Amazon Recruits Comedians, Engineers for Expanding Audio Service

Amazon.com Inc. is ramping up its investment in podcasts and other radio-style shows to expand the types of programming it offers via Audible, the audio book company it acquired in 2008.Audible has recruited well-known comedians, along with radio and podcast producers for the initiative, and job postings suggest a significant global push. Maria Bamford and Jonathan Katz are taping episodes of "Bedtime Stories," a show in which comedians rewrite fairy tales, according to their manager Bruce Smith.Entertainment plays a crucial role in Amazon's effort to push beyond its core business of selling books, laundry detergent and televisions online. The Seattle-based company's original films and TV shows have won critical acclaim and helped increase the appeal of its $99-a-year Prime service, which includes delivery discounts along with video and music streaming. Audible has more than 250,000 audio programs including books and plays, with downloads available for iPhones, Androids and other smartphone systems. Continue reading at AdAge.com Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2016-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #selling books #laundry detergent #tv shows #music streaming

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Camex 2015: College Stores Revamp; Amazon, Indies Arrive on Campus

Five years ago, the National Association of College Stores issued a white paper that looked forward to what the state of the college store would be in 2015. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pedigree expands education range

Exeter-based independent children's publisher Pedigree is expanding its education range based on licensed characters, with titles featuring Postman Pat, Barbie and Angry Birds due this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Publish First Titles from Kindle Scout

Amazon opens pre-ordering for the first 10 titles coming from its crowdsourced publishing platform. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Will Amazon Prime Now Hurt Manhattan Bookstores?

Amazon has made its Prime Now one-hour delivery service available in Manhattan, and the service includes books. How will it impact B&N and other bookstores? The post Will Amazon Prime Now Hurt Manhattan Bookstores? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Memorial service for Simon Master

A memorial service for former Random House group deputy chairman Simon Master will take place on Friday 17th April. The service will take place at at St Luke’s Church, Sydney Street, London SW3 6NH at 11 a.m. and will be followed at 12.15p.m. by a reception in the Culford Room, Cadogan Hall, 5... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memorial service #simon master #st luke #sydney street #master died #16th january #central america


CAMEX 2015: A Show of Amazon and Disruption

Amazon had an outsized presence at this year's campus retail educational conference in Atlanta. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones Piccadilly expands children’s section

Waterstones’ flagship Piccadilly store is expanding its children’s section after a sales increase of 20%. London regional manager Luke Taylor said the company decided to re-think the space after “the recent explosion in children's sales”, driven by reference, games and educational related... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sales increase #company decided #recent explosion #harper lee #related products


EBSCO Buys YBP Library Services from B&T

EBSCO officials called the acquisition of YBP Library Services, a leader in serving academic libraries, a "significant investment." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bertelsmann to 'massively expand in Brazil, China and India

Bertelsmann is to “step up” its investments in the education and digital media sectors in Brazil, China and India. The company will also look to expand its existing activities in the areas of TV production, books, magazines and services in the three countries. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Do you love Amazon? There's a Valentine's Day sale going on

Amazon, originally known as a book seller, has become an all-around retail super store with a growing list of its own electronics. Sales are not infrequent as the company tries to push its devices, in many cases selling them at a loss with plans to make up the money once the customer is... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2015-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #day sale #book seller #growing list #special gift


AP Expands Live Video Offering as 'Slow Television' Grows Online

The Associated Press (AP) is expanding its live video offering as digital publishers from across the media spectrum look to show more live video online.   Multiple live streams will now be available on AP's digital Video Hub platform, which ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Audio Book Club Does Battle Over Redeployment

To listen to the Audio Book Club discussion of Redeployment, click the arrow on the player below. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2015-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon tool converts print into ebooks

Amazon customers in the US can now convert their print titles into Kindle books with a software package called Kindle Convert. Currently available in the US for computers running Windows 7 and 8, the software helps users to scan in pages of their print books, converting the image into usable... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon customers #print titles #kindle books #print books #include features


Tracking Amazon: New Harper Lee Tops The Charts

'Go Set a Watchman,' to be released by HarperCollins this July, claimed the #1 spot on Amazon's chart, with 'Mockingbird,' written 50 years prior, jumping #7,564 to the #2 spot. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Kindle Convert turns paper books into ebooks, if you're patient

Got books to digitize and plenty of patience? Amazon's Kindle Convert software will let you scan them at home. As spotted by The Ebook Reader, Kindle Convert is a $50 PC application that turns printed pages into Kindle ebooks. It should work with most scanners, provided they support at least... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #handwritten notes #kindle book #ebook reader #kindle format


Amazon Unveils First Staffed Location On a College Campus

Purdue University, the second of three colleges in the country to have a co-branded online store with Amazon, now has the first staffed campus location from the e-tailer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon, the greedy giant with small publishers in its grip

To sell online, indie publishers must use Amazon. But its methods leave them out of pocket – or out of sight, paying hidden charges, says the founder of Linen Press Indie publishers need transparency and support from online companies that sell their books. Amazon fails such publishers on both... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Prime fuels Amazon fourth quarter profit

An increase in Prime membership subscriptions helped Amazon to a fourth quarter profit. The e-commerce giant has been under pressure from investors to return a good result after reporting a loss for the previous two quarters of its financial year, but shares recovered yesterday (29th January)... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Police raid Amazon’s headquarters in Japan

Police have raided Amazon’s headquarters in Tokyo following complaints about the wide availability of child pornography on its website. In a statement to The Bookseller, Amazon said it is co-operating fully with the police. “We don’t permit illegal items on our site, and we have systems and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Lost $241 Million on $88 Billion in Sales

For the full year, sales increased 20% to $88.99 billion at Amazon, but the company had a net loss in the year of $241 million compared with net income of $274 million in 2013. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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