Penguin’s previously-announced library ebook lending pilot program with 3M and the Brooklyn Public Library, scheduled to last for a year, got off to a late start beginning yesterday, as announced in a 3M press release. That release let slip at the end of the third paragraph that “Penguin content is expected to be available to all 3M Cloud Library customers by the end of the year,” and other press has been off to the races from there. Penguin has not commented on the release and we have all seen in the past that vendors are not the authoritative source of […]
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Wiley Buys Online Learning Service Provider for $220 Million
Wiley is investing in online learning services, agreeing to purchase private-held Chicago-based Deltak.edu for $220 million. They say it will “significantly accelerate Wiley’s digital learning strategy and diversify the company’s service offerings to include operational and academic solutions for higher education institutions.” Deltak provides provides technology platforms and services that support over 100 online learning programs. The company had sales of $54 million for the just-ended fiscal year, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
Sourcebooks Launches Multimedia Shakesperience; Blurb Adds Enhanced Tools
Sourcebooks is launching the first three titles in their new line The Shakesperience, available in the iBookstore for the iPad. Starting with Hamlet, Othello and Romeo and Juliet, at a limited introductory price $5.99 each, the line is the natural tablet-era evolution of multi-media publishing that Sourcebooks began with the bestselling AND THE CROWD GOES WILD in 1999 (a printed book, with two audio CDs recapturing great moments in sports). And it builds on their Sourcebooks Shakespeare book-and-CD packages for an app- and tablet-focused world. The English-language volumes, built in Apple’s iBooks Author, are available worldwide. CEO Dominique Raccah says, […]
Penguin Reiterates Position On MacAdam/Cage Suit
In a separate statement, Penguin told us Friday they will proceed with their lawsuit against MacAdam/Cage over the ebook license to Susan Vreeland’s GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE even though the smaller publisher has announced plans to seek a buyer. Penguin indicates they notified MacAdam/Cage publisher David Poindexter “several times” about Vreeland’s claim and the settlement negotiations, but that “he remained silent.” Penguin says their suit is “seeking only the money it paid out of pocket to Susan Vreeland. Ms. Vreeland was able to show that she, not MacAdam/Cage, owned the ebook rights that MacAdam/Cage purported to grant Penguin, and that […]
ALA and Publishers Talk–Directly to Each Other
The issues between publishers and libraries over the purchase and lending of ebooks are complicated and nuanced, and depending on how one wants to frame the reporting, you could see a session at the AAP’s New York office featuring ALA president Maureen Sullivan on Thursday as conciliatory, inflammatory, or both. Perhaps the best takeaway is that it’s more productive for both sides to communicate with each other directly rather than through posted statements. A number of publishers (and the media) attended the AAP’s presentation and moderated discussion featuring Sullivan, who was joined by a number of other ALA officers and […]
Hachette Moves Quickly to Replace Faulty eBook File for The Casual Vacancy
Little, Brown reports that the ebook file for JK Rowling’s THE CASUAL VACANCY that the publisher provided US retailers on Wednesday had “issues,” including affecting “the adjustability of font color and size and adjustability of margins.” What that means, according to customer reports online, is that for many people the book displayed at a tiny font size that could not be adjusted. The company says that “as soon as Hachette was made aware of these issues, a replacement file was uploaded to all ebook retailers.” By customer accounts, and this report on PaidContent (with some screen shots), those issues made […]