Scribd has just unveiled a new premium subscription tier that includes full access to New York Times. This new package will retail $12.99/month and will give full access to the entire Scribd catalog and also unlimited access to the NYTimes.com, The New York Times Digital Archive, and The New York Times app via its … [Read more...]
Amazon (Supposedly) to Pay Workers Higher Wages
The "Fight for 15" has been an ongoing battle in the US, with advocates for a fair, living wage working tirelessly for a nearly 100% increase in the current non-server minimum wage (due to the expectation of tips, restaurants only have to pay wait staff a little more than $2 per hour). Some key political voices have … [Read more...]
EU Removes VAT on eBooks
In a decision that has been years in the making, the EU has decided to allow the removal of VAT on ebooks, just as it has done for print books all this time. This single change could spell an increase in sales of digital works and the technology to read them, and in the interaction between readers and digital-only … [Read more...]
PA Prisons Stop Donations of Print Books for Inmates, switch to ebooks
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is drawing criticism for a recent regulation that will ban anyone--including established literacy organizations and charities--from donating print books to incarcerated individuals. Instead, the DOC requires that all inmates read only content already contained in the prison … [Read more...]
After Milo Fiasco, S&S Hits It Out of the Park With ‘Fear’
You'd think Simon & Schuster might have thought twice about trying to get political after the fiasco of attempting to publish the vapid, pointless, hate-mongering memoir of the self-professed creator of the alt-right movement, but luckily for the publisher, their latest venture didn't tank like the Milo Yiannopoulos … [Read more...]
Amazon Employees Accepting Bribes to Take Down Bad Reviews
Ah, the good old Amazon review saga... no, it's not authors buying mass blocks of five-star reviews. Oh wait, no, it's not authors bullying reviewers for leaving bad reviews, either. Nope, it's not authors buying one-star reviews for a rival author's book. Nuh uh, it's not Amazon removing any and all reviews that seem … [Read more...]
Ebook sales fall 4.8% in the first six months of 2018
Digital book sales have decreased 4.8% in the first six months of 2018 according to the American Publishers Association. The format has generated $504 million dollars and will likely crack over a billion when it's all said and done by the end of the year. Audiobooks continue to be the fastest growing segment in … [Read more...]
Seven-Figure Advance for Biz Book by Netflix CEO
"Netflix and chill" just took on a new--and clean--meaning thanks to a book deal for its CEO Reed Hastings. Anticipated to be the biggest business book of the year, this deal is sure to put Hastings in a very "chillaxed" state of mind. In the US, Penguin picked up Hasting's unnamed title for a reported seven-figure … [Read more...]
Is Digital Reading Changing Our Brains?
If you launch a debate between a die-hard ebook fan and a staunch print bibliophile, grab your popcorn and be prepared for a hearty argument. Like almost any other issue, the more ardent the viewpoint, the more logical reasons both sides can find to support their cause. Digital readers often cite the portability, … [Read more...]
Kids These Days… Have They Stopped Reading?
For years, critics have bemoaned the decline of reading among both children and adults, but new data actually presents hard numbers on how this behavior has actually declined. According to analysis conducted by Jean M. Twenge, PhD, of the recent Monitoring the Future report, kids these days have all but stopped … [Read more...]
Keanu Reeves Launches Book Imprint but It’s Not Erotic Lit
Is anyone else still recovering from the tidal wave of actors-turned-singers that ruined a little bit of the '80s for us? Big names like Don Johnson, Bruce Willis, Eddie Murphy, and Patrick Swayze made us all cringe a little by releasing albums, which is somehow not the same thing as a singer like Harry Connick, Jr. or … [Read more...]
Crown Publishing Recalls Cookbook Due to Poisonous Recipes
Never trust a skinny cook, as the old saying goes, and at the risk of body shaming anyone, Instagram "influencer" Johnna Holmgren is--to be honest--not the best source of information on how to live a healthy, robust life. Along with her chalk artist husband, the blogger's fondness for eating poisonous berries and wild … [Read more...]