July 16th, 2008
Borders, the international book retailer, has begun selling audiobooks as downloads from their online store.
15,000 titles are planned to be available for download in mp3 - which means DRM-free, of course - and can be played on pretty much any digital music device. In addition, the audiobooks are available in WMA format - which looks [...]
July 11th, 2008
As much as publishers panic at the thought of losing control of their products once out there on the mighty interweb, so we are seeing more companies offering professional audiobook products as DRM-free downloads.
PublishersWeekly is reporting that Simply Audiobooks is about to offer more than 5000 DRM-free products from Random House. This means Simply Audiobooks [...]
June 22nd, 2008
I recently wrote here about how audiobook distribution models are not discovering their full potential due to how they cross the boundary between how a reader integrates with the material compared to how an audio listener integrates.
Readers read books (I know, it’s obvious, but bear with me) and I believe the acceptance of audiobooks [...]
May 29th, 2008
Ingram has announced its purchase of the iofy audiobook publishing platform:
Ingram Digital, an Ingram Content company focused on solutions for digital content management, hosting, distribution and promotion, today announced it has acquired the iofy digital audiobook platform from Audiofy Corporation.
This move further enhances Ingram Digital’s audio services across all sectors and adds additional experience to [...]
May 29th, 2008
iofy is an audiobook publishing platform created by Audiofy Corporation. Ingram Digital - the digital and online wing of giant book distributor Ingram - have been working with Audiofy Corporation for over a year and have just announced the purchase of the iofy digital audiobook platform.
Here is a snippet from the full press release:
Ingram Digital, [...]
May 17th, 2008
I fear one of the significant reasons behind so many titles having abridged versions when released in audiobook form is a protection against open distribution, but is there an alternative that not only circumvents the need to understand online downloads and file formats, but protects redistribution in exactly the same way as the printed version?
Companies [...]
May 14th, 2008
I was just catching up with a short article over at guelphmercury.com about how self-publishing, through enabling virtually anyone to publish their own writing - brings us “stories otherwise untold“. But if other creative media are evidence, it can also lead to much sub-standard work.
Industries begin to disintegrate in their perceived value once just about anyone [...]
April 23rd, 2008
They say it’s just around the corner - the “iPod moment”. Books are about to go digital at last, according to many publishing pundits, and the publishers are pre-emptily crying poverty.
On the heels of the recent WGA writer’s strike, book publishers are already showing authors their empty pocket linings stating that the swing to digital [...]
April 21st, 2008
At this year’s London Book Fair, IBS took a survey of 140 publishers to discover only 19% have systems in place to manage author royalties.
With author royalty rates low enough to force many a ’successful’ author to maintain their writing as a part-time sideline to their day-job, the need is has never been more urgent [...]
April 19th, 2008
The majority of major book publishers, including the likes of Harper Collins, Random House, Penguin, and Scholastic, have put their weight behind a proposal to offer age suitability guidance on children’s books from autumn 2008.
The plan is to include a new item near the barcode on the back of children’s books stating the recommended age [...]