Hachette announced Wednesday that it will make all of its ebooks, including new titles, available to libraries nationwide. New ebooks will be priced at three times the cost of the print version, but a library only has to buy a copy once. Read more at paidContent »
This week, Digg and Feedly both surveyed RSS users on the types of social features they’d like to see integrated into a Google Reader replacement. Feedly says it will roll out an updated product in a couple weeks, while Digg’s product launches in June and is likely to be paid. Read more at paidContent »
HarperCollins will launch a digital-first line of mysteries and thrillers this fall. The company also said that as of August 1, it will pay all of its digital-first authors royalties on a monthly basis, competing with Amazon Publishing. Read more at paidContent »
Nielsen is rolling out a pilot product that lets TV networks track viewing of shows on their websites. The tool doesn’t yet account for viewing on mobile devices, and the pilot doesn’t include viewing on sites like Hulu and YouTube. Read more at paidContent »
Two years after ABC canceled them, soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children are coming back to life online, with four new 30-minute episodes per week available on Hulu and iTunes. But soap fans who are not used to online viewing may not tune in. Read more at paidContent »
Target will sell electronics products endorsed by the editors of Wired in stores and online. Selections include the Square credit card reader, Fitbit and Belkin WeMo. Target also has an editorial partnership with CNET. Read more »
The Huffington Post will launch in Germany this fall. The company has already expanded to Canada, the U.K., France, Spain and Italy, and a Japanese edition will roll out May 7. Read more at paidContent »
I started keeping my diary 15 years ago, before Twitter, Facebook and a deluge of email. In a digital era, personal journal-keeping has changed and adapted to the more technological world — but those who privately chronicle their lives still find the practice useful. Read more at paidContent »
iOS reading platform Readmill announced three partnerships Friday. The Berlin-based startup is working with digital marketplace Gumroad, and has also partnered with U.K. companies Faber Factory and Firsty Group, which offer services to independent publishers and authors. Read more at paidContent »
Marco Arment sees a bright future for read-it-later services, and says that Instapaper’s acquisition by Betaworks will allow it to get some new features that he hasn’t had time to add. Read more at paidContent »
New media incubator Betaworks has acquired Marco Arment’s popular read-it-later platform Instapaper. Betaworks acquired Digg last year, and the firm is focusing on both short-form and long-form content companies. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon delivered its Q1 2013 earnings report Thursday afternoon, beating analyst expectations. In its release, which comes a day after renewed reports of an Amazon set-top box, the company highlighted its original television programming initiatives. Read more »
Citia, a New York-based startup formerly known for its ebook apps, is expanding into new content areas. The company is behind Snoop’s new “Reincarnated: Track Notes” app, out today, and is also expanding from iPad to iPhone and the web. Read more »
Dallas-based book startup BookShout has raised $6 million in its second funding round. When the company launched, it allowed users to import their Nook and Kindle books onto the platform, but that function has been turned off. Read more at paidContent »
Tumblr wants users to discover content by themselves, rather than pushing it out to them. The updates to its iOS app Wednesday are aimed at helping users share and save Tumblr posts. Read more at paidContent »
The Berlin-based Txtr is now selling its barebones e-reader, the Beagle, for €59 in Europe. The plan was to offer it for under €10 through subsidies from mobile carriers, but those deals haven’t surfaced yet — though the company says it’s close. Read more »
Churnalism, a new browser extension and website from the Sunlight Foundation, aims to help detect plagiarism online by checking content against Wikipedia and a database of press releases. But it won’t pick up on plagiarism from other sources. Read more at paidContent »
Tumblr is inching toward profitability with a new mobile ad offering, announced Monday. Ads will appear directly in the content streams on users’ Android and iOS apps. Read more at paidContent »
Canada is the latest country to approve the proposed merger between Big Six publishers Random House and Penguin. Read more at paidContent »
Twitter’s new #Music app will be available on the web and in the iTunes store on Thursday. The app integrates music from iTunes, Spotify and Rdio and lets users tweet songs from the app. Read more »
The Guardian’s expansion into the U.S. is on track, editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger said Wednesday, with traffic up by 37 percent last year. For now, there are no plans for a paywall. Read more at paidContent »
Ev Williams’ content creation platform Medium has made its first acquisition: Matter, the Kickstarter-backed science and technology journalism startup cofounded by former GigaOM reporter Bobbie Johnson last year. Read more at paidContent »
A new survey from the Newspaper Association of America and Nielsen finds that newspaper readers are highly engaged. But they have to do more on mobile, particularly as ad revenue plunges. Read more at paidContent »
Evernote is launching an accelerator program that supports companies who are building products that work on Evernote’s platform. The members of the first class will be chosen from among the participants in Evernote Devcup 2013. Read more »
Kobo is launching a higher-end e-reader, the $169 Aura HD, aimed at users who read several ebooks a week. While the Aura is more expensive than the competition, Kobo says its market research supports customers’ desire for such a device. Read more at paidContent »
Simon & Schuster will finally make its ebooks available to libraries, through a one-year trial with New York City’s public libraries. The publisher is making all of its titles available in the trial, but would not comment on how much it is charging libraries for them. Read more at paidContent »
Ganxy, a startup that helps publishers sell and market ebooks online, is adding tools that will let them give away ebooks for free through targeted promotional campaigns. Read more at paidContent »
In a letter accompanying Amazon’s 2012 annual report, CEO Jeff Bezos focuses on the things that Amazon does because it wants to, not because it has to. Among them: Paying authors royalties more frequently, and spending “millions of dollars” to add Harry Potter to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Read more at paidContent »
Publishers and record labels are experimenting with serialized ebooks and EPs, which they sell at a discount to entice customers. But what happens when the full-length version goes on sale? Read more at paidContent »
Digg is working on a Google Reader replacement. Its survey of about 8,000 current Google Reader users suggests that many of them are sticking with it until the bitter end; so far, among alternatives, Feedly is in the lead. Read more at paidContent »
Ebooks accounted for nearly a quarter of the U.S. trade book business in 2012, according to statistics released Thursday by the Association of American Publishers. The ebook industry appears to be maturing, however, and triple-digit growth is likely a thing of the past. Read more at paidContent »
BajaLibros, a large Spanish-language digital bookstore headquartered in Argentina, announced its launch in the United States Wednesday. But the company may have trouble breaking through because Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple have all also launched Spanish-language bookstores in the U.S. Read more at paidContent »
Read Petite, an e-singles subscription site, will launch in the U.K. this fall. Waterstones founder Tim Waterstone is chairman. The site was founded by literary agent Peter Cox and consultant Martyn Daniels. Read more at paidContent »
Nonprofit Worldreader says that its e-reading app, which is aimed at users in the developing world on 2G networks, is now installed on over 5 million feature phones worldwide. The platform counts 500,000 active readers a month. Read more at paidContent »
Barnes & Noble has rebranded its self-publishing platform, PubIt!, as Nook Press, and is offering some new features intended to make self-publishing faster and easier. The platform is only available to authors in the U.S. Read more at paidContent »
A new site called Blackstrap will let you turn the articles you’ve saved on Instapaper, Pocket or Twitter into a $15 printed book. But does anybody actually need this service? Read more at paidContent »
In a new book, former Kindle exec Jason Merkoski examines where e-reading platforms are now and how they could change in the future. If you’re looking for secrets about Jeff Bezos, though, you’re in the wrong place. Read more at paidContent »
Thin Reads, a website devoted to e-singles, offers reviews of titles and statistics about the format. Read more at paidContent »
The European Union approved the merger of Random House and Penguin without conditions on Friday, saying it doesn’t pose a threat to competition. The U.S. approved the merger in February. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has led a $5 million investment round in Henry Blodget’s website Business Insider, which lost about $3 million last year but has been increasing its audience rapidly. Read more »
