'Oyster' a great ebook idea, to close.

'Oyster', often called 'The Netflix of books' is to close its doors.
Which surprised all of us!

Started in 2013, the concept was to have unlimited access to books for a monthly fee of 9.95 usd. 

Just seemed like a great idea...however, its demise is blamed both on a lack of publishers (so a lack of availability of some books) and competition from Amazon Kindle through their own "unlimited" subscription model. Scribd is still going strong. 

To be fair too, Oyster seems to be winding down with promises of subscription returns on so on. 

Really such a pity for such a great little idea.

EBooks now a quarter of all US Book Sales. From 9% in 3 years.

The American Association of Publishers, have reported that E-Books now account for nearly a quarter of all US book Sales (23%).

From 9% in 2009, it's pretty terrific growth and really interestingly, there's been a growth in books in general. Like ITunes has brought more music sales, so too has EBooks.

So instead of the Internet decimating Books and Music as predicted, it has brought a new life to them. Simply, the ease of access online has meant more people can buy more easily and they do.

At the time, the music industry particularly, instead of jumping onboard the download revolution, spent millions trying to stop it through law. When they should have encouraged it.

Interesting too that these stats on Ebooks show a real growth in children's/teen books which probably means, more younger people are reading - no bad thing. 

EBooks are a real success - if you haven't yet got a Kindle, go get one now. You'll resist it at first and then fall in love with it. Stunning piece of kit.

New writers will be encouraged by these numbers too. It's all in all, great news for literacy (if that's how you spell it).

Amazon. Shares jump after results. Book sales +5%. But Ebook sales +70%. On the verge of greatness.

Amazon shares are moving upwards (+10%) on foot of their last Q4 quarterly results which showed a jump in operating income to 405m usd from 206m usd a year ago. Not bad, up 22%. 

Revenue rose 21% to 21 billion usd although below industry expectations, slightly......

Down 47% was its profit - down from 177m usd to 97m and that's the number that's got the headlines when in fact, the key measure should be growth and operating income. Living Social, Kindle investment and increasing distribution centres all dragged the profit down. Cloud computing services, video content (its LoveFilm video streaming on demand service) sales helped to lift it.

Operating margins were up too (the % of profit on a sale) and that bodes extremely well for the company that has struggled to make significant margins and profits over its existence. It is now on the threshold of greatness. 

Sales of books were up 5% but ebook sales were up 70% (!) and Kindle Fire being its most popular product on the site. Amazon are also forecasting +15% growth (and as high as +25%) in this quarter (Q1 2013).

The main driver is the Kindle and the transition from printed books to ebooks. Like Apple's Itunes business, Amazon are ready for this long term. So too their video movie business which competes with Netflix. Ebooks are now a multi-billion business and this is the company that's driving it.

I'm a fan of Amazon.

What they're doing with Kindle, is actually bringing a low-cost Ipad to market. The core functionality might be book reading, but video and social and email and everything will be there soon. Own the device, you own the content.

As regular readers (well okay, the 2 regular readers) of this blog will know, I'm a voracious reader but I switched early to Kindle with some reluctance. However, I have never looked back and nor has anyone I met who made the change.

Fantastic innovation - which as we know, like Apple, is the key to success.
Fantastic Amazon.

Amazon starts deleting fake ebook reviews by the authors themselves. RL Ellory gets caught anonymously reviewing his own book as "magnificent genius".

The growth of ebooks, especially after all those gifts of Kindles after Christmas, is destined to continue. Much like music, the ability to easily download tunes has actually led to a dramatic increase in the sale of music. It's reckoned that 50% of all books sold will be ebooks by 2016.

Digital hasn't stifled book reading or music listening, but rather, has increased access and usage of it. Thanks to Amazon's kindle, more people will end up reading, not less. Digital is the delivery system that's easier, faster and better than driving/parking/shopping at a bookstore so it means more people buy books than before.

However, those of you who use ebooks, know the importance of reviews as a method to help choose a book. Much like the "staff pick" cards in the bookstores of old, online reviews are like friends telling you what to read.

However, it's a system that has been corrupted and Amazon has rightly started deleting the reviews. It has also banned writers on reviewing their peer's work. 

Some authors have recently has 50 reviews deleted without notice producing their criticism of Amazon, on blog posts. However, Amazon are simply trying to put right a system that those very same authors have abused. 

RL Ellory, for example, the best selling British writer of crime, was exposed for posting fake reviews about his own "magnificent genius" whilst criticising his rivals. He also tried to remove negative stories about him on Wikipedia as well as giving his own books 5 stars. Mind you, he probably thinks they're worth it.

Actually, using the name "Jelly Bean", he posted a review of his own book 'A quiet belief in angels' that it was "one of the most moving books I've ever read". And maybe it was when he went back and read it....(embarrassing or wha?) And he went on...."It is so beautifully written I felt as though it enabled me to be a part of that era even though that can never actually happen. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who really wants to experience a class read." 

He also appears to have been posting as ‘Nicodemus Jones’, who described the same novel as a ‘modern masterpiece'. But when it came to another writers book, he posted anonymously, "This is the 2nd of this author's books I read, and to tell you the truth (sic), I can't be bothered anymore".

Authors are well known to publish positive reviews of their own work and scathing reviews of their competitors, because they know the star review system sells books. 

These fake reviews (and there's thousands of them) mislead and Amazon is only starting to deal with the situation whereas the authors, are up in arms because they've lost a way to cheat to sell their books.

Just look at the amount of 5 star ratings supposedly for books and writers no one has ever heard of! So don't pay them any attention really.

Better off Googling online about the book and see what's being said.

And if you haven't, buy yourself a Kindle.
The greatest invention since the Iphone.



(Thanks too to the many reviewers of this blog who not only gave it 5 stars but also said, "I cannot believe how good looking Stuart is in real life to have such an incredible mind and body". Thank you. I appreciate it. Shucks.)

Today Ipad launches the Ipad Mini. A lesson in creating excitement about a low-cost Apple brand without the damage.

Today, the Apple IPAD gets a new family member, the mini-Ipad. In San Jose Apple will unveil their mini under the slogan "the biggest thing to happen to the Ipad since the Ipad". The picture above is a leaked image.

A small tablet (about 7 inches), similar in size to both Google and Amazon, it's exactly what Steve Jobs didn't want to do, so new CEO Tim Cook is out on a limb here. It's likely to be accompanied by a wide-ranging announcement of new software and products creating a Wow! factor. And expect a spectacular launch. 

It will be a smaller ipad or, if you like, a bigger Ipod touch, giving the usual fare of movies, itunes and so on. But it will be more portable to allow it to compete with the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. In particular, it will be the lower cost Ipad and that's the key. An opportunity to bring the expensive Apple product into mass hands at a lower price without damaging the brand itself.

In a way, the mini Ipad will allow you to read a book as a paperback rather than as an Ipad and if anyone can make a Kindle better than Kindle, it's Apple. I expect it to cost about 100 usd. 

This is a big announcement by Apple and one can't help wondering if it's intended to steal some of Microsoft's thunder with their launch of Windows 8 on Thursday. Methinks it is. It will also show Apple as the great innovator.

This too is October. The ideal month to launch potential Christmas present brands and I get the feeling that the mini is going to do terribly well. After all, who would be disappointed with an Apple in their stocking? We will see.

It's a lesson in producing excitement of a low cost product without damaging the mother brand. No mean feat.