Scotiabank Giller Prize jury announced

The jury for the 2011 edition of the Scotiabank Giller Prize was unveiled today. American novelist Howard Norman and U.K. writer Andrew O’Hagan will join B.C. author and former Giller nominee Annabel Lyon on this year’s jury. Lyon was nominated for the prize in 2009 for her novel The Golden Mean.

Following in the footsteps of the Man Booker Prize, this year for the first time Giller jurors will be offered digital versions of the books in addition to traditional hard copies. From the press release:

The Scotiabank Giller Prize will ask publishers this year to provide digital copies of its submitted titles in addition to hard-bound copies. We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be partnering on this initiative with Kobo who will be generously donating three Kobo Wireless E-Readers to the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize jury panel.

The longlist for this year’s Giller will be announced on Sept. 6. The shortlist will follow on Oct. 4, with the winner being announced at a gala dinner in Toronto on Nov. 8.

Daily book biz round-up: e-readers read you; manga crackdown; and more

Today’s book news:

• Your e-reader knows too much
• Oprah’s Dickens picks not flying off shelves
• Sorry boys: Japanese cracking down on “extreme sex acts” in manga titles
• Orange Prize judges announced
• Room and The Imperfectionists make B&N Best of 2010 list

Reviews sabotaged on Amazon U.K.

The U.K.’s Daily Mail (via MobyLives) reports authors and publishers who are accusing each other of skewing Amazon star ratings by creating fake reader reviews:

[PR firms] provide favourable reviews of new books, at a price. Nathan Barker, of Reputation 24/7, offers a service starting at £5,000. He said: “First we set up accounts. For a romance novel we’d pick seven female profiles and three males. We’d say we like this book but add a tiny bit of criticism and compare it to another book.” Mr Barker claims this is common practice among publishers.

The article goes on to describe hostile reviews received by authors Polly Samson and Rosie Alison.

British e-reader company Interead folds

Interead, the British start-up that created the colourful Cool-er e-reader, is folding just over a year after it launched. The Guardian reported that a Liverpool high court ordered the company to “wind-up” over a month ago.

According to Wired, which reviewed the Cool-er in May 2009, the device sold for about $250 U.S., was thin and lightweight, but had no “truly stand-out” features. “Its appeal is in that it is a reasonably good looking e-book reader at an attractive price.”

As for the companies recent troubles, The Guardian reports:

Earlier this year Interead reportedly said it had 20% of the e-reader market in Britain and before Christmas claimed it had already broken into profit. Since then, however, the business has failed to win essential support for its expansion from its bank, HSBC, under the government’s enterprise finance guarantee, according to sources close to the company.

Meanwhile, Interead claims an order for 17,000 Cool-ers from a high-profile American retail group was cancelled at the 11th hour, plunging relations with its Taiwanese manufacturers into crisis.

BookNet Canada Tech Forum round-up: pirates, pricing, and social media

This year’s BookNet Canada Technology Forum – or “gathering of beautiful nerds,” as Soft Skull Press founder Richard Nash called it – took place on March 25 at Toronto’s MaRS Centre, and involved about 200 publishing professionals. The theme was “Calculated Risk: Adventures in Book Publishing,” and attendees spent the day discussing the intersection of technology and publishing.

Bob Miller of Workman Publishing (formerly of HarperStudio) had some counterintuitive ideas about the rise of book piracy. “Certainly, if we saw our business being pirated completely, it would be terrible. However, we give away 2,000 copies at BookExpo, and we’re upset if we can’t give them all away!” he said. “So I think 2,000 copies being pirated is good news. It shows they will read it, tell their friends, and go buy the author’s next book.”

This sentiment was echoed by Richard Nash. “Two thousand pirated e-books is a good sign – it means somebody wants the damn things,” he said. Nash suggested that the real risk is for the publishing industry to stagnate. “It is too risky not to completely reconceive our business. The risk lies in remaining siloed, remaining in the manufacturing business.” What aspiring authors need to do, he said, is become an active part of the writing community – not just to get published, but for their personal happiness. Writers should submit to literary journals, read their favourite authors’ blogs, and attend reading series to avoid the “post-partum depression” that comes with publishing a book.

Michael Tamblyn gave a slick PowerPoint presentation detailing the first year of Kobo (which, he pointed out, is both the Japanese word for “workshop” and Trinidadian slang for “vulture”). Tamblyn revealed that, in e-book land, long-form reading is alive and well: Kobo’s three best-selling e-books are Pride & Prejudice, Dracula, and Little Women.

On top of that, it turns out pricing is not the top concern of e-book readers. According to focus group research, said Tamblyn, the most valued aspect of e-books across all demographics and income levels is the ability to buy a book instantly, followed by the ability to carry books around with you wherever you go. Although readers said e-books must always be cheaper than print books, this was not their biggest concern.

Additionally, Tamblyn believes that the $9.99 price point for e-books is not immovable. “The bet is that customers want the books enough, are passionate enough about reading, and are loyal enough to the authors they love that they’re going to absorb a $2 to $5 price jump.” As for the new Kobo e-reader, which will be available in Canada this May, Tamblyn refers to it as “the e-reader for everyone,” the model in between the premium e-readers and the “low-cost-but-basically-hideous” e-readers. The Kobo e-reader, which will sell for $149, is intended for people who care about reading more than technology, who “aren’t willing to drop $200 for a device.”

One of the most retweeted speakers was Deanna McFadden (@tragicrighthip) of HarperCollins Canada, who said she’s tired of hearing that the book is dead. “Publishing is pronounced dead in every e-mail newsletter I receive on a daily basis, and I think the novel died again last week for maybe its 27^th time,” she said. As a strong believer in top 10 lists, she offered the audience 10 tips for promoting content on the Web, from analyzing your online traffic to using social media wisely.

The book industry: this week in quotes

“I suddenly understood what fiction was for…I had to read books that I wouldn’t have necessarily read. I had to read them well and I had to read them in a short space of time. Back to back. Annie Proulx and ­Margaret ­Atwood and Beryl Bainbridge and Anne Michaels – boom, boom, boom. And I started to realise what fiction could be. And I thought, wow! You can be ambitious, you can take on the world – you really can.” – Andrea Levy, on judging the 1997 Orange Prize

“It’s important to note that we are not looking to the agency model as a way to make more money on e-books. In fact, we make less on each e-book sale under the new model; the author will continue to be fairly compensated and our e-book agents will make money on every digital sale. We’re willing to accept lower return for e-book sales as we control the value of our product–books, and content in general. We’re taking the long view on e-book pricing, and this new model helps protect the long term viability of the book marketplace.” – David Young, CEO of Hachette Book Group, in a letter to agents supporting Macmillan and the agency pricing model for e-books

“We are removing Amazon.com links from our website. Our authors depend on people buying their books and since a significant percentage of them publish through Macmillan or its subsidiaries, we would prefer to send traffic to stores where the books can actually be purchased.” – The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

“Forlorn as this hope may be, I can only fantasize that at least you might read my letter through and consider the pleasures and prestige of being an author at Faber, the last great family-owned independent publishing house in the western hemisphere.” – Faber editorial director Lee Brackstone in an open letter to Morrissey requesting he publish a memoir with Faber

HarperCollins steps into the ring of the Amazon vs. Macmillan battle

While Amazon has yet to fully reinstate Macmillan titles on its website, another potential threat looms on the horizon for the online retailer. Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp. – the huge media conglomerate that owns HarperCollins – said about e-readers during a conference call yesterday that “devices and platforms are proliferating, but this clever technology is merely an empty vessel without any great content.” Further taking the side of the publishers in the Amazon vs. Macmillan battle, Murdoch had this to say (via All Things Digital):

We don’t like the Amazon model of selling everything at $9.99. They don’t pay us that. They pay us the full wholesale price of $14 or whatever we charge. We think it really devalues books and it hurts all the retailers of the hardcover books. We are not against [inaudible] books. On the contrary, we like them very much indeed. It is low cost to us and so on. But we want some room to maneuver in it.

Murdoch also said that Apple has already agreed to “a variety of higher prices” for e-books, and that Amazon is ready to renegotiate pricing with News Corp. Will the clout of a publisher like HarperCollins force Amazon to allow higher prices? Will customers be willing to cough up more than $9.99 for an e-book, despite online protests? Or will the higher prices deter readers from investing in the high-priced Kindle at all?

One thing’s for sure: the publishing industry is being brought together by a common enemy, as demonstrated today at the America Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute. Galleycat reports that when Macmillan’s stand against Amazon was mentioned at the event, the company received an enthusiastic standing ovation.

Attention Kindle users: soon there will be apps for you, too

Less than a week before Apple is expected to unveil its much-anticipated Tablet, Amazon has announced that it will open up the Kindle e-reader to software developers who can create custom apps à la iPhone. Starting next month, developers will be invited to take part in a beta program testing out the Kindle Development Kit, and the content itself will be available at the Kindle Store later in the year.

Developers will receive 70% of their app’s profits, minus a $0.15 “delivery fee,” according to Amazon. The release states that apps already in the works include restaurant guides from review company Zagat and word games and puzzles from Sonic Boom.

Users will, however, have to abide by Amazon’s guidelines, which prohibit “voiceover IP functionality, advertising, offensive materials, collection of customer information without express customer knowledge and consent, or usage of the Amazon or Kindle brand in any way.”

The Intel Reader is on the menu for the visually impaired

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week saw the unveiling of countless new e-readers eager to knock Amazon’s Kindle off its pedestal. One device that really stood out was the Intel Reader. Designed for visually impaired and dyslexic people, this gadget allows the user to take a photo of any text (menus, letters, magazines) and then immediately reads it aloud. Users also have the ability to download e-books and read or listen to them at their leisure.

While the Kindle shares the Intel Reader’s ability to read text aloud, this new device is unique because it allows people to read things other than typical e-books. For people with impaired vision, the ability to snap a picture of a restaurant menu, and either enlarge its text or have it read aloud is invaluable, providing a level of independence not previously possible.

Tracy Counts, the Intel Reader’s marketing manager, told the Guardian that the product’s developer is dyslexic and knows how hard it is “to get printed text in a format he could listen to and understand. He went to the general manager of our group and pitched the idea, and Intel Health got behind it because it fits with the whole idea of digital health, which is helping people to be independent.”

The $1,500 price tag is a deterrent, but the Guardian suggests that schools and libraries might find it a worthwhile tool. Over at Engadget, there is an informative video explaining all of the Intel Reader’s functions.

One Guardian commenter poses a good question: “At the risk of sounding prejudiced here, how would a profoundly blind person, as opposed to visually impaired or partially sighted person, aim the thing?”

The problem with the e-reader explosion

The glut of e-readers heading to market is liable to result in significant casualties – on the part of both buyers and manufacturers – when all is said and done, according to an article in the Silicone Alley Insider (reprinted from Gizmodo). Reporting on the number of Kindle and Nook knock-offs that cropped up at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which wrapped up yesterday in Las Vegas, Wilson Rothman writes that the people who end up satisfied with their e-readers will be those who purchase a unit sold through a store they already buy books from (Amazon, Barnes & Noble) or those who buy a cheap, disposable reader with a wide range of file compatibilities, then end up pirating the books they want to read from torrent sites. Other purchasers will find to their chagrin that their new readers are incompatible with various digital rights management platforms that publishers insist on, or that they can’t import files from a Kindle or a Nook.

The innovation that made the flood of e-readers possible – the introduction of e-ink – is itself responsible for the current situation, writes Rothman:

But the introduction of e-ink-based readers by many big tech companies and a handful of feisty little ones threatens to sow confusion in the market place, encourage piracy, and screw over any company who gets in and then can’t really hack it against Kindle and Nook. And all of it will be a pointless exercise when long-lasting slates are a reality.

E-ink is an interim technology, a stopgap measure to keep our attention till we have full-color video tablets (slates?) whose batteries last for “days.” A flood in the market might ensure that everyone buys one by this coming Christmas, but it’ll become increasingly hard to distinguish the good from the bad, will emphasize cheap devices over quality of interface and service, and will render most people completely confused and off-put.

Whereas the Kindle vs. Nook showdown was once positioned as the VHS vs. Betamax of the e-reader technology, it now appears that a different comparison is more appropriate. Rothman points out that the number of imitation e-readers currently appearing in the marketplace more closely resemble the dozens of MP3 players that cropped up to compete with the iPod. And what happened to all of those, again?