This weekly feature looks at the books that are selling better in digital format than in print. This week’s pick: Nordic noir title “The Boy in the Suitcase.” Read more at paidContent »
Amazon launched a “Send to Kindle” extension for Google Chrome that lets users send articles to their Kindle. Other services, like Pocket and Instapaper, can do the same thing. Which one should you use? Read more at paidContent »
In an amicus brief responding to the DOJ’s proposed ebook pricing settlement against Apple and publishers, attorney Bob Kohn says the DOJ unwittingly showed that Amazon used predatory pricing on ebooks, and asks that the DOJ’s investigation of Amazon be turned over to the court. Read more at paidContent »
An incident in which an e-book lending site was shut down by a horde of angry authors with takedown notices — most of whom misunderstood the site’s purpose — is another example of how the publishing industry is fighting the same battles as the music industry. Read more »
The current Kindle Touch models are either unavailable or shipping in 8 to 9 days on Amazon, suggesting that new models are coming soon — possibly including a front-lit Kindle to compete with Barnes & Noble’s Nook with GlowLight. Read more »
Amazon is now renting print textbooks in addition to Kindle textbooks. In doing so, the company seeks to compete with Barnes & Noble as well as with startups like Chegg and BookRenter. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature examines certain ebooks’ paths to bestseller-dom, and highlights bestselling titles on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists that are selling more copies in digital than in print. Featured this week: R.L. Mathewson’s “Playing for Keeps” and “Perfection.” Read more at paidContent »
Despite its current decline, RIM is a different firm today than it was in 2007, with new management, a full awareness of its shaky position, an upcoming OS release and a number of lingering advantages that can still be leveraged. Here’s how it just might survive. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Mobile analytics companies provide app publishers with data about their users. Hiptype, a Y Combinator startup, wants to do the same thing for ebooks. That could be huge for data-starved book publishers — except that for now, Hiptype only works on platforms that support HTML5. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly feature examines certain ebooks’ paths to bestseller-dom, and highlights bestselling titles on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists that are selling more copies in digital than in print. Featured this week: Bella Andre’s “Sullivans” series and Courtney Walsh’s “A Sweethaven Summer.” Read more at paidContent »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Amazon changed the game when it offered 3G access in its Kindle e-readers at no charge. That connection is great to have, but those who use it to browse the web won’t be happy: Amazon now limits that Internet on-ramp to just 50 MB per month. Read more »
This weekly feature examines certain ebooks’ paths to bestseller-dom, and highlights bestselling titles that are selling more copies in digital than in print. This week: Flappers, chaperones and the power of the Kindle Daily Deal. Read more at paidContent »
This weekly column examines certain ebooks’ paths to bestseller-dom, and highlights bestselling titles that are selling more copies in digital than in print. This week: Self-published young adult romance takes off again. Read more at paidContent »
In an effort to make ebook gift-giving more spontaneous and fun, Los Angeles-based startup Livrada is partnering with Target to sell gift cards for bestselling ebook titles like “50 Shades of Grey” and “Gone Girl” in the chain’s 1,771 stores nationwide. Read more at paidContent »
Cloud-based storage and cross-device syncing of media content are two of the most competitive areas in consumer IT. Apple, Google and Amazon see cloud-based media services both as a way to increase attachment to their platforms and a means to extend and amplify their broader strategic goals. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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 »
New reports from the American Libraries Association and Pew Internet and American Life Project reveal that despite the increasing number of e-books available to library patrons, libraries themselves face big challenges in weathering the transition. Read more at paidContent »
Penguin, which removed ebooks from libraries and ended its relationship with distributor OverDrive in February, is tiptoeing back into the digital lending waters again. In a 1-year pilot program with OverDrive competitor 3M, Penguin will make ebooks available to the New York and Brooklyn Public Libraries. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon and the U.S. State Department have a deal: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will announce the global launch of the Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative on Wednesday, June 20 at a press conference in Washington, D.C. 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 »
Amazon is selling at least two Amazon Publishing titles in other digital bookstores. Until now, it has sold its e-books exclusively through the Kindle Store. Read more at paidContent »
On Monday, I reported that the U.S. State Department was considering a $16.5 million deal with Amazon Kindle. Yesterday I was able to interview State spokesman Philippe Reines about the program. But I still have a few questions. Read more at paidContent »
German e-reading service txtr hopes to take on Amazon and Apple by becoming the biggest provider of third party reading apps — and a deal with four major American publishers and a New York office could be the latest steps in that journey. Read more »
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Three months after Amazon yanked book distributor IPG’s 5,000 titles from the Kindle store in a fight over terms, the two companies have come to an agreement and Amazon has restored the titles. IPG’s letter to clients is below. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon is finally banning some of the junkier content in the Kindle Store, including “content that is freely available on the web, unless you are the copyright owner of that content.” Read more at paidContent »
UK bookstore chain Waterstones has signed an agreement with Amazon to sell the Kindle in its 300 stores and “launch new e-reading services.” The news is a blow for Barnes & Noble, which was rumored to be working with Waterstones on the Nook’s international launch. 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: Crashing a book about the financial crash. Read more at paidContent »
Nokia is launching its Reading app and e-bookstore for the Lumia Windows Phone in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK. In doing so, the company hopes to bring more local-language e-books to countries where e-readers haven’t yet taken off. Read more at paidContent »
This new 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 book that plays itself on TV. Read more at paidContent »
Is Amazon seriously launching a tech blog to compete with gadget blogs like the Verge and Gizmodo? According to a new report, yes. The funny thing is that Amazon already has a gadget blog, plus seven other blogs on topics like food and music. Read more »
Amazon will make all seven Harry Potter e-books available in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. “It’s a commercial deal that makes sense even with a level of cannibalization of sales,” Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne tells paidContent, “but I believe it will actually drive greater sales.” Read more at paidContent »
Amazon’s Kindle home page and a Harry Potter owl promise “wizardry on the way.” Read more at paidContent »
Google has started selling e-books in Italy through Google Play. It’s the company’s first foray into foreign-language e-books, and Google will be competing against Amazon’s Italian Kindle Store. Read more at paidContent »
A new deal between independent e-bookstore Diesel eBooks and rewards points company Koinz Media lets people redeem their bank and hotel rewards points and airline miles for e-books. But Kindle e-reader owners won’t benefit. 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 better in digital than in print. This week: Marriage to a billionaire. Read more at paidContent »
According to a memo obtained by The Verge, Target will stop carrying Kindles in its stores or on its website after Mother’s Day. Read more »
Before Barnes & Noble debuted the Nook with GlowLight last week, I had already bought a Kindle Touch even though it didn’t work in the dark. Now it does, thanks to the Amazon Kindle Touch lighted case. Does this solution work for e-ink? See for yourself. Read more »
Although Microsoft invested $300 million in a Barnes & Noble spin-off on Monday, this isn’t the first time Microsoft played the e-book game. Typical for the company, it often has great ideas, but it errs on the timing: Microsoft debuted e-book software back in 2000! Read more »
