Amazon has launched a modest “Prime Reading” initiative that fits alongside the company’s far more expansive Prime Video and Prime Music in allowing their Prime subscription members to access a small catalog of ebooks and magazines to read for free. It offers “a rotating selection of books, magazines, comics and more,” comprising about 1,000 ebooks — many of them house-published. Unlike the awkwardly-named (and tricky to use) Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, Prime Reading allows users to “borrow” up to 10 titles at a time, and they can be read across the line of Kindle apps and are not restricted to Amazon […]
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Source Says Amazon In Preliminary Settlement Talks In EU eBook Antitrust Case
With the European Commission looking to flex some regulatory muscle over American-based technology giants including Apple, Google and Amazon, at least one source reported to Reuters on Tuesday that “Amazon is in talks to settle the e-book case” under investigation by the EC “but it is too early to say whether it will reach an agreement.” At about the same time, Bloomberg ran a story citing “people familiar with the case” saying that Amazon is in settlement talks with European regulators. The European Commission brought “a formal antitrust investigation into certain business practices by Amazon in the distribution of electronic books” in June […]
Google Adds Discover Feature to Books App; Sainsbury’s Gives Up On eBooks
On Monday Google Play added a “discover” feature to their app (only on Android for now; iOS is coming later), calling it “a new way to find books by browsing the latest reviews, news, lists, videos and more.” The feature combines original book-focused content — author interviews, essays and more — along with aggregated book stories from the web. “A smart experience with personalized stories for you — Google’s algorithms and data surface just the right stories based on the books you read on Play Books. When you’re reading an article or watching a video, Discover automatically pulls out the books […]
Penguin Random House Provides Free Digital Reads to NYC Subway Riders
For the next eight weeks, New York City subway riders can download free short stories and 175 book excerpts offered by Penguin Random House. It’s part of PRH’s “Subway Reads” promotion, in partnership with the MTA, “celebrating the installation of free wireless connectivity in more than 175 underground subway stations.” The NYT notes that, “Transit officials approached Penguin Random House…because it had run a similar e-book promotion in the London Underground last year, celebrating Penguin’s 80th anniversary. Transit officials said they were open to other platforms from publishers, and platforms for more than books — anything to draw passengers to the Wi-Fi […]
Barnes & Noble Fires CEO Boire; Will Try Again
After the close of the market on Tuesday, Barnes & Noble announced that the board of directors “determined that [CEO Ron] Boire was not a good fit for the organization and that it was in the best interests of all parties for him to leave the company.” As a result, executive chairman Len Riggio will postpone his planned retirement this September “until a later date.” The undistinguished tenure of Boire lasted a little less than a year. In that time, the company failed to recover from the botched relaunch of their website and continue to lose online sales. They also failed to […]
Briefs: Pocket Constitution Sales Rise After Khan Speech; A Local Line for S&S India; and More
Khizr Khan’s speech at the Democratic National Convention has boosted distribution of the US Constitution. A $1 Pocket Constitution published by The National Center for Constitutional Studies — similar to the one Khan displayed during his speech, but not the same edition — moved 45,000 copies on Amazon between Saturday morning and Monday night, spokesperson Dan Sheridan told the WSJ. After announcing they would give free copies of their pocket Constitution until Election Day, the American Civil Liberties Union says it has received approximately 80,000 orders. Little Brown celebrated the recent launch of James Patterson’s BookShots with a press release declaring he “has ignited a […]