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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In reckoning with her friend's suicide, the author pulls readers into that empty space where loss and grief reside.The Guardians: An Elegy Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-bookseller Kobo plans to grow device sales in the UK with a strong marketing push towards the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audible.com has persuaded stars such as Dustin Hoffman, Kate Winslet and Samuel L. Jackson to lend their voices to classic novels for the popular media format.When it came to reading a book out loud, Dustin Hoffman was a bit rusty. The last time he had done something similar was in New York City... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones is set to grow its children’s range and space in stores over the summer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With iPad 3 rumored to be on the way—possibly boasting a sharper screen and talking personal assistant Siri—Apple CEO Tim Cook may drop the price of the iPad 2 so he can go after the cheaper tablet market now dominated by Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook. Analysts figure a $200 to... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Amy Feinstein With the publishing industry changing on what seems like a daily basis, how is it that some publications are actually finding ways to increase their print advertising revenue in the past two years?... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2012-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber has acquired at title attempting to answer life's awkward questions, Big Questions from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin has reported sales of £1.04bn in 2011, growing 1% on an underlying basis, though... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UBM Electronics’ parts database Datasheets.com has increased its monthly page views by 360 percent since launching in July 2011—from 36,464 to 167,651—largely through a redesign focused on optimizing search functionality. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For businesses outside of publishing, creating a digital marketing strategy is a rather straightforward endeavor — use digital media to introduce and marry the supplier of the good or service with a consumer. For publishers, however, devi ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Indian book market grew by 45% in volume and 40% in value over the first half of 2011, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Louisa Joyner is to take up the permanent role of editorial director at HarperFiction, reflecting... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the last six months of 2011once again highlight the challenges facing traditional publishers in the digital era. The business - in the UK at least - is not for the faint hearted, but it remains full of opportunities. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In September, British newspaper The Guardian was one of the first publishers to build an app designed specifically for its content to be consumed (and shared) within Facebook. The upside: The prospect of added visibility to 850 million users. The dow ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As much as a quarter of fiction ebooks sold in the UK could be from self-published writers, as... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite a stabilizing economy, many publishers still function with a “lean” staff. In order to accommodate growing digital demands and a wider advertising portfolio with a thinner team, some companies are finding solutions outside their office walls. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The marketing campaign for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney has won the latest... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bridget Marmion, who has had long tenures in sales and marketing at FSG, Random House and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has started her own firm, Your Expert Nation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paul Conley, a publishing vet whose experience runs the gamut from b-to-b to consumer financial journalism, is now editorial director with MyBankTracker.com. In this role, Conley will oversee the news and analysis operations of the site. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book retailer Kobo has the capability to grow at three times the speed under its new owner... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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