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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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC runs digital innovation contest

  HarperCollins is challenging developers to create new digital products that reimagine... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SkyDrive, Complex team up for digital magazine distribution

Microsoft’s SkyDrive will host the latest digital issue of Complex magazine, in what might be an effective cost-saving solution for niche publications. Microsoft representatives also indicated that a similar partnership would be revealed on Thursday, with more of a pop-culture bent. The Complex... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple ebook deal 'cost millions'

A deal between Apple and publishers to set the price of ebooks cost customers "hundreds of millions of dollars", a government lawyer claims. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2013-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seeing Through Digital Eyes At The Biggest Book Expo In The Country

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[ Fast Company | 2013-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dwell Hires Yahoo Commerce Head to Run Digital Ops

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Insight: How Three UK Publishers Are Finally Making The Most Of Digital

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is Amazon Too Much Trouble to Deal With? One Pub Says Yes

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PublishNews Brazil: Brasilia Debates the Future of Digital Publishing

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Pioneer Goes Back to Print: No Ebook of Stephen King’s Latest

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Argentine import laws stifling digital sales

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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L,B's Blackfriars to publish crowd-sourced digital novel

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canongate signs deal for Creative Freedom

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Apple's E-Book Argument: Deals With Publishers Improved Competition

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[ AllThingsD | 2013-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MEI Portico Version 2.5 for Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Now Available

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Peek at Hearst’s Digital Strategy

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An App That Turns Digital Reading Into A Social Activity

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[ Fast Company | 2013-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst Magazines appoints president of digital media

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[ Media Week | 2013-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital consumer protection revealed in Queen's Speech

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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