E-Books

The first in a series of book-oriented promotions planned by Kobo for 2013 launched on Wednesday with the Lonely Planet eBook USA’s Best Trips: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America, a guide to the country’s most iconic road trips.

More than 10 e-book promotions were recently added to the IndieCommerce Publisher Promotions page. Categories include gut-wrenching teen reads, murder mysteries, cookbooks, craft books, St. Patrick’s Day specials, and more. Several feature custom web banners provided by their publishers.

Stores that took part in the promotional event on Kobo Mini eReaders and Snapbacks leading up to Valentine’s Day must report their sales by March 1 to qualify for reimbursement.

On Friday, February 8, Macmillan became the final publisher to agree to a settlement of the e-book agency model pricing suit brought by the Department of Justice against Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Apple in April 2012.

Winter Institute 8 will feature several opportunities for booksellers to learn more about the ABA/Kobo program and plans in the works for 2013. In addition, Kobo representatives will be available to talk to booksellers directly.

BTW’s spotlight on current and upcoming eBook promotions that booksellers can choose to highlight on their IndieCommerce websites returns this week with 15 promotions, including three free samplers, a selection of cookbooks and home organizers, great titles for Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Ash Wednesday, and more.

This week, Publishers Lunch released Buzz Books 2013: Spring/Summer, a free e-book of pre-publication excerpts from 28 highly anticipated books set to go on sale between March and July. Close to half of the excerpts (11 titles) will also be featured at this month’s Winter Institute.

Starting today, IndieCommerce stores that do not participate in the Kobo eBook program will no longer be able to sell e-books. Earlier this year, Google set January 31 as the date that the Google eBooks catalog and the ability to sell Google eBooks would be removed from all reseller sites.

Customers looking to pre-order upcoming eBook releases can now do so from stores participating in the ABA/Kobo partnership.

Binc auctions bit of Borders history to help booksellers; Random House launches BookScout Facebook app; Macmillan begins pilot public library e-lending program