Wednesday, 30 September 2009

DIGITISING SARAH PALIN


Are publishers running scared of the digital book revolution? Are they destined to make the same mistake as the music industry made with MP3?


For the second time this month, a publisher has decided to delay the electronic-book release of a major new title in hopes of maximizing hardcover sales, as the beleaguered industry works out how e-books fit into its marketing strategy.

The Harper imprint of News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers said Tuesday it is pushing up publication of Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," to Nov. 17 from next spring.

The publisher said it is issuing 1.5 million copies of the former Republican vice-presidential candidate's book. But the electronic edition won't be available until Dec. 26.

This is the first time Harper has withheld the e-book edition of a major title since the form began to gain popularity, due in large part to Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-book reader. The Kindle made its debut in November 2007.

full story HERE

1 comment:

Chris said...

Interesting that the release of the hard cover edition got pushed up so far in advance of e-book distribution.