Checking In On The Rest of the Big Six

Following my post yesterday about Simon & Schuster and Hachette delaying the release of e-books to advantage their hardcover versions, The Wall Street Journal reported:

The third major publishing house in two days has decided to delay the electronic-book publication of some titles next year, as the debate over the timing and pricing of e-books heats up.

In an interview, Brian Murray, chief executive of News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers, said that beginning in January or February, HarperCollins will delay the e-book publication of five to 10 new hardcover titles each month. The delays are expected to range from four weeks to six months, depending on the book . . . John Makinson, chief executive of Pearson PLC's Penguin Group, noted that Penguin is watching the current situation with interest. "We may undertake trial pricing, and defer publication from time to time, but we won't systematically delay the publication of e-books," he said. Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Bertelsmann AG's Random House publishing arm, declined comment.

Read the entire WSJ article here.

The New York Times reported:

John Sargent, chief executive of Macmillan, owner of imprints like Farrar, Straus and Giroux and St. Martin’s Press, said the company has already delayed e-book publication on several novels . . . Mr Sargent said the company was likely to delay other titles in the future.

Read the whole New York Times article here.