Add Arkansas and Connecticut to the list of states Amazon is cutting ties with over new sales tax laws. In Arkansas, where the law enables the state to charge sales tax on companies who exceed $10,000 in annual sales, Amazon notified associates by email that it would terminate their contracts on July 24. And in Connecticut, affiliates will be cut off “effective immediately,” per a separate Amazon email. AP UPI Kobo is said to be preparing its own ebook lending and self-publishing services to launch before the end of the year. GoodeReader Waterstone’s sale to Alexander Mamut will not affect […]
eNews
eNews: Google Doodles, Harper Promotes Enhanced eBooks
Google eBooks has added a “doodle mode” to a select collection of children’s activities books (from the “Everything Kids” series) that lets readers use a computer mouse as an electronic “crayon” to write in enabled ebooks. The feature works in all “modern browsers,” a category that apparently does not include Internet Explorer. Also, HarperCollins is highlighting their enhanced ebooks with a giveaway of enhanced versions of Jane Leavy’s THE LAST BOY and Bernard Cornwell’s THE FORT through select etailers, through June 22 (e.g. not on Kindle). Publisher of Harper Media Ana Maria Allessi says the titles “are a demonstration of […]
Tablets and Students’ eTextbook Resistance, and more eNews
A new study by the Pearson Foundation appears to show that students’ general resistance to etextbooks – documented in multiple reports from BISG – may be thawing somewhat. 55 percent of students still prefer print over digital textbooks, but among the 7 percent of students who own tablets devices such as iPads, 73 percent prefer digital textbooks. 70 percent of students surveyed say they are interested in owning a tablet (with 15 percent of those determined to buy one within the next six months) so no doubt the numbers will change by this time next year as more etextbook platforms […]
Apple Modifies App Store Rules to Avert Total Shutdown of eReading Apps
In advance of a June 30 deadline that would have potentially kicked all major third-party ereading apps from the likes of Amazon, Nook and Kobo out of the Apple App Store, the computer company has revised their rules to provide at least some leeway. The Apple rule that caused controversy earlier this year–beginning with the rejection of a proposed ereader app from Sony, which has still yet to launch such a feature–was a requirement that any content sold outside of approved apps must also be offered for purchase through Apple’s in-app purchasing program, “at the same price or less than […]
Aletheia Continues to Sell Barnes & Noble Stock; BN Files Pre-Emptive Suit Against Chipmaker
The mysterious masters (or mischievous monkeys?) who run the trading desk at Aletheia Research & Management continue their daily churn of Barnes & Noble stock, buying and selling strange blocks of shares day after day. But the trend of slimming their position continues; in the reported period since April 25, the firm reduced their holdings to 8.65 percent of all shares, down from about 10.4 percent. In other BN news, the company filed a pre-emptive suit in a San Francisco federal court recently against chipmaker LSI, seeking to protect itself from potential claims of patent infringement in their Nook devices. […]
eNews: Angry Birds Cookbook; Amazon Sales Guesses; and More
Speaking at the Open Mobile Summit in London, Rovio director of marketing and business development Peter Vesterbacka said the maker of the popular mobile game Angry Birds will self-publish its first book, a cookbook devoted to egg recipes, on various platforms. He told MocoNews that Rovio decided to self-publish after brief conversations with traditional publishers: “They offered to help us make the book, in exchange for 90 percent revenue share,” he said. “It was a short discussion.” Perhaps showing how much they know about the field they are about to enter, “Vesterbacka says Rovio will net 90 percent on sales […]