Deathwatch Episode 147: Borders to Delay January Payments

I will only attend the funeral if a lunch is served. WSJ.com: "Cash-strapped Borders Group Inc. said Sunday that it will delay January payments to vendors, landlords and others, as indications grow that the bookseller could be headed for bankruptcy court. The No. 2 U.S. bookstore chain said the move was intended to preserve liquidity as it works to restructure its finances. The company said it 'understands the impact of its decision on the affected parties,' but wants to work with creditors and others to bolster its prospects. ... "

Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) ported to Nook Color with hardware acceleration

Geek.com: "For those who don’t know, the Nook Color (from Barnes & Noble) started life as a simple color e-book reader, but back in December last year an XDA-developer member hacked the device to unlock its true potential. However, last Friday witnessed a new milestone for the tablet/e-reader with news that a port of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) has been successfully transferred to the Nook Color. ... "

Borders in Translation: Yeah, Bankruptcy is a Possibility

Shira Ovide, Deal Journal - WSJ:

Borders Group disclosed Thursday that a big, smart investor, GE Capital, has committed to $550 million in loans to help fund the struggling bookstore chain. That’s welcome relief for a company that has hoarded cash by delaying payment to book publishers and distributors. Today, Borders stock price has shot up 19% in recent trading, to just under $1.

So good news. Right?

Well ...

Deal Journal translated the Borders news release to bring you what the company probably meant to say.

1) “The commitment provided by GE Capital is subject to certain conditions…”

Translated: There are a lot of “ifs” before we get our hands on GE Capital’s $550 million: First GE has to sell pieces of the loan to other investors, in order to spread out the possible pain. Some Borders lenders and vendors need to commit to loan money, too. And we have to work out a bunch of niggling — tiny, really — issues such as: figuring out what cruddy stores to close and convincing a bunch of our store landlords, book publishers, distributors and the rest of the peanut gallery to take less money than we owe them. Also, when GE Capital starts poking around our financial details, they could kibosh our loan altogether if we’re in way worse shape than GE Capital expects.

2) “We strongly believe that, based on our business strategy, Borders will be able to transform its business to capitalize on the evolving reading marketplace and perform as a best-in-class destination and shopping experience for consumers.”

Translated: Don’t worry! We have a plan! We’re going to close a bunch of stores and “aggressively grow” our online business and our market share in the electronic-book market , and invest more in IT, and cut costs and sell shoppers more high-margin stuff that isn’t books. How? We’ll tell you later. But it will be magical. Borders is doing awesome!

3) “The company believes that today’s commitment from GE Capital positions Borders well to move the business forward, and expects to demonstrate to its vendors how their support for Borders will be to the benefit of the company, the vendors and their shared consumers.”

Translated: Dear vendors and landlords: pretty double Dutch please don’t be mad that we weren’t paying our bills on time. Let’s talk about it. We need you (See No. 1, above) and you need us (see No. 4, below). If you say no, we’ll bring out the big stick and file for bankruptcy. Now where will that leave you?

4) [G]iven the current environment surrounding Borders, and in order to assure that the company can pursue its efforts to position itself to properly implement its business plan, it is prudent as well for Borders to explore alternative avenues, including the possibility of an in-court restructuring. We are confident that whatever path Borders pursues to implement its strategy, we will be able to count upon the support of our vendors, who understand the critical role a strong Borders provides to the reading public…”

Translated: The money quote: Um, yeah. We may need to resort to bankruptcy protection. But don’t pay any attention. That’s why we mention the possibility of bankruptcy at the end of an eye-glazing 700-word news release written by a SWAT team of lawyers and P.R. mavens. Don’t be mad at us! Please don’t stop shopping in our stores, and please don’t stop selling us books to sell. Did we mention that Borders is doing awesome?

Sony Unveils Sony Reader for Android

AppScout: " ... The app gives you access to your Sony eBook Store account, and allows you to download books you've previously purchased right to your Android phone. In addition to giving you access to your account, the app is also an eBook reader, and allows you to open your downloaded eBooks and read them the same way you would on a Sony device. ... "

Ebook revolution accelerates in sales and status

Benedicte Page | Books | guardian: "The ebook revolution has swept past two more milestones in its ferocious advance upon the bastions of literary culture. As the Man Booker prize embraces the digital era, the online retail giant Amazon has announced that sales of Kindle editions have overtaken paperbacks in the US. ... "

Does Amazon Make Money on the Kindle?

Dan Gallagher - Digits - WSJ: "The Amazon Kindle is far and away the most popular of the dedicated e-reader devices on the market. But it remains unclear just how much profit – if any – the company is able to realize from the device and its associated e-books business. ... "

Well Worth Reading: Kathleen Fitzpatrick's "Planned Obsolescence: Publishing, Technology and the Future of the Academy"

Wonderful stuff. Really.

Borders Gets $550 Million Loan Commitment from GE Capital, With Strings

Read the fine print. Borders is still on the ropes. NYTimes:

... the struggling bookseller, said on Thursday that it had received a commitment from GE Capital for $550 million in refinancing — so long as the company meets several requirements, including signing up agreements with publishers to convert delayed payments into loans. ...

But Borders is exploring other alternatives, including an “in-court restructuring” — referring to a potential bankruptcy filing — its president, Mike Edwards, said in a statement.

“We view the refinancing route as the most practical, efficient and beneficial to all parties, and we are working with our vendors in this regard,” Mr. Edwards said. “At the same time, given the current environment surrounding Borders, and in order to assure that the company can pursue its efforts to position itself to properly implement its business plan, it is prudent as well for Borders to explore alternative avenues.”

To secure the GE Capital senior secured financing, Borders must take several steps to improve its finances. Crucial among these is lining up $125 million in junior debt financing, either by converting vendor payables or from other sources. In a series of meetings, Borders has sought to persuade publishers to accept what amounts to a loan for delayed payments.

The goal has been for publishers to take up one-quarter to one-third of Borders’ reorganized debt, but the exact percentage has not yet been determined, people briefed on the matter previously said. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

But publishers said this week that they remained hesitant to accept Borders’ preliminary offer. Several publishers that have negotiated with Borders as a group said that the bookseller had still not presented a viable plan to move the company forward. ... "

B&N's Nooknewstand (the Combo of Nookmagazine & Nooknewspaper) a Success Thus Far

Readers get here what they can't on iPad: subscriptions. Crave - CNET: In a press release, Barnes & Noble says, 'Digital periodical sales are exceeding expectations with more than 650,000 total subscriptions and single copy sales driven by Nook Color customers reading interactive versions of all of their favorite newspapers and magazines ... .'"

Amazon Kindle ebooks outsell paperbacks

Telegraph: "Amazon has revealed that it has sold more Kindle ebooks than paperbacks in the US during the final three months of 2010. ... " And the trend has continued thus far into 2011.

Amazon Revenue Misses, Shares Plunge

What did I write yesterday? WHO called it? WHO is the man? Reuters: "Amazon posted holiday quarterly revenue that fell short of analysts' estimates and forecast disappointing first-quarter operating margins on Thursday, and its shares fell almost 10 percent. Fourth-quarter revenue for the global online retailer was $12.95 billion. Analysts on average forecast $13.01 billion. Amazon's fourth-quarter operating profit margin was 3.7 versus 5.0 a year earlier, a sign of how much Amazon and other retailers had to discount to attract customers during the holidays, analysts said. ... "

News Corp to Launch iPad Newspaper "The Daily" on February 2

Reuters: "News Corp will launch its long-awaited digital newspaper created for Apple Inc's iPad on February 2, two weeks after the two companies were widely expected to introduce the new product. ... "

Digital Book World: Google Says eBook Program Off to a Good Start

PW: "How’s Google eBooks doing so far? According to Google product manager Abraham Murray, speaking at Digital Book World yesterday, so far so good. In a talk entitled 10 Fun Facts about Google eBooks, Murray offered a few general observations about the first two months of the cloud-based program, although no solid numbers and no real surprises. ... "

Amazon Rolls Out 'Kindle Singles' - Short Form eBooks

Betanews: "Wednesday, Web retailer Amazon launched its Kindle Singles line of literature designed specifically for consumption on e-readers. The works, priced between $1.00 and $3.00, include original works of prose, essays and theses, and the the first TEDBooks. Last October, Amazon introduced Kindle Singles as a format ideally suited for the reading habits of e-reader users. They are longer than a magazine article and shorter than a novel (around 20,000 words or 60 pages,) and specifically tailored to deliver well-developed content in a very direct manner, sort of like Reader's Digest condensed literature. ... "

Barnes & Noble Update 1.1.0 for Nook Color

AndroidOS.in: "Barnes & Noble has released the update version 1.1.0 for Nook Color Android tablet. It is no FroYo update, but it comes with several bug fixes including improved Wi-Fi connectivity. ... "

UK: Move to Scrap VAT on eBooks

Computing News: "Pressure is mounting on the UK government to scrap VAT on e-books to put them on an equal footing with printed books and e-publications elsewhere. So far 42 MPs from different political parties have signed a Commons motion put down by Glasgow Labour MP Tom Harris following the increase in the VAT rate from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent earlier this month. ... "

Earnings Preview: Amazon.com To Report 4Q Earnings After Bell on Thursday

Bloomberg: "SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Thursday after the closing bell. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Investors will be looking for strong growth in Amazon's two biggest businesses, which are electronics and other general merchandise and books, CDs, DVDs and other media. As usual, investors will also be alert for any concrete details on sales of Amazon's Kindle e-reader." Here's what I expect: Of course, we won't get any hard numbers re: Kindle installed base. Count on it. Amazon will show significant revenue growth, but also continued tight margins which will give investors pause. Amazon is a great company with a terrific long-term 'story' and a vibrant future, but right now the stock is WAY over-valued at something like 70 x earnings and Q3 net profit margin of 2.82% (as opposed to an almost equally dismal 3.70% the year previous). Apple, by way of comparison, is selling at just above 19 x earnings, with Q4 net margin just above 22%. So, if you ask me, Amazon stock is poised for a fall. At least it should be.

Florida or Ghana, E-Reading Innovators Face the Same Challenges

NY Times: "Worldreader, an e-reader nonprofit with a project in Ghana, and Clearwater High School in Florida, who also have an e-reader project, have found they are facing many of the same challenges. The kids each group serves are radically different in income and expectations. But they are quite similar in character. ... "

"The End of the Beginning" re: Digital Transition in Book Publishing

Almost goes without saying: Jane Friedman once again the smartest person in the room @ Digital Book World. PW: "The CEOs agreed that they face many challenges, but said there are many opportunities as well. Jane Friedman, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media and former CEO of HarperCollins, said the industry is 'vitale and vibrant,' adding that at no point in her career as she seen such change and that things will never go back to the way they were. 'It’s the end of the beginning' of the digital transition, Friedman said."

Kindle Forces Budget e-Reader Price Chops

David Crave - CNET: "When it comes to e-readers these days, most of the action here in the U.S. seems to be concentrated around the Kindle, Nook, and iPad. But every week or so, we'll notice a traffic spike on CNET for an e-reader that isn't from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Inevitably, this is due to a special discount that some store is running on the product or perhaps even an appearance in a Best Buy circular."

LibreDigital, RoyaltyShare Debut Separate e-Book Sale Tracking Deals

PW: "In separate announcements e-book distributor LibreDigital and business software developer MediaMorph announced a strategic partnership to launch LibreDigital Business Intelligence, a software service that tracks and manages e-book sales; and British house Faber and Faber announced a similar pact with royalty accounting firm RoyaltyShare to use its Digital Advantage for eBooks service to manage its worldwide eBook revenue."

Snooki, Dinosaurs and “Creative Destruction” in the Book Business

My guest blog post for indie author Wanda Shapiro @ One Girl One Novel.

Digital Subscription Numbers from Barnes & Noble

PW: "Barnes & Noble ... said since the launch of the Nookcolor it has sold more than 650,000 total subscriptions and single copy sales of digital editions of newspapers and magazines. Since Christmas Day customers have already ordered 150% more subscriptions than the total number sold over the entire previous 12 months, B&N said."

Small Bookstores Struggle for Niche in Shifting Times

NYTimes: "ARLINGTON, Va. — Get on Twitter. Add a wine bar. Do as one bookstore owner did and rent out space for birthday parties. Or, as a veteran store owner from Kansas tartly suggested, just sell books. More than 500 independent booksellers debated their next step last week at the Winter Institute, the annual jamboree that is also attended by publishers who go to mingle with their customers and promote their most promising coming titles. ... " A death struggle is never fun to watch. Digital publishing, together with Internet-based direct-selling of on-demand paper books, are trains that will not, and should not, be stopped. Industries, like species, evolve. And so it goes.

iPad as Textbook

Digits - WSJ: "For some classes at the University of Notre Dame, iPads are replacing textbooks — at least temporarily. The school is studying the use of the Apple Inc. tablet among students to see how it affects learning, and after a test this fall found that students students thought the device made their class more interesting. ... "

Unworkable Idea # 5,642: BookSwim Plans E-book Lending Site

Only four problems. No publisher cooperation, highly restrictive Kindle and Nook lending rules, disabling of lending on the most popular titles, and no viable means for monetization. Aside from those glitches, this is a sure-fire winner. PW: "With major publishers so far reticent to sanction a rental market for e-books, BookSwim.com, the New Jersey-based print-book rental company billed as 'the Netflix of books,' told PW it plans to launch a new site called eBookToss.com, a virtual 'e-book swap' that will facilitate the direct lending of e-books between consumers using the lending features enabled by platforms like the Kindle, and the Nook. 'We've been talking to publishers about the concept of e-book rentals, but we don't really know how possible that is,' BookSwim CEO George Burke told PW. 'But, based on the announcement from Amazon in December [about enabling loans], we think we’ve found a model.' Burke said the site could go live as early as next week."

Amazon Renames Kindle Digital Text Platform, now Kindle Direct Publishing

Betanews: "Amazon on Friday announced that its Kindle Digital Text Platform, or DTP, will be renamed Kindle Direct Publishing. All other aspects of the self-publishing platform appear to remain unchanged. ... "

Sony Reader eBook app Hits Android Market

mobiputing: "Sony has launched a mobile eBook Reader app for Google Android. It’s now available for download from the Android Market. The app supports Android 2.2 and up. An iOS version is expected soon. ... "

‘Open’ Textbooks Provider Flat World Secures Bertelsmann Investment

paidContent: "Germany’s Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments is leading a $15 million investment in to New York-based Flat World Knowledge, which gives away college textbooks for free online but charges for printed versions ... The company has an 'open textbook' model that echoes the predominant split in news publishing—entire books online for free, but revenue generation through pay-for print books, e-books for iPad and Kindle, audio books, PDF downloads and interactive study aids. The company says over 1,600 professors and over 900 colleges have used its texts, although it doesn’t provide a revenue figure. ... "

New York Times Paywall Latest

Mashable: "Bloomberg's source claims that subscribers to the print version of NYT will get full access to the online service as well. Furthermore, president of the New York Times Scott Heekin-Canedy said last month that the price for access to the web edition would be comparable to the Kindle subscription, which probably means it will be just a tad lower than $20 a month. The paywall, which was scheduled to go up this January, is a reversed approach from what NYT was doing so far: right now, it charges for archived and editorial content while the new content is free. With the paywall up, a set number of articles will remain free each month for non-subscribers, but anything over that number will require a monthly subscription. ... "

I'd love to see the p&l assumptions for this, especially the Times's forecasted sign-up and retention rates. And I wonder whether the edition behind the paywall will be ad-free. Probably not. Should be interesting to watch. Bear in mind that the Times's previous attempt to charge for "premium content" (aka, Maureen Dowd, for those who consider her ramblings readable) was an incredible flop.

Borders: The Writing on the Wall

Washington Post: "How Borders arrived at this once-unthinkable moment is, like many stories of troubled companies, a tale of strategic errors, missed opportunities and revolving-door management (the chain is now in the hands of a former tobacco executive). But the company's collapse, though perhaps hastened by missteps, seems to many industry insiders to have been inevitable, brought on by cultural changes too swift and sweeping to fend off, even for a huge player in the nation's cultural life. ... "

The Borders Story: Is This the Final Chapter?

Newsweek: "Borders' story reads like an epic saga—one in which our tragically flawed hero seems destined for certain failure. As the book-selling giant seeks a new credit facility to stave off a bankruptcy filing, the question of whether or not this is the final chapter for Borders has attained new currency. But if the history of Borders is any foreshadowing, dark days would appear to be awaiting the company, whether this week, next week, or further along in its narrative. ... "

Must All Media iPad Apps Be Magazines? TweetMag the Latest

Richard MacManus, ReadWriteWeb via NYTimes: "Seems like every new media iPad app these days wants to be a magazine. TweetMag is a new content aggregator based around Twitter users, lists and hashtags. It basically focuses on one of Flipboard's features (tweets as content) and expands that concept further. What TweetMag does is look for tweets that include links, then displays it in a magazine format. It starts by creating a 'magazine' out of your own Twitter account, but also offers a collection of popular Twitter users and lists in categories such as Entertainment, Art & Design and Music. ... " I still don't get how the people behind TweetMag, Flipboard, etc. expect to make money.

Barnes & Noble Cuts Staff Associated with Paper Book Programs

As B&N's sales of (and emphasis on) paper books diminishes, so does the staff associated with those operations. PW: "Barnes & Noble has confirmed what it is calling 'a small number of organizational changes this week' that the retailer said were 'designed to better align our resources with our business.' The changes appear to be mostly in the buying group. ... "

Design in Digital Publishing - It's Time

Jenn Webb, O'Reilly Radar: "Joshua Tallent [owner of eBook Architects] says it's time for eBook design to get the same attention as print design. ... "

In-Depth Wall Street Journal Profile of Vook

Tim McMahan: "You can find a Sherlock Holmes book in just about any bookstore. But when you buy an interactive digital book called a 'vook,' you get the 'Sherlock Holmes Experience.' So says Vook Inc., which offers digital books that combine video, text, photos and social sharing. Its Sherlock Holmes vook, for instance, features two classic stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 'The Man with the Twisted Lip' and 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' - and enhances them with videos that delve into the history and legend surrounding the character of Holmes. ... "

Social Magazines - What's Their Business Model?

NY Times: "Social magazines is a term that Flipboard came up with. It's come to mean a News Reader type application for the iPad that has the visual appeal of a magazine, along with the social media features common to this era of the Web (integration with Facebook, Twitter and other social apps). Social magazine apps will become a key application for tablets over the next couple of years. Also we will see existing magazines on the iPad, such as Wired and TIME, evolve to become more like Flipboard - with better customization of magazine sections, whizzier UI, more social media functionality, and so on. An important question for Flipboard, NewsMix and other such apps is: how will they make money? Wired, TIME and other specialist magazines will rely on the subscription model (once it gets sorted out for the iPad). However, Flipboard and its ilk face the same issues with monetization as RSS Readers did in the previous Web era. ... "

Vook Closes $5.25 Million

Press Release: "NEW YORK, NY – January 18, 2011 – Vook, the leading digital publisher of mixed-media reading, announced it closed $5.25 million in Series A financing from investors including VantagePoint Venture Partners and Floodgate. Vook will use the proceeds to build on its momentum, accelerate sales and invest in technology to support its growth plans. ... "

"Send to Kindle" Pushes Web Articles from Chrome to Your Kindle

Lifehacker: "If you prefer spending more time reading on your Kindle than in your browser, you can quickly push content from your browser to your Kindle with Chrome extension Send to Kindle. Think of it like Chrome to Phone (or Chrome to iPhone) for your Kindle, minimizing what used to be a multi-step task into a single click. Instead of relying on Instapaper as the middle-man to sync articles, Send to Kindle syncs the article of your choice immediately. ... "

Plastic Logic Announces $700M Investment to Make Its Plastic E-Readers in Russia

NYTimes: "Plastic electronics developer Plastic Logic is raising $700 million in funding, the company announced today. The investment will be used in part to build the world’s largest commercial plastic electronics factory in Zelenograd, a Russian city often likened to Silicon Valley. ... "

Barclays Analyst: Amazon Will Likely Sell 12.3 Million Kindles This Year

San Fran Chronicle: "Amazon sold about 7.1 million Kindle e-readers last year, Barclays analyst Doug Anmuth estimates today in a note, and will sell 12.3 million this year. ('Though our numbers may still be conservative.') Kindle sales (devices and content) will reach $3.3 billion this year, almost 8% of Amazon's revenue, Anmuth estimates, and more than $7 billion in 2013, representing 11% of Amazon's revenue. ... "

How Authors Move Their Own Merch

Joanne Kaufman - WSJ: "... Web-savvy authors point to the myriad opportunities provided by social networking sites. (Bruce DeSilva, for example, posted a slideshow on his Facebook page of famous people reading his debut crime novel, 'Rogue Island.') They point, as well, to publishers' ever more skimpy advertising budgets and the contraction of marketing and publicity departments, making it all the more essential for them to step into the void. And they have taken due note of the daunting noise—and numbers—in the marketplace. According to Penny Sansevieri, an adjunct professor at New York University and CEO of Author Marketing, a publicity firm, there are 1,500 books published daily in the U.S., including self-published titles. 'To get noticed,' she said, 'you have to throw more at people than just your book.' ... "

Apple Tightens Rules for iPad Subscription Model

intomobile: "It looks like Apple is preparing a subscription service for the iPhone and iPad for digital magazine and newspapers but there may be some unexpected consequences as it tightens up its restrictions. NRC is saying that Apple is tightening up its restrictions ahead of this subscription model, as it is indicating that subscriptions for the iPad can only be had through the iTunes store with Apple taking a cut. ... "

What Does Jobs’ Departure Tell Us About Apple’s Most Recent Quarter?

Matthew Lynley, Venture Beat, NY Times:

We know Jobs is a shrewd executive. The announcement today was definitely a calculated one. By picking a day when U.S. markets are closed, he’s given traders a day to sit down and get a bit of a reality check about where the company is going now that it will once again be in the hands of chief operating officer Tim Cook. The guy did at least a half-decent job running the company the last time Jobs took a leave of absence, and Apple even tossed him a nice $22 million bonus for his troubles. And the company is readying to release its quarterly earnings report for the holiday season.

You can bet those earnings are going to be stellar.

Apple brought in more than $20 billion its last operating quarter and sold a whopping 14.1 million iPhones in its first full quarter selling the iPhone 4. The company also picked up a nice refresh for its iPods — bringing out a new Nano and a camera-equipped iPod touch that sports the iPhone’s retina display. Holiday sales fared quite well on both the online and retail fronts despite a still-shaky economy.

All in all, Jobs is taking time off at a very good time for the company. The iPad 2 is coming, the next iPhone is coming and Verizon has finally secured the rights to sell the iPhone on its network. Even in cruise control, this is shaping up to be another fantastic quarter for Apple.

Apple Is More Than Just Steve Jobs

Eric Savitz - Tech Musings - Forbes:

While contemplating [the health of Steve Jobs and] whether to sell your shares, keep a few things in mind:

• Apple has been through this before, and the stock has outperformed. During the period Jobs was on medical leave in the first half of 2009, Apple shares actually appreciated about 67%.

• Apple has a deeper bench than many people realize. Tim Cook, the COO, has been here before. For the third time, he takes on more responsibility while Jobs is gone. The Street respects him. The Valley admires him. He is battle-hardened. And let’s not forget that behind Steve is a team that includes industrial designer Jonathan Ive, marketing guru Phil Schiller, iPhone software specialist Scott Forstall and a host of others.

• Apple is simply not a one-man band. We are talking here about a company that in the September 2011 fiscal year could generate more than $100 billion in revenue. Did you think Steve was going to do that by himself?

Borders Death Watch, Vol. 2 (Updated)

Gawker:

When we last checked in with second-place book chain Borders, the company was teetering on the edge of financial doom. And now? Borders is gazing into the abyss, preparing to jump.

• Borders has hired a law firm to advise it on bankruptcy and restructuring. You know what that means! (Bankruptcy.) The company's also trying to land a $500 million credit line, to "provide a bridge for the company over the next six to 12 months while it rearranges its business." Hopefully they can rearrange into selling something better than books.
• But hey, rumors that they'd get that loan really helped out the stock.
• Last week, Borders announced that it's cutting more than 300 jobs by closing a distribution plant in Tennessee; the company also cut 15 management positions.
• Analysts are skeptical that there are any merger possibilities that would work for Borders. Barnes & Noble stands to gain an estimated $400 million in sales if Borders folds.
• UPDATE: A tipster emails, "Borders HQ is laying off employees at Ann Arbor office as I type this." And, confirmed—45 layoffs today.

Magazine Publishers Anxiously Seeking iPad Subscription Deals from Apple

AppleInsider: "As the iPad-only newspaper The Daily is expected to launch with a new subscription service in the near future, major magazine publishers are still looking to reach a deal for recurring application subscriptions on the iPad. ... "

Apple's App Store on Pace to Surpass Total iTunes Music Sales by March

AppleInsider: "The average iOS device has seen more than 60 applications from the App Store downloaded on to it, putting Apple's digital download destination for the iPhone and iPad on pace to eclipse the iTunes Music Store this March. ... "

Apple Says Jobs Will Take a New Medical Leave

NYTimes: "As during Mr. Jobs’s prior medical leave in 2009, Timothy Cook, the company’s chief operating officer, will run day-to-day operations, Mr Jobs said. 'I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011,' Mr. Jobs said."

Magazines Pursue Tablets, but Apple Limits iPad Subscriptions

NYTimes:

Since Apple introduced the iPad last year, publishers have poured millions of dollars into apps in the hopes that the device could revolutionize the industry by changing the way magazines are read and sold to consumers.

But at the same time, the industry is discovering a lesson already learned by music labels and Hollywood studios: Apple may offer new opportunities with its devices, but it exacts a heavy toll. Magazine publishers argue in particular that limiting magazine sales on the iPad to single issues (except in a handful of cases) has hamstrung publishers from fully capitalizing on a new and lucrative business model.

“If you look at the Apple store,” said David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, which offers five publications on the iPad, “the most common reason that people give an app a low rating is that it lacks a subscription option. They want to subscribe, and they don’t like the idea of paying $4.99 a month.

Many applications cost almost as much as a printed copy of a magazine, a difficult concept for consumers to get their heads around considering that a paper product is more expensive to assemble and distribute than an electronic version of a magazine. The New Yorker, for example, costs $4.99 an issue in Apple’s App Store but $5.99 on the newsstand. Esquire is also $4.99 an issue, the same as the cover price on the newsstand. ...

Brands Create Media Outlets Online, Bypassing Magazines

NYTimes:

In the not-so-distant past, a luxury brand like Richemont, the Swiss company that owns Piaget, Dunhill and Montblanc, would have killed for even the slightest attention from Jeremy Langmead, the editor of British Esquire.

Now, he works for them, building a menswear e-commerce site.

Luxury brands have always advertised in the likes of Vogue, Esquire and Architectural Digest and tried to impress their editors enough to get mentioned in the editorial pages, as well. But now companies like Richemont are reaching out directly to consumers — and cutting out the middlemen.

Last year, Richemont acquired control of Net-A-Porter, the 10-year-old online luxury fashion retailer founded by the British magazine editor Natalie Massenet. When it first began, people in the industry sniffed at Net-A-Porter, suggesting it was just a tatty e-commerce site masquerading as digital fashion magazine.

They’re not sniffing anymore. Net-A-Porter sold for over half a billion dollars, making it one of the most expensive purchases of a consumer publisher — if that’s what it is — in many years. ...

iRiver Reveals Story HD E-Reader With XGA Display And Wi-FI

HotHardware: "A lot has changed in a year. At this point in 2010, some of the most anticipated products were e-readers coming from a variety of companies. But then the iPad happened. And consumers began to see that tablets could also be used as readers, albeit with worse battery life and with screens that aren't as viewable in the daylight. This year, there are far fewer e-readers on the docket for release, but iRiver is moving on anyway. The company's 6' Story HD e-reader is a new version of the Story, and the company is hanging their hat on a number of new advancements. ... "

UK Book Chain Collapses

Inside Retailing > Articles page: "Another UK book chain has followed Borders UK into administration. British Bookshops & Stationers has become the first retail casualty of 2011 according to a report in Retail Week. The chain, which comprised 51 stores and employed 300 staff, blamed tough trading conditions in the second half of 2010 for its demise. The business was sold by private equity house Endless to MD John Simpson about 12 months ago. Administrators have appointed a stock disposal specialist to run the chain until its future is clear. ... "

Want a Successful iPad App? Impress the Reader, Not Yourself

Matt Kinsman @ FolioMag: "Long downloads and rich media that serves no purpose are holding us back. ... With the flood of magazine apps hitting the market and many titles seeing downloads drop after the initial splash, publishers are looking at ways of standing out both to readers and advertisers. iPad-only editions are gaining traction, such as Bonnier's launch of Parenting Seasons but user experience (quick downloads, easy navigation) remains the key. As publishers we can thump our chest about Apple's strong-arm tactics and the lack of a workable digital newsstand, but the fact is long downloads and an emphasis on the one-time 'wow-factor' (as well as treating the iPad like a closed environment, similar to a print magazine) rather than giving readers reasons to come back are even more dangerous. ... "

Virginia Heffernan: Watch Me, Read Me

NY Times: "I’ve been a slavish fan of the Kindle almost since it was introduced — the way it lets you read, wholly read and do nothing but read. Not being interrupted by all the material distractions of an overdesigned book — or by the Web’s gaudy video, graphics, music, clocks, e-mail, ads and news bulletins — that was a joy to me when the Kindle first appeared. I still do my most focused reading on the Kindle or the Kindle app for the iPad. But every now and then my imagination just fails. And I reach for the mental cheat that only full-dress audiovisuals can provide. ... " I'm going to miss Virginia Heffernan's fine pieces in the Times. (They've just dropped her.)

eBook Sales Rise Nearly 130% in November

PW: "E-book sales in November rose 129.7%, to $46.6 million, from the 14 publishers who report results to the Association of American Publishers’ monthly sales report. The gain was below the year-to-date average which has e-book sales ahead 165.6% through November, but was better than the 112.4% increase reported in October when e-book sales were $40.7 million. The $165.6% increase in the first 11 months of 2010 put e-book sales from the 14 companies at $391.9 million. With one month to go in 2010, it looks like e-books and downloadable audio will be the only trade segments to posts gains in the year with sales down in all the print segments at the publishers that report to the AAP; the mass market segment has the largest decline at 14.0%." Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar bookstore sales posted their first monthly increase since January: 5.3%. Get the idea?

Publishers Told to Accept or Reject Borders Deal by Feb. 1

My hunch is most publishers won't need that long to decide. NY Times: "Publishers have been given until Feb. 1 to decide whether they are willing to accept Borders’ proposal to turn delayed payments into a loan, several people briefed on the situation said on Friday. ... [But] publishers remained skeptical of the proposal put forth by Borders. One publisher said that the proposal was not enough to convince the group that Borders had found a way to revive its business, and that they were less optimistic than ever that publishers could return to doing business with Borders."

Borders Shake-Up Revives Industry Fears for Brick-and-Mortar Model

MarketWatch: "Borders Group Inc.’s move to stay afloat by shoring up financing, negotiating with publishers, and cutting 15 management jobs is sure to reawaken concerns whether brick-and-mortar book stores can survive the digital revolution. ... "

Amazon Should Open Source the Kindle Apps

Joe Wikert via O'Reilly Insights via Forbes: "Imagine how many great new features would be implemented in this model. Rather than being limited by the fixed (and apparently small) number of developers assigned to the internal Kindle apps dev team they’d suddenly have access to as many developers as they could recruit to the open source project. They could create a world class set of apps and quickly distance themselves from the competition."

Magellan Media's Brian O'Leary: Data Needs to Drive eBook Piracy Debate

Jenn Webb, O'Reilly Media (via Forbes) Interviews O'Leary: "As digital book publishing continues to expand at a rapid pace to meet reader demands, piracy rears its head at the forefront of many a discussion in publisher circles. Many publishers respond to the perceived threat with strict digital rights management (DRM) software. But is this the best solution? And does it even provide protection from piracy?" O’Leary (@brianoleary) discusses "the current state of book piracy, how measurement data isn’t sufficient to determine its impact, and why DRM is a poor anti-piracy tool." Note: New Street Communications, LLC never inflicts DRM on the purchasers/readers of its eBooks.

What to Expect in EPUB3: Comments from Bob Kasher, Member of the International Digital Publishing Forum EPUB Working Group

The new release is scheduled for May. The following comes from Kasher's interview with Jenn Webb, O'Reilly Radar:

There are three key areas EPUB3 is focused around: language support, greater accessibility, and increased multimedia support. Language support will allow EPUB3 to save and search non-Roman scripts — such as Japanese, Chinese and Arabic — as font characters rather than JPEGs, as in current EPUB support. This will make a much broader range of literature available to current and future reading devices from base EPUB files. It will truly internationalize EPUB.

EPUB3 will also be better at integrating the current DAISY accessibility standards, to help make reading devices of greater usefulness to visually impaired readers.

EPUB3 will be much more adept at supporting multimedia capabilities for both HTML5-based devices and the coming generation of tablets supporting both Flash and HTML5. It is hoped that in doing so, EPUB3 will help develop an enhanced ebook standard that can be used across a variety of media and content.

Other developments include enhanced metadata support for discoverability, better facilitation support for touchscreen devices, and support for MathML, which we hope will open up greater opportunities for textbook publishers. EPUB3 will be a quantum leap forward in capabilities for future device support, but still backward compatible with current devices on the market. ...

The Rise and Fall of Borders

Jaclyn Giovis, Marketplace from American Public Media: "Borders’ history is the story of two little independent bookstore chains that grew-up fast - Waldenbooks and Borders - and eventually merged into a mighty corporate giant that changed the landscape of book-selling in America. The story doesn’t end there. ... "

Google Acquires End-to-End EBook Technology Startup

WSJ:

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Google Inc. (GOOG) has acquired eBook Technologies Inc. in a move the Internet search giant said was aimed at delivering richer reading experiences on tablets, electronic readers and other portable devices.

It was not immediately clear how Google intends to use eBook's technologies, which include an end-to-end electronic book platform offering a full range of ebook products and services. ...

The deal comes just over one month after Google launched Google eBooks, its long-anticipated digital bookselling enterprise. Google eBooks will enable the Web giant to challenge two of its powerful rivals, Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), in the digital books business, which is valued at close to $1 billion and is expected to grow in the coming years.

Microsoft Fights Apple's Attempt To Trademark 'App Store'

PCMag: "Can an 'app store' refer to any brand other than Apple? Microsoft thinks so. Microsoft has motioned for a summary judgment to block Apple from trademarking the phrase 'app store,' as it filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 17, 2008. ... "

Borders Meeting Set For Thursday; Warehouse to Be Closed

PW: "The meeting that could shape the immediate future of Borders Group is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Publishers, according to sources, will largely be represented by lawyers and finance executives who hope to hear more about the retailer’s new finance and turnaround plan from the Borders’ team. Publishers were unimpressed with the presentations made by Borders last week and the sense is that if Borders expects publishers to accept their proposal for publishers to exchange missed payments for notes, they need to hear a much more robust plan."

Study: Kindle Tweets Outpace Nook Tweets 2 to 1

Crave - CNET: "Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble don't report sales figures for their respective e-readers, the Nook and Kindle. But one company, Crimson Hexagon, has taken it upon itself to formulate some opinions about the e-reader market by charting and analyzing Twitter conversations for both the Nook and Kindle, as well as the iPad as an e-reader."

Abbreviated e-publishing, etc. Posts Today Through End of Week

There's been a death in the family. Expect limited posting for the next day or so, and no posting whatsoever on Friday.

What Went Wrong at Borders

Peter Osnos, The Atlantic: "Let me start with an unequivocal declaration: I hope Borders finds the means to avoid bankruptcy, or worse, liquidation. The immediate consequence of a Borders default on what it owes publishers would be a cash short-fall of millions of dollars. Even the most profitable publishers have limited leeway to deal with months of unpaid bills. The irony is that the surge in e-book sales across many platforms, the popularity of reading devices and tablets, some effective re-tooling at Barnes & Noble and the stronger independents, plus the continuing growth of Amazon actually have improved the overall outlook for the book business — which would take a considerable hit if the country's second-largest book chain goes under. Borders management is scrambling to get new financing and is soliciting publishers to accept bonds instead of payment. Will that strategy work? My guess is that most publishers want Borders to survive, and will find ways to keep it going at least for a while. But the longer term prospects for Borders — with 674 stores (many already scheduled to be closed) — remain, at best, a major challenge. ..."

Craig Mod on the Zen of Tablet Page Design

A List Apart: Articles: A Simpler Page:

The physical book is something designers get. It’s got a lot going for it, not the least of which is the fact that it’s physical. The boundaries are there, right before us. No guess work is necessary. And so there are a lot of great examples of well designed books. You needn’t look far to uncover a mountain of beautifully typeset and balanced pages.

But what about digital books?

Tablets are in many ways just like physical books—the screen has well defined boundaries and the optimal number of words per line doesn’t suddenly change on the screen. But in other ways, tablets are nothing like physical books—the text can extend in every direction, the type can change size. So how do we reconcile these similarities and differences? Where is the baseline for designers looking to produce beautiful, readable text on a tablet?

This essay looks to address these very questions. This essay also marks the release of an HTML baseline typography library for tablet reading. It’s currently iPad optimized. It’s called Bibliotype and the hope is for it to provide a solid base atop which we can explore. It’s very rudimentary, but rudimentary is a damn fine place to start. ...

Brussels Wants 7-Year Limit on Works Digitized by Google

James Kanter, NY Times: "Companies like Google that digitize artworks and books from public bodies should allow other companies and institutions to commercialize those materials after seven years, three experts advising the European Commission said Monday. ... "

Steve Jobs to Join Rupert Murdoch in Unveiling "The Daily" on Jan. 19

Interesting timing. This will be just one day after Apple reports earnings. AppleInsider: "Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs will appear onstage alongside media mogul and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch in San Francisco on Jan. 19 to unveil the new tablet-only newspaper The Daily for iPad."

Wattpad Reports 300% Growth in Traffic Dec. '09 vs. Dec. '10

Press Release:

Wattpad is reporting a record December, seeing a 20 percent growth over November’s traffic and 300 percent more visitors when compared to the previous year. This reading spike resulted in many novels crossing the 1 Million Reads landmark.

 The Android app saw the largest percentage of growth, with four times the usage in December as compared to the month before, furthering its gain over the BlackBerry. December also saw an increase overall in minutes spent on the site to 338 Million minutes a month.

The iPhone, iPod and iPad app remains the largest driver of mobile traffic of all devices, accounting for as much traffic as the web.

As Wattpad’s overall numbers grew, many novels and their authors saw exponential traffic increases. The top three books on Wattpad this December were:

1. YA novel “The Adventures of You: Fabulous Terrible” by Sophie Talbot, published by Chooseco, publishers of the Choose Your Own Adventure series.

2. 16 year old Jordan Lynde’s YA novel “A Proscriptive Relationship” which brings her total number of reads to 4.85 Million

3. Historical novel “The Last Dance” by S. Dust which has been read 3.6 Million times" ...

Read (Some of) Your Own Books on Kindle for iPad

Charlie Sorrel | Gadget Lab | Wired: "You can now add your own eBooks to Amazon’s Kindle App on iOS devices, as well as books from Project Gutenberg and other copyright-free sources. Great news, right? Not so fast. ... "

Interactive Fiction in the eBook Era

Keith Stuart, The Guardian (UK): "Now that we're all getting comfortable with the notion of reading books on digital displays, it's little surprise that developers are starting to explore the interactive possibilities of electronic novels. In fact, simple interactive fiction has been available on the iPod since the very beginning, with a community of writers using the HTML functionality in the device's Notes application to create 'choose your own adventure' stories. ... "

Why Barnes & Noble Is Thumping Borders

Rick Newman, US News and World Report: "Some corporate battles go on for years, with titans vying for dominance in endurance races where the lead can routinely change hands: Apple v. Microsoft. Dell v. HP. Boeing v. Airbus. But other battles are more like a war of attrition, an all-or-nothing fight with the spoils going to the last man standing. That may be the kind of struggle that Borders Group and its main rival, Barnes & Noble, are locked into. ... "

At ALA Midwinter, Brewster Kahle, Librarians Ponder The E-book Future

PW: "From research and pilot programs, digitization efforts and financial support for vendors, libraries have helped prepare the way for e-books. But now that the consumer market for e-books has taken off, are libraries in danger of being marginalized?"

Background Downloads Come to Kindle for iOS

thenextweb: "If you’ve ever started the download of a book, flipped over to another to read while it finishes and then flipped back, you’ve been sorely disappointed. Until now, background downloads just didn’t work on the Kindle app for your iPad or iPhone. However, according to Electronista, the just-released 2.5 update to Kindle for iOS will allow you to finish (though not start) a download in the background while you enjoy other content. There’s another pretty hefty change, too. The app will now support raw files, so you can send in text from Mail, Safari and even pull in books via iTunes file sharing."

The Outstanding Sigil eBooks Editor - Even Better in Latest Release

This is my favorite e-publishing tool. The Sigil WYSIWYG eBook editor is completely open source, completely free (although I'd encourage a donation to the developer), and couldn't be easier to use.

The VAT Rise and the Idiotic eBook Inconsistency

Shane Richmond, The Telegraph, UK: "As you might know, this year’s VAT rise does not apply to printed books. It does, however, apply to eBooks, for reasons that don’t entirely make sense. ... "

Nook Color Gets Hacked Again, Now Runs Ubuntu Linux

Elizabeth Fish, PC World: "CES certainly didn’t put the XDA Developers forum users off from their usual tinkering. Ever since first getting jailbroken, the Nook Color has had plenty of hacker’s attention, mainly getting Android and Angry Birds (and then potentially blowing up). Now, hackers have moved their focus from Android to Ubuntu Linux. ... "

E Ink Does Well This Holiday Season

Amazon Kindle 3 and Kindle DX Review & News Blog: "It’s possible that this goes without saying, but the huge jump in sales of the Kindle has resulted in some major benefits for their screen producer, E Ink Holdings. E Ink, for those who are unfamiliar, is the company that currently drives the eReader market with its durable, low-power, highly readable displays, and is used on both Amazon’s offering as well as the original Barnes & Noble Nook. Projections regarding E Ink Holdings are indicating that the company is likely to post better than expected profits for the fourth quarter of 2010, in spite of the fact that earlier estimates already placed them at a 60% improvement over the previous quarter. Overall, it’s been a good year for them, it seems. Even better, for E Ink and for fans of eReaders in general, 2011 is looking like it will be anything but a plateau for the industry. Analysts are anticipating as many as 22 million sales this year, up from slightly fewer than 11 million in 2010. It only makes sense. Sales are up, prices are down, selections are only getting better, and people are starting to finally get over the idea that Tablet PCs will negatively affect the eReader market. E Ink themselves claim that one in ten consumers already have an eReading device, which is definitely a persuasive factor for many potential customers. A large user group, few of whom have complaints, means a reliable product, after all. ... "

Borders Group in Talks With Restructuring Advisers

WSJ: "As Borders Group Inc. asks publishers for leniency on paying bills, the bookstore chain has been in discussions with restructuring advisers about ways to rework its debt-heavy balance sheet, said people familiar with the matter. Borders has been in talks with Wall Street firms that have worked on many high-profile bankruptcies and other types of restructuring deals, the people said. Restructuring advisers at investment bank Jefferies & Co. are among those in talks to represent the struggling book retailer and advise it on reworking its debt load, the people said."

Forrester Research: Borders = The Tower Records of Books

The Bookseller: " ... Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey told NPR: 'There's always a possibility of a resurrection here, but at this point, it looks like Borders is probably the Tower Records of books. It's probably the book company most likely to go under, and to be that big announcement that causes everyone to finally realize that digital has won the battle.'"

ProQuest Buys Ebrary

PW: "Ebrary, one of the pioneers in aggregating books and other print content online, has been acquired by ProQuest for an undisclosed price. ... "

Let's Buy Macy Halford a Paper Book on Manners

Who besides me is offended by this insufferable bit of multilayered snobbery from Macy Halford on "The Book Bench" blog of The New Yorker: "When I read a book all the way through to the end, I want the evidence stuffed and mounted on my bookshelf. My suspicion is that people who prefer e-readers use them primarily to read Harlan Coben, and are happy to be able to delete the physical evidence."

China's Hanvon Plans to Enter U.S. This Year to Challenge Amazon's Kindle DX

Bloomberg: "Hanvon Technology Co., the maker of China’s most popular electronic reading device, plans to introduce an e-reader in the U.S. by June or July to challenge Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle DX. Hanvon, which says it controls as much as 70 percent of the Chinese e-reader market, is targeting educational and professional users with a 9.7-inch-screen device. The Kindle DX is the largest in Amazon’s family of e-readers. ... "

Dallas Morning News To Erect Paywall in February

Justin Ellis, Nieman Journalism Lab: " ... The move is not entirely a surprise given that other large metro papers, The New York Times and the Boston Globe, are developing paywalls. It’s also less of a surprise since A.H. Belo, parent company of the News, said in 2009 that it was considering switching some of its papers to paid sites. ... "

New York Times Book Review Excludes Black, Latino Critics

BeyondChron: San Francisco's Alt Online Daily News: "The latest example of the sad decline of the New York Times Book Review under editor Sam Tanenhaus is its January 2, 2010 edition on 'Why Criticism Matters' that excludes African-American and Latino critics. Citing the importance of the critic as cultural arbiter, the Times asked six critics to address the subject – none of whom were black or Latino. Further, the back page of the section cites seven cultural critics who inspired the issue’s theme: all seven are white men. We have previously discussed the Book Review’s neo-conservative agenda in its promoting a praiseworthy review of a book unfairly attacking Hampshire College; now it is defining critics as our leading cultural arbiters while ignoring the perspectives of the African-American, Latino and Asian-American critics whose outsider status has often resulted in salient critiques of the elite white culture trumpeted in the Times."

Kobo Announces An Aggressive Partnership Strategy for 2011

Given the situation with their partner Borders, they damned well better have an aggressive partnership strategy for 2011. PW: "Kobo ... plans to vastly expand its footprint in the e-book space. Kobo has made partnerships with companies like Samsung and RIM to place Kobo e-reading software on their respective tablet devices, the Galaxy Tab and the upcoming Blackberry playbook. At CES, which begins today, Kobo is also focusing on OEM partners who will sell devices with Kobo software built in. Freescale, a leading chip maker for e-readers and tablets, has included Kobo software in its new tablet reference design (which OEM partners use to conceive of what devices with Freescale chips might do), the i.MX53 SABRE, which the company is showing off at CES."

Borders Group Bankruptcy or Merger Probably Inevitable, Says University of Michigan Prof

AnnArbor: "A top bankruptcy expert at the University of Michigan Law School said recent events indicate Ann Arbor-based Borders Group Inc. is toppling toward a bankruptcy filing or a merger with competitor Barnes & Noble. 'One of those things will happen within the next few months,' U-M law professor John Pottow, a national bankruptcy expert, said in an interview. 'The amount of losses they’re incurring is not something where they can avoid (restructuring)'"

Barnes & Noble Reports Online, Store Holiday Gains

PW: "After giving a preliminary report earlier this week about strong holiday gains, this morning Barnes & Noble gave a more detailed presentation, cited huge increases at Barnes & Noble.com and solid gains at its trade bookstores. While the increases were led by sales of Nookcolor and related digital products, B&N said that sales of physical books, especially hardcovers, exceeded expectations. Same store sales at B&N.com jumped 78% for the nine-week holiday period ended January 1 driven by sales of devices and e-books. Total sales at B&N.com rose 67% in the period, to $228.5 million. The company said it sold 'virtually its entire inventory of Nookcolor and E-Ink devices during the holiday season.'"

Publishers Say Borders Proposal "Is Not Going to Fly"

PW: "Publishers seemed unimpressed with Borders proposals that seek new financing and payment terms. According to sources familiar with negotiations, Borders offered few details beyond what has already been reported in the press. For the publishers, that means that Borders wants publishers to accept a note or bond in exchange for missed payments and for a delay in making payments. Borders told publishers it would have more details next week after it heard back from the banks it is in talks with to receive new loans. One publisher said the proposal, as it stands now, 'is not going to fly.'"

Bye, Bye Borders?

Megan McArdle, The Atlantic: "'Needless to say, I'll never shop at Borders online again.' That's Kevin Drum, discovering that Borders apparently doesn't discount its online books--at least, books that aren't bestsellers. A lot of people seem to have decided not to shop at Borders, lately. The company's been struggling for years, as eBooks and Amazon cut into its market. Unlike Barnes and Noble, the company never really successfully transitioned to digital, leaving it with a lot of physical inventory and real estate assets that are rapidly becoming albatrosses with declining sales. The company is desperately trying to renegotiate its debt, including payments to vendors. And now ugly rumors are flying that management is telling people to start looking for other jobs ... "

The Next Wave: Print Books as Furniture

NY Times: "It took Thatcher Wine a year to amass 2,000 well-preserved white vellum and cream-colored leather-bound books for a 'gentleman’s library' in the Northern California estate of a private equity manager. Perfectly matched sets of books bound in antique vellum, a pale leather made from goat or sheep skin, are an elusive quarry, especially if they all have to be in English, said Mr. Wine, a former Internet entrepreneur who now creates custom book collections and decorative 'book solutions,' as he puts it, in his Boulder, Colo., warehouse. ... For the spa in Philippe Starck's Icon Brickell, the icy glass condo tower in Miami, he was asked to wrap about 2,000 books in blank white paper, without titles, to provide a 'textural accent' to the space. He chose mass-market hardcovers that flood the used book outlets — titles by John Grisham and Danielle Steel, or biographies of Michael Jackson, he said — because they are cheap, clean and a nice, generous size. ... "

Apple iPad 2 Rumors Circulate the Web

NY Times: "While almost every technology company in the world descends on Las Vegas this week for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, one major tech company will be missing: Apple. But even in the absence of Steve Jobs and his iProducts, the technology giant’s intimidating presence will be felt in every corner of the event. This can already be seen in the number of iPad 2 rumors circulating the Web leading up to C.E.S., which officially opens on Thursday. ... "

After Strong Holiday Sales for E-Readers, E-Books Outselling Print

NY Times: "Another sign of the success of e-readers and the changing publishing world: when USA Today publishes its first post-holiday bestseller list tomorrow, e-book versions of the top six titles will have outsold their respective print versions for the previous week. And of the top 50 books, 19 have higher digital than print sales. ... "

Publishers Eyeing Borders Discussions Warily

PW: "Publishers appear willing to adopt a tough stance in negotiations with Borders this week regarding the chain’s need for new payment and finance terms. While Borders is meeting separately with the major New York houses, there appears to be sentiment among some of the publishers to use a mediator to negotiate on their behalf. Publishers are prohibited by law from meeting as a group to discuss terms with their vendors. And while Borders is believed to want a quick answer from publishers, the houses aren’t necessarily eager to make an immediate decision, and it is far from clear if all the houses will go along with Borders’ proposal. As reported by PW Daily Monday, Borders wants to exchange what it currently owes houses for a note, and to extend some due dates. ... "

B&N Introduces Nook Kids for iPad

PW: "Barnes & Noble has introduced a Nook kids for iPad application. The app makes B&N’s digital catalog of children’s content—which includes 100 new interactive kids’ books–available on the e-reading device. To promote the new app, B&N is offering two free picture books: Richard Scarry’s Colors and Rudyard Kipling’s The Elephant’s Child, which will automatically appear in a customer’s digital library when they register. ... "

With CES Raining Tablets, Some Will Get Flooded Out

Computerworld: "Show sponsor executive predicts that of possible 100 new tablets on display, some won't live on beyond four-day show."

Borders Discusses Deferred Payments With Publishers

NY Times:

Borders began holding talks with publishers on Tuesday, seeking to convert delayed payments into interest-bearing debt as part of a plan to refinance its debt, according to people briefed on the matter.

Borders has been in talks with lenders, including GE Capital and Jefferies, to refinance its existing bank loans from a group led by Bank of America, these people said. Bank of America and GE Capital were two of the lenders that provided the company with as much as $970.5 million in financing through a revolving credit deal last year.

One of the requirements attached to the potential refinancing is to persuade enough publishers to agree to deferred payments. To that end, Borders has been setting up meetings with publishers in New York this week. Such talks are always delicate, given the company’s dependence on receiving new shipments of books. ...

Video - Kindle App for Windows Phone 7

Matthew Miller, ZDNet: "Amazon truly is the leader in ebook software now with clients for every major smartphone platform except for Symbian and webOS. Given their track record, I imagine that we might even see a Symbian client coming in the future too while I believe a webOS client was already stated as coming. ... "

One of Several Exciting New Street Projects Ready to Launch

David Arkin's classic children's book Black and White, with a new Introduction by Pete Seeger. Winner of the 1966 Western Books Award. Coming Spring 2011, with all net profits going to help support Greg Mortenson's Central Asia Institute. Produced in collaboration with the heirs of David Arkin - Bonnie Arkin Cordova, Alan Arkin and Robert Arkin - Black and White will be published in both paper and eBook editions.

Forrester Predicts One-Third of U.S. Consumers Will Be Tablet Users by 2015

NY Times: "Forrester Research has published a revised forecast for the U.S. consumer tablet market today, noting that its initial predictions from last year were 'too conservative.' ... Indeed, Apple's introduction of the iPad changed the game, so to speak, for tablet adoption, and many people are predicting 2011 - or least CES - to be replete with tablet-related announcements. Forrester has revised its forecast upward to 10.3 million units for 2010 and says that it expects sales to more than double in 2011 to 24.1 million units. Of these sales, most will be iPads, as Forrester predicts Apple's dominance over the tablet market will continue through 2012. ... "

Kindle App Coming To Android And Windows Tablets

San Francisco Chronicle: "Following Amazon's success with Kindle on the iPad, Amazon is releasing a version of the Kindle app for tablets based on Android and Windows as well. Revamping the Android version of Kindle for tablets is a no-brainer given the number of Android tablets slated to come out in 2011, but the Windows move is a surprising vote of confidence in Microsoft's tablet strategy. ... " I don't get that latter statement at all. Rolling out a Windows version will not be expensive for Amazon to do. Granted, Microsoft's tablet "strategy" looks to many (myself included) like a very late nonstarter. But why shouldn't (wouldn't) Amazon go for the deepest penetration possible?

More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool

NY Times: "ROSLYN, N.Y. — As students returned to class this week, some were carrying brand-new Apple iPads in their backpacks, given not by their parents but by their schools. ... "

Year One: The Born Digital Publisher

Essential reading from Joe Esposito, who knows his stuff. The Scholarly Kitchen: "While one would be hard-pressed to find any publisher who does not view digital media as a central strategic concern, we have reached a critical point in the evolution of publishing — henceforth, no one who starts a new publishing company is likely to be thinking of the world of print. ... "

Fearmongering: Kindle eBook Lending Will Lead To 'Lost' Book Sales?

A bit of absurdity reported with appropriate sarcasm by the good people at Techdirt: "From the and-burn-down-the-libraries department: We've already pointed out how Amazon's new 'lending' feature for Kindle ebooks is extremely limited, in such a way that it's barely useful, but already we're seeing fearmongering about how that feature is going to create 'lost' book sales. Glyn Moody points us to an article at The Next Web, which discusses how some folks have formed a 'lending club' on Facebook, so that they can find a larger pool of people to lend books to and from. And, the article's author warns, this inevitably means lost book sales ... "

Borders Delays Paying Publishers, Sets Meetings with Publishers For Later This Week

NY Times: "On Monday, Borders executives said they would discuss the company’s plans with publishers at hastily arranged meetings in New York later this week. Mike Edwards, the president and chief executive of Borders, will be present at the meetings, said Mary Davis, a spokeswoman for Borders. ... If the bookseller were to go out of business, publishers could lose tens of millions of dollars, miles of shelf space and the selling power of more than 675 retail stores. Industry analysts said a bankruptcy filing from Borders seemed more likely than ever. ... "

J. P. Morgan: Almost One-Third Of Internet Users Plan To Buy A Kindle

SF Chronicle: "A whopping 28% of Internet users surveyed by J. P. Morgan in December say they either own a Kindle or plan to buy one in the next year. ... The survey also bolsters the claim of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that iPad owners are buying Kindles: 40% of iPad users surveyed already own one, and 23% plan to buy one in the next year. According to J. P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan, the big price difference between the two devices -- $139 for the low-end Kindle versus $499 for the cheapest iPad -- really places them in different categories. Khan also pointed out that overall e-book revenue is exploding, going from 1% of overall book revenue in 2008 to 9% in 2010 ... "

Readers Shift to eBooks: Publishers Take to Drink

Actually, if I take to drink, it is to toast the new technology, which should in no way be considered a threat (rather, an opportunity) for those who know how to adapt and innovate. Survival of the smartest. BNET: "Publishers and authors who want more time to move from paper to ebooks had best quicken their pace. Barnes & Noble notes that a shift in consumer preferences have made eBooks more popular than paper for the company’s online customers. Given the lower sales prices and the growing ability of authors to work directly with retailers, publishing will see economic and sales pressures that will make previous years look like a holiday. The results could drive publishers to drink — or out of business. ... "

Google Digital Newsstand Aims to Muscle In on Apple

WSJ: "Google Inc. and Apple Inc. have stepped up their battle to win over publishers, as the two companies vie to become the dominant distributor of newspapers and magazines for tablet computers and other mobile devices. Google is trying to drum up publishers' support for a new Google-operated digital newsstand for users of devices that run its Android software. With the effort, it is chasing Apple, which already sells digital versions of many major magazines and newspapers through its iTunes store. ... "

2010: The Year in Digital Comics

Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources: "What a difference a year makes! A year ago today, the iPad not only didn’t exist, it hadn’t been officially announced yet. People read comics on their iPhones and iPod Touches, but the screens were too small for a good experience (and therefore, no one wanted to spend much money on them). The iPad changed all that, with a big, full-color screen that is just a tad smaller than a standard comics page (and a tad larger than a standard manga page), and publishers started taking digital comics seriously. The distribution was already in place, thanks to the iPhone—comiXology, iVerse, Panelfly—and now the publishers not only jumped on board with those platforms but also started developing their own apps. ... "

What’s Ahead for Media and Digital Businesses in 2011?

NY Times: "What does 2011 hold for the media and digital communications businesses? Here are a few predictions — gathered from the proverbial people who insist on anonymity, in this case because they do not actually exist. ... "

Year of the Tablet Takes Another Stab at It

Joshua Brustein, NY Times: " ... [2010] became the Year of the iPad. This year, manufacturers are promising it will be different, saying that after the success of the iPad, they have learned a lot about what consumers want in a tablet. 'We could have done this a year ago and rushed it out, but it wouldn’t have had the right features,' said Phil Osako, director of product marketing at Toshiba, which is introducing a new tablet at this year’s show, which begins Thursday in Las Vegas. ... " Other players: HP, Motorola, RIM. "Perhaps the most important feature is the ability to watch high-quality video, say industry analysts, pointing to market research showing that, above all, consumers want to use tablets for all kinds of media consumption — watching films, looking at and sharing photographs, playing games. 'Apple competitors’ first instinct was to build a cheaper device and put a cheaper processor in it,' said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research ... 'The problem with that is that it wouldn’t have been as good for the video screens.' ... "

Rowman & Littlefield Halts Shipments to Borders

Trachtenberg, WSJ: "The fallout from Borders Group Inc.'s decision to halt payments to some publishers began over the weekend, as a leading distributor said it would temporarily stop shipping books to the retail chain. The chief executive of Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc., which publishes its own titles and distributes books for several hundred publishers through its National Book Network, said in an interview the company was taking the step to look out for its clients. 'When a customer of that size calls you up and says you aren't getting a check, that's a piece of information you have to act on,' said Jed Lyons, CEO of Rowman & Littlefield. ... "