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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Getting a read on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

More than 400 authors are scheduled over the two days at USC. Writers as varied as Anne Rice and Jeff Kinney will hold court.What do Sugar Ray Leonard, Judy Blume, Betty White, T.C. Boyle, Rodney King, Joseph Wambaugh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in common? They're just a few of the high-profile... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anne rice #jeff kinney #judy blume #rodney king #kareem abdul-jabbar


Amazon buys rights to Bond novels

Amazon announced that it has purchased the North American rights to Ian Fleming's James Bond books. James Bond, of course, is the debonair British superspy 007, played on film by a number of actors, including Sean Connery (above). Under the agreement, Amazon will retain republication rights for... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon announced #ian fleming #james bond #print books


Pricing and digital dominate at LBF

Publisher concerns over whether the ebook agency model can survive globally in the wake of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CourseSmart may expand into trade books

E-textbook rental specialist Coursesmart is considering expanding its offer to trade titles, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade books #trade titles


Hudson tells LBF of 'focus on digital’

Random House will focus on international partnerships, engage directly with customers and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house


'Traditional' digital for new J K

J K Rowling's first adult book, The Casual Vacancy, will have a more traditional digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #adult book #casual vacancy


Julie Andrews, Culture Clash and more on arts at Festival of Books

Schedule for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC.This weekend, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books takes place at USC and includes arts-related performances, talks and readings . See events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/program-schedule/ for the complete schedule. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #julie andrews #culture clash


Digital media takes home a Pulitzer

The Huffington Post—and digital media—has won its first Pulitzer Prize. The award went to David Wood, in the category of national reporting, it was announced Monday by Columbia University, which administers the prizes.A longtime print journalist who did stints at Time magazine and the Los... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen greenblatt


Managing the Digital Audience

Managing a digital audience is truly a mixed bag: on one hand, it is now possible to understand more about who is consuming what content, where and how-maybe even why; on the other hand, it can be incredibly complicated, despite all the advantages, to do so. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital audience #mixed bag


Kobo reveals big plans

Kobo will launch its self-publishing platform this quarter and plans on expanding to “a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #self-publishing platform


Book world expresses disappointment, outrage over Pulitzer snub

Pulitzer juror Susan Larson said she and the rest of the fiction jury are 'shocked … angry … and very disappointed' that the Pulitzer board elected not to choose a 2012 fiction winner. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder Blog: Pulitzer Fiction Snub Has Book Publishers Fuming

An unconventional collection of novels failed to generate a consensus among the Pulitzer board members. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Fifty Shades of Grey' by E.L. James is selling books (and more)

'Fifty Shades of Grey' by E.L. James and sequels are an ebook and paperback phenomenon that is also causing a sales spike in sex shops. How did it all happen?The staff of the Pleasure Chest, a high-end West Hollywood sex shop, were first tipped to the "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon by their... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fifty shades #selling books #young woman #west hollywood


Pulitzer Prize for Malcolm X book

The late Manning Marable has won the Pulitzer Prize for history, honoured for a Malcolm X book he worked on for decades, but did not live to see published. For the first time in 35 years, no fiction prize was given. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pulitzer prize #fiction prize


Book review: 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed

A journey across the Pacific Crest Trail turns into an exercise of triumph over grief for Cheryl Strayed in her memoir, 'Wild.'Toward the end of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, "Wild," the author, who is in the middle of hiking 1,100 miles alone across the West Coast's formidable Pacific Crest Trail,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hiking boots #book review #cheryl strayed #west coast


The Media Equation: Amazon Low Prices Disguise a High Cost

An antitrust suit may provide short-term price reductions on ebooks, but once the competition is flattened, Amazon is likely to resume its monopolistic ways. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media equation #high cost #antitrust suit


Digital Minds: choice not to pay becoming 'more viable'

Getting to the consumer, getting the right content to that consumer, and then making this... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital minds


E-book sales growth is slowing

Publishers hoping that digital sales would make up for the decline in physical books are worried. Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2012-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers hoping #digital sales #physical books


Apple defends ebook price-fixing by calling Amazon a monopoly

Apple shot back at critics and the Justice Department late Thursday, denying claims that it colluded with publishers to keep the price of ebooks artificially high. Even more interesting? The Cupertino, Calif. company took a veiled shot at Amazon, saying its actions were necessary to break up the... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2012-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #monopolistic grip #key businesses #tablet market


Apple: E-book price-fixing accusation 'simply not true'

Apple Inc.  is denying antitrust charges filed against it and five major book publishers this week that accuse the companies of a price-fixing scheme to inflate the prices paid for electronic books. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #electronic books