Amazon can lay ever-bigger claim to being the largest independent bookseller in the world with today’s news that the etailer has agreed to acquire AbeBooks. The online marketplace says it offers “over 110 million primarily used, rare and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world.“ Amazon vp of books Russell Grandinetti says, “As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to our customers worldwide. AbeBooks provides a wide range of services to both sellers and customers, and we look forward to working with them to further […]
eNews
How About WOWIO 2.0?
Remember that goofy company that wanted to build a collection of free-access ebooks that wasted all that money a couple of BEA’s ago on an army of people in matching t-shirts chasing attendees on Segway scooters? Now entertainment company Platinum Studios (which says they control thousands of comic book characters) has bought the company and relaunched the site. They say that “prior to the acquisition and relaunch, WOWIO had over 2 million downloads in a year,” with partners including Rosetta Books, Taylor & Francis Group, and Soft Skull.Release
Grove Atlantic Free Kindle Book Promotion
Christopher G. Moore’s novel SPIRIT HOUSE will be offered as a free download for Kindle owners between August 1 and August 15, prior to its print publication on August 28. Publisher Morgan Entrekin says in the announcement, “We think this innovative partnership is a great way to expand Moore’s audience even further.”
Stephen King Short Story in Short Online Videos
Take Stephen King’s previously unpublished story N., about “a psychiatrist who becomes the victim of the same mysterious and deadly obsession as his patient,” set for inclusion in his new book of stories JUST AFTER SUNSET publishing this November and then turning into a Marvel comic book series in 2009. Turn it into a series of 25 two-minute video episodes. Starting on Monday, release a new one every weekday for five weeks. Add multiple viewing and payment options: Free to mobile users through the largest cell-phone companies; through an embedded Flash player that updates automatically; and through CBS’s various online […]
Pushback Over RH UK's New Out-of-Print Language
It’s the story that keeps coming back. This time the focus is Random House UK which, according to Society of Authors deputy general secretary Kate Pool, seeks to redefine out-of-print so that rights are eligible for reversion to an author “only if the publisher cannot supply a physical or electronic copy of a book within a month, or if there have been no royalty earnings for a year.” President of the Association of Authors’ Agents Philippa Milnes-Smith says that some agents had “raised concerns about RH’s approach to negotiating boilerplates…over the terms being proposed and the approaches being made to […]
Sony Reader Will Open Up to ePub
Starting today Sony is offering a software upgrade to the newer edition of their Reader that will let it render books in ePub format. That means that other retailers can sell files for the Reader, opening it up beyond Sony’s own online store and the recent offering from Borders.com. And it should add considerably to the number of titles available for the Reader, currently at about 45,000 books. As svp of consumer product marketing for Sony Electronics Steve Haber says, “This upgrade opens the door to a whole host of paid and free content from third-party e-book stores, Web sites and […]