Amazon Picks Up Bibliophilic Social Platform Goodreads

Amazon continues to socialize itself. The e-commerce giant announced today that it has acquired bibliophilic social platform Goodreads. “Goodreads has helped change how we discover and discuss books and, with Kindle, Amazon has helped expand reading around the world. In addition, both Amazon and Goodreads have helped thousands of authors reach a wider audience and make a better living at their craft. Together we intend to build many new ways to delight readers and authors alike,” Amazon vp of Kindle Content Russ Grandinetti said in a company statement. At first glance and rightfully so, the acquisition is more of a “duh” deal than a move against Facebook or other social networks. People use Goodreads to document what they’re read, are reading and want to read and share those lists with others. Conceivably Amazon will use Goodreads—whose  16 million members have added more than four books per second to their “want to read” lists over the last month and a half—to improve Amazon users' and especially Kindle owners' ability to share that type of information and Amazon’s ability to use that information in recommending new books for people to purchase. But Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos are famous for thinking long-term, and in the long run, the acquisition could preempt Facebook’s interest in books as shareable content. Last month at All Things D’s "D: Dive Into Media" conference, Facebook’s vp of partnerships Dan Rose said that the company is priming books as the next type... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #independent entity #inching closer #couple months #profile pages #foreseeable future

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Amazon to acquire The Book Depository

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 12:29 Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire The Book Depository, the fast-growing online retailer founded by Andrew Crawford in 2004. Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of European Retail, said: "Customers in more... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Depository to "operate independently" of Amazon

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 16:00 The Book Depository has said it will continue to operate independently of Amazon, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was "too early" to say if today's takeover of the online bookseller would trigger an investigation.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Analytics Adds Social Engagement Tracking

On the heels of Google's two social media announcements—its +1 buttons and more recent Google+—the company has just announced the ability to track social engagement and activity in its Analytics package. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tony Blair picks Trotsky biography among his Desert Island Reads

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 24/06/2011 - 11:46 Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has demonstrated an affinity with political outsiders, fantasy worlds and religious prophets as he revealed his choice of favourite books for a new magazine. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Social enterprise group buys Garforth indie

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 22/06/2011 - 09:14 A social enterprise group has bought a struggling bookshop in a bid to support community spirit and help prevent loneliness. The Baraka Foundation runs two coffee shops and recently bought Garforth Bookshop in Garforth, near... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Amazon Must Do to Save Kindle Direct Publishing

As awesome as Kindle Direct Publishing is, it will be crushed by spam if Amazon doesn't take some action to control the amount of junk titles being dumped on it. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Six picked for BBC Samuel Johnson shortlist

Publication Date: Wed, 15/06/2011 - 08:50 Titles on Chairman Mao, the Cavaliers of the English Civil War and Italian artist Caravaggio have been shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2011. The six-strong list “a reflection of a remarkable publishing year” features Mao's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Surprise! Apple Has Also Built Social Contact Integration With Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and Myspace Into iOS 5

Apple's contact information page in the iOS 5 address book has a field not just for Twitter, but also offers space to add friends' handles on Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and Myspace. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Room leads Amazon Orange sales race

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 11:40 Amazon.co.uk has announced that Orange Prize shortlisted author Emma Donoghue’s Room (Picador) is leading sales on the website ahead of rival contenders for the award. The Orange Prize for Fiction is revealed tomorrow (8th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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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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 ]
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Zmags Introduces E-Commerce Platform CommercePro

Since the explosion of social media sites and web-capable smartphones and tablets, companies are ready to bring their content digital and engage with customers where they spend the most time - online. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-26 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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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 ]
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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 ]
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QOTD: About Those Amazon E-Book Sales…

“As a former Amazon Associate, I can tell you that a great many sales of Kindle Books are for the 99¢ complete Dickens, etc.” –Movie critic and Web publisher Roger Ebert, providing some context for Amazon’s stat about Kindle ebooks outselling print books. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Book Sales Pass Print on Amazon

While the Rapture isn’t scheduled to occur until Saturday, according to members of certain religious fringe groups, it looks like doomsday has come early for publishers of print books. Amazon announced Thursday that sales of ebooks on the site have finally surpassed combined sales of hardcovers... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle E-books Top Print Books Sales on Amazon

It happened. Amazon says ebook sales have surpassed physical book sales on Amazon.com. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Books Outsell Print Books at Amazon

Amazon.com said that it sold 105 ebooks for every 100 printed books, a milestone that its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, said had occurred sooner than expected. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to accept ePub files

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 09:59 Amazon has told US publishers that it will begin accepting digital files in the ePub format in the near future and will also allow users of its Kindle device to read ePub files. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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