Impossible to second-guess why this took so long – the expectation was early 2018 – but Amazon has finally launched a beta version of Audible in India, and it has stuck to its standard model despite an almost year long head start by rival Storytel. Sweden’s Storytel beats Amazon’s Audible to the India audiobook market Read More …
The Hot Sheet is a publishing industry news-sheet for authors, produced every two weeks by Porter Anderson and Jane Friedman, and reviewed here every other Sunday (when possible) as one of the best bi-weekly industry overviews available to authors. We’re not interested in delivering breaking news, but perspective on stories that are likely to retain meaning for your Read More …
In marked contrast to Storytel’s usual approach of keeping quiet about new launches until everything is ready to go, Storytel’s Asia expansion plans are being announced well in advance. This week comes a Storytel press release confirming Storytel will be launching in Singapore in 2019, with titles in English and Chinese. This will come as no Read More …
As I write this, HarperCollins’ CEO Charlie Redmayne is due to make a keynote speech at Frankfurt on the subscription model. Too soon to report on that, but in a preview interview over at Publishing Perspectives earlier this month Redmayne said, Ultimately, if subscription is a business model that consumers buy into, then it’s incumbent Read More …
This is Storytel’s global reach as we start October 2018: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, India, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Italy, with imminent launches in Bulgaria and Mexico, and a Brazil launch unconfirmed but looking likely. With the exception of Italy, none are countries where Amazon’s Audible is an active Read More …
While US and UK publishers watch the Scandinavian experiment from a safe distance, a mixture of envy and fear in their eyes, Sweden’s BookBeat goes from strength to strength, leaving no doubt that, whatever publishers may feel about the subscription model, consumers love it. Bookbeat’s June, July and August revenue grew 97% compared to 2017, Read More …
Here’s a summary of TNPS posts from the past seven days. Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista bookstore closes – Fnac Brazil now has just one bookstore standing Setswana? Indonesian? Can you tell the difference? Nor can Microsoft A mermaid wearing a bra among the books banned in Kuwait, but protests are gathering momentum Big Bad Wolf Read More …
With Storytel under increasing pressure from rival operators in the Swedish audiobook arena two things were inevitable. First, Storytel’s market share would fall. And consequent on that Storytel would need to review its royalty arrangements for its content suppliers – in this case established publishers, as Storytel does not deal direct with authors as per Read More …
Sweden’s Akademibokhandeln Holding AB has released its Q2 results and it’s not looking good. Turnover down from 316.7 million kronor in 2017 to 314.9 million kronor ($34 million) this year. Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation decreased from SEK 1.9 million to minus 28.1 million (-$3 million). Profit after tax has decreased from – SEK 28.5 Read More …
Little known in the Anglophone publishing world, the Munich-based ebook subscription service Skoobe is about to see a change of management, if not direction. CEO Constance Landsberg voluntarily leaves Skoobe in September to pursue new possibilities, leaving Julian Manzel to take the reigns. Said Manzel, who first joined Skoobe way back in 2011, I’m really looking Read More …
