Shakespeare has long been the nemesis of many a high school student, but a new series of enhanced ebooks will certainly ease the study for reluctant readers, while also adding to the enjoyment of longtime fans of the Bard. Wordplay Shakespeare, a series with two titles currently available in the iBookstore, offers a multimedia-rich Shakespeare experience with the original text, … [Read more...] about Wordplay Shakespeare Enhanced eBooks Bring the Bard to Tablets
Digital Publishing News
Reach Out and Read Earns LOC Prize, Receives One Million Books from Scholastic
At this weekend's National Book Festival, hosted by the Library of Congress, book distribution and reading awareness organization Reach Out and Read was presented with the David M. Rubenstein Prize for the charity's work to combat illiteracy, especially among low-income and underserved demographics of children. In addition the $150,000 prize, Reach Out and Read had a new … [Read more...] about Reach Out and Read Earns LOC Prize, Receives One Million Books from Scholastic
eBook Review: Stained by Cheryl Rainfield
Verdict: 5 StarsCheryl Rainfield has done it again. As one of the powerhouse young adult authors who championed the #YASaves hashtag on Twitter, a cause that was taken up by authors and readers alike who felt that powerful teen literature had helped them survive high school and shaped them into the adults they are today, Rainfield often writes about the characters and … [Read more...] about eBook Review: Stained by Cheryl Rainfield
Digital is the New Salvation for European Newspapers
European newspapers have often been shielded by the same issues plaguing their counterparts in North America. State subsidies often keep an unprofitable companies afloat, while advertising revenue continues to dwindle. In France, newspapers received €800 million in state subsidies and tax breaks last year, while tiny Greece boasted about 70 newspapers before the crisis, many … [Read more...] about Digital is the New Salvation for European Newspapers
Modern Family Star Lends Voice Talent to Enhanced eBook on Food Allergies
Emmy Award-winning actress Julie Bowen, a star of ABC's comedy Modern Family, has lent her voice talent to the narration of an enhanced ebook aimed at educating readers on the dangers of deadly food allergies, especially in public schools. Bowen, who plays Claire Dunphy on the series, has a special focus on anaphylaxis awareness as she is the mother of a child with … [Read more...] about Modern Family Star Lends Voice Talent to Enhanced eBook on Food Allergies
Goodreads Modifies User Terms to Prevent Author Bullying, Reviewers Outraged
After the recent pivotal blowup of author bullying and harassment on book discovery website Goodreads, an issue that has apparently been ongoing but only within the last month received the global attention it now faces, leadership at the site made a startling announcement last night by finally stepping in and publishing guidelines that have been put into effect to prevent … [Read more...] about Goodreads Modifies User Terms to Prevent Author Bullying, Reviewers Outraged
Random House Launches Curated Magazines on Flipboard
Random House has partnered with Flipboard, the popular news and social media aggregation application, to become the first ever book publisher to curate content for the platform of 85 million users. The collaboration kicks off with two custom digital magazines. The first, curated by Margaret Atwood, is inspired by her new novel, MaddAddam and the second, by Westeros.org, … [Read more...] about Random House Launches Curated Magazines on Flipboard
Adobe, MPA Come Together on Standardization of Digital Advertising Metrics
As digital magazines optimized for tablet and smartphone reading continue to enjoy a surge in growth, publishers still have to concern themselves with being able to accurately demonstrate to their advertisers that readers can--and do--interact with their ads. Adobe, the creators of the flagship Digital Publishing Suite that a wide variety of publishers use to create their … [Read more...] about Adobe, MPA Come Together on Standardization of Digital Advertising Metrics
Pottermore Announces Former Sony VP as New CEO
JK Rowling's innovative Pottermore company, which oversees the interactive website, the sale of the entire Harry Potter ebook collection, and maintains a partnership with the Sony Wonderbook game based on the world of Harry Potter, announced yesterday its replacement for former CEO Charlie Redmayne.Susan Jurevics, formerly a Senior Vice President at Sony, said in a press … [Read more...] about Pottermore Announces Former Sony VP as New CEO
OverDrive’s Digital BookMobile on Hand at the National Book Festival
This weekend's National Book Festival, taking place once again in Washington, DC and hosted by the Library of Congress, will once again feature OverDrive's Digital Bookmobile in the company's ongoing effort to put ebooks front and center in readers' lives. While the book event will showcase so much that US publishing has to offer to a global community of readers, OverDrive, one … [Read more...] about OverDrive’s Digital BookMobile on Hand at the National Book Festival
eBook Sales Experience Miniscule Gains in 2013
Many publishing experts all thought that 2013 would be the year that eBook sales would start to level off and cease the near double digit gains from years prior. The Association of American Publishers has just released its annual report that looks at the first six months of 2013. Overall, eBook sales have increased by a paltry 4.8% from $618 million in 2012 to $647 million in … [Read more...] about eBook Sales Experience Miniscule Gains in 2013
New MOOC FutureLearn Launches in the UK
Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, have been hailed as the future of education. Having initially gained widespread recognition with the launch of Khan Academy, MOOCs offer users a way to learn that can be as simple as brushing up on their skills or as involved as learning an entirely new subject.FutureLearn, new program controlled entirely by Open University, is making … [Read more...] about New MOOC FutureLearn Launches in the UK
Second OverDrive “Big Library Read” Project Includes School Libraries
Earlier this year, digital content distributor OverDrive partnered with publisher Sourcebooks in an experiment aimed at establishing concrete data on how readers respond in terms of book borrows and book sales to digital titles they check out from their libraries. Sourcebooks made one of its titles available to OverDrive's member libraries for a predetermined period of time … [Read more...] about Second OverDrive “Big Library Read” Project Includes School Libraries
World Book Encyclopedia to Offer Subscription Plan to Schools, Libraries
As well-known and highly respected publishing entities like newspapers and reference books struggle to compete with free information available on the internet, publishers of these types of content are forced to find new ways to stay relevant and more importantly, to stay in business. With the announcement last year the the two-hundred-plus-year-old Encyclopaedia Britannica … [Read more...] about World Book Encyclopedia to Offer Subscription Plan to Schools, Libraries