Storytel launches in Bulgaria – 15th market. Storytel international site links drops from 30 to 17 countries

Posted onDecember 4, 2018December 18, 2018Leave a comment

The official press release doesn’t tell us much, but Storytel Bulgaria is now officially Storytel’s 15th market, fifteen months after Storytel acquired the Bulgarian audiobook firm D&D Factory. No numbers for Bulgarian content, but what there is will be available alongside Storytel’s 50,000 English-language titles. UPDATE: Storytel Bulgaria launches with 300 titles in Bulgarian. Stefan Read More …

Storytel confirms Bulgaria launch for 2018. At least six new markets in 2019 (inc. Brazil and Singapore). Mofibo ebooks to come under Storytel brand

Posted onDecember 1, 2018December 18, 2018Leave a comment

Although we don’t have the date yet, it’s now official that Storytel will be launching in Bulgaria this year, and as there’s only this month to go it now seems certain Storytel Bulgaria will formally be announced in the Bulgarian capital at the Sofia Literary Festival (11-16 December), running in tandem with the Sofia International Read More …

In the fight against Storytel, Denmark’s JP/Politikens Hus acquires Danish online bookshop Saxo.com

Posted onNovember 27, 2018Leave a comment

The acquisition, subject to regulatory authority approval, of Denmark’s largest online bookstore Saxo by minority stake-holder JP/Politikens Hus has repercussions beyond the Danish border. If the translation is accurate, Saxo’s Jørgen Balle Olesen said in a press release, I hand over the keys to JP / Politikens Hus with a mixture of pride and vodka. Fortunately, Read More …

Falling Fiction Sales -Why Is It Happening? – The Hot Sheet Reviewed – 14 November edition

Posted onNovember 18, 2018January 6, 2019Leave a comment

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 …

Amazon finally launches Audible in India, almost a year after Storytel. Sticks to one audiobook subscription model against Storytel’s unlimited ebooks and audio

Posted onNovember 9, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Plympton’s “Cli-Fi” for Amazon; what agents want in YA; PublishDrive’s new royalty model – The Hot Sheet Reviewed – 1st November edition

Posted onNovember 4, 2018Leave a comment

Storytel to launch in Singapore in 2019

Posted onOctober 23, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Thalia invests in Skoobe as Storytel booms. Amazon’s KU a magnet for scammers

Posted onOctober 9, 2018October 11, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Nextory partners with Libreka to prepare a Germany launch, competing with BookBeat and Amazon. Storytel prefers the low-hanging fruit

Posted onOctober 6, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Bonnier’s BookBeat reports 97% growth against fierce competition from Storytel. German investment next. UK still on the backburner

Posted onOctober 3, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

The Week In Review

Posted onSeptember 23, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Storytel’s royalty model “rigged and manipulated.” Storm brews over Storytel’s privileged agreement with Bonnier

Posted onSeptember 11, 2018September 13, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Akademibokhandeln and Bokus Play Q2 results hit by investments and Sweden’s heatwave

Posted onAugust 17, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Skoobe gets a new CEO, but unclear yet what direction the German ebook subscription service will go

Posted onAugust 7, 2018Leave a comment

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 …

Russia’s LitRes sees 46% ebook growth as Storytel Russia grows. Subscription model has much to offer

Posted onJuly 18, 2018Leave a comment

Russia’s ebook giant LitRes is seeing 46% growth this year as enthusiasm for the format grows, but overall ebooks are still just 6% of the Russian book marker, reports Eugene Gerden for Publishing Perspectives today. Russia’s Growing Ebook and Audiobook Sales in First Half of 2018 According to Gerden, LitRes says its ebook sales through Read More …

Storytel reports strong growth. Beats Q2 expectations

Posted onJuly 5, 2018Leave a comment

With 621,000 subscribers in Q2 2018, up nearly 200,000 on the same period 2017, Storytel’s CEO Jonas Tellander is reporting another quarter of strong growth. In a press release Storytel announced, Streaming revenues for the period totaled circa 239 MSEK ($27.3 million), which corresponds to 43% in annual revenue growth, slightly more than three million Read More …

Storytel launches in Italy

Posted onJune 26, 2018Leave a comment

Storytel today goes live in its thirteenth market, as Italy joins hands with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, India, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Launches in Bulgaria and Mexico planned for later this year. Regulars here at TNPS will not be surprised by the Italy launch, which I first Read More …

Adrénalivre launches word’s first interactive ebook subscription service

Posted onJune 21, 2018Leave a comment

If you know how to use Word, you will be able to write an interactive ebook. Or so says French start-up Adrénalivre, which earlier this year had over 1,000 authors contributing interactive content. Having invested €100,000 in the design and development of interactive story writing software, the start-up has now launched the world’s first subscription Read More …

Storytel launches its own e-reader, prepares to change royalty structure, as Tellander reports a successful Q1

Posted onMay 15, 2018Leave a comment

Along with the Storytel Q1 2018 financial report today comes news that the Swedish audiobook company is about to elevate its ebook arm from a sideshow to mainstream. Storytel Reader is an e-reading device that will be launched in Sweden, Denmark and Finland shortly, with other Storytel markets to follow. Storytel CEO Jonas Tellander explained, Read More …

Kobo and Fnac team up with telco Orange France to expand audiobook and ebook reach

Posted onApril 10, 20181 Comment

Kobo’s French ebook and audiobook distribution partner Fnac started offering digital comics via the Orange mobile service last year, and this year it adds audiobooks and ebooks to the telco offering. At a time when telcos are struggling to differentiate themselves from one another, being able to offer additional consumer content is one way to Read More …

The New Publishing Standard

Category: ebook subscription services