Starbucks is one of those companies the media loves to over-cover (consider, say, free wifi at the coffee shops, versus free wifi at McDonald’s) and today they announced yet another complicated promotional entertainment offering. Traditionally these initiatives are great for free media, and then tend to fizzle away after a couple of pops. (The roster includes: their dedicated book picks; CD racks; Oprah book club sales; their music label; Starbucks Entertainment; their film adventures; their audiobook promotion; and so on.)The announcement introduces the Starbucks Digital Network–kind of AOL from the early 90s, reinvented for today in partnership with Yahoo, providing […]
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Bookselling Briefs: Nook News x3; Stylish Reading Glasses; and Bicycle Delivery
In Barnes & Noble news, the company launched their promised NookStudy platform (which makes rich textbooks available via computers); promised that a November 1.5 version of their Nook reader operating software will “dramatically increase” page-turning speed, improve syncing of books across devices, add customized library organization and more; and invited tech media to a “very special” October 26 event, raising speculation about a new Nook device on the way. Not to be left out, Borders will add “fashion-forward, stylish” reading glasses from ICU Eyewear to their merchandise mix. (Reading glasses were a topic during the Q&A session at Barnes & […]
Two New Audiobook Players Launch
LibiriVox founder Hugh McGuire has launched Iambik Audio, starting today with a list of 11 literary fiction audiobooks from independent presses in the US and Canada, including works from Gordon Lish and Lydia Millet. They sell at “reasonable prices”–from five to ten dollars–with no DRM, so that the files can play on any device. The company is selling directly from their site now and finalizing distribution agreements with partners such as Audible, Overdrive and eMusic. The company’s FAQ indicates they “work almost exclusively on a revenue-share basis, with narrators, publishers/authors, and iambik all sharing in successful audiobooks.” McGuire explains their […]
Apple Sells Another 4.2 Million iPads, But Analysts Are Confused
Apple reported fourth quarter sales, through September 25, recording record revenue (over $20 billion) and profit (over $4 billion). They sold 4.19 million iPads in the quarter–ahead of the 3.27 million units sold in the previous quarter (when it was on sale for 84 days, or about a week less than the full reporting period). That’s nearly 7.5 million iPads so far with the big holiday quarter still ahead, putting them on track for over 12.5 million units in 2010. Also significant is that iPad sales were greater than sales for the entire line of Macintosh computers, which also hit […]
OverDrive Takes Outside Investment
Private equity firm Insight Venture Partners has made “a major investment” in digital content distributor OverDrive, which the company will use to “provide additional resources” and “help fuel growth.” Insight managing director Larry Handen says in the announcement, “We are particularly excited about OverDrive’s strong growth, market leadership, and commitment to customers. Our investment coincides with the 20th consecutive quarter of continuous profitability. This is a tribute to the company’s management team.” With a capital base of $3 billion, Insight focuses on software, Internet and data services companies. OverDrive founder and CEO Steve Potash adds, “The combination of Insight’s focus […]
Borders Dips Toe in eBook Self-Publishing By Pairing with Start-Up BookBrewer
Borders has come up with a modest answer to Barnes & Noble’s new PubIt and Amazon’s established DTP program, announcing “Borders – Get Published” in association with start-up BookBrewer.com. The emphasis of the service is turning blogs into salable ebooks quickly and easily, though they charge a set-up fee and take 25 percent of the proceeds. (In this respect the service looks similar to plethora of sites that let you turn RSS feeds into mobile phone apps.) But they say it works for regular manuscripts as well. BookBrewer’s site says that, if you use the service independently, they can put […]