Last August in his two-part essay for us here at The FutureBook, “On streaming, subscription, and big data,” CyberLibris’ Eric Briys (pictured) wrote of “understanding reader frustration.” Briys joined us from France Friday for #FutureChat with a timely reminder that knowing readers is really the key to right decision-making in the bounding changes of marketplace strategies.… Read More
'Growing pains': Scribd's romance 'purge'
Mark Coker: Smashwords’ Scribd sales may ‘drop at least 50 percent’ Coming in the context of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select’s controversial new per-page paymentsin its Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL) services, the news from Scribd may not raise independent authors’ spirits. One key platform c.e.o., Smashwords’ Mark Coker, refers to it as a… Read More
Scribd makes cuts to romance in its catalog
Scribd has announced to publishers and distributors that it is “making some adjustments, particularly to romance” in its $8.99-per-month ebook subscription service. Described by Mark Coker, founder and c.e.o. of Smashwords, as “dramatic cuts to [Scribd’s] catalog of romance and erotica titles,” the changes are removing an unknown portion of the subscription’s titles from the… Read More
Vote on The FutureBook Innovation Shortlist's "Inspirationals"
The winner will be named as part of The FutureBook Innovation Awards announcements at The FutureBook Conference on 14th November at Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London. (Best early-bird prices for the event are offered only for a week longer, to 17th October.) Among a boisterous gathering at Halle 8’s Publishing Perspectives Stage on Thursday evening to… Read More
Subscriptions: What If All The Fitness Club Members Actually Come To The Gym?
If I had a dollar for every time I had seen a pitch for a subscription-based ebook platform, I would by now have launched my own. And right about now, you could be forgiven for feeling that The Bookseller’s Philip Jones is the only guy who hasn’t launched a digital book subscription. In his lead editorial for… Read More