Sometimes, it's not enough to know that Aunt Janet loves to read, and therefore should be given a book for Christmas. Has she read that book already? Does she even like mysteries? Is Aunt Janet going to be offended by the language of explicit nature of this particular book?With the advent of digital publishing and ebooks, even gift cards can be difficult. An Amazon gift … [Read more...] about Give the Gift of Subscription Reading this Holiday Season
E-Book News
Google Play Books Launches in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela
Google has embarked upon another major expansion drive, this time targeting the Latin American countries for making available its Google Play Book services. The five new countries that will now have access to Google Play Books include Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. The last time we have seen Google expand its service was about a month ago when it’s Google Play … [Read more...] about Google Play Books Launches in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela
B&N Offering Free eBooks and eMagazines as Part of Exclusive Nook For Windows 8.1 in the UK
Barnes & Noble together With Microsoft has announced an exclusive Nook for Windows 8.1 offer that will allow residents in UK to download books and magazines for free. Of course it is a limited period offer, enabling those who installs the Nook for Windows 8.1 app on their devices to download up to 5 ebooks and 5 digital magazines from a select list free of cost."By … [Read more...] about B&N Offering Free eBooks and eMagazines as Part of Exclusive Nook For Windows 8.1 in the UK
McGraw Hill Teams Up with OverDrive to Offer Catalog of Professional Titles
OverDrive, the world's largest provider of digital content to academic and public libraries, announced a new partnership today that will increase its catalog of offered titles, specifically in key areas of business, science, and research. McGraw-Hill Professional, a widely respected provider of content and services for the medical, technical, and business communities, is making … [Read more...] about McGraw Hill Teams Up with OverDrive to Offer Catalog of Professional Titles
Publishing Plays a Part in Chinese Fascination with Record Breaking
An area of interest in much of the Chinese culture is a fun fascination with world records, and specifically with breaking those records. Now, to fuel that interest for a larger audience, the Guinness Book of World Records has signed an exclusive publishing deal with Foreign Languages Teaching and Research Publishing (FLTRP), the Beijing-based leading education products and … [Read more...] about Publishing Plays a Part in Chinese Fascination with Record Breaking
National Library of Norway Digitizing All Books Published in Norway
The National Library of Norway has embarked on an ambitious mission, that of digitizing all of its titles with the hope of achieving this by mid-2020. Such an endeavor will cover every book ever published in the country since, as per Norwegian law, all published material in all media should be deposited with the National Library of Norway. This will ensure everyone in Norway … [Read more...] about National Library of Norway Digitizing All Books Published in Norway
One Quarter of Top 100 Amazon Kindle Titles in the US Are Self-Published
Amazon revealed that as many as 25 out of 100 of its best-selling titles in 2012 were from indie publishers. This should serve as a measure of the growing clout that the indie publishers and authors have come to wield. Also, lest anyone have any doubt about what exactly "indie" refers to or whether it would include publishing via any of those other than the big six publishing … [Read more...] about One Quarter of Top 100 Amazon Kindle Titles in the US Are Self-Published
Japanese Publishers and eBook Retailers Protesting Consumption Tax Hike, Demand Foreign Vendors be Taxed Too
Publishers and distributors of e-books in Japan have voiced concern over the proposed hike in consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent by April 2014. However, while the taxation would apply to ebook publishers and distributors in Japan, the same when sourced from overseas vendors enjoy immunity from the tax net. As such, retailers such as Amazon or Rakuten’s … [Read more...] about Japanese Publishers and eBook Retailers Protesting Consumption Tax Hike, Demand Foreign Vendors be Taxed Too
Want Your Kids to Read More? Leave Them Alone.
In-depth details on what motivates reading in children have come out in a new book, published by the world's leading publisher of children's content, Scholastic. In Reading Unbound: Why Kids Need to Read What They Want – and Why We Should Let Them, authors Jeffrey D. Wilhelm (Boise State University) and Michael W. Smith (Temple University), explain that there has to be more to … [Read more...] about Want Your Kids to Read More? Leave Them Alone.
Amazon Launches New Short Story Publishing Imprint StoryFront
One of the most potentially useful features of digital publishing was the ability of authors to publish their short stories without the tedious process of anthology selection. In the past, authors who pen short stories had to submit their stories to collections publishers, and those anthologies are typically only published periodically; barring that, the author could try to … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches New Short Story Publishing Imprint StoryFront
Rapid Growth of Internet in Africa Leading to Digital Publishing Boom
Africa has long been referred to as the dark continent, which means there is ample scope for the light to shine; and that is exactly what is happening in that part of the world. Focusing on just one measure of development, internet usage in Africa has hit the fast lane. Even this can be termed an understatement given the astounding 3,606 percent growth rate that internet usage … [Read more...] about Rapid Growth of Internet in Africa Leading to Digital Publishing Boom
Amazon Launches 12 Days of Deals
Amazon has relaunched its reader-centric promotion from last year's holiday season, Twelve Days of Deals. Each day, different titles will be steeply discounted in both ebook and print editions. The promotion kicks off each day at 12:01 PST, and runs for twenty-four hours.Today's deals are titles that were selected from Amazon's Best Books of 2013, so features the following … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches 12 Days of Deals
Amazon Australia a Source of Concern to Booksellers, Publishers
Every time Amazon branches out into a new territory, concerned booksellers, publishers, and industry watchers voice their opinions on how the online retail giant is going to impact books in the area. This should be nothing new to locals, but with last month's launch of Amazon Australia, the same criticisms that have been thrown about for several years resurfaced.Certainly, … [Read more...] about Amazon Australia a Source of Concern to Booksellers, Publishers