EBSCO and H.W. Wilson have merged in a deal that combines the two publishing companies’ operations with the intended goal of improving services for libraries. Wilson president and ceo Harry Regan said in a statement: “EBSCO and H.W. Wilson have been engaged as business partners for a number of years and are now officially operating as one. The result will be a broader and deeper range of products and services for the library reference community with significantly added value. Both companies have had separate, distinctive histories, but have always shared a common commitment for the highest order of customer satisfaction.” […]
eNews
eNews: Stats on Google, Kobo and James Patterson; Borders Transitions; Unbound’s Deal; and More
Making the rounds electronically now (we missed it when posted a week ago), Google eBooks said their apps for iOS, Android and Chrome “have exceeded 2.5 million” installs since December. In contrast, Kobo said in early May they were “close to 4 million users” with adoption accelerating. (They went from 2 million users to 3 million in somewhere between 60 and 90 days.) Google There are varying degrees of consternation online based on whether or not people were paying attention previously, but as announced, Borders is transitioning their branded ebook line–which was already powered by Kobo–over to the Kobo brand. […]
GBS Hearing Pushed Back to July 19 As Parties Seek More Time To Draft New Settlement
In a status conference Wednesday afternoon that lasted all of five minutes, no decisions were made with respect to the Google Book Settlement, as all parties wanted more time to reach some sort of agreement. Bruce Keller, representing the Authors Guild and the AAP and speaking on behalf of “all parties,” told the court that “the parties are still considering options. They have not made any decisions. Everything being discussed between them is on the table.” Judge Chin set a new hearing date of July 19 at 10:00 AM in response to Keller’s assertion that parties would need an additional […]
eNews: 3M Invests in txtr; Diesel Allies with E-Reads; More From Eisler
Further underscoring 3M’s commitment to the epublishing space, following of our pre-BEA report of their ambitious new library ebook initiative, the company formally announced an investment in Germany’s txtr. The ereading software company’s ceo Christophe Maire calls it a “considerable investment” and says it “demonstrates that 3M has recognized the growing importance of the eReading market.” He notes that txtr is already a vendor for 3m: “we provide a white label solution to 3M, which will allow them to open up new vertical markets.” Like many others in the space, txtr at one time planned their own reading device, which […]
UK Site Tries to Combine Kickstarter and Byliner Models
At the Hay literary festival over the weekend, writer Justin Pollard, publishing veteran John Mitchinson and Crap Towns author Dan Kieran launched Unbound.co.uk, a site that aims to serve as a mash-up of Kickstarter and Byliner for books. The Kickstarter part is a fan-sourced funding mechanism that solicits pledges to finance proposed, with a roster of benefits for contributions form £10 up to £250 (or the opportunity to bankroll an entire project). The Byliner part is that, once financed, the site also serves as the publishing platform–like it or not, as far as we can tell, and takes 50 percent […]
Agents at BEA: Nothing Is Off the Table
The newsmaking announcements at BEA might have been all about devices and digital, but the agents also showed up to talk about what is going on in their world of rights and royalties, and some interesting tidbits emerged. To start with, if you thought the 25 percent ebook royalty was settled, think again. On Tuesday’s AAR’s Global Publishing Marketplace panel, Jennifer Weltz, partner and rights director at Jean Naggar, stated: “Twenty-five percent shouldn’t be standard in US or anywhere else, we need escalators. When publishers come back to us and say, No, this is standard we can’t give you more, […]