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Tag: ebooks (Page 3 of 5)

Borders Sale Seen As More Likely

May 10, 2011 /

Publishers Weekly has reported that the likely sale of ailing bookstore chain Borders in part or whole may be one outcome of recent actions. The bankrupt company has sought court permission to sell some assets that do not have any current lien against them.

I suppose it’s a good thing that I used up my remaining Borders Bucks this morning. Given that rival Barnes & Noble has shown little public interest in acquiring Borders intact or any of its assets, I think any buyout of Borders will be quickly followed by a total liquidation.

The book business has changed. While Barnes & Noble is in better shape, recent actions intended to reduce its interest payments speak to a continuing struggle to stay afloat. It’s hard to say whether B&N would benefit from the loss of Borders, or if Amazon has already done so.

The end of Borders will accelerate the push towards eBooks because of the very real problem of finding a new book bookstore nearby. Faced with the option of waiting several days for a book to come in the mail, or downloading the same book for a few bucks less instantly, many will opt for the eBook.

eBook readers are rapidly moving into sub-$100 range and free eReader software is ubiquitous. Faced with fewer locations to sell physical books, publishers are being forced to sell more eBooks to survive. In particular, I’m sure that they are working very hard to make as much of their back catalogs available in eBook format as possible. They’d better be quick about it too, or someone else will!

With or without Borders, bookstores will survive. But the age of the large bookstore chain seems to be coming to an end. Many of us are going to need some new places to hang out.

Amazon Pulls Some Yaoi Manga From Kindle

May 5, 2011 /

Anime News Network reposts that Amazon has pulled some yaoi manga titles from the US Kindle store. Amazon’s policy prohibits pornographic or “offensive” material on its Kindle eBook platform. However print versions of some of the titles pulled from the Kindle remain on sale from Amazon.

In addition to the usual censorship questions and anti-gay bias, one wonders why digital media is not being given the same leeway and respect as print. Much like the abuse of the DMCA take down provisions on YouTube, I think that because pulling  an eBook is easy and incurs little or no cost to Amazon, other considerations lose out.

It seems likely though, that once digital accounts for the overwhelming majority of revenue and profits, it won’t be so easy for Amazon, Apple, or anyone else to cavalierly censor materials based on the opinions of a vocal minority.

Monobookist Bookstore Heralds The Boutique

April 23, 2011 /

As Borders reports that it needs an additional $50 million to reorganize, an interesting new bookstore has popped up in New York City. A so called, monobookist bookstore. This bookstore opened in a modest space, stocked with 3000 copies…of one book!

To celebrate the launch of his new book about the Phoenix Mars mission, author Andrew Kessler constructed a “monobookist bookstore”–a temporary shop stocked with more than 3,000 copies of Martian Summer.

I’d been wondering when we might start to see the rise of boutique bookstores as the eBooks become the preferred way to consume literature. These boutique bookstores would be in small spaces, about the size of a cafe coffee shop, and they would only stock a few copies of the most popular new books. A monobookist bookstore is the extreme example of this, but makes the point well. A boutique bookstore would exist first and foremost to promote the works of the featured authors.

Selling a few copies on site would be nice, but I think the ultimate goal should be to increase sales of the author’s eBook catalog. Physical books can be great marketing tools used this way, but I’d probably plan to support the shop itself more on coffee and muffin sales than on the books themselves. No long term leases here!

A boutique bookstore should be an ephemeral thing, a temporary place to launch some books, sell some coffee, and host author signings. And don’t forget the free Wi-Fi to sell those eBooks too!

We’ll always have printed books, but the new star is the eBook. The bookstore itself is only dust in the wind.

Tokyopop Closing North American Publishing Division

April 15, 2011 /

The Anime News Network has confirmed that Tokyopop will close its publishing operation on May 31. Love them or hate them, this is big blow for American manga fans. Tokyopop was one of the oldest manga publishers in the US and did much to popularize manga here. They will be missed.

The fate of their digital manga publishing project and remaining print titles is yet to be announced. It seems likely that other publishers will pick up the rights to popular titles. I hope that the passing of Tokyopop from the publishing business marks a bottom of sorts for the collapse of the manga market in the US.

Fruits BasketThis latest news is more evidence that the traditional print publishing business model is no longer viable, particularly for niche publications like manga, graphic novels, and comics. The massive rush to digital comics I saw at C2E2 this year was no accident. The industry insiders already know that with fewer physical bookstores, that digital is the only way to cut costs, combat piracy, and reach a consumer base that clearly wants digital product. Going digital will also allow them to monetize extensive back catalogs of books in a way never before possible.

Sadly, it appears Tokyopop won’t be around to take part in the digital transition. RIP Tokyopop, you brought me Fruits Basket for which I will always be grateful.

Parallel Reading With The Kids

April 12, 2011 /

Gothic Charm SchoolMost parents read a lot of books to their kids when they’re young, before they can read for themselves. In due time, children grow and begin reading on their own.  And somewhere along the way, children begin reading books that their parents have not.

Most of us are pretty busy once kids come along regardless of whether we work in or outside of the home. Trying to do all of the things that support a household doesn’t leave a lot of time to vicariously attend school with our kids by reading their books. And the reality of sharing a physical book means that we won’t get a shot at it until they’ve finished it and moved on and perhaps lost interest.

As I’m already under orders not to add any more stuff to our cluttered abode, having multiple copies of physical books isn’t acceptable either, not to mention the expense. Given these challenges, I hadn’t thought much about solutions until I happened upon Gothic Charm School. I found it discounted at my local Borders store closing sale and thought my goth inclined daughter would like it. And flipping through the pages I thought I’d enjoy it as well, so later I bought an eBook version of it to read on my Nook. The eBook wasn’t very expensive and, of course, took up no more space in my house!

The GiverSince that time, I’ve added The Giver and Masters of Doom to my parallel reads. It’s really been quite enjoyable having something common and interesting to share with the kids. Not only that, I feel like new life has been breathed into my own ongoing education.

Even with the added expense, I would encourage all parents to parallel read with their kids. eReaders and a growing library of eBooks have made this easier than ever before. And just imagine the look of shock on your child’s face when you threaten to release them if they don’t clean up their room! (Just kidding of course. Release is not something to joke about!)

C2E2 And The Future Of Comics

March 18, 2011 /

Today is the beginning of the 2nd Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). In addition to having fun, I’m hoping to see something of the future of comics in the digital age. There are already a number of ways of reading comics on various devices, but the number of titles is limited. And right now the lack of a digital comics standard means having to juggle applications going from my Nook, to my Mac, to my PSP or iPhone.

I hope that perhaps I can get some hands on time with the different comic apps and see for myself how they stack up. And, hearing from industry insiders about the direction that publishers are moving in should be interesting as well. Right now I suspect that Apple’s iPad has the inside track on becoming the preferred future home of digital comics. The following list would seem to bear that out.

New Manga On The Nook: Lots Of Yaoi!

March 15, 2011 /

This morning’s Digital Manga Newsletter brought the welcome news of new DMP manga titles for the Nook and Kindle. Since my eReader of choice is the Barnes & Noble Nook, I’m always happy to hear of new manga titles for it. And because DMP publishes a lot of Yaoi titles, it didn’t really surprise me that nearly all of the titles listed below are of the popular BL (boys love) genre.

A lot of new titles have been added to our digital storefront! There are so many, we’re just going to list the titles here. Titles now available on the Kindle: Right Here Right Now 1&2, Love!!, Kiss Blue 2, Endless Comfort, No Touching At All, The Spiral of Sand, Yokan 1&2, Maiden Rose 1&2, Let’s Draw Manga: Sexy Gals, Il Gatto Sul G 2&3. Titles now available for the B&N Nook and Nook Color: Candy, Right Here Right Now 1&2, Love!!, Kiss Blue 1&2, Endless Comfort, No Touching At All, The Spiral of Sand, Yokan 1&2, Maiden Rose 1&2, Let’s Draw Manga: Sexy Gals, Il Gatto Sul G 1-3, The Day I Became a Butterfly, Little Cry Baby, Lost Boys, and Same Cell Organism.

Yaoi manga has been on the Kindle for a long time now, and the Kindle still boasts a lot more of them than the Nook. But it is interesting to note that yaoi manga are not available for sale at Barnes & Noble retail bookstores. At least, I did not see any at the Chicago area bookstores the last time I visited. By contrast, Borders carries a lot of Yaoi and BL manga. But with so many of those bookstores closing, the amount of retail shelf space for Yaoi must be rapidly shrinking. Needless to say, going digital is becoming a matter of survival in the already distressed manga market.

I don’t know how big the yaoi manga market is, but from what I’ve seen in online forums and the anime convention circuit, yaoi has a legion of hardcore, mostly female, fans. So there is a good chance that it is a profitable niche to be in. And of course, an eBook of sexually explicit material can be more discreetly purchased online than in person at a bookstore. Just as pornography has often been the driving force behind the mass adoption of new entertainment media (e.g. VHS, DVD, the Web), perhaps Yaoi is paving the way for manga eBooks.

TokyoPop Manga May Be Coming to iPad, Kindle, and Nook Soon

March 12, 2011 /

Recent tweets from TokyoPop indicate that the company is in the process of bringing its manga library to the iPad and other eBook readers soon. When asked on Twitter about creating an iPad manga app like competing publisher Viz already has, TokyoPop responded that one was coming soon. And indicated in response to other questions that Kindle and Nook support was also in the works.

TokyoPop eManga Tweets

TokyoPop eManga Tweets

The global recession coupled with the twin challenges of piracy and the transition to eBooks have put a lot of pressure on the publishing industry. The Borders bankruptcy has been particularly hard on small independent publishers who may not be able to easily write off millions of dollars in book shipments that may never be paid for. TokyoPop cited the Borders bankruptcy in its most recent round of layoffs and restructuring.

TokyoPop already sells manga online via Zinio, but the rising popularity of the iPad and the need to make up for losses may be accelerating its move to support additional digital formats. It is not publicly known just how successful iPad manga has been for Viz, but with fewer and fewer places to buy manga at retail, digital may be the only avenue left for growth. For small publishers, digital may be a matter of life or death.

In Progress: A Parent’s Guide to Anime, Manga, and Cosplay

March 9, 2011 /

As popular as anime has become in the United States, it is still not mainstream entertainment. So many parents are at a loss to understand this thing that their kids have an interest in, and sometimes an obsession with. In this vein, I often get questions from other parents about what anime their kids might enjoy. While I certainly have an opinion on what I like in anime and the shows my own kids enjoy, it isn’t always easy to translate that into recommendations for another family.

So, with some gentle prodding from my wife, I’m writing a parent’s guide to anime, manga, and cosplay. I’m not looking to make specific recommendations of which anime series kids should be watching, so much as giving some background and general guidelines. There are a number of such guides on web sites across the net, but many of these focus only on anime. And I think an eBook might be a more effective way of reaching a target audience more comfortable searching for books than searching the web.  My hope is to produce a concise guide that will allay much of the fear that American parents have when it comes to anime, manga, and cosplay.

It is true that Japanese anime is created in a culture that necessarily has a different worldview than American culture. But Japanese parents love their children just as much as American ones do. And they wrestle with the same challenges raising their children. My hope is to show that not only is there nothing to fear in anime, but maybe American parents should get into it too!

Borders Epitath: Bad Romance

March 7, 2011 /

Today is the last day for the Borders bookstore in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The kids are out of school today, so I decided to take them there to see what might be left and to say good bye to the store.

Throughout the closing process, the staff had maintained a very neat and orderly store as was still the case on this last day. The second floor had been cleared of books and closed off since last week. That was when I bought what would prove to be my last arm load of manga for $1 per book. At that time there was still about a bookshelf full of manga and about twice that of science fiction. Today there was nothing left except 3 shelves of romance novels.

We were all rather disappointed that all remained were romance books. Or as my oldest daughter loudly proclaimed, “trashy novels!” We did eventually find 4 or 5 sci-fi novels amongst the trashy ones, but nothing we wanted to buy, even at 50 cents each. So we left the store for the final time and got pizza at Cholie’s nearby.

On the way home, my oldest son expressed his belief that it was eBooks that killed the Borders. While this is certainly a part of the story, I could not help but wonder if all of those unsold romance novels were taking up space that should have been used to sell books people actually wanted to buy. Watching the end of my neighborhood Borders has also convinced me that paper books have become too expensive. When the closing sale began and the book prices were cut %30, people came in droves. People always come out for closing sales, but maybe if the books were 30 or 40 percent cheaper all the time, there would not have been a need to close the store at all.

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