Category: Ebooks

Four in ten books sold in Sweden are through a subscription service. But might both print and ebooks be the casualties of the great Scandinavian experiment?

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Forty percent of books sold in Sweden are through a subscription service. Total book sales revenue in Sweden increased by 6.2% last year but, perhaps unsurprisingly given the rise and rise of the subscription model in Scandinavia, digital is leading the charge. And traditional bookselling outlets are getting hammered. While there are many upsides to Read More …

In Morocco, selling pirated books “is the only way to make a living,” with the help of the Mafia

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Like in many Arab countries, literacy rates in Morocco are not among the highest in the world, but for Moroccans who do read the challenge is finding books they want at prices they can afford. When bookstores are few and far between and offer a limited choice of books at expensive prices it’s not surprising Read More …

The Indonesia International Book Fair is underway. An analogue book fair in the world’s fifth largest country by internet users

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With one million books up for grabs at big discounts this year’s Indonesia International Book Fair should pull in big crowds in what I regard as one of the planet’s most exciting publishing prospects. One million books at a book fair may sound like a lot, but it’s small beer compared to the 5.5 million Read More …

The Week In Review

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Here’s a summary of TNPS posts from the past seven days. Book reading down slightly in New Zealand. More than half read NZ authors Storytel Brazil 2019 launch whispers grows louder Spanish book market valued at minimum $2.7 billion. Paperback and ebook sales both rising Côte d’Ivoire: francophone Africa publishing insights Is Amazon preparing a Read More …

Is Amazon preparing a Kindle Arabia launch at the Sharjah Int. Book Fair later this year?

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In November it will be four years since Amazon launched a Kindle store (Netherlands, November 2014), and as I’ve speculated on several occasions here at TNPS, it seemed mostly unlikely there were any new Kindle store launches being planned. Amazon has set up token operations in Singapore and Vietnam, is opening a call centre in Read More …

The Week in Review

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Here’s a summary of TNPS posts from the past seven days.   UK small publishers find new ways to survive as chain bookstores turn them away HarperCollins’ Harlequin launches romance book website in Australia The Mogadishu Book Fair: an oasis of tranquility in a troubled land Small presses and self-publishers left stranded by collapse of Read More …

Publishing Perspectives’ interview with the Beijing IBF’s director. The Hot Sheet’s take on indie author access to China

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Given China is by any measure the second largest book market in the world, it should come as no surprise that the Beijing International Book Fair is one of the largest and most important publishing events in the world. To coincide with the event, Publishing Perspectives ran an insightful interview with the Beijing IBF Director, Read More …

Nigeria’s ebook aggregator Publiseer launches in Ghana, the first step in its Pan-Africa expansion

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Publiseer may be small compared to western aggregators, but its mix-n-match ebooks and music approach has prove successful in Nigeria and to mark its first anniversary this month Publiseer has launched operations in Ghana In a statement marking the expansion, Publiseer co-founder (with brother Chika) Chidi Nwaogu, said, Ghana has an amazing music industry that Read More …

Kobo Walmart ebook / audiobook partnership now live in the US. Here’s what each had to say

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I tend to shy away from US-only news as it is so amply covered elsewhere, but for the benefit of readers outside the US who may have missed this big story but will be eager to get a share of the action, I copy below the official statements from both Kobo and Walmart stating their Read More …

Literature to be Ghana’s next cocoa, gold and oil, says Accra International Book Festival

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With the 2018 Accra International Book Festival set for 6-9 September, coinciding with Ghana’s National Literacy Day on 8 September, aspirations are high. The festival’s theme this year is “Amplify,” the idea being to amplify the power of Ghanaian writers in society and beyond and to promote a culture of reading. Writes Brittle Paper, The Festival Read More …