NetGalley’s newly-launched implementation of Readium LCP-protected downloads left some users of dedicated ereading devices, particularly owners of Kobo devices, unsupported for now. The service wrote to users who reached out about the issue, “We understand change is hard, and we hear you — and we love Kobo, too! We’ve been actively in contact with Kobo, and the good news is they do have LCP support on their roadmap, we just don’t yet know the exact timeframe.” They note that, “Since Adobe unfortunately no longer provides active support for their DRM (.acsm), it is unsustainable for the long-term.” NetGalley evp Lindsey […]
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NetGalley Launches In-Browser Reader
NetGalley has launched NetGalley Reader, a proprietary in-browser platform allowing users to read approved ebooks without downloading them, using an external device, or navigating away from the NetGalley website. The platform supports both ePub and PDF formatted ebooks. Audiobooks can still be accessed through the NetGalley Shelf app. The upgrade is now live across in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan. The company has also introduced downloads secured with EDRLabs’ Readium Licensed Content Protection. “We’re committed to making books easily and securely accessible to NetGalley members, however they like to read,” said Firebrand Technologies and NetGalley chief […]
Kindle Adds Color Device In “Entirely New Lineup”
Amazon finally announced a color ereader, Kindle Colorsoft, priced at $279.99, releasing October 30. They are also revamping the rest of the Kindle device line, with their “thinnest and fastest ever” Kindle Paperwhite, and an entry-level Kindle “in a fun new Matcha color.” In the announcement, vp of Amazon Devices Kevin Keith notes, “[ebook] sales last year hit a decade high with the majority of purchases going to first time Kindle device owners.” He added, “We are excited to bring our customers a completely new Kindle lineup, including our first color Kindle and a re-imagined Kindle Scribe with even better in-book […]
IPG to Offer Client Digital Product to Libraries for Perpetual Access
Independent Publishers Group (IPG) has paired with the Digital Public Library of America to offer “tens of thousands of ebook and audiobook titles” from a number of their publisher clients for outright purchase and perpetual access, rather than time- or usage-limited access. IPG recently sold their digital distribution business to Bookwire. Clearly welcomed by libraries, unfortunately the announcement engages in inflammatory and disingenuous rhetoric. They claim that, “Since the advent and spread of digital content, libraries have only been able to license ebooks and audiobooks from publishers and aggregators with no option to buy, trapping libraries in licensing agreements where […]
TikTok Lifts Kindle Sales, Too
It’s not just for books. TikTok readers have discovered ereaders and self-proclaimed “Kindle girlies” are fueling device sales, particularly for Amazon. The WSJ speaks to vice president of Amazon Devices and Services Kevin Keith, who says in that vague happy Amazon way that “Kindle sales have grown in double-digit percentages for each of the past two years and are on track for similar gains this year.” Keith reports that a good portion of that growth — approximately 60 percent — comes from people who have never owned a Kindle ereader previously. (On the other hand, that also means that about […]
Tik Tok Shop Makes Its Own Bestsellers
The NYT finds Keila Shaheen’s The Shadow Work Journal — republished last month by Simon & Schuster’s Primero Sueño — one of at least a handful of homegrown TikTok Shop bestsellers. The Atlantic wrote about the book last September, when it was said to have sold 290,000 units through TikTokShop since April, “even as experts question its approach—and the author’s credentials.” Earlier this year, Shaheen reached a five-book, 50/50 profit-share deal with S&S, accompanied by a seven-figure advance, represented by Rebecca Gradinger and Albert Lee at UTA. The expanded S&S trade paperback has sold a little under 22,000 copies since […]