After taking on Shelfie’s customers in February after the service closed, Kobo has now acquired what was left of Shelfie itself — including their technology assets, IP, and the infrastructure on which the ecosystem runs, plus the hiring of Shelfie’s teams. Kobo says that in “the coming months,” it will “work to integrate the Shelfie platform into its Android and iOS apps, enabling readers to add their print libraries to their reading history to generate ever more tailored eBook recommendations, as well as the option to get digital versions of print titles they already own.” Rakuten Kobo ceo Michael Tamblyn says […]
eNews
Securely Yours: A PM PSA
With internet privacy imperiled by Congress in the US, the major browsers have been encouraging web site owners to move to entirely secure sites — and following recent updates, most of the popular browsers will flag regular HTTP links as “not secure.” After a brief scramble, we have updated the entire PublishersMarketplace.com site to secure HTTPS protocols. (Our login and billing pages and other sensitive portions of the site were always secure.) For efficiency, please update any of your PM bookmarks to begin with https://… instead of http://…, and do the same when sharing links like your PM Member Pages. And […]
Microsoft’s April 11 Update Will Roll Out eBookstore and In-Browser Reading
Microsoft formally confirmed that the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update on April 11 that will make the Microsoft Edge browser “the default reader for books in Windows Store” for ebooks purchased from the Windows Store. First reported in January, the features have been available only to a group of “Windows Insiders” until now. Microsoft software engineer Dona Sarkar tells Geekwire this was a user-driven addition: “We got feedback galore from Insiders saying ‘you know what, I love to read on my Windows tablet or my Windows Surface device and I would love to be able to actually read books in […]
Hachette UK Buys Bookouture
Hachette UK has announced the acquisition of digital publisher Bookouture, founded by Oliver Rhodes in 2012. Rhodes will continue to run the unit, and will also serve in the new position of digital publisher at Hachette UK, “steering and advising” to “help increase ebook sale across the group,” and join the company’s board. He will report to David Shelley, and Little Brown UK will publish some of Bookouture’s titles in print. Rhodes says the acquisition “will help us to build on the significant momentum we already have and achieve even greater things for our authors.” The Bookseller notes that Bookouture has […]
HarperCollins Celebrates 200 Years
HarperCollins announced a campaign to commemorate its 200th anniversary — beginning with the creation of J. & J. Harper, Printers in 1817 — focused around a new website. Anniversary events will include a campaign to support literacy and reading, charity projects, and an exhibition of historical items at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library in New York City. The site is organized into five sections, including: The HarperCollins 200 is a collection of Harper titles curated by booksellers and librarians from around the world; Inside the Archives, presenting images of story notes from authors, correspondence, photographs, original manuscripts, and more; […]
HarperCollins Launches Book Recommendation Bots
HarperCollins has announced the launch of BookGenie and Epic Reads, two bot-powered book recommendation engines available through Facebook Messenger. Both provide book recommendations through one-on-one chatting. With Bookgenie, readers request a recommendation based on a book they enjoyed, or select from curated recommendations. Epic Reads, related to the publisher’s YA-focused site, allows readers to specify what kind of mood they’re in, as well as what books and authors they enjoy. HarperCollins vice president of marketing Carrie Bloxson said in the announcement, “We’re always looking for ways to help readers discover new books and authors. The BookGenie bot combines the power of […]