Major publishers are notoriously fickle about embracing new trends and give sloths a run for their money. We have seen this transpire with eBook subscription services and getting involved in digital libraries. The Science fiction community has been one of the most agile, and many companies such as TOR have completely embraced the DRM-Free mentality. Saga, a division of Simon … [Read more...] about Simon and Schuster Offers DRM-Free eBooks
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South Africa in Need of a Reliable Digital Reading Platform
Malcolm Seegers, digital publisher for Macmillan, stressed the need to have in place a robust digital reading platform that the academic sector in South Africa can benefit from immensely. He also stated the publishing platform should be able to operate in both online and offline mode. Malcolm cited the example of Makro, which sources a variety of goods from suppliers before … [Read more...] about South Africa in Need of a Reliable Digital Reading Platform
Fan Community Calls Out Illegal Comics Sharing
SuBLime is an imprint of Viz Media that publishes yaoi manga (love stories between two men). When they publish digitally, it is usually in the form of a PDF download, which means that is it basically DRM-free—it can be readily moved from one device to another and won't disappear if the publisher or the app does. It's the digital comics format that a lot of fans want (and some … [Read more...] about Fan Community Calls Out Illegal Comics Sharing
Square Enix To Shut Down Digital Manga Stores in U.S. and France
The Japanese site AnimeAnime is reporting that Square Enix will shut down its U.S. and French digital manga websites; although this news has yet to appear on the U.S. site, the news sites Crunchyroll and Anime News Network have picked up on it and there is a notice on the French site. The news comes as no surprise, as Square Enix has been having a bad year. They were projecting … [Read more...] about Square Enix To Shut Down Digital Manga Stores in U.S. and France
Amazon, Big Six Sued by Independent Bookstores Over DRM
As if there wasn't enough interesting controversy in the relationship between Amazon and the Big Six publishing houses, for once they are all on the same side of the courtroom. Three independent bookstores, who seem to be acting on behalf of indie bookshops everywhere, are suing Amazon and the Big Six over the DRM status of ebooks that prevents them from being shared on any … [Read more...] about Amazon, Big Six Sued by Independent Bookstores Over DRM
Unglue.it Unleashes Two New Crowd-Sourced Titles
One of the more innovative concepts that has grown out of digital publishing is the concept of crowd-sourced "ungluing," a way to allow reader fans to remove the copyright status of books by pledging funding to buy the rights from the author under Creative Commons status of copyright law. Once a book has become "unglued," it can be read by anyone on any device for free while … [Read more...] about Unglue.it Unleashes Two New Crowd-Sourced Titles
The Digital Comics Surprise: Sales Are Up, While Print Stays Stable
One of the iconic moments of recent comics history occurred at the February 2011 meeting of ComicsPRO, the association for comics retailers. During that meeting, DC co-publisher Jim Lee held up a sheet of typing paper and a piece of dental floss as a visual analogy for the relative sizes of the print and digital markets. If he did that today, he could replace the dental … [Read more...] about The Digital Comics Surprise: Sales Are Up, While Print Stays Stable
Wiley & O’Reilly Sign eBook Distribution Deal – DRM-Free!
There is an old Arabian proverb, "If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow." It may apply to Wiley & O'Reilly creating another important crack in the DRM wall. O'Reilly Media has always been a vocal supporter of DRM-free ebooks. The company is beginning to convince other important publishers that DRM-free is the way to go. Today O'Reilly and … [Read more...] about Wiley & O’Reilly Sign eBook Distribution Deal – DRM-Free!
BookOS – The Free Online eBook Resource
How about an ebook site that offers all its books for free! Most of BookOS' books are in fb2 or FictionBook format, which is a XML based ebook format. This DRM free format is compatible with a variety of hardware and software environments, even including internet browsers. Add to this the over 1.4 million ebooks available and what you have is a gold mine of ebooks to … [Read more...] about BookOS – The Free Online eBook Resource
BookShout! Unveils Cross-Platform Compatibility at Frankfurt Book Fair
Social reading platform BookShout! unveiled its newest features at the Frankfurt Book Fair today, and it’s sure to raise some eyebrows in the publishing industry. The new app, originally available for iOS and now Android and web-based as well, allows readers to read their previously purchased digital titles in one location, regardless of which digital platform was used for the … [Read more...] about BookShout! Unveils Cross-Platform Compatibility at Frankfurt Book Fair