Apple iPad disrupts Amazon ebook monopoly

It has finally happened. Publishers are so desperate to survive and Apple so hungry to succeed with the iPad, that Amazon has blinked, and agreed to the usual Apple 70/30 deal with publishers, so perhaps the iBook store will not be as monopolistic on prices as the iTunes store.

"Publishers aren't wasting any time getting their books onto the new iPad.
Publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Kaplan Publishing, McGraw-Hill Education, and Pearson have signed deals to be among the first to port their textbooks over to Apple's new tablet. Heading to the iPad as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch will be their textbooks, study guides, and test prep manuals.

See full story:

Textbook publishers heading to iPad by Lance Whitney

And now Mr Murdoch, Australian emigre, reminding us that newspaper and magazine publishers are desperate for the iPad, has weighed into the battle -

"Rupert Murdoch has suggested the iPad and the Kindle would be ''unloved and unsold'' without creativity from companies like his News Corporation.
Tablet computers, e-readers and smartphones would be unloved ''empty vessels'' without quality creative content, he said in New York on Tuesday as News Corp opened a new front in its battle to get people to pay for journalism and entertainment."
see story: iPad unloved without us: Murdoch

"Amazon and Macmillian have not yet got the perfect deal: Macmillan  demanded a price hike for its best-sellers in electronic books to $12.99-$14.99, from $9.99, so Amazon initially stopped selling all Macmillan titles." see the story: Amazon reshelves Macmillan titles but not e-books

"Online retailer Amazon.com Inc resumed selling hardcover and paperback books from Macmillan Publishers late on Friday."

"HarperCollins joined Macmillan in trashing Amazon’s $9.99 model and now Hachette is on the bandwagon. They’re all looking to Apple and the iPad to save their profit margins in the electronic reader market and Amazon’s surrendering means that you Kindle owners can probably expect your e-book prices to go up to match Apple."

Story: Amazon Facing Heat From Third Publisher Over Book Price Issue

"In a foolish public relations move, Amazon.com  said that it would "capitulate," and accused Macmillan of having a "monopoly" over its titles. (I guess it takes one to know one). It had expressed disagreement by temporarily ceasing sales of all Macmillan books. At deadline Wednesday afternoon, some titles published by Macmillan's imprints, such as the best-selling novel "Sarah's Key" and "Priceless" -- ironically about the myth of fair value and the hidden psychology of price -- were still not available from Amazon directly, only its resellers." see full story:  

Commentary: iPad disappoints but Steve Jobs looks shrewd Therese Poletti's Tech Tales -Amazon looking foolish in e-book flap  

The other major theme of the week is that of content and technologies used by the Apple iPad.

The lack of Flash (by Adobe) is a major criticism of the iPad, but Steve Jobs himself has all but declared war on Adobe Flash:

"The iPhone, and now the iPad, both lack support for Adobe Flash, an inexplicable omission for many users who have become used to Flash as one of the most common plugins on their desktop and laptop computers.
Jobs and Adobe have traded barbs over the issue. Adobe has called the iPad restricted and Jobs has fired back with claims that Adobe is lazy and its software causes the Mac to crash."
See full story: -

Flashpoint as Jobs takes aim at Adobe  by ASHER MOSES February 1, 2010 - 3:12PM

Adobe's CTO Kevin Lynch has countered: "it is unlikely that HTML5 will supplant the need for Flash in the foreseeable future. "If HTML could reliably do everything Flash" can, it would "certainly save us a lot of effort," Lynch says. But because Flash is still enabling more than 75 percent of Web video, according to Lynch, Flash will be around "even as HTML advances."

See full story:

CTO Counters Steve Jobs' Claim that Adobe Is 'Lazy' by Sarah Jacobsson, PC World Feb 4, 2010 12:29 pm

 

Apple iPad arrives

Well, it's certainly not called the iTablet or iSlate now, contrary to the rumours. And the iPad will be no use to Australians wanting to read Australian titles, because the iBook store will only be accessible to Americans. Why? Because iBook, like Amazon, must respect the copyright areas allowed in the author/publisher contracts.
If the author's contract says something like, "only in USA and dependencies", then Amazon and iBook must preclude our purchases.

This is NOT the case for books. Australians can buy any BOOK they want from Amazon, so long it is just one copy. Significantly, Australians have the right to buy any book from almost any part of the world.

But try to buy software from Amazon, and the copyright enforcement is 'bleedingly obvious' - cannot ship software or electronics to Australia. So this is an example Digital Rights Management enforced by the retailer because of Amazon's supply contract with each publisher or distributor.

What was new this week?

iPad's Big Target: E-Readers

Matt Hamblen, Computerworld Jan 31, 2010 4:31 am

Apple ipad

"The new Apple iPad's color multitouch display will clobber -- but not kill -- the blossoming e-reader market, which includes Amazon.com's Kindle, the Sony Reader and other devices that use gray-scale displays and slower interfaces, some analysts said.
"Apple 's full-color, full motion [iPad] device makes not only netbooks, but any product with an E Ink display look tired and dated," wrote Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe in a blog after spending a few minutes using the tablet device.


"If you're a publisher who lives and dies by what your content looks like, you want to be talking to Apple now; any other digital distribution is going to look very last decade,"

iPad: What it means for Australia

GORDON FARRER January 29, 2010

"WHAT we know about plans for the iPad in Australia is far outweighed by what we don't know. We know that the basic wifi - wireless broadband - version of the iPad will be available worldwide in late March. The wifi+3G version will be available in the US and ''selected countries'' in April. We also know that iBooks, which gives users access to e-books and digital textbooks and one of the iPad's biggest selling points, will only be available via US models.

"We don't know how much the devices will cost in Australia; which telcos will carry the device; or whether Australia is a ''selected country''. And we don't know which Australian media outlets will provide content tailored to take advantage of a technological breakthrough some optimistic souls see as a potential saviour of the newspaper industry."

Australian Designer Creates The ‘iPad Wall’

Posted by Brenton Currie on Jan 31st, 2010

A Melbourne architectural firm, ClarkeHopkinsClarke, has created a mockup design of an ‘iPad wall’, a wall fitted out with hundreds of iPads.

iPad Wall (Credit: CHC)

The wall could be used in situations such as libraries, where users could browse books on the devices, or be used in place of televisions which are used currently to display interactive scenes or promotional information.
“With the built-in features of the iPad and customisable applications, there is literally an endless number of things we can do on the wall,” the company said in a post introducing the design.
“Interchangeable wallpaper pattern & video is just the beginning, but imaging a giant jigsaw that you can play using multitouch, an interactive aquarium scene, digital graffiti, interactive speaker wall, even a life sized digital bookcase for your iBooks!”
Because of the relatively cheap price of the iPad ($499 USD), many of the devices could be purchased for a smaller cost than say fitting out the wall with large LCD televisions, and unlike normal feature wall mosaic tiles, the iPad contains groundbreaking technology and features, which are usually only seen in $600 or above priced products.

Kobo E-Reader is First such App on iPad

• By Charlie Sorrel January 28, 2010 6:16 am Categories: Media Players

Third party e-book readers

"The iPad might have iBooks, but if Apple’s built-in iPhone apps are anything to go by, then it will likely be gorgeous but limited (the Mail app, anyone?). We think that it’ll be the third party e-book readers that turn the Moses Tablet into the Kindle Killer people so obviously want it to be.

Stephen Fry: why the Apple iPad is here to stay

The self-confessed Apple fanatic on why the launch of the company's new tablet will change everything

"Well bless my soul and whiskers. This is the first time I've joined the congregation at the Church of Apple for a new product launch. I've watched all the past ones, downloaded the Quicktime movies and marvelled as Apple's leader has stood before an ovating faithful and announced the switch to Intel, the birth of iPod, the miniMac, the iTunes Store, OS X, iPhoto, the swan's-neck iMac, the Shuffle, Apple retail stores, the iPhone, the titanium Powerbook, Garageband, the App Store and so much more. But this time I finally made it. I went to San Francisco for the launch of the iPad. Oh, happy man."

"The speed, the responsiveness, the smooth glide of it, the richness and detail of the display, the heft in your hand, the rightness of the actions and gestures that you employ, untutored and instinctively, it's not just a scaled up iPhone or a scaled-down multitouch enhanced laptop – it is a whole new kind of device. And it will change so much. Newspapers, magazines, literature, academic textbooks, brochures, fliers and pamphlets are going to be transformed (poor Kindle). Specific dedicated apps and enhancements will amaze us. You will see characters in movies use the iPad. Jack Bauer will want to return for another season of 24 just so he can download schematics and track vehicles on it. James Bond will have one. Jason Bourne will have one. Some character, in a Tron-like way, might even be trapped in one."

Amazon CEO: “Millions” of Kindles Sold

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on January 28
"Amazon.com keeps secret the number of Kindles it sells, saying the devices generate too small a portion of overall revenues to warrant disclosure. But on Thursday, the company gave its first big hint at the e-book reader’s financial success.
In a press release detailing the e-commerce giant’s solid all-around performance in the fourth quarter of 2009, CEO Jeff Bezos says, “Millions of people now own Kindles.” So, assuming that at least two million people have bought the device, and that each paid at least $259 – the cost of the least-expensive Kindle – Amazon now has a business worth more than $500 million in sales. Not bad for a product that’s a little more than two years old."

Apple iSlate Rumours (Apple Tablet)

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Apple's iSlate: The Kindle Killer

J.S. McDougall

Co-Founder of Catalyst Webworks
Posted: December 30, 2009 04:07 PM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index

"By releasing an e-reader so hopelessly tied to the paper, Amazon gave Apple an opening to provide something better. If the latest swirl of rumors is true and Apple plans to release a tablet computer, or iSlate, early next year, you can bet your life it will put the Kindle to shame when it comes to digital content delivery. Any e-ink device simply will not be able to compete. I'm not going to reveal any names, but I have it on very good authority, for example, that--unlike the Kindle--the new Apple tablet will, indeed, have a color screen. Might it also ... play video?! (Please pardon the sarcasm.)

Digital Book content

"Book publishers are feverishly searching for the best ways to pour their content into the new digital stream. And rightly so. I've argued here in the past that book publishers, as producers of a continuous stream of high-quality and edited content, are perfectly suited to capitalize on the new opportunities presented by the digital content revolution. Selling e-books has long been the most accepted method--and though I have my reservations--I wouldn't necessarily disagree. I would argue, however, that the best e-books are certainly not Kindle e-books.
"Book content should no longer be imprisoned by the limitations of paper. Digital books should include author interviews, instructional videos, pop-up definitions of esoteric terms, instant foreign translations, optional soundtracks, links to helpful web sites, and anything else publishers and authors can dream up to increase the value and effectiveness of their content."

10 Million Apple Tablets? A Glance Back for Perspective

The benchmark for a successful launch keeps changing, and

Apple's own record is mixed as we await the "iSlate" entry.

Harry McCracken, Technologizer Jan 2, 2010 12:40 pm

Apple rumor of the moment: Former Google, Microsoft, and Apple executive Kai-Fu Lee has blogged that he's heard Apple thinks it can

steve jobs apple tablet

. (I persist in putting quotes around "iSlate" since we don't know if that's the product's name, assuming there is a product at all.)
That ten-million tablet figure is merely a rumor, albeit one spread by a smart guy who may have excellent sources. It certainly sounds ambitious. But how ambitious is it? For the sake of comparison, I dug up some sales figures for other Apple products -- starting with the Apple I, and including both numbers reported by Apple and some third-party estimates. Here they are, after the jump.
Total sales of Apple I, 1976-1977: about 200
Apple II units sold, 1977-1982: 750,000
Apple II units sold, 1982: 300,000
Total Apple III units sold, 1980-1984: 65,000
Original 1984 Macs sold in first 74 days: 50,000
Original 1984 Macs sold in first year: 250,000
Macs sold, October-December 1993: one million
Macs sold, 1995: 4.7 million
iMacs sold in first 139 days: 800,000
iPod during first full year: 378,000
iPod at 5 1/2 years: 100 million
iPod at 8 years: 225 million
Total original iPhones sold: 6.1 million
iPhone at 46 weeks: six million
iPhone/iPod Touch at 20 months: 30 million
iPhone, July-September 2009: 7.4 million
Macs sold by Apple in fiscal year 2009: ten million

"The benchmark for successful sales keeps changing, of course: Back in 1982, selling 300,000 Apple II computers was an extraordinary achievement, considering that it was a pricey product in a category which most households and businesses hadn't yet adopted. And the fact that Apple only managed to sell 378,000 iPods in that gizmo's first year is explained by the fact that the first iPod only worked with Macs, not Windows PCs-more than 95 percent of computer owners couldn't have used an iPod no matter how much they craved one."

10 Technologies that Will Rock 2010

5 comments
by: Erick Schonfeld January 02, 2010 |

Now that the aughts are behind us, we can start the new decade with a bang. So many new technologies are ready to make a big impact this year. Some of them will be brand new, but many have been gestating and are now ready to hatch. If there is any theme here it is the mobile Web. As I think through the top ten technologies that will rock 2010, more than half of them are mobile. But those technologies are tied to advances in the overall Web as well.
Below is my list of the ten technologies that will leave the biggest marks on 2010:

1. The Tablet: It’s the most anticipated product of the year. The mythical tablet computer (which everyone seems to be working on). There are beautiful Android tablets, concept tablets, and, of course, the one tablet which could define the category, the Apple (AAPL) Tablet. Or iSlate or whatever it’s called. If Steve Jobs is not working on a tablet, he’d better come up with one because anything else will be a huge disappointment. Why do we need yet another computer in between a laptop and an iPhone? We won’t really know until we have it. But the answer lies in the fact that increasingly the Web is all you need. As all of our apps and data and social lives move to the Web, the Tablet is the incarnation of the Web in device form, stripped down to its essentials. It will also be a superior e-reader for digital books, newspapers, and magazines, and a portable Web TV.

Deconstructing the iTablet Rumor Mill

seekingalpha.com/
January 01, 2010 by

Apple Investor picture

Apple Investor
Blow You Away, Maybe
"Well, besides the size of the tablet, what cool thing can we expect from the all-things-iMaker? There’s the general speculation that the Apple tablet will run the iPhone OS, so it will immediately have access to 100s of thousands of apps. Well, that is if they’re compatible with the huge iPhone-like device. Some have said it might run iPhone apps in a window the same size as current apps, like widgets.
Image Credited to AppleInsider

"And what of text entry, can we expect the same experience as current iPhones, a super-sized chicklet keyboard? It’s possible that Apple has been working on a much more futuristic approach. According to AppleInsider, they uncovered a patent application filed by Apple in 2007. They derived the following from that patent:

"Using an “articulating frame,” the surface of such a device would create physical bumps or dots for the user to feel when it is in keyboard mode. Those surface features would retract and disappear when the device is not being used to type. It is detailed in an application entitled “Keystroke Tactility Arrangement on a Smooth Touch Surface.”

What Will it Do, Think Different?
"I don’t think we’re going to see a killer app that defines the Apple tablet. What I do think is that Apple will build a multi-media device that is so compelling, that it will make the Kindle look like a transistor radio. In my opinion, the new Apple iSlate, iTablet, iWhateva, will be the ultimate hand-held reader, in full color, with full multi-media capabilities, both input and output. It will display and take pictures from a high resolution 5 megapixel camera, capable of HD 1080p resolution video. Ars Technica recently reported that such a camera has been selected by Apple for the next generation iPhone. It would be perfect for the tablet.

The new tablet will likely be a portal to the iTunes Movie store. It has been reported by many sources that Apple is in negotiations with big movie studios trying to lure them away from Cable operators with attractive subscription services and lucrative licensing deals. There are reports from the Wall Street Journal that CBS and Disney are reportedly considering signing a deal."

Jobs to Unveil Apple Tablet Next Month , Ex-Google Exec Says

Owen Fletcher, IDG News Service Dec 31, 2009 12:40 am

"Steve Jobs plans to unveil Apple's much-hyped but still unconfirmed tablet device next month, and it will come with 3D graphics and a price tag below US$1000, according to former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee.
"Most surprising: Apple predicts production of nearly 10 million [units] in the first year!" Lee said in a post on a Chinese microblog service that cited information from a source he described as a knowledgeable friend. The tablet will look like a large iPhone and come with a 10.1-inch multitouch touchscreen, a virtual keyboard and support for videoconferencing and e-books, the post said."

E-book Piracy

E-Book Piracy: The Publishing Industry's Next Epic Saga?

Tom Spring, PC World

Thursday, December 24, 2009(12-24) 06:53 PST -- As e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle continue to rise, so follows the publishing industry's worst nightmare: e-book piracy. For years e-book piracy was the exclusive province of the determined few willing to ferret out mostly nerdy textbook titles from the Internet's dark alleys and read them on their PC. But publishers say that the problem is ballooning as e-readers grow in popularity and the appetite for mainstream e-books grows.

"We are now seeing large volumes of e-books being pirated on everything from file-sharing networks to Websites," says Ed McCoyd of the Association of American Publishers, a trade organization representing major U.S. book publishers. The year-to-year percentage growth of available e-book titles is unknown, McCoyd says. Other publishers, such as Hachette Book Group, say that e-book piracy has grown "exponentially" over the past year.
A review of e-books currently available for illicit download confirms that e-book piracy is no longer dominated by technical how-to e-books but includes best-selling authors Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, and James Patterson. PCWorld found that one-third of Publishers Weekly's 2009 top 15 best-selling fiction books were available for illicit download through a growing variety of book-swapping sites, file-sharing services, and peer-to-peer networks.
The availability of best sellers is just the start. PCWorld discovered virtual bookshelves stuffed with pirated e-book titles ranging from copyrighted popular fiction and nonfiction titles to college textbooks and how-to e-books. All of these titles are downloadable and ready for viewing on your e-reader of choice, be it the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, or Barnes & Noble Nook.

"We know e-book piracy is a problem, and we are taking the issue very seriously," says Paul Aiken, executive director of The Authors Guild, an advocacy group for writers. "We've seen the music and film industry deal with this, and it stands to reason we will grapple with it too." Aiken says that while he is concerned about the growth in the availability of e-book titles on the Internet, he is not convinced that the number of people who are actually downloading the digital files is increasing as rapidly.

Compared with music piracy, illicit e-books are not nearly as widespread or as easy to acquire. Pirates must be determined to track down specific e-book titles. Pirated e-book files (usually available as PDFs) can sometimes be poorly reproduced, and are sometimes made up of scanned page images--not text.
Publishers Stuck Between a Digital Rock and a Hard Place

Worries of piracy have kept many publishers and authors, most notably J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, from embracing the e-book format. They fear that e-book files protected by digital rights management (DRM) technology could be hacked anyway. However, refusing to take advantage of the e-book format can sometimes backfire and drive piracy, says consumer technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.
For a relatively small amount of money, pirates can convert any hard-copy book into an unprotected text file, even if a legitimate electronic book is never created, Enderle says. "This fear of electronic piracy is actually fueling the piracy movement," he says.

That's what happened with Rowling's works. Even though Rowling's publisher, Scholastic Books, doesn't currently offer any Harry Potter titles in e-book format, hackers have scanned all of the books and turned them into PDF files that are viewable on any e-reader.

"If electronic books can't be had legitimately, others will step in and fill the need; and once a pirate industry is established, it probably won't go away easily," says Enderle. The best way for the publishing industry to combat piracy is to follow the music industry's lead and make more e-book titles available.
Publishers have been producing more digital editions for their books, and revenues are up. Wholesale trade in e-books in the United States for the first three quarters of 2009 ($110 million) is up threefold compared with 2008, according to the International Digital Publishing Forum.

DRM Is No E-Book Piracy Fix
While publishing e-books protected by DRM seems like a no-brainer solution to piracy, the idea has faced criticism from within the publishing industry and from consumers. First, publishers are weary of reports that the DRM technology used in the Kindle and the Sony Reader has been hacked, says Nick Bogaty, an expert in DRM technology for Adobe. Second, consumers are hesitant to buy digital books with inflexible DRM that ties an e-book to a limited number of e-readers.

Critics say that the two providers of DRM-protected e-books, Amazon and Adobe, are stunting the e-book industry's progress. For instance, Amazon's Kindle uses its own DRM-restricted AZW e-book format. People who purchase an e-book on their Kindle cannot transfer it for reading on another, competing e-book reader from a different company.
DRM issues get thornier when device makers, such as Amazon, start negotiating exclusive e-publishing rights for their product. Amazon signed a deal with best-selling business writer Stephen R. Covey to publish several of his books, including The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership, exclusively for the Kindle. The company has also negotiated exclusive rights for Kindle e-books from author Stephen King and for a biography of First Lady Michelle Obama.

The idea of exclusive e-book rights tied to devices seems as annoying as being allowed to play a particular new CD only on a certain company's CD players. But Ian Fried, the vice president of Amazon Kindle, has stated that Kindle consumers don't mind its DRM. That could change, however, as a predicted flood of new, rival e-readers hit the market in 2010, and Kindle owners think about jumping ship--only to discover that they can't take their e-books with them. Remember the backlash against DRM-protected content in Apple's iTunes store?
Bogaty points out that Adobe, whose DRM technology is used by Sony and Barnes & Noble, is yielding to critics who say that its antipiracy technology is too restrictive. Adobe is loosening the grip of its DRM, allowing users to share e-books with friends and to read books on up to 12 different devices (6 desktop and 6 handheld).

Author Marcia Layton Turner says she is less concerned about piracy and more interested in making her books available via the e-book format. Turner says the potential of new e-book revenue is reason enough to jump on the e-book bandwagon, despite the risk of piracy. "I'd rather sell twice as many books and lose a few sales due to stealing than to miss out on those additional sales altogether," Turner says.
And many other authors agree: The problem of piracy takes a backseat to the challenge of getting people to read books in the first place.

Original story - www.pcworld.com/article/185335
Copyright (c) 2009, IDG News Service. All rights reserved. IDG News Service is a trademark of International Data Group, Inc.

Now we have p-books

e-books and p-books will co-exist

Garrett Kiely, director of the University of Chicago Press says. “The ability to sell print and electronic editions side by side is crucial. We believe that e-books and p-books will co-exist rather than replace each other and this shopping experience finally lets them work together.”

The University of Chicago Press is offering about 1,000 titles through its site, with options for 30 to 180 day access as well as perpetual access.

The e-book shopping tool is free for members of the Chicago Distribution Center, parent organization of BiblioVault, and a number of university presses have started to use the enhanced option. A spokesperson said the tool will be offered to non-CDC publishers early in 2010 at a “reasonable” price.

-- Publishers Weekly, 12/22/2009 2:27:00 PM

Multimedia for books on the iPhone

Book Author interaction via the iPhone

Here is the first multimedia application for books:

Publisher working with Mobile Roadie to release apps for bestselling authors

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 12/21/2009 8:24:00 AM

"The Random House Publishing Group announced today it will launch free customized iPhone applications connecting bestselling authors to fans using mobile technology. It is working with iPhone app creation platform Mobile Roadie, using an author-focused variation of Mobile Roadie’s app creator that currently supports apps by musicians including Brad Paisley and Alice in Chains. Releasing today are apps for authors Steve Berry, Sophie Kinsella, and Karen Marie Moning.
"The apps will

• let fans preview books,
• access bonus content,
• interact with other fans,
• check upcoming author appearances,
• listen to audiobook clips, and
• watch author videos and book trailers.

Matt Schwartz, director of digital strategy for the Random House Publishing Group, said, “Mobile Roadie’s powerful and flexible technology offers a great opportunity for readers to access a world of content about their favorite authors instantaneously, wherever they are.”

Digital technologies have enormous appeal

Reidy: Industry at a "Defining Moment"

By Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 12/18/2009 7:32:00 AM

In her annual letter to employees, Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy observed that both S&S and the publishing industry “are at a defining moment,” and minced no words is saying the challenges faced in 2009 will continue into the new year and that in 2010 “we have every reason to expect that this coming year will bring its own set of difficulties for us to face.”

"S&S had its share of accomplishments including 164 New York Times bestsellers, a number of award-winning titles and innovations in the digital area. Digital technologies, Reidy noted “have enormous appeal, be it prospects for more efficient distribution, the ability to capture a sale on a 24/7/365 basis, new and intriguing ways to find consumers and engage them with our books and authors, and new formats, hybrids, and business models.”

Reidy added however, that digital opportunities are not without risk. “We must do everything in our power to uphold the value of our content against the downward pressures exerted by the marketplace and the perception that “digital” means “cheap.” We must work to defend the livelihoods of our authors at a time when instantaneous file transfer makes piracy easier than ever, and in a world in which many consider copyright irrelevant,” Reidy said.

“These challenges will play out on all fronts in our business, from our interaction with authors and customers to how we acquire, produce, market, and distribute our books, and sometimes subjected to the scrutiny of the media and the blogosphere. The importance of making the right decisions has never been greater, and I have every confidence that we will continue to employ our publishing expertise and culture of innovation to keep Simon & Schuster on the path to a prosperous future in a new age of publishing.”

With consumers “overwhelmed by an onslaught of information and media, and faced with a bewildering array of possibilities for purchasing books,” Reidy said the road ahead for publishers of all kinds will be difficult “and the rate of change greater than at any time in history.” But she noted, “I am confident that the culture we have created at Simon & Schuster makes us ideally suited to meet the challenges we face. We have always prided ourselves on the expertise with which we acquire and publish the books that readers want; on a flexible approach that allows us to quickly adapt to current conditions; on the speed with which we are able to bring our books to market; on our willingness to do the right thing for our business no matter how difficult.”

In a review of the past year, Reidy noted that the bookselling marketplace “has been truly lackluster, and year-on-year sales at most of our major customers have declined significantly. Books from many of our continuing authors, as well as our higher-margin backlist, are selling at levels well below their peak.” And although S&S had solid gains in its conservative and teen markets and strong performances in the U.K. and Canada, “the lower sales volume attributable to the soft marketplace was impossible for us to overcome.”

Reidy said she was “heartened” by the seriousness in which S&S employees took to the task of helping the company run a lean operation in difficult economic times.