Last month Bertelsmann announced the closure of its Direct Group, having sold off the British, American and French book clubs—with further disposals likely.

This type of book club first became popular in the 1930s, and as recently as 1998 accounted for 24% of the UK book market. Sheltered by a carve-out from the Net Book...

The e-book era has clearly arrived, but can publishers' digital revenues grow fast enough to offset the worldwide decline in sales of physical books? About half of all books are bought on impulse—sales that result from attractive displays in inviting surroundings, which are readily accessible to the most literate, well-heeled...

At times our industry seems obsessed by the challenges and opportunities of e-books. The potential transformation is un-deniable, but there’s another digital revolution coming up fast on the rails. Imagine having a supremely knowledgeable assistant with you whenever you are shopping. You probably already do; your mobile.

One in...

Macmillan's spat with Amazon looks like a crucial battle in the war to decide the ground rules for selling e-books. Amazon has rarely backed off in such commercial disputes, being prepared to remove the "buy button" at the first sign of trouble. Its launch of the Kindle looked like a game-changing breakthrough, but in its fight for e-...