The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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E-Books Redux: Behind the Stats

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I had hoped to let yesterday’s post put much of my thoughts to rest on the issue of e-books…at least for a while.

But today I came across this article “What Amazon Didn’t Say About E-Books” by David Carnoy for CNET. In the article he makes some very strong statements regarding Amazon’s claim of reaching a “tipping point” with regard to Kindle sales and its impact on e-book sales.

Do yourself a favor and read the article.

Then vow to lay it all aside for the rest of the Summer and write your book!

And no, the picture for this post is not our cat. I simply found the picture and thought it might get your attention. Feel free to submit your own caption for the photo in the comment section.

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More E-Book News: Behind the Stats

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Today's Wall Street Journal online quotes Amazon.com as saying that ebooks have outsold hardcover books over the last three months.

Additional statistics from that article include: "Amazon sought to suggest that Amazon remains the leading retailer for e-books. The company said that of the 1.14 million James Patterson e-books sold as of July 6, nearly 868,000 were from Amazon." Also, …

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E-Book Sales: Behind the Stats

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There is mixed news with regard to book sales in May of this year. Store sales were down 2.6% but publisher sales were up by 9.8%. Read all the various stats here. Remember these are simply comparison of 2010 monthly numbers with 2009.

The biggest area of growth, percentage-wise, is in e-books (up 162.8%).

But lets look at actual dollars, not percentages.

Publisher sales (according to the …

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The Shack Gets Sued

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Sad news from the LA Times that the author and publishers of The Shack are now in court fighting over the royalty earnings. Read the entire article here. Then weep. Then pray that cooler heads prevail and that it can somehow be kept out of the court system. The key element to the story, from my agent’s perspective, is that there was not a solid contract in place from the beginning. It …

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ICRS Observations 2010

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Some have asked for my thoughts on this past week’s International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in St. Louis. I’m glad to answer. This was my 29th consecutive booksellers convention. At its height there were approximately 14,000 in attendance, many years ago. That is no longer the case. Statistics released indicate total attendance was 6,812. Registered pick-ups in attendance was  4,747 …

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Book Review – Inbound Marketing

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In February I was in the Denver airport waiting for a flight. As usual I couldn't resist browsing the bookstore shelves. Something about the book Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah caught my eye. So, on impulse, I bought the book and began reading it on the plane. I learned a lot about this phenomenon called social marketing and thought that it would be a great book for all …

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New Releases May 2010

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Below are new books published last month which our agency represented. (In alphabetical order by author. Descriptions are from publisher’s web sites). May 2010 Claim – Lisa Bergren David C. CookSent west by their father to make a new life, the St. Clair siblings have done so-but hardly as he’d wished. Beautiful, headstrong Moira, after pursuing a stage career in Paris, has returned to …

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What’s up with Christian Retail?

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Twice in the last 30 days I have been interviewed about the "state of the industry." The journalist's questions were insightful and thought I would share some of them with you. My answers have been expanded beyond the original ones since I have more space to work with here.

1. What do you believe to be the most important trend in Christian publishing and why?

This can be a complex …

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New Releases April 2010

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Below are new books published last month which our agency represented. (In alphabetical order by author. Descriptions are from publisher’s web sites). April 2010 Who Speaks to Your Heart?: Tuning in to Hear God’s Whispers – Stacy Hawkins Adams Zondervan‘I wrestled with whether a God that I couldn’t see or touch would be willing to single me out from the millions of other …

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HarperStudio is History

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Back on March 17 I blogged about the changes at HarperStudio and asked if this could mean that division would close down. Today it was announced that it has come to pass, the division is no more.

HarperStudio had made big news by setting up a low advance model in exchange for high royalties. It was termed a "profit sharing" model. (of course define "profit" first... :-) ) Plus they sold their …

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