, a book by Dean Koontz for one by Stephen King. For years I accepted that — until ebooks and agency pricing and Amazon exclusivity. Now, in the case of fiction at least, I think the tides have turned and ebooks demonstrate books and authors are substitutable, that is, (fiction) books are commodities.

From multimillion-dollar acquisitions to multimillion-dollar best-sellers, powerful women stand at every pivotal, decision-making point in the book publishing process. Book Business’ first annual “50 Top Women in Book Publishing” feature recognizes and honors some of these industry leaders who affect and transform how publishing companies do business, and what—and how—consumers read.