We take a look at the new ebooks software Apple updated on Tuesday. The new scrolling view and social sharing of iBooks passages are interesting features updates, but may not be for everyone. Read more »
At Apple’s iPad Mini launch event in San Francisco on Tuesday, the company also announced updates to its e-reading platform, iBooks. In addition, Apple is reportedly expanding the iBookstore to 18 more countries, including many in Latin America. Read more »
Apple didn’t want to compete with Amazon on ebook prices. But it is already showing that it is more than willing to do so. And if customers are drawn to Apple’s new low prices on ebooks, it’s possible to envision the company’s ebook market share rising. Read more at paidContent »
Digital self-publishing site Smashwords is making it easier for self-published authors to get their ebooks into libraries. The site is allowing certain libraries to buy Smashwords titles in bulk, and is also adding custom library pricing options for its authors. Read more at paidContent »
Good way for a book to become a NYT bestseller: Have Jeff Bezos write about it on Amazon’s homepage. That’s what happened to Jessica Park, whose self-pubbed “Flat-Out Love” got a Bezos shoutout on June 18. This week, it hits the NYT ebook list at #25. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature tells the backstory of how one e-book became a bestseller, and highlights bestselling titles that are selling more copies in digital than in print. This week: A “new adult” romance for the college crowd. Read more at paidContent »
Calls for big-six publishers to drop DRM have increased in recent weeks, coinciding with the DOJ price-fixing lawsuit. In the meantime, one publishing industry executive tried breaking the DRM on purchased e-books — and isn’t going back. Read more at paidContent »
Last week, the Department of Justice sued Apple and five book publishers for allegedly colluding to set e-book prices. What does the suit mean for readers today and in coming weeks? Read more at paidContent »
J. K. Rowling’s Pottermore shop, the exclusive source for Harry Potter e-books and digital audiobooks, launched yesterday, and some muggles… Read more at paidContent »
Apple’s new iBooks digital textbooks initiative has seen 350,000 downloads in just three days, according to new info. That’s a strong start for Apple’s expanded educational offerings, but the real question will be whether that can translate into long-term success. Read more »
We’re here at Apple’s education event at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The company is expected to launch a set of tools that allow self-publishing of textbooks and possible partnering with textbook makers to push a digital learning initiative. The event and our live […] Read more »
As Thursday approaches, more details (or rumors) are leaking out about what Apple’s education announcement will entail: opinion appears to b… Read more at paidContent »
Access to past iTunes purchases through iCloud is a big plus when it comes to transferring media, and a competitive advantage for Apple’s digital sales ecosystem. But users who depend too heavily on it stand the chance of getting burned, as one customer recently discovered. Read more »
The newfound popularity of the e-book is now raising questions over what exactly it will look like in the future, since digital formats allow authors and artists to offer much more than what was possible with the printed page. Social and interactive experiences within the e-book can include not only text but also audio, video or even a combination of all three, and these factors have a direct effect on the evolution of the overall e-book market. In this analysis, we identify six competitive areas of that market that will see large-scale shifts in the near future. Such rapid change will mean that in just four to five years, what a book is and what publishing is will — to many — mean something radically different than it does today. Companies mentioned in this report include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google and Open Road. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In a holiday season when e-readers are more popular than ever, many consumers still don’t know how to give them to others as gifts. So today… Read more at paidContent »
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
On the official morning of its release, Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs is #1 on the Kindle bestseller list, #1 in Apple’s iBookstore and #2 on… Read more at paidContent »
Starbucks’ first e-book choice for its expanded pick-of-the-week program is The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern. Starbucks (NSDQ: SBUX) vis… Read more at paidContent »
Apple loves giving Starbucks customers free stuff. This week it introduced an ebook Pick of the Week to go along with the free song and app of the week programs it already has in place. Book codes from Starbucks can be redeemed through Apple iBookstore. Read more »
Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) has its Kindle Singles store and now Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is highlighting shorter reads in its own “Quick Reads” section,… Read more at paidContent »
Apple’s iBookstore originally launched with many major publishers on board, but Random House was a longtime holdout. Then, just over a day ago, Random House switched to the agency model for e-book pricing and today began populating the iBookstore with its titles. Read more »
At WWDC today, Steve Jobs actually mentioned iBooks, the iPad native e-reader, twice: once before and once after announcing iPhone 4. The first time was to say that later this month, the iBooks app will be receiving an update. Read more »
Budding authors are often only budding because it’s so difficult to get published. Apple has rolled out an opportunity that has big potential for unknown writers to get works published on a major online book outlet. The iBookstore is now open for such business. Read more »
The idea of reading on mobile devices is not new. Devices like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader have been around for a while, but with the buzz surrounding iBooks sparking more interest, are digital books worth it? Read more »
Just like Apple with its iBookstore, Zinio has established relationships with an impressive array of publications. As such, you can expect to find enhanced editions of magazines Cosmopolitan, T3 and Rolling Stone among others. However, unlike Apple’s iBookstore, Zinio certainly doesn’t live up to the hype. Read more »
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad several weeks ago, one of the key announcements was that the new tablet device would feature an e-reader. I have spent the last couple of weeks using the iBooks app and shopping in the iBookstore to see how it works. Read more »
Have a hankering to be a published author? With the iPad’s launch expected to exponentially increase interest in and demand for e-books, a new e-book publishing and distribution platform called Smashwords could be your ticket to , if not necessarily literary fame and fortune, at least the satisfaction of authorship and perhaps a few bucks of income enhancement. Read more »
Amazon got the ball rolling with the Kindle after years of stagnation in the market. Apple is going toe to toe with them with the launch of the iBookstore. So when I have an iPad in hand I’m going to be faced with a choice, use Apple’s iBooks solution, or stick with Amazon’s Kindle platform. Read more »
This is it, we’re in the final stretch. In a mere five days the iPad arrives. Now that we’re counting down the remaining days in single digits, all manner of ‘leaked’ information is pouring out of the tech blog rumor mill. Read more »
If you were concerned that you’d only be able to read things on your iPad if you ponied up some cash for the privilege, even if that amount turns out to be less than expected, worry no more. The iPad will launch with 30,000 free e-books. Read more »
According to at least one source, pricing of e-books sold through Apple’s iBookstore will not be as expensive we were initially led to believe. Many sources put the original price of bestsellers between $12 and $14, as compared to the $9.99 sweet spot offered by Amazon. Read more »
How do you control what will and won’t appear on your brand new platform on launch day if you’re Apple, without outright banning apps in a way that might invite accusations of attempting to start a monopoly? If it’s the e-book market you’re after, apparently all […] Read more »
Penguin doesn’t want to just continue releasing your standard, garden-variety e-books on a new platform with the iPad. CEO John Makinson showed off what his company had in mind for the platform at a presentation earlier this week, as reported by paidContent. Penguin is apparently looking to […] Read more »
One of the main reasons I like buying e-books for my Kindle instead of physical ones is the price advantage. Yes, portability is nice, and I don’t have to line my apartment walls with bookshelves just to hold everything, but I still do value the book […] Read more »
While Apple has yet to sell a single iPad, the device has already challenged the domination of Amazon and the Kindle for e-books, and now periodical and newspapers are experiencing this “iPad Effect” for their business models. At the TED conference, Wired Magazine Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson […] Read more »
Before the iPad announcement pundits, including myself, were frothing at the mouth over what an Apple tablet device might mean for the e-book industry. There were strong expectations that the iPad would revolutionize e-books. A week after the announcement, I have to admit that my expectations […] Read more »
