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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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 06/09/2011 - 16:04 David Nicholls' One Day (Hodder) remains comfortably the bestselling book in the UK. The novel, which currently tops the Amazon, Apple and Waterstone's ebook charts, sold 83,050 physical copies of its original and tie-in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Kindle reader on a train in Cambridge, Mass. E-book best-seller lists are full of genre novels. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 15:08 Amazon.com is offering a new feature enabling readers to ask authors questions directly via their Kindle devices. @author is currently on limited beta release, with a handful of participating authors including thriller writer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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International magazine publisher Hubert Burda Media has opened a central marketing office in London to promote its German titles to UK-based advertisers. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Michael Fitzpatrick Publication Date: Tue, 23/08/2011 - 08:26 A confusing maze of ebook stores, a difficulty in rendering text and high costs of purchase are dissuading Japanese customers from buying into ebooks. The chaotic melee now taking place in Japan, as publishing makes room... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 09/08/2011 - 09:43 July retail sales saw a modest improvement, according to figures from the British Retail consortium, though book sales fell to their lowest level for seven years with food continuing to outperform non-food items. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While many publishers are still grappling with the question of digital properties and revenue, The Financial Times continues to reap positive benefits from its paid collection model, according to first half 2011 financials released Friday. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 09:30 Amazon.com is reportedly in discussions with e-commerce companies in India in a bid to expand into one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The company could enter the market as early as first quarter 2012. It is in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 19/07/2011 - 10:17 Simon & Schuster senior commissioning editor Francesca Main is leaving the publisher to become editorial director at Picador. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Many publishers are moving to leaner editorial staffs while relying on more contributors (some paid, many not) to generate digital content. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 09:25 The London Magazine has launched a competition for readers to nominate their favourite bookshop, highlighting indies including Daunts. As part of the publication's The Great Little Shop Awards, this month the magazine is asking... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 09:35 The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) is to ask the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate after Pearson reached a deal to acquire the REDgroup online businesses. Pearson said yesterday... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mergers and acquisitions in the media, information, marketing services and tech sectors in the first half of 2011 may not be matching the breakneck pace of the first half of 2010 (which rebounded 61 percent over a dismal first half 2009) but were still up 3 percent in the number of deals (to... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Republican candidate has sold his memoir to the conservative imprint of Simon @ Schuster. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Though many magazines are now in the tablet game, Bonniers Sound + Vision is using this opportunity to strengthen content in a way not possible on the printed page. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How do you promote a book effectively at a time when ebooks may stay in print indefinitely, but not have a physical presence in a store? Internet book marketer FSB Associates has just launched Amplify, a marketing strategy that brings together a list of related titles and creates a Web community... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Prevention magazine's new digital advertising network of niche health sites, dubbed the Healthy Living Group, is now in full swing since its May launch, with about 12 million monthly unique visiting the 35 sites in the network. The digital network is also now ranked 11th in the health category,... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beyond the banner is a term that publishers have kicked around for years in terms of digital marketing opportunities. As the number of different channels grows, so does the opportunity to really go beyond the banner but it often requires a significant commitment. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 10/06/2011 - 08:14 An up-and-coming children's illustrator has warned that new British talent is being forced to go abroad in search of work as the UK picture book market becomes increasingly conservative. Frann Preston-Gannon, who was recently... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Open Road Integrated Media is expanding its marketing team, adding new members and promoting those within the department. Rachel Chou, chief marketing officer at Open Road, annouced the changes, crediting the growth to the rapidly expanding market for ebooks. Lauren Naefe has been hired as... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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