Amazon launched ACX in 2011 to connect up publishers, authors and producers for unsold audiobook rights. Indie authors  have begun to use the program more than the publishing companies and Amazon has tweaked their program a number of times to be more appealing. Today, the company announced they were adjusting the royalties it pays on audiobooks.When the ACX program first … [Read more...] about Audible and ACX Lower Self-Published Audiobook Commission Rates
Business News and Statistics
Sony Begins to Abandon Retail Stores in the US
Over the last few weeks Sony has announced the closure of their digital bookstore in the US and Canada. Â This apparently was a foreshadowing of what is to come, as the Japanese company has announced 20 of their 31 retail stores in the US will be closing down immediately. Close to 1,000 people will be losing their jobs and the only stores to remain will be in California, New … [Read more...] about Sony Begins to Abandon Retail Stores in the US
Barnes and Noble has Lost Over 1 Billion Dollars on Nook
Barnes and Noble is a company in transition, when it comes to their floundering Nook Media division. In the last two months they have announced the departures of Jim Hilt - Vice President of eBooks, digital products director Jamie Iannone and VP of digital products Bill Saperstein. A myriad of other people have left, including the head of accessories and most of the hardware … [Read more...] about Barnes and Noble has Lost Over 1 Billion Dollars on Nook
Is Barnes and Noble for Sale?
Barnes and Noble has received a viable offer to buy their entire bookstore business from G Asset Management. They have proposed a complete buyout at a deal valued at $672 million. If they are unable to go through on this deal, their secondary offer is to buy a 51% stake in Nook Media.There are plenty of barriers in place to prevent the sale of the last major bookstore in … [Read more...] about Is Barnes and Noble for Sale?
ePaperWorld 2014 Conference to Be Held in Montreal
Tab ePaperWorld has been holding events in Montreal since 2009, where the emphasis used to be on e-readers. The company is branching out for the first time and putting a priority on tablets and education. They still have not lost their e-reader roots, as many luminaries of the display world will be attending February 20th & 21th at the Palais Des Congrès of Montreal.There … [Read more...] about ePaperWorld 2014 Conference to Be Held in Montreal
Michael Serbinis Steps Down as the CEO of Kobo
Michael Serbinis has been CEO of Kobo for the last four years and has assembled one of the best executive teams in the eBook and e-reader industry. Under his watch the company expanded their library to have over 4 million eBooks in 190 different countries. Kobo has developed apps for almost every major operating system in the world and has even launched for Blackberry. Â When … [Read more...] about Michael Serbinis Steps Down as the CEO of Kobo
Recorded Books LLC Taken Over by Wasserstein
Recorded Books LLC have changed hands with Wasserstein & Co. being the new owners of the premier company that has been providing unabridged audiobooks and other digital content or related services to schools, libraries and the open market. Recorded Books has to its credit more than 13,500 exclusive audiobooks and has extensive operations in the US, UK and Australia. … [Read more...] about Recorded Books LLC Taken Over by Wasserstein
Humble Bundle Hires Publishing Mercenary Kelley L. Allen
Humble Bundle has had a number of highly successful eBook campaigns and has recently experimented with audiobooks. The company wants a continued focus on literary content and has just hired Kelley L. Allen as its Director of eBooks.Kelley was formerly the Director of New Media at Random House and Director of eBook Acquisition at Sony. She was also Manager of ePublishing at … [Read more...] about Humble Bundle Hires Publishing Mercenary Kelley L. Allen
Amazon to Compete with PayPal and Apple with new Kindle Checkout System
Amazon is poised to release a new P2P cloud based payment system that seeks to compete against Square and Paypal. The Kindle Checkout System will be powered by technology acquired by GoPago, which Amazon bought out last year.The essence of the Kindle Checkout system is to allow vendors to take orders or scan credit cards to make purchases. Retail locations is still where … [Read more...] about Amazon to Compete with PayPal and Apple with new Kindle Checkout System
Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google for $2.91 Billion
Lenovo hopes to enter the ultra competitive North American market by agreeing to terms with Google for Motorola. The entire deal is the largest in Lenovo's history and will cost them $2.91 billion dollars. The deal with Google is the second one in the last few weeks, as the Chinese company bought IBM's low-end server business for $2.3 billion.Google originally bought … [Read more...] about Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google for $2.91 Billion
Amazon in Final Negotiations to Start Selling eBooks in Sweden
eBook availability in Sweden has come a long way since 2007. The country now has most major bestsellers available in digital form the same day the trade edition is released. This has caught Amazon's attention as the company may start selling eBooks and Kindle e-Readers as early as the Spring.Amazon is in final negotiations with wholesaler Förlagssystem, and Bokrondellen … [Read more...] about Amazon in Final Negotiations to Start Selling eBooks in Sweden
German Bookstore Chain Weltbild Goes Bankrupt
Weltbild is the second largest bookstore in Germany and the company has a very complex ownership group that was not willing to put anymore money into it. On January 10th 2014 the company officially filed for insolvency and the future of the German book selling landscape looks bleak.Weltbild’s owners is a very complex consortium of over a dozen dioceses of the Catholic … [Read more...] about German Bookstore Chain Weltbild Goes Bankrupt
Spanish Book Sales Explode in the US Due to e-Readers
Spanish books are not the easiest thing to find in your average US city or town.  Booksellers got jaded  after botched attempts to translate English-language bestsellers produced error-ridden Spanish versions that sold poorly. When Spanish books are available, they often cost double or triple what the English translated edition fetch. Times are changing, and Spanish eBooks and … [Read more...] about Spanish Book Sales Explode in the US Due to e-Readers