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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 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 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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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 momentum that overwhelms competitors just like in the U.S. *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, including 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. Feel free to contact us for further inquiries.*

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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 sales and 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 significant 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 thing to consider when designing a layout is likely the paper 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 paper size is small but the amount of information is quite large, it will inevitably require smaller text and narrower line spacing, which will also impose significant constraints on the arrangement of photos. However, making the text smaller can sometimes make it harder to read, so how to balance this will influence the design. *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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Since the release of the iPad in 2010, tablets, which are more convenient 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 array of existing content, a system that only sells the device lacks anything to promote beyond the device's specifications. This undeniably puts it at a disadvantage in terms of appeal to users, and as specifications are enhanced, prices inevitably rise, which reduces 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 they allow illegal copying of e-books, which can be done more easily and extensively, the publishing industry itself may not survive. Therefore, let us 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 details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, 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 adopted in Japan, so it may be worth considering what kind of data we should create first. In DTP (Desktop Publishing), it is common to input plain text data into document data, apply styles and attributes, and then proceed with typesetting. *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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One cannot ignore how to create and distribute book data in various formats for e-books. So far, numerous e-book formats have emerged both domestically and internationally, but currently, the two formats that are internationally significant for e-books 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, you can view it through the related links. Please 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 reader apps like iBooks, but complex content like magazines is difficult to handle in EPUB, and using PDF can make it hard to showcase the advantages of e-books due to fixed layouts. *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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On January 27, 2011, Amazon announced that its sales for the fourth quarter of 2010 had surpassed $10 billion, and that the number of e-books 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 the number 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 electronic paper-equipped e-book reading device "Reader" 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 United States, 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 size identical to that of 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 industry this year (note: 2010). The catalyst that made the existence of e-books known to the general public, who had previously had no connection to them, 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, spurred by the release of the iPad. It is still unclear how much of a significant presence e-books will have in the publishing industry, but it is clear that continuing to produce publications in the traditional way will eventually become difficult. Traditionally, publishing involved editors at publishing houses preparing manuscripts with authors, typesetters or DTP operators formatting them into a layout, printing companies handling the printing, and then selling them in bookstores. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. Feel free to contact us for more information.*

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The iPad developed by Apple has received significant attention from the media in Japan, just as expected, and reports indicate that sales are going well. Amazon's Kindle is also expected to appear in the Japanese market soon, and in response, new movements are emerging within the Japanese 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, please refer to the related links. For further inquiries, feel free to contact us.*

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With the rise of Kindle and iPad, electronic books have recently garnered significant attention in the 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 news value tends to focus on hardware, in the case of electronic books, the issues that arise are more related to data formats (and the software that handles them) than to the hardware itself. The way data is produced, the quality of the layout, and even usability and user experience are heavily influenced by the format. *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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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, internet download sales have rapidly expanded, and it seems only a matter of time before they surpass CD sales. Similarly, written content, which used to be read in printed forms such as books, magazines, and newspapers, is now often sold and distributed as text in its original form or processed into various types of digital data, making it common to read on computers and mobile phones. *For more details on the column, please refer to the related links. For further information, feel free to contact us.*

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Until now, publishing has meant issuing printed materials on paper. However, with the spread of computers and the normalization of the internet, 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 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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Inform Inc. is a production company that specializes in providing solutions for InDesign. We achieve thorough quality control by using dedicated proofreaders in conjunction with digital proofing tools. In addition to DTP processes, we can also handle administrative tasks such as communication with various manufacturers and clients, as well as editorial work like 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 ■ Editing work for books ■ Text input and processing ■ Image processing and various image handling *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 not only the DTP process but also editorial tasks such as communication with manufacturers and clients, as well as planning and manuscript creation. 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 typesetting tools ■ Rigorous quality control and flexible workflows tailored to needs *For more details, please refer to the related links or feel free to contact us.

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