Scribd announced last month that they were changing their business model from an unlimited service to a credit based one. Every month users receive three credits that they can use to read e-books or to listen to audiobooks. There are a small pool of Scribd Select titles that can be read without spending credits and today there is a new blog post that lists a number of titles.
Scribd Selects are books, audiobooks and comics that are hand-selected by the companies editorial team and available for reading by Scribd members without the use of a Monthly Read and at no additional cost. There will be updates to Select each each month, and you can find them on the Editors’ Picks pages and in Scribd Selects modules located throughout your favorite categories. Ready to explore Scribd Selects? You can find the full book list here, the audiobooks here, and comics here.
Scribd has updated its Android and iOS app to incorporate the new membership features. These app changes include adding Scribd Selects, filtering the library to hide previews and filtering full access  titles in the user library. The buttons on the book page have also been reorganized. Users are required to agree to the new terms and conditions when installing the new app.
One of the most interesting aspects of the new terms of service is the  distinction between between direct purchases and membership. This made me wonder if Scribd is also attempting to position itself as an e-Book retailer.
Scribd is a company in flux and many longtime subscribers are cancelling their memberships because the company that Scribd has become is very different than the one that launched a few years ago.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
