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In the United States, magazines are considered a different product from books, and there is not much awareness that they are something to be purchased at bookstores. About 80% of the circulation is made up of subscriptions, and even in the case of retail sales, they are mostly purchased at retailers other than bookstores, such as supermarkets, drugstores, and convenience stores. Since there is no resale price maintenance system, retail prices vary by store, but particularly for subscriptions, the discount rates are very high, and there are quite a few publications for which it is believed that no profit is made from sales. *For more detailed content of the column, you can view it through the related links. For more information, please feel free to contact us.

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Amazon released the Kindle device in 2007. Since then, it is not an exaggeration to say that e-books have become widespread alongside the evolution of Kindle devices. Initially, the Kindle did not receive very favorable reviews, but with upgrades and the expansion of the Kindle Store, its popularity surged, becoming the biggest driving force behind the spread of e-books in the United States. Sales of the Kindle Paperwhite, which is the fifth generation, began in Japan as well, showing a momentum that overwhelms competitors just like in the United States. *For more details on the column, you can view it through the related links. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

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Books sold in bookstores are assigned a number that begins with the letters "ISBN," along with a barcode. This number is called the "ISBN code" and is operated according to a globally standardized system for managing books. The ISBN code consists of a total of 12 digits, which include the prefix "978/979," the group (country/region) number (4 for Japan), the publisher number, and the title number, plus an additional check digit, making it a 13-digit code. *For more detailed information, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.*

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In Japan, which has been said to be in the "year of the e-book" but has struggled to take off, the device that garnered significant attention since the iPad is Rakuten Kobo, which began selling and providing services on July 19, 2012. The acquisition of a global e-book company by Rakuten, Japan's largest online shopping site, generated buzz, and Rakuten Kobo launched with unprecedented scale of advertising. However, from the start of its service, it faced major confusion due to software issues and poor handling of harsh user reviews. That said, just because it stumbled at the beginning does not mean the business itself is a failure. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.*

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For those of us accustomed to printed materials, the first consideration when designing a layout is likely the page size. The size of the printed material is the biggest factor in determining the design, along with the amount of information to be included. For example, if the page size is small but the amount of information is quite large, it will inevitably require smaller text and narrower line spacing, and naturally, there will be significant constraints on the arrangement of photographs. However, making the text smaller can also make it harder to read, so how to balance this consideration affects the design. *For more detailed content of the column, you can view it through the related links. For more information, please feel free to contact us.*

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Since the release of the iPad in 2010, tablets, which are easier to use than computers, have attracted significant attention, prompting various computer manufacturers to embark on the development of tablets. However, compared to the iPad, which boasts the iTunes Store and App Store with access to a vast amount of existing content, a system that only sells the device has nothing to offer beyond the device's specifications. This undeniably results in a weaker appeal to users, and as specifications are enhanced, prices inevitably rise, reducing relative attractiveness, leading many to struggle in the market. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.*

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When considering the spread of e-books, how to address the issue of illegal copying becomes an important point. Currently, shoplifting and digital shoplifting are significant problems for bookstores, and many publishers are likely to feel a sense of crisis that if illegal copying of e-books, which can be done more easily and extensively, is allowed, the publishing industry itself may not survive. Therefore, let's first introduce the issue of preventing illegal copying in the music industry, where the wave of digitalization has arrived even faster than in books, and then think about e-books. *For more detailed content of the column, you can view it through the related links. For more information, please feel free to contact us.*

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As e-books become more widespread, the way we create data becomes important. That said, e-books have not yet become widely popular in Japan, so it may be wise to first consider what kind of data should be created. In DTP (Desktop Publishing), it is common practice to input plain text data into document data, apply styles and attributes, and then proceed with typesetting. *For detailed content of the column, please refer to the related links. For more information, feel free to contact us.*

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One cannot ignore how eBook data is created and distributed in terms of format. So far, numerous eBook formats have emerged both domestically and internationally, but currently, the two formats that hold significant international importance in eBooks are Amazon's Kindle, which uses AZW (mobi, AZW3, AZW6), and EPUB, which is supported by Google Books, Nook, and iBooks. Additionally, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is working on developing an intermediate format based on Japan's unique formats, XMDF and DotBook, aiming for international standards. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. Feel free to contact us for more information.*

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Since the release of the iPad, Apple has increased its presence in the e-book market. On the other hand, when distributing magazines and newspapers on the iPad or iPhone, it has been common to create each issue as an app and distribute it through Apple's App Store. Of course, if created in EPUB or PDF format, they can be read on general-purpose reader apps like iBooks, but complex content like magazines is difficult to handle in EPUB, and with PDF, the layout is fixed, making it harder to highlight the advantages of e-books. *For more details on the column, you can view it through the related links. For more information, please feel free to contact us.

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On January 27, 2011, Amazon announced that its sales for the fourth quarter of 2010 had surpassed $10 billion, and that the number of eBooks sold in the Kindle Store (excluding free books) had finally exceeded that of paperbacks (equivalent to Japanese bunko and shinsho books). Kindle books had already surpassed hardcover sales in the second quarter of 2010, and it was seen as only a matter of time before they would exceed paperbacks, but this milestone was achieved six months earlier than the company's forecast for the second quarter of this year. According to the company's press release, since the beginning of the year, 115 Kindle books have been sold for every 100 paperbacks, which is three times more compared to hardcovers. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.*

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On November 25, 2010, Sony announced at a press conference that it would release the e-book reader "Reader," equipped with electronic paper, on December 10. Four years after its launch in the United States in 2006, the company, which had previously indicated plans for a domestic release within the year, is finally introducing the Reader. However, of the three models sold in the U.S., only the Pocket Edition and Touch Edition will be released this time, while the higher-end Daily Edition has been postponed. The panel is the same E Ink "Pearl" panel used in Amazon's Kindle 3, with the Touch Edition featuring a 6-inch panel, the same size as the Kindle, and the Pocket Edition having a 5-inch panel. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.

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The e-book boom will undoubtedly be among the top ten news stories in the publishing world this year (note: 2010). The trigger that made the general public, who had previously had no connection to it, aware of the existence of e-books was likely the release of the iPad in April (May in Japan). We have discussed e-books many times before, but now, six months after the iPad's debut, I would like to reconsider the topic. When the iPad was released, many people were captivated by its beauty and felt a sense of the future of computers in its refined usability. *For more details on the column, you can view it through the related links. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

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Amidst the long-standing publishing recession, there are signs that e-books are starting to break through in Japan, coinciding with the release of the iPad. It is still unclear how much e-books will expand their presence in the publishing industry, but it is evident that continuing to produce publications in the traditional way will eventually become difficult. In the past, the publishing process involved editors at publishing houses preparing manuscripts with authors, typesetters or DTP operators formatting them for print, printing companies producing the copies, and then selling them in bookstores. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.*

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The iPad developed by Apple has received significant attention from the media in Japan, as expected, and reports indicate that sales are strong. Amazon's Kindle is also expected to appear in the Japanese market soon, and in response, new movements are emerging in Japan's publishing industry. On May 27, 2010, Sony, Toppan Printing, KDDI, and Asahi Shimbun announced the establishment of a company for the distribution of e-books, aiming to build one of the largest distribution platforms in the country. *For more details on the column, you can view it through the related links. Please feel free to contact us for more information.*

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With the rise of Kindle and iPad, electronic books have recently garnered significant attention in mainstream media. In Japan, where the publishing industry's response is still uncertain, it seems unlikely that electronic books will become mainstream immediately. However, there is a strong possibility that they will become a common format for books in the near future. By the way, while the hardware tends to attract most of the news value, in the case of electronic books, the data format (and the software that handles it) is often a more pressing issue than the hardware itself. The method of data production, the quality of layout, and even usability and user experience are largely influenced by the format. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. Feel free to contact us for more information.*

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As personal computers have become widespread and everything has started to be digitized, products that were previously sold as physical items have begun to circulate as data. For example, music has long been sold in the form of records or compact discs, but recently, the rapid expansion of internet download sales seems to be just a matter of time before it surpasses CD sales. Similarly, written content, which was traditionally read in printed forms such as books, magazines, and newspapers, is now often sold and distributed in the form of text or various types of digital data, making it common to read on computers or mobile phones. *For more details on the column, you can view it through the related links. Please feel free to contact us for more information.*

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Until now, publishing has meant issuing printed materials on paper. However, as computers became widespread and the internet became commonplace, it has become clear that publishing does not necessarily mean printed materials on paper. Publishing one's writing on a website is semantically the same as self-publishing a book. However, from the reader's perspective, viewing a website on a computer monitor is not necessarily the same as reading printed materials on paper. *For more details on the column, you can view it through the related links. Please feel free to contact us for more information.*

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Inform Inc. is a production company that specializes in providing solutions for InDesign. By using dedicated proofreaders and digital proofing tools, we achieve thorough quality control. Furthermore, we can handle not only DTP processes but also administrative tasks that involve communication with various manufacturers and clients, as well as editing tasks such as planning and manuscript creation. We realize flexible and efficient production that meets our customers' needs. 【Business Overview (Excerpt)】 ■ Typesetting using InDesign ■ Automated typesetting from databases ■ Design ■ Book editing services ■ Text input and processing ■ Image processing and various image treatments *For more details, please download the PDF or feel free to contact us.

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Our company utilizes the know-how cultivated through our extensive track record to offer suitable solutions for various concerns through catalog production. We achieve thorough quality control by using dedicated proofreaders in conjunction with digital proofing tools. Furthermore, we can handle editorial tasks such as planning and manuscript creation, as well as act as a liaison with various manufacturers and clients, not only in the DTP process. We realize efficient catalog production through a consistent system. 【Features】 ■ Extensive experience in catalog production across a wide range of genres ■ Accurate and speedy production of large pages using InDesign and automated layout tools ■ Rigorous quality control and a flexible workflow tailored to needs *For more details, please refer to the related links or feel free to contact us.

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