The iPad threat to the rule of Amazon and digital publishing in Spain live a hot year. Planeta, Santillana and Random House have joined in a digital platform.
Weeks before it goes on sale, the iPad has already caused an earthquake in the world of publishing who has played himself into the global giant of digital books, Amazon. Confident of its power, this company requires publishers to agree on a uniform price of $ 9.99 (7.20 euros) for most developments, a quantity which takes 50% leaving the other half by editor and author. Apple, maker of the iPad, I knew I could break this strong position and has offered to publishers and writers margins of 65% on your next book distribution service-iBooks, similar to iTunes, bringing the price surge to $ 14.99 (10.90 euros). To Rupert Murdoch, media mogul and owner of the powerful media group publisher Harper Collins, likes the idea and the mere possibility that it can forge a partnership with Apple also for their newspapers, television and movies-on-iPad supports all adding more points to the earthquake intensity.
The Macmillan group, one of the big four in the U.S., Amazon ordered to remove their works from the web because it was Apple. And the havoc caused to the supplier’s largest virtual world has had to backpedal and already sells the news that publisher to 14.99.
What’s more, Google last Editions Google preparing to sell digital books with a ’stock’ of between 400 and 600,000 shares, as announced at the last Frankfurt Book Fair. The company Sergey Brin and Larry Page has dropped they would be left with only 15% of the amount if you sold through the publisher’s page-a lower rate than Apple, and with 37% if marketed directly. With all these movements opened up the debate on the price of digital books, and who will be responsible to put it.
A novel digital format should cost 35% less than its traditional version, as this represents the savings in the costs of editing, printing and distribution. But the reader must invest before 200 to 400 euros in the gadget to read the texts and, therefore, are the professionals, publishers, lawyers, etc. .- you have to handle many more documents who use it.
A Spanish reader means, which buys about ten plays a year, does it worth the investment? The thing, experts say, is green here and in America, where the digital edition represents only 2% of the business, even if you have sold a million ‘Kindles’ electronic reader from Amazon.
Their prices are still expensive, but will fall as did the iPhone mobile-eight U.S. gigas fell from 599 to 99 dollars, 83% in three years-and then there will be more people willing to take the plunge.
In the publishing industry, everyone takes positions. So much so that even the ‘enemies’ of yesteryear, such as Planeta, Santillana and Random House have made a common trench and prepare for this spring a digital platform that will release between 5,000 and 7,000 titles, about a third of their catalogs.
Slow growth
They’re not alone, as the Group 62, RBA, SM, Roca, Edebé and Trotta, among other publishers have jumped on the same ship, the distributor of leqtor.com to navigate the digital ocean. Until the Cervantes Institute is studying how to introduce the issue ‘online’ and will put a plan in its library of Madrid and then extend it for the rest of the seats.
According to Santos Palacios, director general and cultural Mass Market Metro, which is required to bring the price is for publishers, but adds that more and more decisive will weigh the ability to sell an author and the percentage that sweeps each flush, quite different in the case of Dan Brown than for a stranger. Also, remember that in Spain there is a fixed price, the law only allows discounts of 5% - while U.S. is free. [Read the rest of this entry...]
