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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Morgan Baden is responsible for directing social media strategy at Scholastic and engaging teen readers online. Hear her speak at Reaching Readers Book Marketing Conference on May 28 in NYC. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 2012, Brazil became the latest battleground for the big international ebooksellers. Ebook sales have since skyrocketed, with Apple in the early lead ahead of Amazon. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book publishing has been famously slow to embrace technology, but some industry executives are hoping it's never too late to change. Taking a page from the tech community, an independent publisher and a top talent agency will announce Monday that they have joined forces to host the first-ever... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facing a 30% slowdown in growth in the US, Smashwords' CEO Mark Coker says the big opportunity is abroad and the company is doing more to cater to non-English speakers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online publishers predict digital revenue will grow by 15% year on year in 2013, according to the annual census from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP). Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2013-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The manga market may be smaller than it was five years ago, but a substantial fanbase remains. Publishers are optimistic that the decline has come to an end, that long-awaited digital initiatives are attracting readers, and that the manga market is stabilizing at a new, sustainable level. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robyn Carr might not be a household name, but she’s certainly a force to be reckoned with on the bestseller lists. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers breathed a sigh of relief last week as federal judge Richard Sullivan dealt a setback to any potential resale market for digital books. In a forceful ruling in Capitol Records v. ReDigi, Sullivan held that the doctrine of “first sale,” which allows consumers to redistribute lawfully... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin division Michael Joseph has launched a major marketing campaign to support the paperback... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Eat, Pray, Love' author Elizabeth Gilbert is using her Facebook page to allow fans to pick the cover of her new novel. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The rise in ebook reading in the US and UK over the past three years has driven market share... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Evidence is growing that a lack of skilled, knowledgable literary agents may be hindering the translation and publishing of books from developing markets in Asia and Latin America. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Book Marketing Society's best marketing campaign awards for autumn 2012 have seen wins... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Social marketing isn’t close to peaking yet, but it’s already a part of almost every conversation between brands and marketers. Close to 90 percent of advertisers are using some form of it, according to a recent Nielsen study. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Every year FOLIO: conducts a nationwide survey with mid and executive-level editors. The survey maps out salary ranges across a number of demographics including gender, age, location, company size, education and more. The infographic below provides an interactive breakdown on several key trends... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Daunt has restated his view that Amazon operates in an advantageous fiscal environment in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Colorado-based marketing company Cravebox, which has just begun to work with publishers, is something of an oddity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Library supporters have responded with anger to author Terry Deary"s comments that "... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With ebooks’ share of unit sales rising from 14% for the first nine months of 2011 to 22% for the same period in 2012, the biggest winners among retailers were Amazon and dedicated ebookstores and digital download sites. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Whether they call themselves publishers or distributors, whether they promise elaborate marketing plans, or the basic production tasks necessary to get an ebook up for sale, there are a growing number of companies selling (and acquiring) backlist books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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