After two full years of debate (and years more of hand wringing), European Union member states now have the option to lower VAT tax rates on ebooks to the same rate charged for printed books — which in some countries are tax free. The measure unanimously agreed on by the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council on October 2 is “the final step to ensure that the unequal treatment of the two products – paper versus digital – becomes a thing of the past,” said the EU Commission. The measure does not force member states to align the rates, but […]
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Apple Relaunches Their Book Store and App
For readers who like mainstream ebooks more than discounted House Brand titles, the number two ebookseller has relaunched their store and reading app. “Apple Books” represents a major redesign, launched yesterday in 51 countries as part of Apple’s new iOS12 release. The company now incorporates audiobooks within the books app (and Book Store), though they continue to source all of their audiobooks from competitor Amazon’s Audible. The new app defaults to a Reading Now section that takes you back to the books or audiobooks you are reading, and includes a section of personalized recommendations. The completely redesigned app is filled […]
New Accounting Rules Will Likely Lift Penguin Random House’s Sales: It’s A Long Story
On Thursday Penguin Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann will be the last of the big companies to report financial results through June 30, and when that happens, there will be something different about PRH’s results. The company will use a different accounting method for their ebook sales, making their overall sales for the past six months unlike previous PRH reports. That will also make their sales report unlike those of all the other publishers that we have reported so far this earnings season. That difference is that for many (but not all) ebook sales, PRH will start counting the full consumer […]
Walmart eBooks, Kobo Integrates OverDrive, NYPL’s Instagram Books
As we previewed on Tuesday, today is the official launch day for Walmart ebooks (including digital audiobooks as well), in partnership with Rakuten Kobo. In separate news, Kobo has added “one-touch public library lending” to all of their ereading devices, for libraries that use Rakuten’s OverDrive. Kobo ceo Michael Tamblyn says in the announcement, “The insights and feedback gleaned from readers on our most premium device showed that those who borrowed ebooks directly from their public library on average read 30 percent more than those who did not use the library feature. Avid readers clearly appreciate the easy access to more […]
Walmart Readies eBook Rollout
Walmart is preparing to launch their retail partnership with Kobo ebooks, audiobooks and devices, announced in January. One Texas MobileRead user took pictures of in-store fixtures as they were being installed. Walmart stores will sell Kobo ereading devices, along with cards redeemable for ebooks, and audiobook subscriptions. Walmart’s website features ebooks help pages now, and Kobo posted a video about the Walmart ebooks app on YouTube on Monday. A Walmart ebooks app will launch shortly. The video only displays a Google Play icon, though the help pages talk about both android and IOS apps. Not unsurprisingly, Apple customers will need to […]
Tor Tests Windowing Frontlist Library eBooks, Joins Broader Library Impact Data Study
Tor Books has begun windowing ebook versions of frontlist titles (e.g. the adult science line) for the library market starting with July releases, delaying their availability for library ebook distribution to four months after the retail on-sale date. The company told libraries this is “part of a test program to determine the impact of eLending on retail sales,” and said they would “work closely with our library vendors who service this channel to evaluate the results and develop ongoing terms that will best support Tor’s authors, their agents, and Tor’s channel partners.” The test period was described as “open-ended.” President […]