As reported by the Mac Observer, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.
Book publishers, in general, continue to struggle in making the transition from an exclusively printed format to the business model that includes a significant market for eBooks. Textbook publishers, such as Houghton Mifflin, struggle even more so due to education budget cuts at all levels. In addition, college students now have a myriad of online sources for used book purchases and rentals at websites such as chegg.com, half.com and amazon.com.
Houghton Mifflin is a partner in Apple’s iBook 2 digital textbook initiative. By my count, they currently have 180 titles (including textbooks and other book genres) available in the iTunes Store.
The bankruptcy filing will provide Houghton Mifflin with an opportunity to restructure its $3.1 billion debt.
Pretty interesting. A very few years ago, this is no way would have been considered a tech-related story. How times have changed.
