The European Court of Justice has just concluded that EU member states are free to charge differing rates of VAT on eBooks and paper books. This will allow all countries in Europe to basically change their VAT on all books and not break ‘fiscal neutrality’, an EU concept whereby markets for the same goods are distorted by varying tax rates.There have been major … [Read more...] about EU Announces Changes to VAT on eBooks
Digital Publishing News
Kobo and Bol form a Unique eBook Partnership
Kobo has announced that they have formed a new partnership with Bol.com, the largest provider of eBooks in the Netherlands and Belgium. Starting today, customers will be able to order the entire Kobo Arc line of tablets and modern e-readers like the Kobo Aura and Aura HD directly on the Bol website. This agreement though, goes far beyond e-readers and may be a blueprint of how … [Read more...] about Kobo and Bol form a Unique eBook Partnership
HarperCollins Introduces Digital Watermarks in eBooks
HarperCollins has introduced new digital watermark technology that will be very appealing towards customers in Europe. Digimarc Guardian watermarks are fully compatible with DRM solutions. The tractability they provide remains fully effective even in cases where the DRM layer has been removed by users, using 3rd party tools.Digital watermarking technology caught on a few … [Read more...] about HarperCollins Introduces Digital Watermarks in eBooks
Pirated Kindle Books May Hijack your Amazon Account
There is a vast segment of Kindle owners that download pirated eBooks from the internet. It is estimated that up to 20% of eBook downloads stem from bit-torrent or pirate sites. There is a new online threat that is targeting Kindle owners, that may hijack your entire Amazon account.Digital Books have a great deal of metadata that assists online retailers and publishers in … [Read more...] about Pirated Kindle Books May Hijack your Amazon Account
EU Court Rules Libraries can Make eBooks without Publisher Permission
The highest court in Europe has ruled that libraries can digitize books without publishers permission and distribute them to dedicated reading terminals. The decision rests on exceptions built into the EU Copyright Directive for reproducing and communicating intellectual property. Specifically it says that publicly accessible libraries may make works available at "dedicated … [Read more...] about EU Court Rules Libraries can Make eBooks without Publisher Permission
HarperCollins Starts Selling eBooks in China
HarperCollins has struck new partnership with JD.com and China National Publications Import and Export Corporation. Starting today, over 800 backlist eBook titles will be available in English.The Chinese publishing industry generated an astounding $42.89 billion in 2013 and should reach $57.74 billion in 2014. This is the first time HarperCollins has entered the market in a … [Read more...] about HarperCollins Starts Selling eBooks in China
eBook Subscription Service Oyster, Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary
The publishing industry has been trying to crack the Netflix for eBooks concept for a number of years. Oyster is one of the bright spots, offering 500,000 eBook titles and has established relationships with over 1,600 distinguished publisher partners. Today, Oyster is celebrating their one year anniversary and offers some key metrics on their ecosystem.500,000+ titles-- … [Read more...] about eBook Subscription Service Oyster, Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary
New Margaret Atwood Book to be Locked in a Time Capsule
Margaret Atwood is a Man Booker prize-winning novelist and her latest title will not be released for one hundred years. She is joining the Future Library, which will see 99 other authors lock their books away in a time capsule.The Future Library was the brainchild of Scottish artist Katie Paterson, the project is based in Norway, where the city of Oslo has gifted a patch of … [Read more...] about New Margaret Atwood Book to be Locked in a Time Capsule
Amazon Launches Kindle Kids’ Book Creator
Amazon has always offered plenty of tools for authors to craft their own eBook, but kids books are a different story. In order to make Kindle Direct Publishing more relevant to children's authors, Amazon has just unveiled a standalone program called Kindle Kids’ Book Creator.Kindle Kids’ Book Creator is a free tool for authors and publishers to turn their illustrated … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches Kindle Kids’ Book Creator
Scribd Celebrates an Amazing 2014
Scribd has already posted their year in review infographic that gives as a sense of their most popular reading categories. Over the course 2014 they have had 1 billion pages read, 160 billion words read and readers have spent 17.6 million hours of reading eBooks. … [Read more...] about Scribd Celebrates an Amazing 2014
Calibre Tries to Appeal towards eBook Creators
When it comes to converting eBooks from one format to another, you have likely heard of Calibre. It remains one of the most popular tools out there, and is deeply expansive. In the past, they have catered exclusively to users, but now that Sigil is not actively developed anymore, they are trying to appeal towards creators.Calibre 2.0 is now available and the eBook Creator … [Read more...] about Calibre Tries to Appeal towards eBook Creators
Dutch eBook Market Increases by 18% in Q2 2014
The Dutch eBook market has seen excellent growth in the last two years and recent Q2 financial figures from the publishing industry has seen it increase by 18%. We now see eBooks accounting for 26% of all sales, but print books are still strong with 74%.The Netherlands has a different dichotomy than North America in regards to the way encryption is handled. Only 1 eBook in … [Read more...] about Dutch eBook Market Increases by 18% in Q2 2014
Blurb signs New Deals with Amazon and Ingram for eBook Distribution
Online magazine and eBook publishing company Blurb has been busy of late. They have just a signed a new global retail distribution partnership with Ingram Content Group, and free output to reflowable ebooks for all Amazon Kindle devices and Kindle readers.Blurb now has the broadest self-publishing platform available, enabling indie authors to publish books, magazines, and … [Read more...] about Blurb signs New Deals with Amazon and Ingram for eBook Distribution