Amazon has updated their Kindle for Android app first with the capability to buy optimized full-color versions of magazines and newspapers on a single-copy and subscription basis. (Like others in the field, they offer a 14-day free trial on all publications.) They launch with over 100 publications.
Release
Giving away ebooks is harder than you might think–particularly if you are trying a one-day-only promotion, as Sourcebooks did yesterday to celebrate Jane Austen’s birthday. CEO Dominique Raccah refreshingly turns it into a important community teaching moment, candidly sharing the mistakes they made, the things they learned, the help etailers provided, and even an apology to customers who might have been frustrated. Don’t miss this chance to learn from someone else’s experience.
At the same time, Sourcebooks has also relaunched their web site, with a streamlined focus on authors, readers, and the “next” frontier.
Sourcebooks blog
Diesel eBookstore relaunched, promising about 400,000 titles for sale, richer site features, and test downloads for new customers. The coolest new feature encourages customers to “build their own eBook bundles”–and provides a little “reward” money to those who create accepted bundles.
Release
Site
Hachette Book Group UK ceo Tim Hely-Hutchinson tells the Bookseller that despite the later launch of ebooks in earnest in the UK, they will comprise 5 percent of sales for the fourth quarter. (He compares that to 9 percent of revenues across the whole year for HBG USA.)
He adds: “Our market in Britain and the Commonwealth is not far behind and, actually, I would not be surprised if the British and Australian markets were to end up with a higher percentage of ebook sales than that of the USA.”
Bookseller