Retail sales up despite Brexit - The Bookseller

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today when he decided to make a stop at The Bookseller site. There he found a post about how retail sales are doing in the UK after the Brexit vote.

Sales look pretty good.

According to the post by Lisa Campbell, retail sales are up by 1.1 percent across the board even after the Brexit vote. All the way at the very end of the post we learn that UK print book sales for July 2016 are also up by 4.3 percent over July of last year. There is no mention of ebook sales figures.

Panzer says, "I guess we know where the retail market places the importance of print book sales ... at the very bottom of the list. ... And ebook sales ... no where."

Note: This is a short post. You won't even need a muffin for today's reading selection, just bring a cup of tea.

To read the post, tootle over to book sales

Waterstones cuts e-book deal with Kobo - The Bookseller

Kobo scores again.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere enjoying himself today. After reading various blog post headlines, our inquisitive kitty boy found an interesting one at The Bookseller site.

According to the post by Lisa Campbell, the book store chain Waterstones will no longer sell ebooks from their website. Waterstones will, instead, have visitors to their website make their ebook purchases at Kobo. Customers with libraries of already purchased ebooks at Waterstones' site will be able to move them to the Kobo site.

Panzer says, "None of this is surprising to this little kitty. Waterstones' website never generated enough ebook sales to justify maintaining it."

Note: This is a medium post. You'll need a cup of tea and a small muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Kobo

Self-published titles '22% of UK e-book market' - The Bookseller

Ahhh ... A nice quiet day.

Panzer took a nice relaxing trip in the Catosphere today. Our happy kitty pilot didn't hear any arguing or snarling or crying or disruptive behavior anywhere. After just enjoying the quiet for a while he stopped in at The Bookseller site to find something interesting for you.

According to a post at the site by Lisa Campbell, some good news for indie authors was discussed at the Nielsen BookInsights Conference last week. Although growth of ebooks in the UK is not what it was 2 or 3 years ago, growth of self-published ebooks is growing. Self-published ebook sales for 2015 were 22 percent of all digital ebook sales compared to 16 percent for 2014. And where do all those self-published ebooks come from? According to Steve Bohme of Nielsen Book UK, it's Amazon self-published ebooks. Also covered in the post are audiobook sales, print book sales and tablets and other ebook reading devices impact on sales.

Panzer says, "Indie ebooks are being recognized by readers for their value in the marketplace."

Note: This is a l-o-n-g post. You'll need a cup of tea and two muffins for today's read.

To read the post, tootle over to e-book market

Kobo Trying A New Publishing Path

Now, where is that path?

Panzer was out in the Catosphere today.  Our big bad kitty pilot stopped in at The Bookseller site.

He couldn't believe what he learned in a post by Lisa Campbell and Sarah Shaffi. Kobo is jumping into the traditional publishing venue. They've signed a contract for digital and print publishing rights for a book by Kevin Donovan.

Panzer says, "Is this just the beginning of a bigger change at Kobo? Or just a fluke? Only time will tell."

To read the full post, tootle over to Kobo

VAT Will Increase Ebook Price

What do you do with the tax money?

Panzer got jerked out of his noon nap today by all the CATerwauling going on in the Catosphere. He hopped in the Panzermobile to track down the trouble. My poor sleepy kitty pilot found the answer at The Bookseller site.

In a post by Lisa Campbell and Sarah Shaffi he learned about a new European VAT.  This new taxation law of digital products goes into effect on January 1. Ebooks are included in the EU taxation change. The change will mandate an ebook is taxed at the location of the buyer not the location of the seller. According to Ms. Campbell and Ms. Shaffi, this means the European price of ebooks could be significantly higher after the first of the year.

Panzer says, "How can you increase the tax on a bunch of electrons from Luxembourg just because  they travel to the UK or Germany? You humans tax everything."

To read the complete post and what this change will mean for ebook prices in Europe, tootle over to ebook prices

Amazon To Expand London Office Workforce To 5,000

I'm available for a London trip.

Panzer stopped in at The Bookseller site today. Our bad boy Catosphere reporter found a post by Lisa Campbell about Amazon's future plans for it's UK head office workforce.

According to Ms. Campbell, Amazon is building 431,000 sq. feet of new office space in London. Amazon plans to be finished building in 2016 and will move into the new space in 2017. The office space expansion is to accommodate the anticipated increase of the office workforce from 1,700 to 5,000 persons.

Panzer says, "That's a lot of people Amazon is adding to the office workforce, but no mention of cats. Who's going to handle mouse control?"

To read the full post, tootle over to Amazon London

Sony to Leave Ereader Market

You knew it was coming.

Today, Panzer wasn't surprised by a post he found at The Bookseller about Sony's announcement it's leaving the ereader market. My Catosphere traveling bad boy told you back in February of Sony's departure from the ebook stores market. So, leaving the ereader market is a logical step.

According to Joshua Farrington and Lisa Campbell's post, Sony will instead concentrate on their Digital Paper PDF reader. They will be working with the business customers market now.

Panzer says, "The market keeps getting smaller."

To read about Sony's movement out of the ereader market, tootle over to Sony ereader