When is a book not a book? When it is performed by a starry cast of hundreds. Except it has always been more complicated than thatNews this week of a 17% hike in the UK’s audiobook sales might seem like a niche business story, but it raises an existential question. What exactly is an audiobook today? Is it a book? Is it a play? Or is it becoming something else entirely? What is clear is that a jostle for market dominance is driving it into new dimensions. The streaming platform Spotify followed its move into podcasting two years ago with the launch of an audiobooks business. Though it has yet to start making its own recordings, last autumn it made a deal for 200,000 audiobooks to be available to its premium users.Not to be outdone, Amazon-owned Audible – accustomed to being the market leader – upped its game, hiring the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes to record multi-voice versions of the Dickens novels Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, and announcing last month that it had reached an agreement for a recording of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, voiced by more than 100 actors and featuring a “groundbreaking new soundscape”. The new Potter audiobooks, it said, would not usurp but “sit alongside and complement” conventional recordings by Stephen Fry and Jim Dale, which Audible also hosts. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-10 17:25:03 UTC ]
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Crowdfunding, and Kickstarter in particular, continue to make inroads in book publishing, providing financing for everything from one-off projects to support for entire lists. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has created a consumer marketing development and operations group which will be led by Amanda Close. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple attorneys argue that sending the matter to the Second Circuit would “save judicial resources by potentially avoiding the need for a costly trial.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Assuming HarperCollins’s agreement to acquire Harlequin for C$455 million (about $412 million) is approved by government regulators, the purchase will mark HC’s second major purchase in a little more than two years and further cements the company as the country’s second-largest trade publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The announcement that Amazon intends to buy Comixology has raised a number of questions from consumers, publishers and retailers. Here are seven big questions about the future of digital comics on Comixology and Amazon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Guardian Faber has acquired a new book by actor and comedian David Mitchell. Commissioning... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A look at DC Comics periodical sales trends in 2013 shows strong titles at the top buoying some weaker titles at the bottom. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Audible founder Don Katz launched the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) platform in May 2011, he said one of the main goals was to help increase the number of audiobooks released into the market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The New York Public Library has launched a new online book recommendation engine powered by Bookish Recommends from New York digital startup Zola Books. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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5 fifteen, a premier supplier of consulting services and cloud-based software solutions designed for newspaper and magazine publishers, has appointed Bluefin Technology Partners, a leading provider of online classifieds and self-service advertising s ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the six months since its debut, the $14 million Oyster ebook subscription platform has yet to take off. What's lacking? What could be improved? We advise. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When print was thriving, advertisers would simply use brands as a proxy for the audience they wanted to reach. Want moms? Buy People magazine. Now marketers know more about their targets, have better tools to find them and more ways to reach them. And traditional publishers stood by as... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The industry can learn about quality, and maintaining readers' loyalty, from the arrival of the Guardian and New York TimesThe recent, dramatic arrival of tanks – in the form of some of the world's biggest news organisations, including of course the Guardian – on the content marketing industry's... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As print advertising revenue erodes for the consumer magazine industry as a whole, there are titles finding success catering to pockets of readers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A visit to the Gwanghwamun branch of Kyobo, Korea’s largest bookstore chain, provides many clues to the country’s present book market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Humble Bundle, the online venture that distributes bundles of digital content for a price decided by the consumer, is releasing its third bundle of ebooks, including a self-produced DRM-free audiobook of Cory Doctorow's novel "Homeland." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Business Insider, one of the sites at the forefront of creating a native digital publishing model, happily announced the other day an additional investment of $12 million, bringing its total to about $30 million. Started by former securities ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While e-commerce is a new territory for many publishers, Dwell has taken a decidedly integrated approach between what they feature in their magazine pages and what they sell in their online store. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In January, CNN announced staggering growth in the number of users accessing their content on mobile devices. For 2013, the company averaged 30 million monthly unique visitors on mobile, an increase of 40 percent over 2012. ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poland’s second-largest bookstore chain, Matras, is set to be sold. Potential buyers include book distributor FK Olejesiuk and a consortium of publishers, led by Prószyński. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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