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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Amazon, EDC Drive Big Jump in Publishing Industry Stocks

The Publishers Weekly Stock Index jumped 59.2% in 2015 over 2014, propelled in part by a huge boost from Amazon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#DiverseDecember creators expand 'hugely popular' social media campaign to run for all of 2016

The original hashtag, created after the World Book Night failed to include BAME authors on its giveaway list, has rebranded as #ReadDiverse2016 to ‘celebrate diversity in all its forms’ for the whole year#DiverseDecember, last month’s celebration of writers of colour, was “hugely popular”... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Keeps Firm Grip on E-book Market, Even as the Format Loses Market Share

With sales of ebooks slipping and print books enjoying a mild rebound, ebooks’ share of consumer spending on books has declined over the past two years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US uni presses partner with Trajectory in digital services

Boston-based Trajectory has announced a partnership with the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) to provide metadata translation, distribution channels, and Natural Language Processing analysis to member-publishers' catalogs.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agents, Pros See Expanding Opportunities in Latin America

Literary agent Guillermo Schavelzon and other publishing professionals expressed optimism for the growing Latin American book market at the Guadalajara Book Fair. The post Agents, Pros See Expanding Opportunities in Latin America appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Comedian Keen's 'Game of Thrones' debut to Coronet

Coronet has bought The Science of Game of Thrones by stand-up comedian Helen Keen. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Illegal weapons available on Amazon, investigation finds

A Guardian investigation has revealed Amazon is selling illegal weapons on its website, including stun guns, pepper spray pistols and knuckledusters. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jim Naughtie: best bits from presenter's 21-year Today programme career – audio

The BBC looks back at the career of James ‘Jim’ Naughtie, as he stands down as a Today programme presenter after 21 years on Wednesday. Naughtie, who’s famous profanity slip-up has become renowned in broadcasting bloopers history, will become Radio 4 special correspondent and BBC Books editor... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Bottlenecks Frustrating Indie Publishers

This is the season in which the entire book industry depends upon consumer holiday purchases to drive sales and, for some, issues at Amazon are leaving their hottest titles languishing on shipping docks and sitting in truck trailers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bild and Amazon Cooperate on New German Bestseller List

For a long time, Der Spiegel published the only German bestseller list. Now, Bild and Amazon are cooperating to bring a new player to the game. The post Bild and Amazon Cooperate on New German Bestseller List appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Potter downloads give J K Rowling audio supremacy

The first-ever release of the Harry Potter series as audio downloads through Audible has seen J K Rowling dominate the e-tailer’s charts for the month of November, with all seven books featuring the boy wizard charting in the top 12. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Education Publisher Ditches Amazon, Sales Soar

Since its highly publicized decision to stop selling books through Amazon, sales at EDC have skyrocketed. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Your Bookshelves Are At the Heart of New Book Discovery Engine

A new app aims to shake up book recommendations with a little help from some bookshelf selfies. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon customers 'wish' for Harry Potter Colouring Book

The Harry Potter Colouring Book (Studio Press) has made it into the top 10 "most wished for presents of the year", according to Amazon.co.uk. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Audio Book Club Invokes Fates and Furies

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

[ Slate | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Playster All-Media Subscription Service Debuts in U.S.

The multi-content subscription service, in beta since 2014, has gone live. It offers tiered access to books, TV/film, music and video games, and has partnerships with such publishers as HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Amazon came to dominate fiction in translation

At a time when the translation market is shrinking, the internet giant’s publishing arm, AmazonCrossing, has leapt ahead as by far the biggest publisher of English versions of international titles this year. Alison Flood inspects its basketTranslation Tuesdays: read poetry, short stories and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon releases 'Reader's Edition' tablet

Amazon US has launched a new tablet "for readers" in time for Christmas called the Fire HD 8 Reader’s Edition. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon sells 86 items per second on Black Friday

Amazon UK said Black Friday this year was its busiest day ever, as it sold around 86 items per second. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon extends same day delivery to Scotland

Amazon.co.uk is expanding its Prime same day delivery service across the Midlands, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Milton Keynes. The service is now available to residents in Birmingham, Bristol, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Walsall and Wolverhampton, with further... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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