Scholastic’s long-expected ebook reading platform for kids Storia has launched in beta today via the Scholastic web site. For now, however, the downloadable Storia app is only available on the most kid-adverse platform out there, Windows PCs. The iPad version is due next, and the company says Mac OS, iPhone and Android versions are also on the way. Storia ebooks are readable only through the Storia app itself, though many of the titles in the new store are also available through standard ebookstores in their regular versions. (Others, however, like Clifford’s Family, are available in digital form for the first […]
Archives for March 2012
Nantucket’s Two Bookstores to Be Run Together
ReMain Nantucket, the nonprofit organization set up by Wendy Schmidt of The Schmidt Family Foundation that owns the island’s Mitchell’s Book Partners, announced Monday that it is partnering with Nantucket Bookworks owner Wendy Hudson to operate the store. Hudson is creating a new entity, Nantucket Book Partners, that will run both stores. Hudson tells Shelf Awareness, “My vision is to continue to operate the two as unique but complementary sister stores open year-round. We will have one website, one events program, one POS system that can share information, etc., and one unified approach to buying, but we will be able […]
People, Etc.
Kobo has hired Phil Wood for the new position of country manager, UK. Wood was at TomKat Consulting, serving the consumer technology, electronics and IT sectors, prior to which he director of Interead, which attracted attention for its inexpensive COOL-ER ereaders (before going out of business). Kobo general manager Matt Welch says in the announcement, “Having someone with Wood’s technology, commercial and eReading expertise positions us well for our planned growth in the UK. We have seen tremendous first six months here and with Phil as country manager I am confident we’ll see Kobo continuing to drive forward the ereading revolution.” […]
Indies Choice Nominees Named
The ABA has announced the finalists for their annual Indies Choice awards, with the winners to be named April 5. Fiction The Cat’s Table, by Michael Ondaatje (Knopf) Everything Beautiful Began After, by Simon Van Booy (Harper Perennial) 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel (Trans.) (Knopf) The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury USA) Wingshooters, by Nina Revoyr (Akashic Books) Nonfiction Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton (Random House) Blue Nights, by Joan Didion (Knopf) Catherine the Great: Portrait […]
ALA Head “Deeply Disappointed” In Random House Library eBook Price Raises
The American Library Association issued a statement on Friday in response to Random House’s new, higher pricing for sales of ebooks to libraries. ALA President Molly Raphael said in the release: “While I appreciate Random House’s engagement with libraries and its commitment to perpetual access, I am deeply disappointed in the severe escalation in ebook pricing reported today. Calling on our history together and our hope to satisfy mutual goals moving forward, the American Library Association strongly urges Random House to reconsider its decision. In a time of extreme financial constraint, a major price increase effectively curtails access for many […]
OverDrive Acquires Booki.sh
OverDrive acquired Australian cloud-based ebook discovery site Booki.sh (not to be confused with still-to-launch US-based ebook discovery site Bookish) for an undisclosed sum. Booki.sh founders and principals Joseph Pearson, Virginia Murdoch and Peter Haasz will join OverDrive from their existing offices in Melbourne to expand the global distributor’s publishing, library and school initiatives. OverDrive in turn will expand the Booki.sh distribution and digital bookstore platforms as well as integrate Booki.sh HTML5 and EPUB reading technologies into OverDrive library and school services. “Joseph, Virginia and the Booki.sh team have created a fresh, direct and immersive reading experience that uniquely serves the […]