NEW YORK — US book publishers are smiling again, after years of watching digital versions of their titles sell for below what they thought they were worth.
Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. stable includes publisher Harper-Collins, could hardly contain his glee during an earnings call last week."Without content, the ever larger and flatter screens, the tablets, the e-readers and the increasingly sophisticated mobile phones would be lifeless," Murdoch said. "Without content these ingenious and wonderful devices would be unloved and unsold."One new arrival in particular has Murdoch and other publishers excited -- Apple's iPad tablet computer, which doubles as a full-color e-reader of books, newspapers and magazines.
"We're at a happy point, not just with Apple, but with Barnes & Noble and the 'Nook,' the 23 devices that have been launched, and Google Books seems to be just around the corner," a source in the publishing industry said.
"Now we have that many more distribution outlets coming," said the source, who requested anonymity out of fear of antagonizing Amazon, which may be facing competition but remains the undisputed e-book leader. more
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