Random House closes e-publishing imprint

Let's not forget that it was Random House that supplied the file for Jeff Marsh's first internet print on demand (POD) experiment and then threatened Marsh with a lawsuit if he ever printed one of their books again.

While on the subject of POD (or as I call it "The savior of the world-wide book industry"), it seems more and more e-book publishers are turning to Print on Demand to supplement their lagging fortunes. And why not? If the world isn't ready of electronic books yet and you have the electronic files, why not produce the books as they are sold? That's the whole beauty of POD. No wasted paper, no returns, no gambling with print runs. Maybe not cost effective when you get into the thousands of copies but more money is lost by "efficiency of size" in print runs than is saved. LTDBooks has just announced that it will be putting its entire list into POD beginning next month. So is Awe-Struck (www.awe-struck.net/PRINT/print.html).

Franklin Electronic Publishers announced a price reduction on its eBookMan. The mid-level 8MB model has been reduced by $30 to $149, and the 16MB model has been reduced to $199. Franklin is also offering a mail-in rebate for the entire line of eBookMan including the opening price point EBM-900, valid through January 2002. With the rebate, customers can save an additional $30 to $50, depending on the model.

Franklin Electronic Publishers has also announced a software release for the eBookMan. The release provides an updated operating system, Desktop Manager, and new memory storage, application and audio capabilities. A key element is the inclusion of the MobiPocket Reader, for reading eBooks downloaded from the web, and MobiPocket Web Companion, a tool that allows users to take favorite online news sources on the go.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic