Kindle: Now for Some Light Christmas Reading

Judith Woods in The Telegraph (UK):

What to make of the 2010 Christmas must-have, the Kindle? A philistine gimmick or the most revolutionary development in reading since Gutenberg mass-produced moveable type?

John Lewis has already sold out of this much-hyped £109 electronic reader, the waiting lists are longer than War and Peace and Amazon, which makes this sleek gadget du jour, is cock-a-hoop. All of which makes me rather dig my heels in.

Instinctively, I belong in the anti-Kindle camp. Not because I'm a technophobic Luddite. In fact, I already own an iPad (ooh, get me). But I only use it for surfing the net and emailing, which is the IT equivalent of harnessing the Derby winner to a milk float.

I even have the iBook app up on my screen as I write, but have never downloaded anything because – well, why would I? ...

Waterstone's Starts Selling Hachette eBooks Again

theBookseller: "Waterstone's is now selling Hachette titles as e-books after removing them two months ago when the publisher switched to agency terms. The move means Waterstone's is on agency terms with both HarperCollins and Hachette, though has yet to the new terms with Penguin. However, the retailer has now stopped offering Card points on all of its e-books, paving the way for agency terms across its entire range of e-book titles."

With a Friend Like Hachette ...

Philip Jones, FutureBook: "[The Agency Model has] been badly implemented in the UK already. Maybe there are reasons for this, mostly legal for sure, but retailers we've spoken to appear to be unclear why Hachette set a fixed 'D-day' for some, but not—most noticeably for Amazon—others. Some retailers are unhappy that a measure brought in to fix Amazon has actually given the company a huge window of exclusivity at this key period. This is more than a problem of availability and the ugly messages that now appear on some retailers' websites when a Hachette title is picked, consumers planning their Christmas purchases are unlikely to plump for a device with such a demonstrably flakey back-end. If I'm Waterstone's I'm wondering why Hachette has just kicked me in the teeth, when I'm basically on-side with agency pricing."

Britain: In Response to Force-Fed Agency Model, Hachette eBooks Removed from Waterstone's, WHS, and Book Depository Web Sites

Who will blink first? From theBookseller.com:

Hachette e-books have been removed from the websites of Waterstone's, W H Smith, Tesco and The Book Depository after the publisher said it would move to agency terms from today (20th September). But Amazon.co.uk is still selling Hachette titles on the Kindle, and appears to still be setting the prices.

The Bookseller reported late on Friday that Hachette planned to move to the agency model, whereby it sets the prices of e-books, from Monday, with Gardners, which wholesales e-books, telling its customers that this arrangement included Amazon and Apple. An email sent by Gardners read: "These are not Gardner terms, but the publisher's and may I suggest that should you wish to 'discuss' the terms, direct the queries to the publisher."But as of Monday morning Amazon is continuing to set prices of Hachette e-books below that of Apple, which is already on agency terms.

Other retailers, including Waterstone's, Tesco, WH Smith and The Book Depository have removed the e-book editions from sale. Titles such as the Breaking Dawn e-book are listed as "out of stock" on the The Book Depository. On Waterstones.com and Tesco.com they simply do not come up in the search, while on W H Smith's website they are listed as "not available".

Kieron Smith, managing director of The Book Depository, which is supplied e-books by Gardners, said the company had taken the decision to remove the books from sale and did not plan to sign the agreement.

Smith said: "One of the many reasons is we want to apply consistency of offer to the customer. One of the stipulations is we can't offer coupons or discount vouchers. If we did an e-book offer we would have to have a massive list of exceptions for Hachette titles. We are not being straight with the customer. Unless I can control a customer's experience, selling e-books with the price set by the publisher is not something I want to do."

In an email seen by The Bookseller, Gardners, who provides e-books including Tesco, The Book Depository and independent bookshops, said: "[Retailers] shall agree that it shall not alter the customer price of any e-book without [Hachette's] prior written consent." The wholesaler said booksellers must sign up to the agreement if they were still to continue selling Hachette e-books. ...

Great Britain: Amazon Embraces Free Market, Publishers, Agents & Society of Authors Whine

Across the pond, publishers, agents and the Society of Authors sound just like old-media American publishers, agents and the Authors Guild. PS: Waterstones.com is not going to "work." theBookseller.com:

"Amazon is offering exceptional discounts on key autumn e-books as it seeks to drive Kindle sales ahead of a change to agency terms and the launch of rival devices. The highly aggressive pricing could mean a 'game-changing autumn' for the high street, according to literary agent Jonny Geller ...

One agent said while publishers have now broadly accepted the view that an e-book price will be 20%–25% cheaper than the print r.r.p., they are unhappy with Amazon’s massive discounts on top titles. "Amazon is setting the e-book price and they just have to lump it. It gives them no pleasure," he said.

Jonny Geller, m.d. of the books division of Curtis Brown, said the situation was "a re-run of the mid-’90s removal of the Net Book Agreement" with a retailer vastly reducing price as it looked for market share. "I think this autumn is going to be carnage," he said. "I suspect it is all about selling the hardware and Apple don’t seem to be as engaged [with books] as Amazon. It’s an extremely strong autumn for titles, I don’t remember such a good one, and this is time to have the war." He warned: "On the high street it is going to be a game-changing autumn. Waterstones.com has got to work."

Literary agent Ed Victor commented: "Amazon is educating consumers to think £7 is the price of a new hardcover book and we have an industry that has educated consumers to think it is worth twice that. They will end up ruining the industry as e-readers take hold." Tom Holland, chair of the Society of Authors, said: "I think it’s a huge mistake. It’s trashing the brand."

Brit Pubs: Digital Promos to Dominate Xmas Books Campaigns

theBookseller.com:

... Pan Macmillan marketing manager Rebecca Ikin said this autumn would demonstrate a "step change" in the link-up between traditional and online marketing. "There are new platforms for the e-book in a way that didn’t exist before, so our digital publishing team, our marketing team and our digital marketing team are working in an integrated way," she said. "We are not now having the two-week or four-week advertising campaigns, we are having three-month campaigns and they are much more complex." ...

HarperCollins promises "whizzy digital plans" yet to be revealed for Russell Brand’s My Booky Wook Two. Brand will also be reunited with fellow "Sachsgate" culprit Jonathan Ross for a Hackney Empire event (30th September).

Penguin will use a "suite of video assets" in a pre-awareness campaign for Michael McIntyre’s autobiography Live and Laughing (14th October), with the author doing a 20-date signing tour.

Nigella Lawson’s Christmas title Kitchen (Chatto) will be part of an unspecificed "new digital initiative" being launched by CCV in the autumn, according to publicist Mark Hutchinson of Colman Getty.

There will be an app for The ­Armstrong and Miller Book by ­comedians Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller (Little, Brown, 7th October), ...

Samsung E60 eBook Reader Goes on Sale at W.H. Smith Later This Week

But it doesn't stand a chance. Which? News: "According to Samsung the E60 is compatible with major ebook formats including ePub, PDF and TXT. The Samsung E60 can also playback MP3 music and audiobooks, and has a text-to-speech feature that can read out ebooks. ... The Samsung E60 doesn't have a 3G connection but instead connects via wi-fi for users to download ebooks from the WHSmith ebook store. Samsung's new eReader will cost £200 when launched - £90 more than the wi-fi-only version of its high-profile rival, the Amazon Kindle."

UK eBook Price Wars

Price Wars Escalate in the UK - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat: "The eBook price wars in the UK took a dramatic turn today as bookseller W H Smith slashed all eBook prices--selling all eBooks for half price. The astounding sale features Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer for 5.10 pounds and Play Dead by Harlan Coben for 2.72 pounds. Both prices represent a 66 percent savings off the original price of the eBook."

Waterstone's Slashes Price of Pocket e-Reader to 99.99 pounds | theBookseller.com

Waterstone's slashes price of pocket e-reader to 99.99 pounds | theBookseller.com: "Waterstone's has slashed the price of its Sony Pocket Edition eBook reader to 99.99 pounds, making it the cheapest on the market. The price change was made in store and online yesterday (9th August). When it first went on sale in September last year, it was priced at 179 pounds. The price of the Sony Touch Edition, 199 pounds, has not changed. The move could be seen as a direct riposte to Amazon.co.uk, which two weeks ago announced it would sell the wi-fi Kindle reader to UK customers for 109 pounds."