Amazon MatchBook makes a big push for print book buyers to go digital

Amazon MatchBook, which lets customers who've previously bought the print edition of a book from Amazon score a digital copy on the cheap, is now open for business. Months in the making, the new service is a bold plan by Amazon to convert the world's stacks and stacks of books into digital form. At prices that range from free to $2.99 per book (the latter is by far the most common price point), even consumers with very large libraries won't have to spend a fortune to get copies of their old books in Kindle format. Part of the beauty of MatchBook is how seamlessly it integrates with the Amazon experience and customers' shopping history. By visiting the MatchBook home page (see the link above), it just takes one click for MatchBook to scour your entire Amazon purchase history, dating back to 1995, to turn up all the titles available for the discount. On the sellers' side, publishers have to opt in to have their books made available for the program, and about 75,000 titles are available for conversion to date. Many bigger publishers are playing it safe for the moment, with HarperCollins the largest mainstream book company in the mix. Harper reportedly has over 9,000 books enrolled in MatchBook, though its focus is heavily geared toward older titles instead of new releases. That, of course, makes sense: Publishers looking to skim a little more profit off of the bestsellers of 1998 aren't going to do it by marking down hardcover copies of those dusty old titles in 2013. To... Continue reading at 'PC World'

[ PC World | 2013-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #big push #kindle format #dating back #makes sense

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Amazon to open new fulfilment centre

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 11/07/2011 - 08:45 Amazon.co.uk is creating 900 jobs by opening its seventh fulfilment centre in Rugeley, Staffordshire. The 700,000 square foot centre will begin fulfilling orders from September and aims to employ more than 900 permanent and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fulfilment centre #temporary workers


Media Decoder: Sheila Bair to Write Book on Financial Crisis

Sheila C. Bair, who ended a tumultuous five-year term as chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this month, has landed a book deal to give her inside account of the financial crisis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins catches Amazon bestsellers

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 08/07/2011 - 08:27 HarperCollins has bought four books by Louise Voss and Mark Edwards, whose self-published novels have been Amazon bestsellers, in a six-figure, pre-empt deal. Commissioning editor Kate Bradley bought world rights from agent Sam... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #louise voss #mark edwards #self-published novels #pre-empt deal #coleridge white #physical edition


Print Units Drop 10% In First Half of 2011

Unit sales of print books sold through outlets measured by Nielsen BookScan fell 10.2%, to 307.1 million, in the first six months of 2011 ended July 3. The decline comes as no surprise as ebook sales continued to eat into sales of physical books, and the weak economy limited consumer purchases... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #physical books


Cinchcast Launches Audio Platform Cloud Solution for Digital Publishers

Cinchcast, whose technology has been used by BlogTalkRadio since 2006, released a cloud-based audio solution for digital publishers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital publishers


Mills & Boon strengthens digital team

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 07/07/2011 - 08:50 Mills & Boon is adding to its team in the UK, recruiting for four new positions across its digital and marketing departments. The publisher, based in Richmond, has already appointed a new web executive and digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #marketing departments


Claudia Mody leaves Waterstone's for The Book People

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 06/07/2011 - 08:01 Waterstone’s children’s range buyer Claudia Mody is to join The Book People as a buyer for Red House it's children's consumer-facing book club. Mody will start on 1st August at The Book People. Seni Glaister, chief executive... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book people #1st august #seni glaister


OFT set to probe Book Depository deal

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 11:26 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it is to investigate Amazon’s acquisition of The Book Depository. The official body has issued an “invitation to comment” notice asking for written representations about “any... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #announced yesterday #book depository


Amazon Buys U.K. Competitor

Amazon is making a move to become even more international. The online bookseller has just acquired the Book Depository International, a U.K. bookseller that distinguishes itself as being home to "the largest range of titles in the world." The terms of the deal have not yet been released, but the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book depository #free shipping #publishing arm #operate independently


South Korea to replace textbooks with digital by 2015

Written By: Michael Fitzpatrick Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 14:48 South Korea, the world’s most wired nation, has announced it expects to replace all paper text books with electronic tablets at its state run schools by 2015. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books launches prize in tribute to late founder

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:00 Walker Books has launched an award for new illustration to help mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the company's founder, Sebastian Walker. The Sebastian Walker Award will be run in collaboration with the MA course in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book illustration #20th anniversary #cambridge school #presented annually #walker books


M&A Soars for Digital and Marketing Services While B-to-B Media Deals Plummet

Mergers and acquisitions in the media, information, marketing services and tech sectors in the first half of 2011 may not be matching the breakneck pace of the first half of 2010 (which rebounded 61 percent over a dismal first half 2009) but were still up 3 percent in the number of deals (to... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #marketing services #breakneck pace


Study Says Tablet, E-Reader Users Haven’t Given Up Print

Men more likely to own tablets, women more likely to own e-readers according to GfK MRI. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Spotify for books" service launches

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed “the Spotify of books” has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #read books #service launches #launched today #justo hidalgo #offering access #offers customers


SourceMedia Announces New “Digital-Centric” Approach

SourceMedia is implementing a digital-centric strategy that includes adding 11 new digitally-based positions over the next two years. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Aardman Digital to redesign Walker website

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 29/06/2011 - 09:14 The digital wing of the company responsible for Wallace and Gromit is to redesign and relaunch Walker Books' website. The site is due to go live in early 2012 after a revamp by Aardman Digital. Among the features, Walker Books... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #aardman digital #walker books #young readers


E-books will "blow apart" cover design

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 09:28 E-books are set to "blow apart" cover design, with designers looking to create "identity packages" that can work for both print and digital editions, The Bookseller Cover Design Conference 2011 was told. Marketing strategist... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cover design #digital editions #british library


Judging E-Readers by Their Book Readability

If you're heading to the beach this summer and you plan to read an ebook, you won't want to take your iPad. Luckily, the latest versions of the Nook and the Kindle offer glare-free screens and other reader-friendly functions. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: The Question 'Who Is Herman Cain?' Soon To Be A Book

The Republican candidate has sold his memoir to the conservative imprint of Simon @ Schuster. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media decoder #herman cain #conservative imprint


AUDIO: The 'worrying' battle for books

Arts editor Will Gompertz's second report into the impact of technology on the publishing industry Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #arts editor #publishing industry