EU council allows VAT-free status for ebooks and audiobooks
The European Union’s (EU) Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) has agreed to allow all EU member states to reduce the amounts of value-added tax (VAT) on ebooks and audiobooks,...
Digital press ideePOP launched
A new digital press specialising in longform nonfiction has launched.ideePOP is the brainchild of Simon Clews, director of Melbourne University’s Writing Centre for Scholars and Researchers, director of Reader’s Feast...
Heffernan-Smith to head new digital marketing team at HarperCollins
HarperCollins has announced the creation of a new digital business team within its marketing communications division. ‘The team’s task will be to grow digital revenue through the development of existing...
Blackwell’s announces ‘digital learning service’ for students
In the UK, academic bookselling chain Blackwell’s has announced a new ‘digital learning service’ for students, reports the Bookseller. Unveiled at the London Book Fair on 8 April, the service,...
Diary of a (digital) sales rep: Anne Treasure
What does a sales rep for a digital-only publisher do all day? We spoke to Anne Treasure, digital marketing executive at Momentum. What was your original job description? Has it...
EWF announces digital publication mentorships
The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) is calling for applications for a six-month digital publication mentorship in 2013. The festival said in a statement that it is looking for three writers...
Random House US to launch three new digital-only imprints
In the US, Random House plans to launch three new digital-only imprints, reports Publishers Weekly. Alibi will be a mystery-thriller list, Flirt will be a Young Adult list and Hydra...
HarperCollins launches digital YA imprint in US
HarperCollins is launching a new digital imprint for YA short stories and novellas in a range of genres, reports the New York Times. To be called HarperTeen Impulse, the imprint...
Copyright in Australia: Where to from here?
Two reports relating to the Australian copyright industries were released in August. One looks at the recent past: the economic contributions of our country’s copyright industries between 1996 and 2011....
HarperCollins launches a ‘Project Runway’ for ebooks
Publishers are constantly being told that to succeed in digital publishing they need to experiment—but where to start? Some publishers, such as Pan Macmillan, have created a digital-only imprint that...
On the epidemic of niceness in online book culture
In an article at Slate, US writer Jacob Silverman argues that today’s online book culture has become a ‘mutual admiration society’ which discourages criticism and dissent. The writer Emma Straub...
Key findings from Joel Naoum’s Unwin Trust Fellowship report
Momentum publisher Joel Naoum packed his bags for London last year to investigate experiments in digital publishing among UK trade publishers. His report includes case studies of Macmillan’s digital backlist...
Joel Naoum: Key findings on experimentation in digital publishing from my Unwin Trust Fellowship
Vanilla ebooks have been released by many major publishers in the UK from as early as 2006. They took off in a much bigger way when Amazon launched the local...
‘Metadata obscura: Zoe Dattner on the nightmare that is ebook metadata supply’
‘It’s Thursday morning and I’m waiting at SPUNC HQ for Imogen to arrive. Today we’re going to upload 80 ebooks to Roger, Syd and David*. We’d spent the past few...
‘Rapid growth’ in digital products at McGraw-Hill Australia and New Zealand; 2011 revenue in international markets ‘slightly’ below 2010
McGraw-Hill Education's business in Australia and New Zealand is 'benefiting from the rapid growth in digital products and sales that is transforming education', despite 'challenging economic conditions in 2011', according...
Inaugural PANZ conference attracts 128 publishers
Australian guests were among the 128 publishers to attend the Publishing for the Future conference, held by the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) from 1 to 2 March in...
Bolinda opens New Zealand office
Australia-based audiobook publisher Bolinda Publishing has established an office in Auckland, New Zealand. Bolinda co-CEO Rebecca Hermann told the Weekly Book Newsletter that two full-time local staff, sales executives Ed...
Quote of the week
'One issue we are still very much negotiating (though some publishers might refer to it as "arguing") is that of electronic files and security. Who owns the copyright? Yes, the...
Lonely Planet launches multi-format publishing platform
Lonely Planet has launched its Shared Publishing Platform, which allows for faster production of guidebooks. The platform, which began development two years ago, allows authors to create content that can...
‘Aurealis’ re-launched as emagazine
Australian fantasy and science-fiction magazine Aurealis has been re-launched as a free epublication. The latest issue of the magazine, Aurealis #45, has been released and is available to download from...