Stressing Hardcover Sales, Publisher Delays E-Book of Sarah Palin Memoir

[question everything]

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Stressing Hardcover Sales, Publisher Delays E-Book of Sarah Palin Memoir

By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
WSJ

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, which is priced at $28.99. 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. Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers, said it is too early to tell whether e-books are cannibalizing hardcover sales or represent additional sales. "This is the first time we're trying this, and we'll see what we learn," he said. "The publishing plan is focused on maximizing velocity of the hardcover before Christmas, at a time when hardcover sales in the industry are down 15%."

Mr. Murray said the late Michael Crichton's coming novel, "Pirate Latitudes," also published by HarperCollins will be available as an e-book Nov. 24, the same date as its hardcover release. Amazon has said Kindle customers expect new releases to be available on the device, but it declined to comment on the Palin situation. The news about Ms. Palin's memoir was reported earlier by the Associated Press.

(snip)

Harper decided not to release an e-book edition of "Going Rogue" in order to "give our retailers the strongest possible incentive to promote the hardcover edition in stores during the holidays," said Tina Andreadis, a Harper spokeswoman. "We aren't giving booksellers a lot of time to promote this book because we're crashing it out," she added.

Amazon's policy of pricing new best sellers at $9.99 in the e-book format has raised concerns among publishers. Some worry that Amazon, which pays half the hardcover list price for its e-book titles, will eventually pressure publishers to lower wholesale prices for e-books. Dan Brown's long-awaited new thriller, "The Lost Symbol," was released in hardcover and as an e-book Sept. 15. Mr. Brown said he wanted his fans to be able to read his book in whatever format they chose.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125427129354251281.html (subscription)

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B8

[ShortnFiery]

1. ...

:boring:

[Monk06]

2. Wait............. no .......for a minute there I almost gave a shit. n/t

[stray cat]

3. Are we sure Palin knows what an ebook is?

[tanyev]

4. I'm gonna guess that most of the likely buyers of this book aren't big Kindle users anyway.