Scribd, HarperCollins deal casts long digital shadow

Whether publishers want it or not, the Netflix model is coming to the book business.The San Francisco startup Scribd, best known as a site for posting PDFs of documents, announced Tuesday it is launching a multi-platform digital book subscription service that will provide access to a wide range of titles for $9 a month. Users can read ebooks on iOS and Android devices, as well as on Web browsers, and keep as many as 20 titles available for reading offline.Unlike other Netflix-like services that have launched recently, including Manhattan-based Oyster, Scribd is starting with thousands of titles from HarperCollins, or the majority of the publisher's backlist up until July 2012. Getting the cooperation of the so-called Big Five New York publishing houses has been the holy grail of subscription-service startups, and having even one of them represents a significant advance.More than 30 smaller publishers are also working with Scribd, including Sourcebooks, Workman and Kensington.Scribd, founded in 2007, also starts out with a high profile and an enormous user-base: It claims 80 million active readers monthly, and says that the subscription service—which soft-launched in January—has been growing by 60% every month. The company declined to provide subscriber numbers."There's never been an access model rolled out with this level of support and scale," said Trip Adler, Scribd's 29-year-old CEO and co-founder.Publishers have typically shied away from subscription services on the... Continue reading at 'Crains New York'

[ Crains New York | 2013-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Century buys book on digital dating

Century's Julia Twaites has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to He... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #acquired uk


DOJ demands Apple terminate publisher deals and rival ebookstore restrictions (updated)

In a decisive move in the legal battle surrounding Apple's fishy ebook pricing practices, the US Department of Justice has issued a proposed remedy aimed at leveling the playing field. The terms of the proposal, which requires approval by the court, call for an end to Apple's deals with major... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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DOJ Calls for Apple to End Book Deals, Link to Rival Bookstores

The Department of Justice and 33 state attorneys general on Friday called for an array of sanctions that they claim will "reset competition to the conditions that existed before the conspiracy." Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2013-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hacking Hollywood: A Fast Company Digital Edition

Get it now as an ebook, or from our iPad app. Hacking Hollywood: The Creative Geniuses Behind Homeland, Girls, Mad Men, The Sopranos, Lost, and More is a special edition of Fast Company that is available starting this month. Besides chronicling the tales of disruptive entertainment startups,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Times gains digital subscribers, but ad sales drop

New York Times Co., the newspaper publisher controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, reported second-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as it drew more subscribers for its digital editions.Excluding some items, profit was 14 cents a share, the company said today in a statement.... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Newspapers in a digital age: moving with the times and charging for it

For most of us the digital revolution started some time ago. Working in journalism for nearly 15 years means that I have seen things change enormously, but even back in the late 1990s it was clear that the web was where it was at -- or where it was going to be. Newspapers and magazines have had... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Siobhan Kenny to leave HarperCollins

Siobhan Kenny, group communications director for HarperCollins UK and International, is to leave... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jenkins digital edition from Profile

Profile is to release a digital edition of England's 100 Best Views by Simon Jenkins... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst Magazines Finds Chief Digital Exec at The New York Times

In its second major digital hire of late, Hearst Magazines has hired Todd Haskell from The New York Times as svp and chief digital revenue officer. Haskell will be responsible for driving sales and revenue for Hearst Magazines Digital Media’s 24 sites, including Cosmopolitan.com, Esquire.com... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin: 'Double digit growth with Waterstones'

Penguin UK achieved double-digit growth with Waterstones in the first six months of 2013, ahead... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookBub Ebook Deals Site Closes in on 1.5 Million Subscribers

With the simple concept of alerting readers to a curated list of discounted ebooks, Bookbub has attracted nearly 1.5 million users in just a year. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Drives Amazon Second Quarter Sales

Total revenue at Amazon rose 22% in the second quarter ended June 30, to $15.70 billion, while operating income fell 26%, to $79 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital story generator promotes Maas

Bloomsbury is promoting its forthcoming title Crown of Midnight by creating a digital story... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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EU regulator accepts Penguin offer to end dodgy ebook deals with Apple

After the European Commission accepted offers from Apple and four publishers to free up ebook pricing restrictions in December 2012, it's now accepted Penguin's commitment to do the same. Much like Penguin's vow to the US DOJ, it will end its agency agreements with Apple and other retailers, and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Axel Springer Sheds Oldest Print Titles in $1.2 Billion Deal

FRANKFURT, July 25 (Reuters) - Publisher Axel Springer struck a 920 million euro ($1.22 billion) deal to sell some of Germany's best-known newspapers and magazines, severing its oldest roots in order to intensify its focus on digital media. Th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital fiction to overtake paperbacks in 2014, says Nielsen

Nielsen is predicting that fiction ebooks will overtake sales of fiction paperbacks, but not... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Man Booker Prize long list includes writers Colum McCann, Tash Aw

While some books on this year's Man Booker prize long list have gotten buzz here in the US, none of them compare (so far) with the success of last year's winner, Hilary Mantel's 'Bring Up the Bodies.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chile’s Ebooks Patagonia on Latin America’s Digital Potential

In an interview, Javier Sepúlveda Hales of Ebooks Patagonia describes how his digital-only publishing company in Chile competes in Latin America and globally. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Virgo buys VirginMega

Mobile and interactive media group Digital Virgo has bought VirginMedia, the online sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Aquafadas Takes Off With New Digital Publishing System Release Version 3.0

Montpellier, France -- July 11, 2013 -- Aquafadas, innovative developer of digital publishing solutions, today announced the release of the Aquafadas Digital Publishing System 3.0, providing an even easier way to publish digital content acr ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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