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 ]
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The Audio Book Club Ventures Between the World and TNC

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

[ Slate | 2015-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launches £50 tablet

Amazon has launched a new budget tablet for under £50. The device will be priced at £49.99 and will include a 7 inch IPS display, “all-day” battery life and the new Amazon content ecosystem – Amazon Underground. Through Amazon Underground, customers can shop for items including books and movies... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon founder invests $200m in space project

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed plans to build a rocket manufacturing plant and launch site from Florida’s ‘Space Coast’, the area around Kennedy Space Centre and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Bezos’ space start-up, Blue Origin, will invest $200m in new manufacturing facilities and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon row over explicit ebooks

Amazon has come under fire from the NSPCC after a 12-year-old girl stumbled across explicit material on its website while searching for free ebooks. The girl’s mother, referred to only as Nicola, has complained to Trading Standards and The BBC her daughter typed “free Kindle books for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Thomas & Mercer signs three from Edwards

Amazon publishing imprint Thomas & Mercer has acquired three more novels by Mark Edwards. Emilie Marneur, editorial director of Amazon, signed world rights to the three books with agent Sam Copeland of Rogers, Coleridge and White. The first book, The Devil’s Work, is a psychological... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Milton to lead expanded Harlequin publishing business

Lisa Milton is to join HarperCollins as executive publisher of its Harlequin UK publishing division, with Tim Cooper, UK managing director, departing. The development follows the relocation of the company from its Richmond base to HarperCollins’ office at London Bridge over the summer with the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon appoints director of social responsibility

Amazon has appointed a director of social responsibility, Christine Bader, amid criticism over its business practices. The online retailer is facing scrutiny over how its policies affect the outside world, with its cloud services division consistently receiving low grades in Greenpeace’s cloud... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon brings Kindle Scout to UK

Amazon has expanded its Kindle Scout crowd-sourcing publishing programme to the UK. The programme was launched in the US last October and has been rolled out to other countries in Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and India, among others. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon removes Into the River ebook

Online retailer Amazon has removed an electronic version of Ted Dawe's Into the River after it was slapped with an interim ban earlier this week. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2015-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CILIP called on to oppose 'amateurisation' of library service

CILIP member Andy Richardson has called on the organisation to oppose the “amateurisation” of public library services. Richardson said that allowing library services to be run by volunteers in the local community with little or no funding for professional or paid library staff, proposed by many... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Launch Kindle Unlimited in India with Local Partners

Amazon launched Kindle Unlimited in India with local publishing partners that include Jaico, Westland, Grapevine, Orient, and Sinclude, and more promised. The post Amazon Launch Kindle Unlimited in India with Local Partners appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nord Compo Looks to Expand in the U.S. Book Market

Nord Compo, a French publishing technology company looking to expand in the U.S., offers a variety of prepress services. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Memorial service for Ruth Rendell announced

A memorial service for the late Ruth Rendell is due to held next month. Rendell died on 2nd May at the age of 85, almost four months after being admitted to hospital after suffering a critical stroke. A service for Rendell will be held on Thursday 29th October at All Saints Margaret Street,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Findaway, TuneIn Partner for Audiobook Subscription Service

TuneIn Premium will give subscribers access to unlimited content, including more than 40,000 audiobooks powered by Findaway, from publishers including Penguin Random House Audio, HarperCollins Publishers, and Hachette Audio. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hawkins has biggest-selling Amazon ebook of 2015

Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train (Transworld) is Amazon.co.uk’s biggest selling ebook of 2015 so far, the retailer has revealed. The list of top 20 ebooks of the year is dominated by female authors, with E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey companion novel, Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon+Baby+Cancer+Book Editor = Epic Fail

While Editorial Director of Amazon Publishing, Julia Cheiffetz had a baby and got cancer, only to have her insurance cancelled and her responsibilities cut. The post Amazon+Baby+Cancer+Book Editor = Epic Fail appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Girl on the Train tops Amazon's UK ebook sales this year so far

Paula Hawkins’ bestseller leads a crop of psychological thrillers, in a top 20 dominated by womenDark psychological thrillers dominate the list of the year’s bestselling ebooks unveiled by Amazon, with MP Nadine Dorries making it into a line-up composed almost entirely of female writers.The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To Defy Amazon, Kinokuniya Corners the Market on New Murakami

Kinokuniya, Japan's largest bookstore chain, has purchased 90% of the print run of Haruki Murakami's new book to encourage readers to go to physical store. The post To Defy Amazon, Kinokuniya Corners the Market on New Murakami appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd Switching to Two-Tier Audiobook Service

Continuing to tinker with its subscription ebook business model, Scribd has unveiled a two-tier audiobook service that will restrict unlimited access while instituting a credit-based system and payment for access to certain titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors United asks DOJ for Amazon probe

Campaign group Authors United has written to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to ask it to investigate Amazon, which it says has “gained unprecedented power over America’s market for books”. The letter, signed by 575 authors including Scott Turow, Nelson DeMille and Nora Roberts and submitted... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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