UK trade bookstore results worst March since 2005

The Bookseller: "Spending in March has hit a six-year low, with sales slumping by 8.7% year on year."

Digital Subscribers Way Up for News Corp. in UK, But Print Readers Steadily Down

Zacks: "News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation, which began charging readers for online content for The Times of London and Sunday Times of London, in early July 2010, witnessed a surge in the number of digital subscribers -- up approximately 60% during a four-month period, Bloomberg reports." BUT: Print subscriber numbers are down, a 12.1% fall in the past year. Digital readers pay considerably less than print readers. Digital subscribers pay 8.67 pounds per month, while newsstand buyers pay 8.70 pounds per week. FURTHER NOTE: The paywall in question is non-porous, as opposed to the one just launched by The New York Times. Very different animal. Much easier for would-be readers to "game" the latter without paying.

Waterstone's Managing Director: Academic bookselling at "crisis point"

The Bookseller: "Waterstone's has called for academic publishers to 'significantly' increase their support for the chain, warning bricks and mortar academic bookselling could vanish from the high street within a few years. The retailer's m.d. Dominic Myers told delegates at the Bookseller Association’s annual Academic, Professional and Specialist Bookselling Group conference last week that the academic bookselling industry was at a “crisis point,” in which 2011 would be a defining year. ... "

re: Borders UK meltdown

The Bookseller: "Waterstone's could be best placed to capitalise from a loss in market share by Borders, according to an influential retail analyst. In a wide-ranging note on entertainment retail, Paul Smiddy at HSBC said this week that between space re-allocation and store closures, Borders would lose market share over the next year, with Waterstone's in the best position to gain from this. ... "

No breakthrough over author e-book rights in France ahead of fair

The Bookseller: "French authors have urged culture minister Frederic Mitterrand to intecede in order to break the deadlock in their negotiations with publishers over electronic rights. For the second year running, the Permanent Council of Writers (Conseil Permanent des Ecrivains, CPE) and the French Publishers Association (Syndicat National de l’Edition, SNE) have tried and failed to conclude an agreement in time for the Paris Book Fair. ..."

EU anger over ebook deal suggests hard times ahead for publishers

What'd I just say? Check the guardian.co.uk: "The perception that selling ebooks by the agency model is unfair (consumers) and illegal (EU) is a big worry for publishing firms ... "

French government says publishers should collaborate over e-book negotiations

The Bookseller: "French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand has urged French publishers to speak with one voice in forthcoming negotiations with Amazon over supplying their e-books for the Kindle. During a visit to Silicon Valley, where he met senior managers of Amazon, Apple and Google, Mitterrand told reporters that if publishers go into negotiations separately, 'in disorder and a climate of permanent rivalry and competition', Amazon would 'fairly rapidly dictate its law'. Publishers should establish common rules on fixed e-book prices and other issues, he added. Referring to the recent raids of five French publishers and the publishers association (SNE) by European Commission competition officials, he said: 'I don’t think that we are in a zone of conflict or zone of difficulty between the French State and the main partners and players. ... .'" Yeah, pal, but you will be in a "zone of conflict" with the European Commission very shortly if you keep advocating the fixing of prices.

Rumor: Random House UK considering agency pricing switch

EBOOK MAGAZINE: "Random House UK could follow their US counterpart in adopting agency pricing for ebooks according to internet rumours which also suggest an announcement confirming the move could come as early as this week. ... "

UK Research: Consumers expect lower prices for ebooks

Internet Retailing: "... research also revealed a strong consumer expectation to pay less for e-books than their printed equivalent, with nearly half (48%) of consumers saying they expect to pay less, and just one in five (19%) saying they expect to pay the same. Some 7% of Brits say they expect to pay less than 3 pounds, with 28% thinking it should be between 3 pounds and 5.99 pounds. Younger readers were the most likely to expect to pay less—reflecting, according to Mintel, their general experience of being able to procure digital product for less or free on the internet."

European regulators are right: agency pricing = price fixing

Europe confirms raids on ebook publishers • The Register: "The European Commission has confirmed it raided several companies involved in ebook publishing. The regulators said it carried out 'unannounced inspections' at ebook publishing companies in several member states because it has reason to believe they may have 'violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and other restrictive practices'." They shot down the Net Book Agreement and, mark me, they'll bring down Agency Pricing.

Borders demise signals end for chain bookstores

Retail Gazette (UK):

High street book shops are becoming increasingly rare, with many of the biggest names in the sector pushed into oblivion by buying online and the increasing popularity of reading devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad. ...

Just over a year ago Borders closed the doors of all of its UK stores, marking the start of a disastrous down-turn for the industry.

The next to go was British Bookshops which announced its move into administration in January, and more recently Waterstones closed of 11 stores in the UK and Ireland following disappointing December sales trading.

So the question is whether there is still space for a large chain bookstore on high streets around the world?

Consulting Director of Verdict Research Neil Saunders argures that because bookstores require an extensive amount of space in order to offer a wide selection of books, a combination of low sales and high rents can be lethal. ...

European publishers upset over Apple's iTunes subscription fees, restrictions

AppleInsider:

A group of European newspaper publishers has warned Apple that a 30 percent commission on iTunes subscription revenue and restrictive conditions would be unfair, according to a new report.

The BBC reports that the European Newspaper Publishers' Association has expressed concern over Apple's revenue split for iTunes digital periodical subscriptions and possible restrictions limiting whether iPad users can subscribe to a periodical through the company's own website.

The ENPA warns that Apple is demanding too large a cut of publishers' profits while potentially banning newspapers from taking subscriptions via their own websites. ...

Digital Publishing Collateral Damage: H.B. Fenn, Canada's Largest Distributor, Goes Bankrupt

PW: "Canadian publishing was shaken yesterday by news that H.B. Fenn and Company, Canada’s largest book distributor and a stalwart in the industry for 30 years, had begun bankruptcy proceedings and appears to be shutting down, leaving its clients and authors scrambling. Fenn issued a brief statement Thursday, saying that it had filed a Notice of Intention to Make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. That could mean a restructuring proposal to allow the company to continue operating, but in the statement CEO and founder Harold Fenn said, 'My heart goes out to our over 125 employees and to the many publishers we represent, as well as the customers that have supported us over the years.' And indeed, according to sources, Fenn staff were told to pack up their belongings yesterday. ... "

UK: eBook agency pricing investigation begins

TechRadar UK: "The Office of Fair Trading is investigating how ebooks are priced after receiving 'a significant number of complaints'. The complaints pertain to pricing arrangements between book publishers and retailers which could breach competition rules. ... "

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. ... "

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. ... "

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. ... "

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. ... "

UK Retail Book Sales Pick Up in Final Week Before Xmas

The Bookseller: "The last full week of sales before Christmas shows the book trade coming out ahead of the general retail trend, and raises hope for the last few days of the year. Spending at UK booksellers jumped 12.3% week-on-week last week, despite widespread reports that the big freeze had badly affected footfall at retailers and a Synovate footfall estimate of a 20% drop in shoppers. ... "

Publishers Shoot Selves in Feet with High eBook Prices

Arielle Ford @ Huffpost: "Recently Amazon.co.uk eliminated their discounts on ebooks within 24 hours of being notified by big publishers (Penguin, Hachette and HarperCollins) that retailers would no longer set the selling price of books; publishers would now dictate the terms. As a result, the pricing of many ebooks were marked up to equal or even higher than the printed versions. This led to a revolt by readers ..."