Over the past two years, the Big Five publisher’s share of the e-book market on Amazon has dropped from 43% to roughly 23%. Publishers Weekly’s Apple iBook Bestseller list also includes self-published authors: on the Feb. 17 list, three of the top ten best sellers were self-published. As these numbers suggest, digitalization is not just changing which books reach the market, but how they are put together. For writers, choosing independent publication is no longer the shameful last resort it once was, and for average writers, this path raises the odds of success from nil to slim.
Brave New Booksellers: The Rise of E-Reading
Digitalization has changed book reading, book production and book marketing, and it may ultimately even change the nature of books. Amazon’s Kindle e-reader sold out in 5.5 hours after it was first released in November 2007 and remained out of stock until April 2008. All over the world, a similar shift has been underway—slower in markets where bookstores and book sales are regulated, such as France and Germany; faster in more open markets, such as China, where more than 2 million digital book titles are now available and nearly half of all books sold are sold online. Yet surprisingly, most book buyers still end up with print books.
Don Tapscott on Digital Disruption
The Digital Economy warrants a fundamentally new social contract, says Don Tapscott, a leading expert on business and technology issues
Why E-commerce Alone Won’t Save the Chinese Retail Industry
CKGSB Professor Jack Chen on why the government should level the playing field in the Chinese retail industry
Amazon China: A Lightweight
Amazon China is redoubling its efforts, but will it succeed at the second attempt in the country’s hyper-competitive e-commerce sector?
CKGSB Knowledge Winter 2014 Issue: China Embraces the Sharing Economy
The sharing economy has threatened traditional industries in the West in the last few years. Now it’s gaining a foothold in China.
Ed Hess on Building the New Age Learning Organization
To stay relevant in the future, individuals need to learn much more quickly and differently. That entails a different kind of learning organization.
Jack Ma Picked an “Excellent Time” for the Alibaba IPO
The Alibaba IPO, which debuted on the NYSE recently, has broken all sorts of records. What are its prospects going forward?
Those Before Alibaba: The IPOs of Chinese Technology Companies
A look at other significant Chinese technology companies that went public before Alibaba.
Smackdown! Alibaba vs Amazon vs eBay
Alibaba IPO: A look at China’s Alibaba vs Amazon and eBay, the two leading e-commerce companies in the US.
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