George R.R. Martin said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” Books, in whatever form, are the ultimate do-it-your-own-way escape. But if that's the case, why are there still so many rules around the "right" way to read? At Everand, our team has seen a swath of these arbitrary reading rules catch on and puzzle us. … [Read more...] about Three Ways to Free Yourself from Reading Rules
Business News and Statistics
UK Booksellers Urge Labour: Reform Unfair Business Rates
Booksellers in the UK are urging the new Labour government to address what they perceive as unjust business rates that severely impact small businesses, as reported by The Bookseller.com. Kate Skipper, COO of Waterstones, stated, "We call on the new government to prioritize reforming the outdated and inequitable business rates system, which currently stifles town and city … [Read more...] about UK Booksellers Urge Labour: Reform Unfair Business Rates
Goodreads Founder Launches Smashing – AI and Human Recommendations
Goodreads‘ co-founder Otis Chandler is back to build the next big app community. But this time, his focus isn’t on books; it’s on the content you can find online, including news articles, blog posts, social media posts, podcasts and more. With Smashing, an AI and community-powered content recommendation app, now launching into an invite-only beta, the goal is to help connect … [Read more...] about Goodreads Founder Launches Smashing – AI and Human Recommendations
US Audiobook Sales surpassed $2 billion in 2023
Audiobooks are quickly becoming more mainstream, and more than half of the population in the United States have listened to at least one. Audiobook revenue grew 9% in 2023 to $2 billion, continuing the year-on-year growth trend according to the Audio Publishers Association’s Sales Survey conducted by Toluna Harris Interactive. However, piracy is becoming a real problem for the … [Read more...] about US Audiobook Sales surpassed $2 billion in 2023
ebook sales soared 16.8% in April 2024
For the first time this year, digital book sales increased in the United States by 16.8% in April. The format generated $83.1 million in sales. Digital Audiobook sales were up 54.6%, reaching $100.0 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 15.0%, coming in at $800 thousand. Looking at the overall trend, e-book revenues for the year-to-date period were up by a modest 2.3% … [Read more...] about ebook sales soared 16.8% in April 2024
Indigo Goes Private: Sweetened Deal Accepted
Indigo Books & Music Inc. has agreed to a privatization deal, accepting a revised offer from a holding company linked to its largest shareholder. Under the terms of the agreement, Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. and Trilogy Investments L.P. will pay $2.50 per share in cash for the remaining stake in Indigo. This comes after Trilogy initially proposed $2.25 per share … [Read more...] about Indigo Goes Private: Sweetened Deal Accepted
Pocketbook is now a co-owner of Bigme
Pocketbook has been working on a significant deal for the past year. They have just become a substantial shareholder and co-owner of Bigme, a Chinese brand with a strong track record in releasing e-readers and e-notebooks with E INK screens. This is the first considerable acquisition Pocketbook has made since releasing e-readers in 2012. As part of our ongoing collaboration, … [Read more...] about Pocketbook is now a co-owner of Bigme
US eBook revenues were down 1.5% in Q1 2024
Ebook revenues in the United States were down 1.5% compared to the first three months of 2023, for $255.6 million. However, there is a silver lining: digital audiobook sales saw a significant growth of 15.3% for the first three months, reaching $243.6 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 29.1%, coming in at $2.1 million. Consumer Book sales were down 2.8% during the … [Read more...] about US eBook revenues were down 1.5% in Q1 2024
Could Blockchain Change How eBook Ownership Works?
The Bitcoin price increase, seen easily on the Binance website, has catalyzed a renaissance of interest in blockchain technology, highlighting its potential beyond cryptocurrencies. Blockchain, the underlying technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is essentially a decentralised ledger that records transactions across multiple computers. Its key features of … [Read more...] about Could Blockchain Change How eBook Ownership Works?
Italy’s Book Industry Losing €705M Yearly to Piracy
In 2020, it was revealed that Italian book publishers are losing €528M to piracy every year. But recently, the amount of the loss has increased from €528M to €705M annually. As reported by Publishing Perspectives, Italy’s book industry is facing a big challenge due piracy. The Association of Italian Publishers commissioned the market research firm IPSOS to study the impact … [Read more...] about Italy’s Book Industry Losing €705M Yearly to Piracy
Boom in Graphic Adaptation of Middle Grade Books
Image credit: Publishers Weekly Middle grade graphic novel category is becoming popular in recent years. As a result, the number of graphic adaptations of middle grade books has also exploded. That’s because graphic adaptations bring older stories to life and expand the audience. In fact, such graphic novels have gained acceptance among educators, parents, and librarians also. … [Read more...] about Boom in Graphic Adaptation of Middle Grade Books
Publishers Seek Support for UK Book Industry
UK book publishers have called on ministers to support the growth of the country’s £11bn industry with tax cuts and policies to encourage exports. The Publishers Association, which represents the interest of HarperCollins, Bloomsbury, Pearson, Pan Macmillan and Penguin Random House, has conducted research about the value of publishing. The Publishers Association said that the … [Read more...] about Publishers Seek Support for UK Book Industry
Authors Sue NVIDIA for Copyright Infringement
NVIDIA, whose chips help power artificial intelligence (AI) application, is facing a lawsuit from three authors. The authors, including Brian Keene, Abdi Nazemian, and Stewart O'Nan, claim that the chip-manufacturing company used their copyrighted books to train its NeMo AI platform. They say their works were part of a dataset of about 196,640 books that trained NeMo to mimic … [Read more...] about Authors Sue NVIDIA for Copyright Infringement
Authors Equity: A New Profit-Sharing Publishing Company
Image credit: Publishers Weekly In the US, three former executives from Penguin Random House (PRH) and Macmillan have launched a new publishing company named Authors Equity, as reported by Publishers Weekly. Former PRH US CEO Madeline McIntosh, former Macmillan CEO Don Weisberg, and former PRH US president and director of strategic development US Nina von Moltke are … [Read more...] about Authors Equity: A New Profit-Sharing Publishing Company