Mike Luckwell buys struggling title from Jon Moulton's private equity company, Better Capital, with plan to target over-50sReader's Digest has been sold for just £1 to Mike Luckwell, whose previous major investments have included Bob the Builder creator HIT Entertainment and WPP.Jon Moulton's private equity company, Better Capital, has offloaded Reader's Digest UK – the waiting room staple that was once the biggest selling magazine in the world – after investing tens of millions of pounds into trying to rejuvenate the struggling business.Luckwell, the venture capitalist whose personal fortune is estimated at more than £135m, has acquired the title with the aim of targeting the "frisky over-50s" group that holiday and insurance company Saga has built a successful business on."Saga cleverly focused on holidays and the financial sector for the over-50s, but now has a finger in many pies," Luckwell said. "Today it has annual sales running into hundreds of millions – that merits a bit of competition."Luckwell said the acquisition will provide access to a database of more than 1.5 million names, of which only 9% have recently purchased a Reader's Digest product."There is significant potential to further develop and utilise those large databases," he said.Better Capital took the business out of administration in a £13m management buy-out in April 2010, and has since ploughed a further £23m into the company.The investment failed to fuel a turnaround at the title, which no longer... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Los Angeles Times looks into the growing availability of Spanish-language ebooks and increasing confidence in the US Spanish-speaking market. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The surging popularity of the Kindle and Nook allows publishers to offer Spanish-language books in the U.S. at far lower prices than for printed copies. For decades, finding Spanish-language books in the U.S. was like tilting at windmills. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IBM is unveiling their new Watson for Business on Thursday, a $1 billion project devoted to bringing big data to every educational institution, pharmaceutical firm, and publishing house in America--and they're offering more than $100 million in venture capital to developers.IBM is announcing the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has said it took orders for more than 36.8 million items worldwide on Cyber Monday (2nd... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Top off your last-minute holiday shopping list with these four fabulous picture books for young readers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#young readers
For anyone struggling with choosing the perfect literary present this holiday season, there’s a large, vocal, and opinionated group that just might be able to help: the more than one million subscribers to the Books category on Reddit, the popular social media Web site. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What's the best device if you want to embrace a post-paper reading world? That all depends on whether you want a dedicated reading device or a more versatile tablet. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Survey finds that 62% of 16 to 24-year-olds prefer traditional books over their digital equivalentsSixteen to 24-year-olds are known as the super-connected generation, obsessed with snapping selfies or downloading the latest mobile apps, so it comes as a surprise to learn that 62% prefer print... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Manhattan court case about digitisation rights has brought books and the web a step closer togetherOn 14 November, after eight years of wrangling, Judge Denny Chin of the Manhattan district court finally ruled in the case of Google versus the Authors Guild. At issue was Google's scanning and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A consistent brand online is the key quality publishers need, according to speakers at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A collection of first edition books illustrated by the Edwardian artist Arthur Rackham has sold for more than £40,000 at auction. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Guns & Ammo magazine is facing stiff backlash from its readers after publishing an editorial in its December issue supporting gun regulation.The magazine's Facebook page has been inundated in the last 24 hours with people claiming they've either canceled their subscriptions or pledging to... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To compete against the Kindle, Barnes & Noble is going back to its roots, leveraging decades of bookseller expertise to make its Nook e–reader feel more like a paper book. Released Wednesday, the new Nook Simple Touch GlowLight features a brighter, sharper display; lighter body; improved... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A study by the Pew Internet Project released on October 18 shows new information on the pervasiveness of tablets and smartphones in U.S. homes. The study compiled information received from 6,224 phone interviews across The Nation from ages 16 and up. According to results, tablet ownership has... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At Books in Browsers 2013, the summit kicked off with several discussions about how readers, both as consumers and creators of content, are transforming the book publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, a destination literary and arts festival created in response to the Bali bombings in 2002 Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online booksellers like Amazon and Kobo have begun banning self-published titles featuring themes like incest and bestiality. But now, some readers complain, other erotic titles are disappearing as well. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the New Republic, Evan Hughes argues that the book business has fared far better than music, movies and other media in sustaining its value to consumers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It was just more than a year ago that Ev Williams and Biz Stone created the publishing platform Medium. The Internet officially met the site in August 2012, and since then, Medium’s popularity has grown enough for even the most ske ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News UK (formerly News International) installed a new KODAK PROSPER S30 Imprinting System, bringing the total to 22 PROSPER S30s installed by the British newspaper publisher, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The current publisher ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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