Scholastic is arguably the go-to source of information on the children's publishing industry, and it's not just because they've had some out-of-the-park smash hits (ever hear of Harry Potter? The Hunger Games?). Scholastic also runs a thriving education division and as such it makes it the company's business to know what kids want to read, how they interact with books, and what … [Read more...] about New Scholastic Report Sheds Light on Kids’ Reading
Digital Publishing News
Your ISP will no longer send you warnings when pirating e-books
If you tend to download hundreds of e-books every year there used to be the ghostly spectre of cease and desist letters from your internet service provider. In the past, letters were sent out when a publisher noticed you were downloading illegal content and were primarily used as scare tactics. The Copy Alert System is now officially discontinued because it is unable to handle … [Read more...] about Your ISP will no longer send you warnings when pirating e-books
Amazon Kindle Write On will be Closing in March
Amazon Kindle Write On is a community where writers share their works in progress and solicit feedback from people on story direction, editing and fact checking. The service publicly launched in March 2015 and was in beta since late 2014. This service was utterly doomed from the start because it was trying to compete against WattPad. Amazon has just announced that they are … [Read more...] about Amazon Kindle Write On will be Closing in March
Scribd is expanding its magazine library with seven new titles
Scribd has been developing a small digital magazine catalog in a bid to stay relevant and appeal to a wider audience of users. The company first unveiled the service in November with ten titles such as ; TIME, Fortune, Money, People, Bloomberg Businessweek, Entrepreneur, Foreign Policy, New York Magazine, Newsweek and The Atlantic. The company is starting to see success in this … [Read more...] about Scribd is expanding its magazine library with seven new titles
Textbook Publishers Sue Amazon
Three major textbook publishers have filed a subpoena against Amazon Marketplace resellers for counterfeit materials. In a complaint filed in New York federal court earlier this month, the publishers accused the sellers of “hiding behind the anonymity of internet pseudonyms” to profit from unauthorised copies of their books. Amazon said it was working with the publishers to … [Read more...] about Textbook Publishers Sue Amazon
Joomag Is a Boon to Digital Publishers
Joomag , one of the most successful digital publishing platforms on the market, originally opened its doors back in 2009. Thriving today with a staggering 500,000+ user base, the company’s flagship creation tool, the Crater Editor, empowers publishers to create imaginative online publications regardless of their experience. Joomag’s latest developments and emphasis on … [Read more...] about Joomag Is a Boon to Digital Publishers
Amazon Launches Kindle Storyteller Award in the UK
Amazon has just announced a new writing contest in the United Kingdom called the Kindle Storyteller Award. There will be a £20,000 cash prize awarded to an authors who self-publishes their work between February 20th and May 19th 2016.Along with being awarded a cash prize at a central London ceremony in July, the winning author will be given a marketing campaign to support … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches Kindle Storyteller Award in the UK
Canada Passes New Law to Lower eBook Prices
The Canadian Competition Bureau has commanded that Hachette, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster have to lower e-book prices. This will result in dramatic discounts from retailers that sell digital books in Canada such as Amazon, Apple and Kobo.John Pecman the Commissioner of Competition said in a statement ""This case is about protecting Canadian consumers and ensuring a … [Read more...] about Canada Passes New Law to Lower eBook Prices
Pearson is lowering the cost of e-book rentals
Pearson, one of the largest educational publishers in the world is making a serious push towards digital. They are dropping the prices of its e-book rentals and piloting a new program for print textbook rentals. This is been done because they experienced a £180m decline in profits over the course of 2016 and now predicts that “many of these downward pressures will … [Read more...] about Pearson is lowering the cost of e-book rentals
New York Times Plans on Scaling Back on Print Edition by 2020
The New York Times is going to be revising their newsroom and they have big plans by the time 2020 rolls around. They want to reduce duplicative layers of article editing, stop covering the same stories by different writers, focus on diversity as a way of ensuring that the paper’s journalists reflect the audience they seek and scale back on the print edition by 2020.The … [Read more...] about New York Times Plans on Scaling Back on Print Edition by 2020
Pronoun Announces Changes to their Royalty Rates and New Author Pages
Pronoun is a free self-publishing platform and they have just announced that they have increased the royalty rates for indie authors. They have also introduced a new feature to their website called Author Pages, which creates a simple one page website to hype up an upcoming title.Authors publishing their books on Pronoun will now be able to earn 70% for all books sold in … [Read more...] about Pronoun Announces Changes to their Royalty Rates and New Author Pages
All Is Not Well with the IDPF W3C Merger
The publishing industry has been watching from the sidelines for the better half of a year, waiting to see what will happen to the IDPF's proposed merger with the W3C. For those not schooled in acronyms of the inner workings of digital publishing, here's a quick breakdown:The International Digital Publishing Forum called for a member vote about a proposed merger with the … [Read more...] about All Is Not Well with the IDPF W3C Merger
November 2016 Bookselling and Digital Publishing Report
The digital publishing and traditional bookselling industry normally take a really long time to report their sales and research data to the public. These companies and organizational bodies have just presented their findings and today we are going to take a look at the most relevant data.BookstoresBookstore sales inched up 1.5% in November over November 2015, according … [Read more...] about November 2016 Bookselling and Digital Publishing Report