Apple has fired over 100 News+ and Books team employees this week. The affected people worked in Senior Vice President Eddy Cue’s services group. According to a Bloomberg report, most layoffs were on the Apple Books team, which has become less of a priority for the company, and it doesn't see it as a significant part of its services lineup. The Apple Books app has become … [Read more...] about Apple culls 100 Employees from Apple Books and News+ Division
Digital Publishing News
The Future of E-books: Direct Publishing
The first e-reader was released in November 2007, and despite its original hefty price tag of $399 ($600 in 2024), it sold out in a few hours. It is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Kindle should be proud as many new brands and models have surfaced since their first model was introduced. Statica.com estimates that 1.1 billion dollars is generated from … [Read more...] about The Future of E-books: Direct Publishing
ElevenLab AI text-to-speech e-reading app launched globally
ElevenLabs is a startup that launched an AI text-to-speech e-reading app globally. It supports 32 different languages from all over the world. The main selling point is that it can read PDF files, articles, newsletters, EPUB books, and most web content aloud. However, it does not read Apple Books or Kindle Books since it doesn't support DRM. There are many different … [Read more...] about ElevenLab AI text-to-speech e-reading app launched globally
US Publishing Revenue Generated $29.9 Billion for 2023
Publishing revenue in the United States generated 29.9 billion dollars in 2023 for books, course materials, audiobooks, and ebooks. This is a minor 0.8% decline compared to the final stated numbers for 2022. However, it is a 6.1% increase over the pre-pandemic figure of $28.2 billion in 2019. In the industry overall, digital formats accounted for 16% of all revenue for 2023, … [Read more...] about US Publishing Revenue Generated $29.9 Billion for 2023
Perplexity Launches New Revenue-Share Program
Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine announced the launch of its new Publisher Program. DigiDay reported. This, experts opine is as much about making business sense as it is about mending ways with the publishers given the several legal issues the company has been facing over charges of copyright infringement. Publishers such as Condé Nast and Forbes have issued cease and … [Read more...] about Perplexity Launches New Revenue-Share Program
Dstlry Secures $5 Million Seed Funding for Innovative Comics and Digital Collectibles Platform
Dstlry, a well-known name when it comes to next-generation comics publishing and digital collectibles, said it had raised $5 million in its latest seed funding round, VentureBeat reported. With this, the total funds it raised since its inception in 2022 to $7.4 million. The company said that with the fresh funds it has received, it plans to secure new content deals and enhance … [Read more...] about Dstlry Secures $5 Million Seed Funding for Innovative Comics and Digital Collectibles Platform
Should Google do more to prevent textbook piracy?
Major publishers are not sitting idly by, while digital textbook pirates use Google Ads to boost their website traffic and profit from subscription services or individual sales, often at a fraction of the market price. The publishing industry, including physical and digital textbooks, is a massive business in the United States, generating over 8.3 billion annually. The … [Read more...] about Should Google do more to prevent textbook piracy?
Issuu Announces Acquisition by Bending Spoons, Ensures Continuity and Growth
In a strategic move set to redefine its future trajectory, Issuu, a leading platform for digital content transformation, has announced its acquisition by Bending Spoons, a prominent player in the digital tools and content sector. In a LinkedIn post, Joe Hyrkin, CEO of Issuu, expressed enthusiasm about the development, emphasizing the opportunities it presents for the company's … [Read more...] about Issuu Announces Acquisition by Bending Spoons, Ensures Continuity and Growth
Turkey Bans Wattpad!
Image credit: X.com Turkey blocked access to Wattpad, a popular Canadian-origin story-writing and reading platform, according to the Freedom of Expression Association’s (İFÖD) EngelliWeb initiative. The initiative reported that access from Turkey to the Canadian story writing and reading website was banned by a decision by the Ankara 10th Penal Court of Peace on July 12. While … [Read more...] about Turkey Bans Wattpad!
E-book revenues were up 2.2% in May 2024
Digital book sales in the United States grew for the second time in 2024. This is good news, as more people buy digital content on their e-readers, smartphones, and tablets. E-book revenues were up 2.2% compared to May 2023, generating $84.4 million. Year-to-date e-book revenues were up 2.3% compared to the first five months of 2023, for $422.5 million. Audiobooks are the … [Read more...] about E-book revenues were up 2.2% in May 2024
Boom! Studios Joins Penguin Random House
Independent comic book publisher, Boom! Studios, has just been acquired by Penguin Random House (PRH). As a result of this acquisition, Boom! is expected to conclude its current partnership with Diamond Comic Distributors and join the ranks of Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, and Tokyopop as an exclusive partner of Penguin Random House Publisher Services. While initial reports … [Read more...] about Boom! Studios Joins Penguin Random House
Uplifting Publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Bankrupt
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, known for its uplifting books and diverse media ventures, including Redbox, has been dealing with significant financial challenges. Despite its optimistic ethos, positive thinking wasn’t enough to keep the company from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week in Delaware. As reported by CBS news, the company had extensive … [Read more...] about Uplifting Publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Bankrupt
Internet Archive Launches MTV’s 460,000 News Articles
Recently, after Paramount Global disabled mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news, Internet Archive assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages that were published at mtv.com/news. You can search the MTV News archive on the organization’s Wayback Machine here. Prior to Internet Archive aggregating the MTV News pages into a collection, there was no way to locate articles based on … [Read more...] about Internet Archive Launches MTV’s 460,000 News Articles
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