Category: Europe

After the Scribd-NYT subscription deal, Sweden’s Bookbeat ties a bundled deal with Dagens Nyheter. But are Storytel’s rivals up to the challenges ahead?

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If the Scribd-New York Times subscription bundle made the headlines in the Anglophone world, it is Bookbeat’s deal with Dagen Nyheter that is the big news in Scandinavia. Bookbeat, second player to Storytel in the Nordic audiobook and ebook subscription stakes, has signed a deal with the Swedish digital news service (Dagens Nyheter = Today’s Read More …

Denmark’s publishers perform u-turn on digital libraries as Storytel and co. show consumers want ebooks and audio

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Denmark’s digital library service Ereolen has seen the number of ebook titles in its catalogue soar from 18,000 in September 2017 to 29,000 in September 2018. The 65% boost is due to Denmark’s biggest publishers embracing the option rather than lose ground to audiobook and ebook subscription services like Storytel. Denmark’s largest publisher, Gyldendal, returned Read More …

Axiell Media cries foul on OverDrive’s Sweden deal, claiming OverDrive has no agreements with Sweden’s biggest publishers

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October was supposed to mark the start of OverDrive’s supply of digital content to Sweden’s public libraries after Overdrive beat domestic front-runner Axial in a lowest-priced bidding war. From TNPS in June: OverDrive wins 4 year contract to supply ebooks to Sweden’s libraries Axiell bought out former market leader Elib in 2015 and seemed in Read More …

The Week In Review

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Here’s a second chance to see the TNPS post from the past seven days. Start the Day Global – 30 September 2018 Sweden’s Storytel Arabia partners with Jordan’s Jamalon to expand MENA audiobook reach Nigerian student writer wins trip to Sharjah International Book fair. They never had prizes like that when I was a kid! Read More …

Finnish President sits on steps at Turku Book Fair as auditorium was full

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Only in Finland could the country’s President turn up to a book fair discussion on equality, find there were no seats, so sit himself down on the steps to enjoy the show. It happened this weekend at the Turku Book Fair in southwest Finland when first President Sauli Niinistö was spotted buying books. No, no Read More …

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

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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 …

Storytel sees 42.3% revenue growth in Q3. Adds 100,000 new subscribers. Over half of all revenue now comes from international sites

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First, the numbers. Despite adding 100,000 subscribers, Storytel missed its 725,000 target for Q3, averaging just 720,900. But streaming revenue exceeded expectations, coming in at SEK 280 million ($30.8 million), against a forecast of 275.5 million. International subscriptions rose by 78,200 to a total of 384,700 but there is no breakdown offered on which countries Read More …

Amazon Sweden: Data centres more likely than warehouses. Either way it’s not books

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Well, we still don’t have anything official from Amazon to say one way or another, but we do know Amazon is in Sweden preparing something. And Sweden’s Breakit this week decided to take a close look at exactly what it is Amazon is up to in the land of Storytel. As reported here at TNPS Read More …

It’s Banned Books Week. Spare a thought for a French book banned in Italy this year

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The winner of the Prix Albert Londres 2018 will be announced in Istanbul on October 22. Yes, a French literary prize awarded in Turkey. The award is the creation of the daughter of the celebrated French author Florise Martinet-Londres, and the awards ceremony this year, writes Actualitté’s Antoine Oury, has a strong symbolic significance. A delegation Read More …

Amsterdam’s Festival voor het Afrikaans finishes today

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Most non-South Africans, asked what are the main languages of that country, would likely respond English and Afrikaans. Amazon seems to think so too, as only these two, of South Africa’s eleven official languages, are supported by KDP. In fact, while English is widely spoken there are eleven official languages – Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Read More …