Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

Voices

Talks Quicken Over E-Book Pricing

Thomas Catan and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Media on April 4 at 4:14 pm PT

Talks to resolve U.S. and European price-fixing probes into e-books are heating up, with three international publishers inclined to settle the matter, according to people familiar with the matter.

J.K. Rowling’s Website Starts Selling Harry Potter E-Books

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in Media on March 27 at 6:03 am PT

It didn’t take a Hogwarts magician to know this day would eventually come. The bookstore feature of J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore website went live Tuesday, enabling English-language readers to buy the digital editions of all seven Harry Potter novels—and the audiobook editions—from anywhere in the world. Editions in French, Italian, German and Spanish will be the next wave.

Voices

End of Era for Britannica

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Shalini Ramachandran, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on March 14 at 5:30 am PT

In 1768, a Scottish engraver named Andrew Bell and a printer named Colin Macfarquhar set ink to paper to create three cross-referenced volumes known as Encyclopaedia Britannica.

U.S. Warns Apple, Publishers

Thomas Catan and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in News on March 7 at 9:07 pm PT

The Justice Department has warned Apple Inc. and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter.

Voices

Barnes & Noble Shops Publisher

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in Voices on January 5 at 12:00 am PT

Barnes & Noble Inc. has put its Sterling Publishing business up for sale, say people familiar with the situation, signaling a likely end to its decades-long involvement in the publishing of its own books.

Voices

E-Book Readers Face Sticker Shock

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in Media on December 15, 2011 at 11:00 am PT

Cheap new e-readers are expected to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season. But new owners of Kindles and Nooks may be in for sticker shock on Christmas morning: The price gap between the print and e-versions of some top sellers has now narrowed to within a few dollars — and in some cases, e-books are more expensive than their printed equivalents.

Voices

Mark Cuban Takes Shot at Writing an E-Book

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 20, 2011 at 1:53 pm PT

Mark Cuban has 335,000 friends on Facebook and 760,000 followers on Twitter. Monday, the Internet billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team will test just how friendly those fans really are.

Voices

Amazon, Now a Book Lender

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Stu Woo, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 3, 2011 at 3:40 am PT

As the e-reader and tablet wars heat up, Amazon.com Inc. is launching a digital-book lending library that will be available only to owners of its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices who are also subscribers to its Amazon Prime program.

Voices

Barnes & Noble Boots Some Graphic Novels

Jeffrey A.Trachtenberg, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in Voices on October 8, 2011 at 1:39 pm PT

In a move that underscores the increasing tensions between book publishers and retailers over exclusive content arrangements, Barnes & Noble Inc. is removing from its consumer and college bookstores 100 graphic novels published by Time Warner Inc.’s DC Entertainment unit.

Voices

E-Book Prices Prop Up Print Siblings

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in Media on September 12, 2011 at 4:30 am PT

Even as readers grow more comfortable with digital books, some continue to question why so many of the most popular new e-books are priced so high.