New project to digitise, lend and sell out-of-print Australian titles
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) is working with the University of Melbourne and Australian public libraries on a pilot project ‘to breathe new life into important out-of-print Australian books...
Amateur historian seeks donations to digitise historic WA footage
An amateur historian who bought 74 reels of historic WA films that were found by the roadside in Perth is seeking funds from the public to digitise them, reports the...
Allen & Unwin launches ‘Underbelly’ app
Allen & Unwin has announced the launch of an iPhone app for the three bestsellers in the ‘Underbelly' series, written by Andrew Rule and John Silvester and published in hard...
Scribe launches e-list, Harlequin, New Holland, Fremantle build ebook offering
Scribe Publishing has announced the launch of its ebooks list. The publisher has launched its list with new-release titles I Say Tomato (Katie Wall), The Authenticity Hoax (Andrew Potter) and...
Book Industry Strategy Group: Members, terms of reference announced
Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr has announced the membership and terms of reference for the recently announced Book Industry Strategy Group (BISG). The members of the group, which is to...
Kindle available to Australia
Amazon has announced its Kindle ereader is now available to customers outside the United States, including Australia. Kindles are available to order for US$279 (A$313) from the Amazon website now...
New joint venture to digitise NZ books
A new venture in New Zealand aiming to digitise New Zealand books has so far attracted 300 books from 30 publishers, reports Scoop. New Zealand's Copyright Licensing Ltd (CLL), Digital...
In brief
iMinds launches ‘MindTracks'New Australian audio publisher iMinds has launched a collection of short nonfiction general knowledge ‘tracks' that can be purchased and downloaded through iTunes or the US audiobook website...
DNAML launches new ebook website
Australia-based software developer DNAML has announced the launch of a new ebook website ebook.com. The website is ‘a global concept, which is accessible anywhere in the world' but includes books...
DNAML launches PDF-to-ePub software, plans ebook repository
Australia-based software developer DNAML has launched a new software product that converts PDFs of trade titles to the digital ePub format. DNAML CEO Adam Schmidt told WBN that the software...
Random House launches print on demand program
Random House Australia (RHA) has launched a print on demand (POD) program that will allow it to produce single copies of out-of-print titles. The program, which has been 18 months...
Dan Brown: over 150,000 sold in first week; NZ booksellers unhappy with ebook
Booksellers New Zealand has responded to the release in ebook format of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. The ebook, which Random House has made available to Australian and New Zealand...
Random House to release ‘The Lost Symbol’ ebook locally
An ebook version of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (Transworld), which went on sale in hard copy yesterday, will be available for purchase from the Random House Australia (RHA) website...
A&U, Black Inc. and Exisle partner with RHYW
ReadHowYouWant (RHYW) has announced new partnerships with publishers Allen & Unwin, Black Inc. and Exisle to create ‘accessible formats' of the publishers' titles. RHYW, which re-purposes books into special formats, including...
First New Zealand ebooks launched
The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC), affiliated with Victoria University in Wellington, has launched a collection of 1150 free downloadable ebooks. The ebooks, which include works by Katherine Mansfield...
Quote of the week
‘I'm sure people will start stealing books, but the question is do book publishers benefit from a world where people can get access to books more easily, even if they're...
Reader’s Feast sells ebook readers
Melbourne's Reader's Feast Bookstore has become one of the first independent bookstores to carry a range of ebook readers. The store stocks the Bookeen Cybook, Irex iLiad (V2 and Book...
NZ Digital publishing seminars
Jillian Ewart of NZ's Bookseller's News reports:Martin Taylor's presentation on The Rise and Fall and Rise of E-books kick-started New Zealand's Digital Publishing Seminars last week. Digital Publishing Seminars were...
Central Book Services and On Demand announce joint initiative
The book wholesaler Central Book Services (CBS) and digital printer On Demand have announced the launch of the joint initiative Central On Demand, a service designed to further integrate print...
Bramble appointed manager of Monash ePress
University librarian Cathrine Harboe-Ree has announced the appointment of Jo Bramble as the new Manager of the Monash University ePress. The ePress, established in 2003, provides electronic publishing services to...