Amazon Rapids launched last November and features short stories for kids. All of the content is delivered in the style of an instant messaging app and are told through the lens of characters chatting with each other, one message at a time. Today, the company unveiled a huge update called Signature … [Read more...]
New Google Play Books Update Improves the Reading Experience
The Google Play Books app for Android has just undergone a major revision and it now simplifies the reading experience. The Library page went through some significant changes, four of the five tabs have been removed and there are just two: Shelves and Books. The new Shelves system provides bright … [Read more...]
China Literature is Challenging the Amazon Kindle
China Literature is a subsidiary of Tenchet and they are going public and trying to raise $800 million in a public offering. The company, which is looking to raise funds for potential acquisitions and expand its mobile reading business. The firm saw revenues jump 59% last year to 2.6 billion yuan … [Read more...]
Amazon Encourages Indie Authors to be Shady
Amazon introduced a radical new change for their Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Lending Library program in 2015. They would pay royalties based on the number of pages read, instead of qualified borrows. Immediately shady authors would give you a free Amazon gift card if you clicked on a link on the … [Read more...]
E-Books and e-Readers are booming in the Netherlands
E-Books and e-Readers are growing in the Netherlands and this a boon for the entire digital publishing industry. In April, May and June e-book sales increased by 10% and e-book subscription services grew by a staggering 430% compared to the second quarter last year. This is attributed to Kobo Plus, … [Read more...]
You can now pay for audiobooks and e-books from iBooks via Paypal
Apple has just made purchasing digital content from iBooks a little bit easier for people who do not have a credit card. The company has just incorporated Paypal for users in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States. Until now, Apple … [Read more...]
Kobo Writing Life is a Boon for Indie Authors
Kobo Writing Life is the self-publishing arm of Kobo and it launched in 2012. The e-books that authors submit are stacked side by side with titles from major publishers. Mark Lefebvre the Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations sat down with Good e-Reader to give a status update and to … [Read more...]
Australia is now charging GST on Audiobooks and e-books
Australia is now charging GST on audiobooks and e-books from companies operating outside of the country. It will levy a 10% tax starting today on digital content from Amazon, Audible, Kobo, iBooks and a myriad of other companies. Amazon issued the following statement "Due to new legislation in … [Read more...]
Google Play Books is having a Summer Sale
Google Play Books is having a Summer Sale that is providing 50-80 percent discount on hundreds of new and notable digital titles. There’s a wide variety of books to choose from, like thriller “The Freedom Broker,” romance novel “My Perfect Mistake” or sci-fi fantasy “Hellfire.” … [Read more...]
You can now share Kindle Notes on GoodReads
Amazon has just pushed out a new update for their flagship Android, iPhone and iPad app that will allow users to share your Kindle notes and highlights to your friends and followers on Goodreads. There is also a new e-reading enhancement for Kindle books called ragged right. You can now read using … [Read more...]
O’Reilly is closing their digital bookstore
O'Reilly is closing their online digital bookstore and it is no longer possible to purchase e-books. They are going to be selling all of their new content and distributing it via Amazon and and other retailers. O'Reilly will continue to offer 400,000 e-books on their site, but you now have to … [Read more...]
Kobo Announces Emerging Writer Prize Winners
Over the course of the last three years, Kobo has been orchestrating a writing contest. It is exclusively available to Canadians, which is great because normally these types of things are only for writers based in the US. This year Kobo has selected three different genres; Literary Fiction, … [Read more...]