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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Barnes & Noble Announces New Nook; Amazon Responds with Cheaper 3G

Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch announced the new Nook, aimed at "those turned off by buttons." Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cornerstone releases Slaughter digital first

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 26/05/2011 - 08:38 The Random House Group has today released its first direct to digital fiction title, a short work by Karin Slaughter which will also feature the opening chapter of the thriller writer's next new book. The Unremarkable... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon reveals frontlist deal for Eisler at BEA

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Thu, 26/05/2011 - 08:52 Thriller writer Barry Eisler, who turned his back on a two-book deal for half a million dollars from St Martin’s Press, has decided to accept six figures from Amazon and become one of its first frontlist authors. The Eisler... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #million dollars #buy bn


E-Business Is the Buzz at Book Fair

This year’s BookExpo America, an annual publishing business trade show, is full of talk of e-reading and other shifts in the industry. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book fair


E-Book Prices Fuel Outrage--and Innovation

A pricing war among the big guns of the book industry is causing pain at the checkout screen, but sprouting new opportunities for writers and readers. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big guns #book industry


Amazon's Publishing Plans Cause Rivals Some Unease

Earlier in the week, Amazon announced that it was hiring Laurence Kirshbaum, the former CEO of Time Warner Book Group, to head a new publishing imprint. This seems like an odd time for Amazon to be making its mark on the pubishing industry: book sales are down, major book chains like Borders are... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing imprint #publishing executive #bookexpo america #digital side


Vintage launches digital campaign for debut

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 14:12 Vintage Publishing's Harvill Secker is launching a digital marketing campaign for one of its autumn debuts, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, teaming up with Failbetter Games. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to open new service centre for Kindle support

Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 14:24 Amazon is to open a new customer service centre in Edinburgh this August, with one of its roles to handle technical support for the Kindle. The move will create more than 900 permanent and temporary jobs over the next five years. The centre will be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beauman, Kelman and Joseph make Desmond Elliott shortlist

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 09:20 Two titles picked for BBC2’s "Culture Show" special on debut novelists, broadcast in March, have made it to the shortlist for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2011. Ned Beauman’s Boxer Beetle (Sceptre), also shortlisted for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kirshbaum move could reduce competition—BEA

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 09:41 Responses to Amazon.com's hire of Laurence Kirshbaum as publisher have varied from worried to fear of a "dampening" effect on competition among delegates at the BEA conference. Word that started to spread Sunday night was... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #laurence kirshbaum #publishing operation


Digital in the Black for First Time at Future

Future plc, the U.K.-based enthusiast publisher with a U.S operation in San Francisco, released half-year results for its fiscal 2011 and digital has become the star performer. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beautiful Books launches summer campaign

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 08:46 Beautiful Books has launched its own summer reading campaign, providing POS material and an extra 5% off the selected titles ordered by independent bookshops. The four titles being promoted through the Go Against the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookshops #debut authors #clockwork apple


Aurum reaches final frontier with Star Trek book

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 15:17 Aurum Press has bought a book delving into archive material from science fiction television show Star Trek. Commissioning editor Sam Harrison acquired UK and Commonweath rights to Star Trek Vault: 40 years from the Archives from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S defends Will & Kate "gypsy" wedding book

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 23/05/2011 - 15:41 Simon & Schuster has defended its publication of Will & Kate’s Big Fat Gypsy Wedding as “fun” and “gently humorous” after Tesco withdrew the book from sale, following complaints. The supermarket pulled the title after... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bringing E-books to Stores

Booksellers attending the Canadian Booksellers Association's National Conference in Toronto, May 13–15, were introduced to innovations from two Canadian companies designed to help bricks-and-mortar stores sell ebooks. Transcontinental Printing demonstrated its ebook distribution system, which... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Touts Growth of E-book Service and Store

Google's eBooks electronic bookstore now contains about 3 million free titles, up from 2 million when it was launched in December. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #e-book service


B&N Puts Focus on Digital [Voices]

Barnes & Noble Inc. is expected to debut a new e-reader on Tuesday, marking the latest chapter in the bookseller's battle with Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to dominate the fast-growing digital book sales business. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #latest chapter


B&N Puts Focus on Digital

Barnes & Noble Inc. is expected to debut a new e-reader on Tuesday, marking the latest chapter in the bookseller's battle with Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to dominate the fast-growing digital book sales business. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #latest chapter


Liberty Media makes offer for Barnes & Noble

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Fri, 20/05/2011 - 10:11 US bookseller Barnes & Noble has received an offer for the company from Liberty Media, a private investment group. The deal values the business at about $1bn, but Liberty said it expected to spend $500m on the acquisition... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AP Watt's King attacks 25% digital royalty rate

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 12:58 A P Watt chairman Caradoc King has become the latest agent to attack the 25% royalty rate on ebooks, with agency pricing and piracy also among topics under discussion at today's Westminster Media Forum. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ap watt #agency pricing