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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The FT Has “Crossed Over” to Become a Digital Business — but Can Anyone Else Replicate that Feat?

A new profile of the Financial Times is the latest piece to hold up the company as a model for traditional publishers that want to create a digital-era business. It sounds great, but it’s not very realistic. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Book Is Dead, Long Live the Book

Publishing houses are Germany's intellectual backbone. For many years, they created a culture of literary abundance and generated healthy profits. But in the age of Amazon, ebooks and self-publishing, they could be facing demise. Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2013-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Geithner lands book deal, release scheduled for 2014

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has a book deal.Mr. Geithner has an agreement with Crown Publishers, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Crown announced Thursday that Geithner's book, currently untitled, is scheduled for 2014.Mr. Geithner plans a "behind-the-scenes" account of the... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #crown publishers #president obama #random house #financial crisis #treasury secretary #obama administration #top officials #financial terms


Time Inc. spinoff could lead to more deals

The spinoff of Time Inc. to create the world's largest publicly-traded magazine publisher may be just the beginning of deals for the owner of People and Sports Illustrated.With analysts estimating an enterprise value of about $3.9 billion—a measure of what it could cost to buy a company—an... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Perry to 'go ahead' with book deal

Katy Perry has reportedly decided to write a book that includes details about her failed marriage to Russell Brand. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2013-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC signs Claire Kendal in six-figure deal

HarperCollins has signed a deal for two psychological thrillers from debut Canadian author Claire... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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RH US alters controversial terms for digital lists

Random House US has adjusted its proposed terms for authors with Random House's new digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary Magazines Adapt to the Digital Age

There are 866 publications in Poets & Writers’ database of literary magazines, 14 of which were added in early 2013. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Scholastic deal unfair' say indies

Independent bookshops have expressed frustration over the relationship between Scholastic Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Bookshop Windows Can Support Digital Promotion Campaigns

Dressing bookshop windows is a dying art, but if done with a sense of theatre, it can be a stepping stone to a digital campaign – one that the public unknowingly runs for you. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst hires Microsoft's Stephen Edwards for digital role

Hearst Magazines UK has appointed Microsoft ad executive Stephen Edwards to the new role of group digital sales director. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2013-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC says no deal done yet for Lonely Planet

The BBC has denied "a deal has been done" to sell a majority stake in Lonely Planet,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forget Digital-First, How About Technology-First?

Cygnus Business Media CEO John French, who was brought on three years ago just as the b-to-b media company came out of bankruptcy protection, has spent that time making some dramatic moves in an effort to turn the company around. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lewis Lapham: The Digital Age Will Produce “a Montaigne and a Shakespeare”

Lewis Lapham, editor of Lapham's Quarterly, believes we are still in the experimental phase of digital media, waiting for the next online Shakespeare to emerge. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lagardère Active Launches Unified Digital Platform for the Elle International Network

Editor's Note: This story originally appears on FOLIO: sister site, minonline.com Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut author gets 7-figure book deal

A debut author who graduated from the celebrated Iowa Writers' Workshop has a seven-figure book deal.HarperCollins announced Wednesday that it will publish Erika Johansen's Queen of the Tearling, a fantasy trilogy inspired in part by Barack Obama.A person with knowledge of the negotiations said... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audible 2.0 for iOS brings long-expected iPad support and a UI overhaul

When the iPad is seemingly tailor-made for books of all kinds, you'd think Audible would leap on the opportunity to produce an optimized audiobook app -- it wasn't quite so eager, as customers have since discovered. Apple tablet owners won't have to perpetually lean on the stock music app for... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital raunch on top in Japan

Homoerotic “Boy Love” manga aimed at young women and raunchy teen literature made up... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faster Digital Growth Key At MegaConference

Digital revenue will be foremost on the minds of newspaper publishers as three of their trade organizations converge on New Orleans next week. “It’s really important that we just keep pushing forward on how to maximize the digita ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital writing bursary launched

The Literary Platform and Bath Spa University have partnered on a new bursary for partnering... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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