Sourcebooks has launched another experimental new business (following on initiatives like PoetrySpeaks.com), creating a membership-based website for fans of the soap opera Days of Our Lives at DaysInsider.com. In exchange for a $9.95 membership fee, the site promises early online access to chapters from forthcoming Days of Our Lives novels and a commemorative book, discounts of more than 30 percent on the books when published, online chats and community forums that include participation from the Days of Our Lives team and more. Think of it as an online fan club where books are part of the mix, or a paid, […]
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And a Different Paid, Pre-Publication Online Book Club Idea from WowOwow
Women’s website WowOwow, co-founded by former agent and publisher Joni Evans, is trialing an “early access” book club that sells pre-publication galleys of selected books in limited quantities. The coverage at Forbes says the site “believes they’ll pay a substantial fee for that privilege and for the various other perks associated with membership, such as author chats”–but the current test is charging from $15 to $30 a copy, which seems at odds with the first statement. The trial offer underway is for Jodi Picoult’s March 2011 release, SING YOU HOME. Evans tries to pitch a few different paradigms. “The concept […]
Checking the Numbers As Amazon Distracts with Press Releases
With Barnes & Noble expected to announce a color touchscreen device this afternoon, Amazon continues to push a steady stream of press releases to try to distract the media. Today they say they have completely redesigned the front end of their entire site to be optimized for iPad, though Amazon Windowshop app. Yesterday it was a Kindle classic, reaching for new ways of saying they are selling a lot while, true to tradition, not really saying anything. Kindle svp Steve Kessel declares it “astonishing” that Kindle sales continue to grow, saying the new generation devices have “sold more since launch […]
Territorial Mess, Continued: Waterstone’s Stops “Overseas” eBook Sales
The Bookseller reports that Waterstone’s has discontinued selling ebooks to customers with billing addresses outside of the UK and Ireland. Spokesman Jon Howells says “it is basically due to rights of controlling where we sell books to” adding that “this is not a temporary move.” In an e-mail to customers the bookseller said “we have had to take this action to comply with the legal demands of publishers regarding the territories into which we can sell e-books.” The decision puts fresh spin on the already-tense landscape of “export” sales for English-language ebooks from out of both North America and the […]
Amazon to Borrow Nook’s Lending Feature; Company Discloses $269 Million Sales Tax Bill from Texas, and a Patent Lawsuit
On Friday Amazon announced on their Kindle forums that “later this year” they will borrow Nook’s “Lend Me” feature and make ebooks available for limited lending, using the same basic rule set: “Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable – this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.” Everyone’s having lots of fun citing Jeff Bezos’s remarks on Nook’s Lend Me feature to Deborah Solomon in the […]
Nook Accidentally Reveals Accessory for Color Reader; Launches Nook Kids with Features that Would Work Great On a Color Touchscreen
Now for equal time for Nook. Expectations that the company will introduce a touchscreen color model of Nook rose with CNet’s discovery over the weekend of a rogue product page on Barnes & Noble’s web site of a “Nook Color Screen Film Kit” accessory. (The page was subsequently taken down.) Nook did launch a NookKids.com where they preview ebook versions of picture books that have a read-aloud feature built in–just the kind of material that would make sense on a color ereader (as well as via apps, of course). The WSJ says they will have about 100 picture books available […]