Ingram Content Group has closed a seed funding round for NFT ebook company Book.io. The startup puts ebooks and audiobooks on the blockchain, where they can be sold as NFTs. The company says in a release that Ingram’s print-on-demand service Lightning Source will work with Book.io “to bundle NFT eBooks with bespoke printed physical books” […]
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Amazon Tightens Ebook Return Policy
In a win for authors and publishers, Amazon will adjust its ebook return policy to restrict returns on books that have been more than 10 percent read. The Author’s Guild and the UK Society of Authors advocated for the change with Amazon’s senior executive team. The AG writes that the new policy will take effect […]
Distribution: Penzler Imprints and Open Road
Otto Penzler has expanded his longtime relationship with Open Road, which has marketed and distributed MysteriousPress.com titles since the line’s founding in 2011. Now Open Road will power the marketing and distribution of ebooks from Penzler Publishers’ American Mystery Classics and Scarlet imprints. (Norton will continue to distribute the print editions.) “Speaking as a bookseller […]
Amazon to Discontinue Kindle In China
Amazon announced today that it will stop supplying retailers in China with Kindle ereaders this week, and plans to shutter its ebookstore there in June 2023. In 2024, the Kindle App will be removed from stores and users will no longer be able to access digital books they have purchased. Chinese customers who purchased a […]
Maryland Claims eBook Lending Law Is About “Consumer Protection” Not Copyright, But Clearly Seeks to Remedy Lack of Digital First Sale Doctrine
The state of Maryland filed their reply to the AAP’s motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s new library ebook law while the matter is litigated. The state claims the interference with Federal copyright law is incidental and accidental rather than primary: The AAP’s complaint, they write, “rests on the mistaken assumption the Maryland […]
Data Says Library eBook Lending Is Up, Costs Are Down
In contrast to lobbying efforts in some state legislatures, the dominant service provider for library ebook lending reports that the market is thriving. Overdrive notes that in 2021, “With a focus on equity of access to books for all, libraries achieved all-time records for circulation while lowering the average cost-per-title borrowed.” Senior manager for public […]