Penguin Random House officially merged on July 1st this year, but so far, not much has changed at either side of the company other than the formalization of the upper leadership. Employees of both companies still answer to their original chains of command and the book catalogs remain separate, at least for now.In an article for Publisher's Weekly on where the newly formed … [Read more...] about Update on the Penguin Random House Merger
Digital Publishing News
eBook Review: Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno
Verdict: 2 starsOne of the most highly anticipated recent book launches has been Shields' and Salerno's Salinger, billed as an exhaustive biography of of one of the most reclusive writers of our time. What was actually published, unfortunately, was nothing more than transcripts written in interview format of discussions about the author with people who claimed to know him, … [Read more...] about eBook Review: Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno
eBoekhuis and BREIN Anti-Piracy Digital Watermark Dissected
Many European eBook publishers and resellers are forgoing bulky encryption and instead going with watermarks. The vast majority of European readers do not like Adobe Digital Rights Management and other programs that make the transferring of their books overly complicated. Last month eBoekhuis, who is the leading company responsible for digital watermarks, made waves when it … [Read more...] about eBoekhuis and BREIN Anti-Piracy Digital Watermark Dissected
Cote Details Limits of Apple’s Relationships with Publishers
In a seventeen page document from US Judge Denise Cote filed on September 5th, Apple learned the full extent of how it is expected to conduct business with publishers from now on. This expectation arose as a result of the price fixing allegations that rested on Apple and five of the then-Big Six publishers; Random House was not named in any of the investigations or resulting … [Read more...] about Cote Details Limits of Apple’s Relationships with Publishers
McGraw-Hill Connect Update Makes the Platform More Versatile
For the growing number of platforms that offer some form of digital learning or e-textbook options, the race to compete in the already crowded field is driving innovation. For companies who already began with a strong foundation in academic and K-12 publishing, all that remains is to improve the technology and offer the most comprehensive use of the digital … [Read more...] about McGraw-Hill Connect Update Makes the Platform More Versatile
Amazon Matchbook will Disrupt the Bookselling Industry
Amazon has announced a new program to debut this October that will severely disrupt the traditional bookselling industry. The Seattle based e-commerce giant intends on offering the digital edition at a severely diminished price when readers buy the physical book. Most eBooks will be available from $2.99 to free, which gives incentives to purchase both.Matchbook will launch … [Read more...] about Amazon Matchbook will Disrupt the Bookselling Industry
Jeff Bezos to Washington Post: Don’t Be Boring
It could not have been a good feeling to come to work at The Washington Post one fateful day recently and find a memo on your cubicle desk that said, "We've been bought out by the guy who founded Amazon." The world's largest online retailer is known for cutting edge technology and innovation, and print newspapers are known for covering yesterday's news. Obviously, any fears … [Read more...] about Jeff Bezos to Washington Post: Don’t Be Boring
Smashwords Announces New Publishing Milestone and New Subscription-Based Distribution Agreement
Digital self-publishing platform Smashwords made two impressive announcements today, and in some ways, they go hand-in-hand. The first announcement focuses on celebrating the 250,000th title being uploaded by an indie author, and the second, seemingly larger announcement is that Smashwords' catalog is now available for subscription-based borrowing through Oyster."I’ve been … [Read more...] about Smashwords Announces New Publishing Milestone and New Subscription-Based Distribution Agreement
Wattpad and Sourcebooks Form a New Partnership
Wattpad and Sourcebooks have announced a partnership that will create new opportunities across multiple publishing platforms for Wattpad writers and Sourcebooks authors. The two companies aim to build more synergy between their businesses and are going to be engaging in a number of new initiatives to accomplish this.First, Sourcebooks will edit and produce select new … [Read more...] about Wattpad and Sourcebooks Form a New Partnership
Dr. Seuss Available as eBooks for First Time
Random House Children's Books, the publisher of multi-award winning and best-selling children's author Dr. Seuss' entire catalog of children's content, announced today that it would begin releasing most of the author's forty-four books as ebooks for young readers, starting with fifteen titles near the end of this month. The ebooks will keep the original layout and beloved … [Read more...] about Dr. Seuss Available as eBooks for First Time
eReatah: eBook Subscription Service That Might Actually Work
A number of companies have experimented with the subscription model for digital reading, but there have been some factors that have stood in the way of launching a viable and productive reality surrounding pay-as-you-go reading. Publishers have expressed serious and very real concerns about ensuring their authors are fairly compensated for content read under subscription, and … [Read more...] about eReatah: eBook Subscription Service That Might Actually Work
Barnes and Noble Announces College and University Newspapers Program
Barnes and Noble added hundreds of college and university newspapers to their NOOK line of e-Readers and tablets today. Major newspapers from leading colleges like Harvard, Columbia, Louisiana State University, Northwestern University, University of Michigan and University of Texas at Austin can now be purchased for as little as $0.99 cents per month. Most of these newspapers … [Read more...] about Barnes and Noble Announces College and University Newspapers Program
Amazon Kindle Matchbook Offers Readers Print and Digital
Amazon announced a brand-new value-added feature for its consumers in its new Kindle Matchbook program. Under this new structure, readers can have a low-cost shook edition of any book they have already purchased in print, dating back to 1995. There are already over 10,000 titles approved by their publishers for inclusion in Matchbook, some going back as far as eighteen years … [Read more...] about Amazon Kindle Matchbook Offers Readers Print and Digital
Amazon Japan Overtaking the Competition
One of Amazon's most recent global marketplace initiations has been in Japan, where device manufacturers at one time found a slow adoption of digital reading. Rakuten, at one time the leading e-reader manufacturer in Japan--and now parent company of Kobo--reigned supreme, but that's quickly changing, due in large part to Amazon's model as much as to its devices.So what is … [Read more...] about Amazon Japan Overtaking the Competition