Just two days after Penguin resumed selling digital library copies to OverDrive, the company has relinquished its requirement that library users who borrow Kindle editions from OverDrive must sideload them via USB. As OverDrive announced in a blog post, Penguin titles will be available for wireless download via OverDrive’s “Get for Kindle” button, which redirects to Amazon’s website. A spokesperson for Penguin declined to comment on what persuaded them to change their policy. Sony‘s latest e-reader, the PRS-T3, will not be sold in the US, effectively signaling the company’s exit from the market here after years of apparent decline and disinterest. […]
Libraries
Penguin Resumes Selling Full Digital Library Catalog to OverDrive, Baker & Taylor
More than eighteen months after Penguin withdrew its digital library catalog from OverDrive and severed their selling relationship — leaving libraries with no way to purchase Penguin’s ebooks, until the company re-entered the market in a pilot program with 3M in June 2012 — the publisher has resumed business with the vendor. According to a brief statement, Penguin has re-instated its relationship with OverDrive as well as with Baker & Taylor, effective immediately. The publisher started ebook lending pilot programs with B&T in November 2012. In a blog post, OverDrive said that “more than 17,000 Penguin eBooks are now live […]
Simon & Schuster Offers eBooks to Schools
Simon & Schuster announced a pilot program to distribute a selection of popular books in school environments for K-12 classroom use. The titles are usable for one year from purchase, and are limited to use by one student at a time. The pilot collection includes such titles as CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin, HATCHET by Gary Paulsen, OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon Draper, FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, works from the Folger Shakespeare Library, and FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway. S&S is working with four school distributors […]
Rainbow Rowell Tops First Monthly LibraryReads List
LibraryReads, the new promotional program in public libraries inspired by the Indie Next List and designed to share recommendations for newly published books that librarians love and recommend, has announced their inaugural September list. FANGIRL leads the list, which also includes Publishers Lunch 2013 Fall/Winter Buzz Book title BURIAL RITES. No 1.: Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell How The Light Gets In, by Louise Penny Night Film, by Marisha Pessl Help for the Haunted, by John Searles The Returned, by Jason Mott Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent Margot, by Jillian Cantor Songs of Willow Frost, by Jamie Ford Five Days at […]
Librarians to Create Monthly List of Top 10 Recommended LibraryReads
There is a wave of library-related press releases with the ALA’s annual conference and exhibition starting today in Chicago (and running through July 2). One announcement of broad interest is the launch of LibraryReads this fall, a recommendation program that aims to serve as a national “library staff picks list.” The initiative will highlight ten adult titles every month “that library staff have read, have loved, and cannot wait to share with their patrons.” LibraryReads is managed by a steering committee of public librarians and library advocates, and they have allied with the ALA, the AAP, and even the ABA, […]
Tech: Ingram’s New Tool for Independent Publishers; Libre Rolls Out Digital Distribution; BookScout Adds Mobile; 3M Provides Daily Data;
Ingram will launch a new self-service “publish-on-demand” platform for independent publishers, IngramSpark, this summer. It combines their Lighting Source (print-in-demand) and Core Source (digital asset distribution) services in a single toolset, to manage print and ebook distribution under one umbrella. General Manager of Ingram Publisher Services Mark Ouimet says “independent publishers will now have access to Ingram’s reach, enabling them to affordably print copies, distribute books to global retailers, make titles available to all major e-readers and connect with more customers worldwide.” After the initial launch, Ingram plans to add versions of some of their other services to the platform, including MyiLibrary […]