This month, a significant publishing acquisition occurred which turns all of the shares of Quality Solutions/Firebrand Technologies over to a Japanese company's US operations, Media Do International. Firebrand is the parent company of popular ARC distributor and potential review source, NetGalley.Launched in 2008 shortly before BookExpo America by Rosetta Solutions, the … [Read more...] about NetGalley Bought by Japanese Company Media Do
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Authors to Dept of Justice: Stop the Penguin Random House Buy of Simon & Schuster
Once upon a time, the publishing world involved a vast, gatekeeping entity called the Big Six. Shortly after a devastating anti-trust lawsuit involving five of those publishers, Penguin and Random House merged to become the current largest trade publisher in the US. But a new deal to buy Simon & Schuster--amounting to what the Washington Post has called "the Big Bad Wolf … [Read more...] about Authors to Dept of Justice: Stop the Penguin Random House Buy of Simon & Schuster
Kobo is beginning to charge 0% VAT in the UK for ebooks
The UK government announced last week that they have reduced the VAT on ebooks from 20% to 0% seven months early. This was done because of the whole virus pandemic and people are self-isolating at home and reading more. Amazon quickly announced  that they were in the process of discounting all of their ebooks and digital magazines, so people would be paying less. Today, Kobo … [Read more...] about Kobo is beginning to charge 0% VAT in the UK for ebooks
Everything you need to know about Canadian reading habits
Booknet Canada released a new leisure time report and it found some interesting facts when it came to reading. A survey of 1,000 readers, in the past year found that 45% read digital books only, 49% listened to at least one audiobook, 64% read multiple formats, and 1% listened exclusively to audiobooks.Audiobook consumption is on the rise and listening is primarily done via … [Read more...] about Everything you need to know about Canadian reading habits
Ordering books from Amazon will now take longer to dealiver
Amazon has announced that it is prioritizing household and cleaning essentials over anything else. They emailed publishers and vendors last week, letting them know that their books will take longer to ship out and this has created a difficult situation where many of the best sellers on Amazon Charts and the Amazon bestseller list are taking 2-3 weeks to be shipped out.Where … [Read more...] about Ordering books from Amazon will now take longer to dealiver
Here are the new ebook terms from Random House and Macmillan
Penguin Random House and Macmillan have implemented new terms for audiobooks and ebooks to public libraries. Collection managers who want to purchase more content for their branches will be able to receive new discounts from some of the biggest books. Macmillan has abandoned their embargo on all new titles and also ones from TOR. All of the wholesalers who power the digital … [Read more...] about Here are the new ebook terms from Random House and Macmillan
Scribd is giving away 1 month of unlimited access for free
Reading subscription service Scribd is offering free access to its library of over one million ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and more for the next 30 days (no commitment or credit card information required). Scribd told Good e-Reader that "With the spread of COVID-19 and new regulations put into effect, we know many people are staying close to home, yet still looking for … [Read more...] about Scribd is giving away 1 month of unlimited access for free
Penguin Random House discounting ebooks and audiobooks to libraries
Penguin Random House knows that many physical library branches are closing and the only way people can access content is digitally. The world's largest publisher has announced that it is discounting audiobooks and ebooks across to the board through all of their wholesale distributors such as Overdrive.Senior vice-president for library sales and digital strategy at PRH Skip … [Read more...] about Penguin Random House discounting ebooks and audiobooks to libraries
People who read ebooks, read more
The National Endowment for the Arts monitored American reading habits in 2017 and have just issued a new report. They found that adults who read ebooks and listen to audiobooks consumed the most books per year: a median of 10 compared to four for print-only readers. Print reading, though, is ceding to e-book reading and audiobook listening. In the survey, 44.5% of adults said … [Read more...] about People who read ebooks, read more
The United Kingdom is getting rid of Tax on ebooks
The UK has just passed a resolution that will eliminate all VAT on ebooks and digital newspapers on December 1st 2020. The old 20% tax on these types of content will be completely abolished, but for some reason audiobooks will still be charged the old tax rate. Physical books and periodicals have been exempt for a very long time.In October 2018, the EU allowed member states … [Read more...] about The United Kingdom is getting rid of Tax on ebooks
Macmillan is thinking about scrapping their library embargo
Macmillan is one of the largest publishers in the world and they upset libraries when they announced they were implementing an embargo for ebooks. Instead of giving libraries access to as many copies as they want, Macmillan decided to wait numerous months, because they think libraries are cannibalizing their digital sales. It looks like Macmillan might scrap this system … [Read more...] about Macmillan is thinking about scrapping their library embargo
Penguin Random House is removing audiobooks from Scribd
Yesterday, Good e-Reader broke the news that Penguin Random House, one of the largest publishers in the world were removing audiobooks and ebooks from unlimited platforms all over the world. This included companies like Bookbeat from the United Kingdom, Storytel from Sweden and also Nextory. Scribd is one of the largest unlimited platforms in the world, they have over one … [Read more...] about Penguin Random House is removing audiobooks from Scribd
Big 5 Publishers Digital Lending and Purchase Models for Public Libraries
Public libraries in the United States, who have a audiobook and ebook collection, have to deal with all of the big five publishers. Each publisher has different terms and conditions, as well as pricing. This can create headaches for collection managers. Some books can 1200% more than what people pay on Amazon for the same title, while others expire after a certain number of … [Read more...] about Big 5 Publishers Digital Lending and Purchase Models for Public Libraries
You will soon be able to draw on ebooks with Onyx Boox e-readers
Onyx Boox is going to be issuing a new firmware update in early December and it will give users some great digital note taking functionality with ebooks. You will be able to highlight, annotate and draw on popular ebook formats such as DJVU, EPUB, FB2 and Mobi. This is in addition to new support for comic book and manga formats such as CBR and CBZ. Onyx Boox is the only brand … [Read more...] about You will soon be able to draw on ebooks with Onyx Boox e-readers