It seems like the natural progression of digital entertainment services, regardless of the form of entertainment, is leaning toward each platform making its own content. We’re starting to see that change in the world of audiobooks in the form of “born-audio narratives.” So what does this mean for publishers?
Scribd
Netflix for Books: Is an eBook Subscription Right for You?
By Stephen Hyde
Let’s face it, you either know someone or are someone who subscribes to a monthly video or music service. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify have changed the way users consume digital media. Is it so far-fetched that the same thing could happen for ebooks? There are several companies that are trying their best to convince you that ebook subscription services are the future of reading. They include Scribd, Playster, and the the hulking behemoth that is Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. And while subscription services haven’t taken off in the same way as movies or music, the real question is, are they right for you?
Oyster, Scribd, Kindle Unlimited & Overdrive: More Developments in Stream-Reading
By Amy McNeely
Recently, there have been several big changes in the book-subscription-service world. Oyster, an ebook-subscription service, announced in September 2015 that it would be ending all services in January 2016. In June 2015, the Scribd subscription service announced it would be limiting the number of romance titles in its catalog due to their extreme popularity. Kindle […]
Further Developments in Subscription Reading
By Zach Eggemeyer
This post is a continuation of an earlier discussion concerning recent developments in subscription reading services. Big publishing continues experimenting with the subscription reading services Oyster and Scribd: 15,000 Harlequin romance titles became available through Scribd just last week. Sustaining this success is contingent on a host of delicately balanced circumstances, detailed in my last […]
Recent Developments in Subscription Reading Services
By Zach Eggemeyer
We here at Ooligan Press have been watching recent developments in subscription reading services closely. In May, the two largest providers of subscription reading services for trade books—Oyster and Scribd—announced that 10,000 e-books from Simon & Schuster’s backlist would become available to subscribers. Until then, HarperCollins was the only publisher of the big five to […]