RBmedia to Expand through European Publisher Acquisitions 23 October 2026 (Publishing Perspectives) The world’s largest audiobook publisher looks to broaden its non-English language market activity. The key way that they are looking to expand is by acquiring or partnering with local publishers in non-English language markets, such as Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark, with a look toward Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America further down the line.
Kindle Android App Now Allows Handwritten Notes 23 October 2026 (Android Authority) Amazon has rolled out handwritten notes to the Kindle Android app. The feature allows readers to mark up their ebooks with handwritten notes. Support appears to be exclusive to Android tablets and phones, for now. This update follows the addition of two other recently added features. Days ago, users noticed the emergence of options for underlining and outlining ebook text on Android.
Hundreds of authors abandon the class-action route and sue Meta individually 22 October (The Bookseller) Approximately 300 authors filed individual copyright complaints against Meta on 19 October, alleging that their books were obtained from shadow libraries and used for AI training. Their lawyers reportedly plan cases for nearly 1,000 additional authors; the claims seek statutory damages that could reach US$150,000 per infringed work, although no damages have yet been awarded.
YouTube to Sell Audiobooks 15 October 2026 (Wall St Journal) According to The Wall Street Journal , YouTube is in talks with publishers about launching an audiobook service, potentially as early as 2027, and possibly incorporating it into YouTube Premium. With its enormous existing audience, YouTube could become a formidable competitor to Audible and Spotify, while giving publishers a valuable new distribution channel and an opportunity to monetise listening that currently takes place through unauthorised uploads.
Upcoming Workshop: AI in the Publishing Industry 15 October 2026 (Publishing Perspectives) An online course and live seminar series for leaders working in the international book business. Four live sessions will run on Thursdays, Jan 21st to Feb 11th.
Brighter colour e-ink screens are coming 17 October 2026 (BigGo) Goodbye drab. E Ink Kaleido 4 Promises Faster Refresh and Richer Color for Next Wave of E-Readers. The next generation of color e-paper is arriving with a substantial performance leap, as E Ink Holdings unveiled its Kaleido 4 platform with claims of doubled color range, brighter whites, and a refresh rate fast enough to handle video. The Taiwanese display maker announced the technology on October 15.
Kobo unifies EPUB and KEPUB rendering while preserving handwritten annotations 16 October 2026 (Kobo) Kobo’s current OS 6 release notes say ordinary EPUBs and Kobo EPUBs now share one rendering engine. Stylus markups are retained across connected Kobo devices and mobile apps; when layout changes move the underlying text, some handwritten notes appear as anchored thumbnails rather than being lost.
Kobo Plus adds more than 500,000 audiobooks in France 15 October 2026 (Kobo Writing Life) Kobo has expanded its French subscription from ebook-only access to a €14.99 monthly Read & Listen plan. Kobo reports a catalogue of more than two million ebooks and 500,000 audiobooks; independently published audio already opted into all Kobo Plus territories is included automatically.
Libro.fm ebooks are pushed back until 2027 14 October 2026 (Good E-Reader) The company has confirmed in a new FAQ that its new e-book platform will launch sometime in 2027, after initially saying it would be available in 2026. They stated that “Our bookselling partners will gain access to ebooks this fall, and we’ll share updates on wider availability as we approach 2027. All of our audiobooks will remain DRM-free, and we are working to bring on as many DRM-free ebooks as possible.
EPUB 3.4 brings vertical-scroll comics into the ebook standard 12 October 2026 (W3C) W3C’s update explains that EPUB 3.4 adds a standardised roll layout for vertically scrolling comics, alongside AVIF, JPEG XL and OPUS support, refined accessibility metadata and an updated EPUBCheck. Existing conforming EPUB 3 files remain valid; the specification is still undergoing implementation testing.
Google Launches “Expert Intelligence” in Google Play Books 10 October 2026 (Good E-Reader) The platform launched with over 100,000 titles; the integration lets users generate quizzes, infographics, and Audio Overviews while combining published books with personal notes. Publishers include Bloomsbury, PRH, Macmillan & O'Reilly
BookBeat says attention, not catalogue size, is audio’s bottleneck 10 October 2026 (audio@media) BookBeat reported that 50,520 audiobooks were added to its service during the previous 12 months, but the 5,000 most-started titles accounted for 85% of all starts. CEO Niclas Sandin argued that future growth depends more on relevance and discovery than on adding further catalogue volume
S&S offers self-published authors a digital-first hybrid model 8 October 2026 (Publishers Weekly) Simon & Schuster’s new imprint promises to combine the flexibility of self-publishing with big five marketing might. Simon Stream will launch its first titles globally this month, with simultaneous publication in e-book, paperback (available through print-on-demand), and audio. Audible Wants to Turn Every Book into an Audiobook 9 October 2026 (Publishers Weekly) Audible will bring its service, with local languages, currencies and region-specific title recommendations, to Indonesia, South Korea, Denmark, Norway and Finland in 2027. The launches build on the 11 marketplaces announced at the London Book Fair earlier this year.
Tonies CEO Shares Vision for Growth 8 October 2026 (Publishers Weekly) Tonies, the German maker of the screen-free Toniebox audio player for children, will start selling in two new markets next year, with a plan to be global by 2030, CEO Tobias Wann said during the annual showcase CEO Talk at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday, Oct.
Storytel Talks AI-translated Audiobooks 8 October 2026 (Publishers Weekly) Storytel sees AI primarily as a publishing acceleration tool: useful for translating high-volume, commercially suitable content quickly across markets, while retaining human judgement and quality control for work where literary nuance matters most.
Spotify takes audiobooks global 7 October 2026 (9to5mac) Spotify has announced a massive global expansion of its audiobooks section, rolling out over 350,000 titles across 180+ markets to reach more than 750 million listeners worldwide by 2026. The update introduces flexible listening options—including 12 monthly hours for eligible Premium subscribers and an expanded Audiobooks+ add-on—alongside an upgraded Page Match feature that syncs physical books to their audio versions via ISBN barcode scanning.