ebooks

Forget Amazon, Hachette Is Selling Books on Twitter

Book publisher Hachette is no longer in a blood feud with Amazon, but it’s already experimenting with new, Bezos-free online selling options, just in case. The latest: An experiment where best-selling Hachette authors will be able to sell their books directly to fans on Twitter. Hachette is partnering with Gumroad, a company that helps people…

95 percent of American public libraries now carry ebooks

Ebooks are the new books. At least that’s according to a recent survey by the Library Journal that looked at American public libraries. Ninety-five percent of libraries carry ebook titles. That’s up from 89 percent in both 2013 and 2012, when researchers thought that adoption had plateaued for good. The latest stats come from the…

Moscow’s Metro Stations Are Turning Into Ebook Libraries

We can all aspire to better ourselves during our commutes, but it’s so easy to get distracted by the fun things on our phones that are not bleak Russian novels. Moscow, however, is making a stand for literature,turning its metro stations into digital librariesfor downloading Russian classics. The digital library project is currently being piloted…

Why E-Book Text Layout Sucks

Have you ever eagerly downloaded an e-book only to find that it’s a hideously formatted mess that irritates you at every page turn? Of course you have (especially if you favor free or cheap e-books). This video explains why those insults to typesetting occur. The problem boils down to the choice of algorithm that’s used…

Kindle Voyage: This Is What a $200 E-Reader Looks Like (It’s Gorgeous)

It’s been a few years since e-ink Kindles took a big step forward. 2012’s Kindle Paperwhite was the last big splash. But now Amazon’s got a new, beautiful, premium e-reader for you to read words off of. This is the Kindle Voyage. The first thing to note about the Kindle Voyage is the design. Unlike…

Leaked Details About Two New Kindles Appear Online

Details about two new upcoming Kindle readers have leaked online. A German website first pointed out that information about the next generation of Amazon’s e-readers had appeared on the German version of Amazon’s website. It’s gone now, but not before revealing that there will be two new types: an upgraded “basic” version, and a new…

Audible Security Flaw Lets Thieves Download Unlimited Free Audiobooks

A loophole in Audible’s security is making it easyto get unlimited free audiobooks, as long as you have no moral qualms about using a fake name and credit card. It turns out that Audible, which is owned by Amazon, doesn’t verify credit cards and user information before it allows people to start downloading audiobooks, so…

You Won’t Be Able to Find a Book in This Beautiful New Library

You’re looking into Florida Polytechnic University’s new library. Light, bright, beautiful curves and… there’s not a single book on its shelves? Nope, you read that right. The 11,000 square-foot, $60 million, Santiago Calatrava-designed building doesn’t have a single paper book anywhere within it. Sure, it’s a beautiful space for working and reading—it’s just that everything…

Amazon Pleads With Hachette to Cut E-Book Prices

In the ongoing spat between Amazon and Hachette over pricing, Amazon has now called for Hachette to simply cut its e-book prices—a move which, it claims, will lower consumer prices on digital titles and provide writers with a larger paycheck at the same time. https://gizmodo.com/when-amazon-plays-dirty-you-lose-1580596374 In a blog post published yesterday, the Amazon Books Team…

The Onion Profiles a New Kindle That Brags About Your Taste in Books

Bookworms who’ve balked at upgrading to an e-reader have a long list of reasons why they won’t give up their paper copies. But there’s only one real reason why anyone would carry around a book anymore: It lets them show off what they’re reading in public. And as The Onion reveals, that’s what led Amazon…

Why Do E-Books Cost What They Do?

E-book pricing can seem mysterious. With some of the costs of paper publishing gone, does that mean that producing them is really cheaper? Or are there other hidden costs that get figured into the production of digital books? Commenter and publishing grad student TechNoir broke down for us just what costs go into setting a…

Apple Is Happy to Take Your Money if Amazon Won’t

Fresh off of settling a lawsuit that accused it of collusion with publishers, Apple is ready to take the money you were planning to give to Amazon but can’t. Since Amazon is in a fight with Hachette—the world’s largest bookstore and one of the world’s largest publishers respectively—and refuses to let customers pre-order any books…

Apple has settled an $840 million ebook price-fixing claim brought by consumers and US states outside of court. The lawsuit stemmed from a previous ruling by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote who found Apple guilty of colluding with publishers to keep ebook prices high.

Colbert Gives Amazon the Finger For Shady Book Selling Tactics

In the wake of Amazon’s questionable tactics in dealing with publishing house Hachette, many Amazon shoppers are questioning their loyalty to the mega-seller. Stephen Colbert, not one to hide his anger, unleashed on Amazon in a less-than-subtle way last night. A big reason for the anger in this case is that Colbert’s own books are…

5 Past Predictions for the Future of the Ebook

The dream of the electronic library dates back to at least the 1950s — and arguably much earlier! But it wasn’t until the 1980s and 90s that our ebook dreams slowly became a high-tech reality. The electronic book has had quite a steady rise here in the early 21st century. Roughly 50 percent of Americans…

From Sexting to Sacraments: How Mobile Apps Are Taking on Religion

At this point, our entire lives could be boiled down into a series of apps. Schedules, diets, friends, family, play—it’s all there in a set of brightly colored, easy-to-digest icons that have come to define the way we see ourselves. And though it may be hard to reconcile, even religion is no more than a…

You Might Have Free Amazon Money Waiting in Your Inbox

If you’re a regular buyer of Kindle ebooks, you want to go check your email; inside, there might just be a little present from Amazon waiting for you. And by “present” I mean “legally mandated compensation to make up for years of price-fixing.” Just like Christmas! Here’s the note going around to Amazon customers this…

Are bookshelves becoming obsolete?

The e-book is on the rise — but that does also mean that the bookshelf will disappear? In response to this post on the obsolete tech that people thought would be around forever, commenter IrTehSuck makes the case for why the printed book — and it’s display shelf — could carry on: I just like…

Amazon is making it harder to sell Bigfoot porn ebooks

Erotica featuring Sasquatch, minotaurs, aliens, and boar gods may not fit everyone’s tastes, but some authors have made a killing selling monster sex ebooks. But some ebook retailers, notably Amazon, have been cracking down on cryptozoological smut, making it harder for writers to sell their books to readers who are hot for Bigfoot. Business Insider…

Amazon Can Take Away Your Digital Books and Movies Whenever It Wants

In light of the holiday season, what better time than now to remind ourselves to give thanks for all that we have. Although, in the case of any digital goods you’ve “purchased,” maybe don’t add those to the list quite yet. Because remember: You don’t actually own any of it. https://gizmodo.com/you-dont-own-the-books-on-your-kindle-5954497 Talking to BoingBoing, one…