On the last day of Book Expo America 2012, Jim Hilt Vice President of eBooks at Barnes & Noble came all the way down just to speak with us! We talked about the growing success of their e-ink reader line with the newest edition to the family, the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight. He shares with us the evolution of the hardware from the concept stage and what made them create … [Read more...] about Interview with Jim Hilt – Vice President of eBooks at Barnes & Noble at BEA
Business News and Statistics
Bookeen Partners With Sweden’s Largest eBook Store and Launches a New e-Reader
Bookeen has accelerated its ebook distribution in Sweden by partnering with Adlibris. Bookeen will be launching their Cybook Odyssey as a re-branded device, called the Adlibris Letto, to penetrate the market more effectively and allow users to buy books directly on the device.When we spoke with Bookeen at CES this year, the company said by default the e-reader did not tap … [Read more...] about Bookeen Partners With Sweden’s Largest eBook Store and Launches a New e-Reader
Interview with Michael Tamblyn on Kobo Writing Life and International Expansion
The biggest news of the day was the official unveiling of the new self-publishing program from Kobo, entitled "Writing Life." This program will allow authors to submit books in various formats and have them optimized to EPUB format. The big selling point of this new system is the deep analytics it provides for authors to track their sales in real time. If people review the book … [Read more...] about Interview with Michael Tamblyn on Kobo Writing Life and International Expansion
Kobo Experiences Triple Digit Growth
Kobo has announced today that the company has experienced triple digital growth year on year. Their eBook downloads have increased by over 400%, eReader sales by 160%, and eReaders by 280%. If you break it down their eReader device sales increased over 160 percent from the previous year and their bookstore surpassed 2.5-million titles with 1-million free books and books in 60 … [Read more...] about Kobo Experiences Triple Digit Growth
IPG and Amazon Reach a New Licensing Agreement
A few months ago we wrote about the growing divisions between Amazon and The Independent Publishers Group. The two sides failed to reach a wholesale licensing renewal because Amazon wanted to augment the existing terms and offer less money for the books. It seems the two companies reached a new licensing agreement and 5,000 of the IPG eBook titles are available again via … [Read more...] about IPG and Amazon Reach a New Licensing Agreement
Sony Sells 500,000 e-Readers in Europe
The Sony Reader WIFI or PRS-T1 originally went on sale in Europe back in October 2011. Since that time they have sold close to 500,000 units in the UK, France, Spain, Germany and other major markets. It is said that Sony now controls around 35% of the entire eReader market in Europe.Sony has been making great inroads in Europe to stimulate sales of its sagging e-reader … [Read more...] about Sony Sells 500,000 e-Readers in Europe
Amazon Shareholder Meeting Enveloped in Controversy
Over 100 people protested the annual Amazon shareholder meeting and some people bought a single share to attend to get CEO Jeff Bezos 's ear. They were calling on Amazon to pay more state taxes and to address working deaths at some of their USA factories.The rally mainly was organized to call attention to the paltry sales tax that Amazon pays in the Seattle area where they … [Read more...] about Amazon Shareholder Meeting Enveloped in Controversy
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. This company published seminal authors such as Mark Twain to J.R.R. Tolkien and is currently over three billion dollars in debt.Boston based HMH in documents filed today listed $2.68 billion in assets and $3.53 billion in debt. Under the proposed recovery plan, Houghton's … [Read more...] about Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Plastic Logic Quits the e-Reader Business
Cambridge UK based Plastic Logic has just confirmed it is getting out of the e-reader business. It intends on immediately closing down the USA development offices and continue to operate out of their Cambridge headquarters. The company has shifted its business model away from marketing e-readers that use their flexible display technology and instead will license it to other … [Read more...] about Plastic Logic Quits the e-Reader Business
Amazon Kindle Users in Ireland Forced to Buy eBooks from the USA
Amazon customers in Ireland are being forced to do business with the Kindle store in the USA instead of the UK . This results in dramatically high prices and many customers are irate that they are paying close to 3X more on their digital books.The Amazon Kindle e-reader is enjoying popularity in Europe and the UK. The low cost device is a siren call to budget conscious … [Read more...] about Amazon Kindle Users in Ireland Forced to Buy eBooks from the USA
Shareholder Sues Books-A-Million to Prevent a Takeover
A few weeks ago we reported that the majority shareholder of Books-A-Million wanted to take the company private. The Anderson family offered to buy shares at a premium price and valued the company at 48 million dollars. Today an irate shareholder filed a lawsuit in California to prevent the company from going private.The Shareholders Foundation is a legal monitoring service … [Read more...] about Shareholder Sues Books-A-Million to Prevent a Takeover
Diesel eBooks Signs eBook Agreements with Airlines and Hotels
Diesel eBooks, one of the leading independent online bookstores, has joined forces with Koinz Media for an epic distribution deal. The two companies will be offering almost 500,000 books to various hotels and airlines for their loyalty rewards programs.The essence of this deal is tapping into Diesel's extensive catalog and bringing it to a 48 billion dollar industry. Diesel … [Read more...] about Diesel eBooks Signs eBook Agreements with Airlines and Hotels
Hachette Livre Lowers eBook Prices
Hachette Livre has lowered their ebook prices to fall in line with their paperback offerings. Until now, the prices of all the company's ebooks have been 20% to 25% lower than for the hardback equivalents.Digital books in France are on the rise with Amazon and Kobo entering the market. Currently Kobo has distribution by Fnac, which is one of France's largest bookstores. … [Read more...] about Hachette Livre Lowers eBook Prices
Amazon Kindle Fire Shipments Plummet in Q1 2012
The Amazon Kindle Fire enjoyed copiously robust sales in the last quarter of 2012 that propelled it into one of the most sought after Android devices. Around 4.8 million Fire tablets were sold in the last few months of 2011 and things have not been the same since. In the first quarter of 2012 shipments have dramatically decreased to only 728k tablets shipped.Research firm … [Read more...] about Amazon Kindle Fire Shipments Plummet in Q1 2012