Kortext acquires StudyStash 2 October 2026 (saasRISE) The acquisition underscores a growing appetite among edtech platforms for AI‑centric tools that can demonstrably improve student outcomes. The move signals that larger edtech operators are willing to allocate capital to acquire specialized AI capabilities rather than build them in‑house, a trend that may accelerate consolidation in the sector.
ElevenLabs opens free AI tools to university students 2 October 2026 (ETIH) ElevenLabs for Students gives eligible university students free access to the company’s AI voice, agent and development tools. The new student plan includes three months of ElevenCreative, ElevenAgents and ElevenAPI, plus a year of ElevenReader Ultra for eligible university students aged 18 and over.
Huge ebook antitrust suit against Amazon proceeds 2 October 2026 (Hagens Berman) “Amazon customers paid over $740 million more (in aggregate) for trade eBooks published by the Big Five than they would have in a competitive market.” The lawsuit that alleges Amazon has anticompetitive agreements with publishers that prevent the sale of their ebooks at lower prices on other retail platforms. Attorneys accuse Amazon of using these agreements to maintain its dominance in the ebook market.
Podcast: Kobo's CEO, Michael Tamblyn, interviewed 1 October 2026 (Open Road) Michael talks about his unusual journey to bookselling, how Kobo competes against Amazon, Apple, and Google in ebook markets around the world, and the surprising truth about who reads ebooks—and what it means for the future of digital publishing.
ReadBee converts photographed print pages into dyslexia-friendly reading 1 October 2026 (Publishing Perspectives) ReadBee lets a child photograph a printed page and reconstructs it with adjustable layout, colour-coded syllables and a visual pacing guide. The pitch is accessibility layered over existing print books, rather than replacing reading with audio. Analysis: demonstrates how computer vision can provide personalised accessibility without requiring a specially manufactured edition. Publishers will nevertheless need clarity about OCR accuracy, privacy, copyright and whether the transformation preserves intended meaning.
Digital Publishing Award Shortlist 1 October 2026 (Publishing Perspectives) Innovation with AI Abounds: The 12 Finalists. The winners of the four categories for digital innovation and ingenuity in the global publishing industry will be announced at Frankfurter Buchmesse next week.
MEDIA DO to Divest Firebrand Group 30 September 2026 (TipRanks) Assets sold include Quality Solutions and NetGalley. The deal realigns MEDIA DO’s global strategy toward exporting Japanese content while giving Firebrand Group growth support within Valsoft’s publishing-focused software portfolio.
AI-Generated Books Flood Amazon 29 September 2026 (Good E-Reader) The scale of what’s actually happened to Amazon’s book marketplace is larger than the anecdotal version suggests. Hundreds of publishing accounts have each pushed out hundreds of AI-assisted titles in 2026 alone, concentrated in genres — romance, self-help, book summaries, biography knockoffs — that reward speed over originality.
De Marque to Offer AI Audiobook Capabilities Via ElevenLabs 29 September 2026 (Publishers Weekly) Cantook has a catalog spanning 1.8 million titles in English, Spanish, and several other languages. With the ElevenLabs partnership, Cantook publishers can select titles to be read aloud by ElevenReader’s automated narration, allowing them to increase their output of audiobooks. Analysis: This brings AI narration directly into established ebook-distribution infrastructure rather than requiring publishers to assemble a separate production pipeline. Will on-demand audio become a companion to the ebook or a separately licensed format?
Poland proposes regulated prices for ebooks and audiobooks 28 September 2026 (Publishing Perspectives) Poland’s proposed book-market law would impose a uniform price for 12 months, cap wholesale discounts at 45% and introduce automated sales reporting. The rules would cover print, ebooks and audiobooks, with exceptions for libraries, certain institutions and some book fairs.
Digital textbooks significantly boost students' intrinsic learning motivation 24 September 2026 (Phys.org) The findings reveal that digital textbooks have progressively greater effects at higher educational levels, with the strongest impact observed among university students. Older learners are better able to leverage metacognitive skills and digital literacy to process complex multimodal information.
EPUB Accessibility 1.2 sharpens the link between metadata, DRM and usability 12 September 2026 (W3.org) The latest candidate draft formalises accessibility-conformance and discoverability metadata requirements. Its accompanying techniques warn that DRM can make text-to-speech or braille access difficult or impossible when reading systems do not expose the underlying content. Analysis: Accessibility does not end when the EPUB passes a production check; retailer metadata, DRM permissions and reading-system behaviour determine the customer’s actual experience. Comments on the candidate specifications remain open until 19 October.
US ebook revenues were down 3.4% in July 2026 22 September 2026 (Good E-Reader) E-book revenue in the United States fell 3.4% to $85.3 million for the month, while Digital Audiobook revenues rose 12.4% to $103.1 million. The United States Publishing Industry is up 14.0% for the Month of July and up 5.4% Year-To-Date.
Spotify Lets Indie “Aiudiobooks” Run Free 21 September 2026 (Publishing Perspectives) The self-serve service uses ElevenLabs voice models to convert finished EPUB manuscripts into audiobooks, with authors able to select a voice, preview the narration, and approve it before publication ... eventually, audiobook files—and perhaps the format as we know it—could give way to ebooks narrated on demand.
Frankfurt gives audiobook technology its own business centre 14 September 2026 (Press Release) Frankfurt Book Fair will open an Audio Business Center and place Audible, Spotify, ElevenLabs, Storytel, BookBeat, Pozotron and other audio businesses into dedicated programming. Sessions cover synthetic narration, discovery, production technology and data tools.
Kobo finally fixes sync issues on its e-readers 13 September 2026 (Notebook Check) Kobo has overhauled its aging sync infrastructure to improve bookmark and reading-progress updates across e-readers, apps and its cloud reader. The fix requires a one-time manual account repair or sign-in reset on every device.
eBooks.com has launched two new reading apps for iOS and Android 11 September 2026 (Good E-Reader) The new reading apps are now available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. They seamlessly support a wide range of ebook formats, including fixed-format EPUB, audio-visual content, manga, and textbooks with complex layouts and specialized fonts.
Ingram Finds Success in AI Rollout 11 September 2026 (Publishers Weekly) Ingram Content Group began rolling out AI across its platforms in May 2025, and just 15 months later, the company’s chief commercial and content officer, Phil Ollila says it has transformed the way Ingram approaches metadata, advertising, and marketing, while helping accelerate the introduction of new services.
This "Picco" Pocket E Ink Reader is TINY 5 September 2026 (Good E-Reader) The upcoming Onyx Boox Picco will not have Android, but it will have page-turn buttons and a physical front light. Slated to come out by the end of the year and cost $100.00.
Poll shows Amazon's Kindle DRM crackdown is backfiring with loyal ebook fans 5 September 2026 (Android Authority) At the end of August, Amazon rolled out an update to the Kindle Oasis that closed a Libby loophole that allowed extended borrowing. More importantly, it also strengthened the platform’s DRM, making it even tougher for users to back up their books to other devices. For some users, like my colleague Dhruv, this is the last straw.
FB Reader Launches Support for Open Standards and More 2 September 2026 (FB Reader) "DinoReader" is not an upgrade to FB Reader but a completely new app, benefiting from FB Reader's 20 years of experience in the field. Built with e-ink devices front of mind, menus are big and screens are simple. The app features transparent synchronisation, OPDS 2.0, multi-selection in the library, a different navigation model and a whole lotta smaller changes.
Google’s New E-Book AI Feature: What It Can Do for Readers 1 September 2026 (Analytics Insight) The feature, called Expert Intelligence, lets readers ask questions about a book, create study material, hear AI audio summaries, and explore key ideas in new formats. Google announced the feature on August 27, 2026, with access to more than 100,000 books. The supplied writing guide calls for clear subheads, direct language, strong openings, and one clear idea per paragraph.
Study Says Library E-book Lending Hurts Industry Sales 1 September 2026 (Publishers Weekly) “It should be obvious to policymakers that both the mission of libraries and the intellectual property of authors and publishers are equally invaluable to the public interest, not a tradeoff."