The Seybold Report

Comprehensive Examination of U.S. Book Publishing Industry Undertaken

The Book Industry Study Group and Association of American Publishers have announced a Webinar covering the major points of BookStats 2012, the second annual edition of their joint data project tracking the transformational shifts in the book publishing industry. The project tracks data such as the overall size of the United States publishing industry and how digital publishing is impacting traditional paper publishing. The Webinar is free to BookStats 2012 purchasers and $95 for all others and is scheduled for 1-2 PM ET August 29. more

Book Industry Study Group Sponsors Making Information Pay Conference

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has scheduled a half-day conference for book publishing industry professionals for May 3, 2012 in New York City. The Making Information Pay conference will focus on employing data to create more profitable business ventures. Jake Freivald, Vice President of Marketing, Information Builders, will deliver the keynote address. more

The Seybold Report Names RSuite Cloud a Hot Pick

The Seybold Report and its publisher, the Joss Group, have given RSuite Cloud a Seybold Report Hot Pick award. RSuite Cloud is the industry’s first cloud hosted end-to-end content management and automated publishing system and allows book publishers to do multi-channel publishing. more

Ingram Announces Support for EPUB 3 in VitalSource e-Textbook Platform

Ingram Content Group has added support for the International Digital Publishing Forum’s EPUB 3 standard for digital publications and documents to its VitalSource e-textbook system. The platform, produced by Ingram subsidiary Vital Source Technologies Inc, is designed for publishers, academic institutions, and students and is used on 6,000 campuses worldwide. more

MPS Announces EPUB 3 and HTML5 Services

MPS, a Macmillan company, has introduced an EPUB 3 and HTML5 content creation and conversion service. The division is already working with several major players in the publishing industry to prepare content in these formats. more

Borders Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Borders Group, Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the announcement of this move, the company promised Borders stores and borders.com will remain open and the Borders Rewards programs will remain in effect. News reports indicate the company may close more than one-third of its retail stores. more

Bankruptcy Credit Services, a publishing company affiliated with the Beard Group (the previous owner of the Seybold Report) is publishing a newsletter series on the bankruptcy proceedings. The first four issues will be free, and the series will cover the financial situation in depth. To learn more about the series and to obtain the free issues, click here.

Poll Reveals College Students Prefer Paper Texts to Electronic Materials

According to results from a recent Book Industry Study Group survey, 75% of college students said they prefer printed texts over electronic, citing a fondness for print's look and feel, permanence, and resale value. The survey also says most of the 12% of respondents who prefer e-books over print materials are male and often MBA candidates or distance learners. These respondents cited reasons such as lower cost, convenience, and portability. more

To read a Joss Group blog post about this news brief, click here.

Ingram Coutts to Develop Moscow School of Management and Singapore Management University Academic Library Programs

Coutts Information Services Limited, part of the Ingram Content Group, has signed contracts to develop library programs for The Moscow School of Management and Singapore Management University. Coutts will provide both institutions with easy online ordering through its OASIS system, shelf-ready books, and catalog records. more

Ingram Publisher Services Announces Three New Clients

Ingram Publisher Services Inc. has signed ArtsMemphis, the Cooking Lab, and Tharpa Publications. ArtsMemphis is a non-profit organization focused on building a vibrant cultural community in Memphis, TN through supporting the arts. The Cooking Lab, founded by culinary and food scientist Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, is the publisher of the six-volume comprehensive study entitled Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, scheduled for release in March. Tharpa Publications specializes in books on meditation and Buddhism. more

Barnes & Noble Shareholders Reject Takeover Bid

Barnes & Noble shareholders have reelected Len Riggio and elected two new directors nominated by the company to the board and rejected Yucaipa Companies' proposal to amend the Shareholder Rights Plan. The results of the September 28 annual meeting of the troubled book retailer were certified by IVS Associates, Inc., making the results official. Approximately 52.5% voted to reelect Riggio and elect David Golden and Dr. David Wilson to the board of directors, and approximately 52.6% voted against the shareholder proposal submitted by The Yucaipa Companies LLC. more

The Printing Industries of America Announces New Book

The Printing Industries of America has announced a new book entitled Lean Printing: Cultural Imperatives for Success by Kevin Cooper. The book is the second in a series dedicated to helping printers embrace and use lean printing techniques and guides printers in establishing a company culture to enable lean printing practices to succeed, endure, and flourish. more

Ingram's Coutts Named Primary Book Supplier for Florida College System

Coutts Information Services Ltd., an Ingram Content Group company, has been named the statewide primary academic book supplier for colleges and universities in the state of Florida by the Florida State University Libraries. Ingram says Coutts was selected because of the quality of its library and its strong technology, including the OASIS library interface and e-book platform and print-on-demand from Ingram's Lightning Source. more

The Association of American Publishers Reports Broad Growth in Book Sales in March and e-Book Sales Jump 184.8%

The Association of American Publishers reports a 16.6% increase in books sales for March 2010 to $458.2 million, with an overall increase of 8% for the first three months of the year. Increases occurred across all categories, with e-books showing a spectacular 184.8% jump for the month to $28.5 million. more

DNAML Announces Software to Auto-Convert PDFs to Secure e-Books and e-Magazines

DNAML Pty Ltd. has announced ePage Wiz Secure, an application that automatically converts PDFs of books, magazines, and business documents to a standard e-publishing format secured using standard digital rights management technology. DNAML is targeting authors, publishers, and businesses with the system, which is designed for use in creating e-books, e-magazine, e-catalogs, textbooks, and corporate documents. more

Barnes & Noble Opens Online e-Bookstore for Hewlett-Packard PC Users

Barnes & Noble and Hewlett-Packard have opened a special e-book, magazine, and newspaper store online for  customers at hp.bn.com. The HP B&N e-bookstore contains more than 1 million digital titles. HP customers can browse, search for specific titles and authors, and sample parts of any e-book for free. more