Welcome to your favorite weekly roundup of all the latest digital publishing, eBook, e-Reader and Tablet PC news. Over the last week I went on vacation for a few days to sunny Salts Spring Island in British Columbia! Aside from that, lots of news has transpired in the industry. Website Lendink managed to move to a new web-host, which means the nemesis of indie authors is back in business.
Barnes and Noble Brings Nook to the UK – It was almost a matter of time before the USA’s largest bookstore entered the United Kingdom. The company had been making deals with local Android App developers to get homegrown games and other content into the UK version of the ecosystem. Starting this October the entire Nook line of e-readers and tablets will be available for purchase. You can buy almost 2.2 million eBooks, newspapers, magazines and other digital materials to satiate your literary thirst. This will mark the first time B&N has expanded outside of the USA and it is widely believed they will continue to push into Europe in 2013.
Apple Receives a Publishing Backlash in Germany – Apple may have just won a pivotal court-case against Samsung in the USA but things aren’t rosy everywhere. Discounted iTunes giftcards to purchase eBooks are drawing the ire of top publishing companies in Germany. Many retailers are offering $100 giftcards for as low as $60 and the industry is up in arms that these sort of discounts will hurt the brick and motor stores. This will prevent giftcards from being used in Germany for the time being.
Amazon Offers eBooks to India – Our own Mercy Pilkington broke this story before the official press release was sent out last week. It seems self-publishers and traditional authors have the ability to select India as one of the countries you can market and sell your eBooks. The bookstore opened last week and gives Indian audiences the ability to buy plenty of digital content for e-readers and tablets.
Kindle e-Readers See Massive North American Delays – The Amazon Kindle WIFI, Special Offers and some 3G models are inaccessible with Amazons main website and major retailers. There is a two week delay in shipping any of these e-readers because of the hectic back to school season. There is also an impending launch of a new generation of devices, so this may be a measure to make sure people get the latest and greatest.
Courtsmart Releases Statistics on eTextbooks – There are plenty of online companies that sell digital textbooks aimed at University and K12 students. Kno, Chegg, CourseSmart, Amazon and many others focus on the textbook market to give diligent young scholars massive savings on the digital versions. The study gives a clear indication on the footprint of textbooks in the classroom and the satisfactory rating.
First time students were able to enjoy the benefits of etextbooks, like a savings of 50% over print, along with instant, anytime-anywhere access to their course materials on a web-enabled device so they don’t have to buy a specific device. Our reader enables all users to take notes, highlight, and to compile those notes and highlights in one easy to use tab. Very important for those with print related disabilities. It’s very easy for students using a e-textbooks to find what the professor is referring to since the pages in the digital textbook match the pages in the print textbook.
Canadian Library eBook Borrowing Is Seeing Massive Gains – In the first quarter of 2012, eBooks accounted for 28% of circulated loans, across the entire country. Also, 59.43% of book buyers claim to have visited the library within the last 12 months. Of those respondents, 19.4% visit the library, either in person or online, 2 to 3 times a month and 16.3% visited once a month. On an average week in Canada over 63,196 e-books are loaned out from the libraries. The entire industry in Canada saw a 50% increase in digital circulation from 2011 to 2012.
Kobo Increases Author Royalty Rates to 80% This Fall – Kobo recently unveiled their self-publishing platform called ‘Writing Life.’ We gave you a sneak peek during Book Expo America and covered the launch in great detail. Publishing with Kobo gives you worldwide accessibility and the ability to track your sales in real time. This will insure if you go on a small book tour, you can see instantly what markets are responding to your marketing efforts. The company is increasing the royalty payout structure from 70% to 80% until November 30th.
Amazon to Launch New Products Next Month – September 6th will the day that Amazon holds their press conference, which we will be there. The company is expected to announce the Kindle Fire 2, a new Docking Station and an updated Kindle e-Reader.
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.
