07:33 AM by leanansidhe in E-Book General | News

The Competition Bureau announced Friday that Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster have agreed to remove or amend clauses in their distribution agreements with individual ebook retailers.
In a statement, the Bureau said it expects the move will restrict retail price competition, effectively allowing retailers to offer discounts on ebooks.

Finally Canadians will see some lower ebook prices. I can't believe the difference in prices between the US and Canada. I hope this happens soon. I've spent up to $15 for an ebook (and not a newly released one either). I hope we can start seeing more for $9.99 or less.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/...ices-1.1675305

07:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

Feast your eyes on some of the discussions from this week at MobileRead...

E-Book General - News

• What happens with DRM in the real world
• Sony closes USA and Canada ebook store

04:29 PM by thomasn75 in E-Book General | News

Just saw this article on engadget. As we all probably already knew, this is the end of sony ereaders. RIP

They have sent out an email to customers:

Dear Reader Store customer:

As you know, our customers always come first, which is why we want to give you the news firsthand about an announcement made today from Sony regarding its plan to close Reader Store in the U.S. and Canada.

Although we're sorry to say goodbye to the Reader Store, we're also glad to share with you the new, exciting future for our readers: Reader Store will transfer customers to Toronto-based eReading company, Kobo—an admired eBook seller with a passionate reading community. We strongly believe that this transition will allow you to enjoy a continued high-quality e-reading experience. As a result of this change, we will close Reader Store in the U.S. and Canada on March 20, 2014 at 6 p.m. (EST).

So, what's next?

You don't have to do anything right now, and you'll be able to re-download your previously purchased eBooks for a limited time. In late March, you will receive a notification from us with a link that will allow you to transfer your library to Kobo. Whether you are new to Kobo or already have an account, you'll be able to transfer your Reader Store eBooks to your Kobo account so you'll continue to have access to them in the future. Plus, any existing Reader Store credits you might still have in your account will transfer to your Kobo account to use at the Kobo Store. And of course, you can continue to use your Sony Reader to read eBooks from Kobo.

We are fully committed to helping you through this exciting transition to Kobo. With the Kobo Store, you'll have access to more than 4 million of the world's best books, magazines, comics and kids' titles, all at your fingertips.

We want to thank you for being such loyal customers, a part of our reading family, and for your continued support as we work to complete this transition. It has been a pleasure reading with you!

Sincerely,

The Reader Store Team

There's also a link to Sony's FAQs about this change.

It's also possible to opt-out of the transfer to Kobo, but I'm not quite sure why anyone would ant to opt out.

06:25 AM by AlexBell in E-Book General | News

I interrupt attending to my email this morning to bring you news of a long but very interesting article by Cory Doctorow in this morning's Guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...ts-management?

I think it's well worth reading.

07:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

It was the week that was. Here's what MobileRead's been talking about since last Sunday:

E-Book General - News

• Simon & Schuster Expands Library eBook Pilot to OverDrive

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• February Book Club Vote

02:11 AM by WT Sharpe in Reading Recommendations | Book Clubs

February 2014 MobileRead Book Club Vote

Help us choose a book as the February 2014 eBook for the MobileRead Book Club. The poll will be open for 5 days. There will be no runoff vote unless the voting results a tie, in which case there will be a 3 day run-off poll. This is a visible poll: others can see how you voted. It is You may cast a vote for each book that appeals to you.

We will start the discussion thread for this book on February 20th. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each:

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Amazon US

• Dirty Little Secrets (Romantic Mystery) by Liliana Hartk
Amazon US

• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Amazon Au - Amazon UK - Amazon US

• Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan
Amazon UK - Amazon US

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Amazon UK - Amazon US

• Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer
Amazon UK - Amazon US

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Zola (Exclusive)

• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Amazon UK - Amazon US

• Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
the omnibus from Baen

07:18 AM by tubemonkey in E-Book General | News

Simon & Schuster Expanding Library Ebook Pilot

This is the first time for OverDrive. Earlier pilots involved 3M and Axis 360. This pilot includes full access to S&S's entire catalog - both frontlist and backlist.

Check the list below to see if your library is included. So far, only half of the libraries selected have jumped in. Don't know who the other 16 are yet.

Simon & Schuster and OverDrive today announced a pilot launch of the Simon & Schuster eBook catalog for select OverDrive partner public libraries in the United States.

Simon & Schuster’s full catalog of eBook titles are available for pilot libraries to purchase for lending to their readers, or for readers to purchase through their library’s website with the new Library BIN (Buy It Now) option.

In an expansion of its existing eBook library pilot program, Simon & Schuster has selected 31 public libraries in the OverDrive network to participate.

As part of Simon & Schuster’s and OverDrive’s pilot, each eBook purchased for lending can be checked out an unlimited number of times on a one copy/one user basis for a period of 12 months.

Alternately, patrons can purchase the eBook from the library website and support their local libraries. Simon & Schuster’s full catalog of frontlist and backlist titles is eligible for the program, with all new titles available simultaneous with publication.

Of the 31 libraries (including consortia) selected by S&S to participate in the pilot, here’s a list of 15 who have already placed orders with OverDrive:

• Boston Public Library, MA
• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
• Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH
• District of Columbia Public Library, DC
• Douglas County Libraries, CO
• Greater Phoenix Digital Library, AZ
• Kent District Library, MI
• King County Library System, WA
• Lee County Library System, FL
• Nashville Public Library, TN
• North Carolina Digital Library, NC
• Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH
• San Antonio Public Library, TX
• The Free Library of Philadelphia, PA
• Maryland Digital Library, MD

08:27 AM by Mims in E-Book General | News

Did you have an account with Fictionwise? Did you have membership in their "buywise club"?

If the answer to both is "yes", check your email for an email from "support@penchecks.com" with subject line "PenChecks Participant Distribution Notification".

It contains information and a PIN to get a refund from Pencheck for your unused Fictionwise membership. I had forgotten that this was due and very pleasantly surprised to get this email today.

Barnes & Nobles are using penchecks to distribute cheques with pro-rata refunds of the buywise club membership fees.