Perlego Raises $9 Million to Grow E-Book Library
20 Nov 2019 (EdSurge.com)
London-based Perlego, a provider of a streaming service for educational books, has raised 7 million pounds (about $9 million) in a Series A round. Founded in 2016, Perlego will use the money to improve its non-English content and expand into European markets, according to a statement Tuesday. The company claims to provide access to more than 250,000 digital books from more than 2,300 publishers with a monthly subscription of 12 pounds (about $16).
Xiaomi to announce its own eReader on November 20
14 Nov 2019 (Gizmochina)
A sketch of the eReader shows it has thick bezels around the display. It also has a button on the top. There are no buttons on the side bezels like we have on some Nook and Kobo eReaders and there doesn’t seem to be any on the sides. This means all the controls are on-screen.
[JOB] Digital Operations Manager at Hachette NY
13 Nov 2019 (MediaBistro)
Manage the processes, protocols, and systems for distribution of ebooks and metadata into the digital supply chain for Hachette Book Group. The ideal candidate will have 3+ years’ experience in one or more of the following areas: ONIX, XML, EPUB, or ebook distribution or production.
JOB Account Manager (German/French Speaking) at Atwood Tate, UK
7 Nov 2019 (The Bookseller)
Are you a German or French speaking Account Manager looking for some fresh challenge? We have a rare opportunity with a market leading digital media company distributing eBooks, audio books and video products to libraries and schools. This home-based opportunity will give you a freedom to make the role your own to develop and deepen relationship with the European clients.
Apple’s Services Play Gets Mired in Censorship
7 Nov 2019 (Yahoo / Bloomberg)
Apple services such as the App Store, digital books, news, video, podcasts and music, put the company in the more precarious position of information provider (or at least overseer), exposing it to a growing online crackdown by China’s authoritarian government.
JOB Digital Publishing Associate at Abrams, NY
6 Nov 2019 (MediaBistro)
The Digital Publishing Associate will manage the development of digital products, collaborate with all departments to facilitate digital product workflow and promotion, and provide administrative support to the department.
Alternative Textbook Providers on the Rise
4 Nov 2019 (Inside Higher Ed)
Prices of ebooks and courseware are falling. The average digital courseware product was priced at $87.67 per student in 2019, down from $97.42 in 2018. FlatWorld, a small publisher that charges between $24.95 and $39.95 for its digital textbooks, gained 2,000 new faculty adoptions in the 2019-20 academic year, an increase of 10 percent over the previous year. The publisher has 135 titles in use at over 1,500 institutions in the U.S.
Chegg: Where’s the Company Headed?
1 Nov 2019 (Yahoo Finance)
With the online education market open for the taking, Chegg is quickly trying to create a solid subscriber base. Chegg’s subscription service allows students to rent textbooks for a semester at half the cost of buying them. On top of that, the company also offers one-on-one tutoring services in a variety of subjects at bargain prices. At the beginning of this year, Chegg recorded more than 3 million subscribers.
Online piracy is declining among young internet users
31 Oct 2019 (CMU: Cmplete Music Update)
Online piracy among young internet users continues to decline as legal music, video and gaming platforms become the primary sources of entertainment for 15-24 year olds, according to the latest piracy report from the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office. Of those surveyed, about a third still accessed at least some of their online content from unlicensed sources, but that’s 5% less than the last time the EUIPO did a study of this kind in 2016.
MPs call for end to ‘reading tax’ in UK
31 Oct 2019 (The Guardian)
Readers currently pay 20% VAT on all digital books, including ebooks and audiobooks. Print books have been zero-rated since VAT was introduced in 1973, “on the general principle of avoiding a tax on knowledge”. Campaigners against the digital book tax argue that it unfairly affects readers living with sight loss and disabilities, who may rely on the technology.
Over 28% Of US Adults Read Both Physical and Digital Books
28 Oct 2019 (Forbes)
The Pew Research survey, conducted earlier this year, found that 25% of U.S. adults had read an e-book in the past twelve months, compared to 26% in a survey conducted in early 2018. E-book readership has remained between 25% and 28% since 2014. Respondents also indicated their use of multiple formats: 28% read both physical books and a digital books (a category that includes e-books and audiobooks), while 7% read digital books exclusively. Regrettably, 27% of respondents read no books at all.
How a University Took on the Textbook Industry
24 Oct 2019 (EdSurge)
Some economists say OpenStax and other OER producers helped to halt the decades-long rise of textbook prices, which, along with other supplies, now set the average undergraduate back between $1,200 and $1,440 each school year, according to the College Board.
Patagonia to Stop Printing Galleys
23 Oct 2019 (Publishers Weekly)
“The printing and distribution of ARCs requires unnecessary expenditure of natural resources—paper to print, fossil fuel to distribute,” Karla Olson, director of Patagonia Books, said. In this era of climate crisis, electronic ARCs ought to be the new standard…”
ebook sales declined 7% in August
18 Oct 2019 (Good E-Reader)
Ebooks were not the only thing that declined in August, but book sales across the board. Publisher net revenue for Trade, including sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, etc., was down 3.6% as compared to the same period last year.
Ebook Piracy Grows, Contrary to The Trend
12 Oct 2019 (TorrentFreak)
The only category for which the piracy rate went up was Ebooks. Between 2012 and 2017 the number of Ebook pirates increased from 6.3% to 7.7%, which is marginally significant.
Ebook Pirate Fined & Handed 20-Day Suspended Sentence
10 Oct 2019 (Torrentfreak)
A 28-year-old man from Denmark has been handed a 20-day suspended prison sentence for selling pirated ebooks via the Internet. “[I]t is devastating for the copyright that the authors have, and also for the publishers, when the basis for their business is taken away. Therefore, the gain must be confiscated,” the Judge said.
274 million ebooks lent through OverDrive last year
9 Oct 2019 (Fast Company)
People are flocking to free e-books and streaming movies at their public libraries. While by many accounts e-book sales overall have plateaued in recent years, library e-book use is still on the rise: Rakuten OverDrive, the biggest platform providing e-books to library patrons, reported that its library customers around the world lent out 274 million digital books in 2018, up 22% from the previous year
A purchaser’s right to on-sell ebooks to be tested in Europe?
9 Oct 2019 (Lexology)
Watch this space: A French court just ruled that a computer game, once bought by a user, is subject to the “right of exhaustion”.
Will the Microsoft Surface Duo and Neo be good for reading ebooks?
6 Oct 2019 (Good E-Reader)
Last week Microsoft announced the Surface Duo and the Surface Neo that will be released in 2020. They both feature a clamshell hinged screen that fold open and give you more ample real estate.
The constant ebook decline is over
2 Oct 2019 (Good E-Reader)
in 2019 ebooks are making a comeback. For the second month in a row they are starting to see gains. In the United States, revenue for eBooks increased, going up 0.4% in July and garnered $83 million in sales. This followed a 4.2% increase in May 2019.
Search Amazon And Find If Your Library Has The Book For Free
1 Oct 2019 (Forbes)
With this app, once I see the results on Amazon, GoodReads, or BN.com, I click through to my library’s page (if it shows it is available, of course), then I can borrow digitally or get on the waiting list, or place a hold for traditional book.
More Ebook Industry News
![E-books, downloaded music and other digital products aren’t covered by Australian consumer law. [Shutterstock]](https://i2.wp.com/about.ebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/file-20180220-116365-1tkqbl91.jpg?resize=218%2C150&ssl=1 "Australia’s consumer laws still don’t cover ebooks")
