Roger Packer

Wattpad is set to join the Webtoon brand in a takeover deal by Korean search engine company Naver that values Wattpad at more than $600 million. READ MORE >>

The Kindle Unlimited KENP rate for December 2020 fell back to $0.0045 from $0.0046 in November 2020, while the KDP Select Global Fund for December 2020 rose strongly by $800,000 to $34 million from $33.2 million in November 2020. READ MORE >>

The former head of Amazon Publishing’s UK crime and thriller imprint Thomas & Mercer has joined Bonnier Books to set up a new digital-first genre publisher. READ MORE >>

Wattpad is reported to be up for sale at around $500 million after 2020 saw the story platform grow strongly amid the Covid pandemic. READ MORE >>

Independent UK publisher Joffe Books has hit the 10 million mark in total sales of books since it was set up in 2014 by Jasper Joffe. READ MORE >>

Public libraries hit record levels of digital book circulation in 2020 as readers worldwide borrowed 430 million ebooks, audiobooks and digital magazines, a 33% increase over 2019. Ebooks saw a particularly high rise in lending with a 40% increase compared with 2019. READ MORE >>

Book review service NetGalley was hacked just before Christmas in a data security incident. READ MORE >>

The Kindle Unlimited KENP rate for November 2020 rose slightly to $0.0046 from $0.0045 in October 2020, while the KDP Select Global Fund for November 2020 increased by $300,000 to $33.2 million from $32.9 million in October 2020. READ MORE >>

Amazon only launched the Estimated KENP Royalties metric in the US just a few weeks ago at the start of November but it has already moved to extend it to KDP authors advertising in the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. READ MORE >>

The fourth edition of Kindle Direct Publishing’s Pen to Publish self-publishing contest in India is open for entries from December 10, 2020 to March 10, 2021. READ MORE >>

There were nearly 40,000 entries for The Wattys 2020 awards and the winner of the prize of a publishing deal with Wattpad Books is the YA book How to be the Best Third Wheel by Loridee De Villa (Summer Angeles). READ MORE >>

Audible is pledging to pay authors royalties for any title returned more than seven days following purchase after protests that the company’s exchange policy allowing customers to return titles up to a year after purchase was hitting many authors. READ MORE >>

Amazon has been piling on new features for Kindle Direct Publishing authors recently and the latest innovation is for Sponsored Brands advertising which means authors can showcase a collection of books, such as those from the same genre or series. READ MORE >>

Amazon has added estimated Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP) Royalties to the KDP performance dashboard to help authors measure the impact that ads are having on their Kindle ebooks enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. READ MORE >>

Amazon is now inviting authors to nominate their ebooks to be included in Kindle Deals and Prime Reading promotional programs. READ MORE >>

Amazon has introduced several improvements for Author Central which mean you can now manage your Author Page, claim your books, and view your reports for multiple marketplaces from a single Author Central site with a single account. READ MORE >>

The Kindle Unlimited KENP rate for October 2020 stayed steady at $0.0045, the same level as seen in September 2020, while the KDP Select Global Fund for October 2020 increased by $200,000 to $32.9 million from $32.7 million in September 2020. READ MORE >>

One month after being hit an attack on its online systems, Barnes & Noble Press says most B&N Press and Nook services have been restored and the firm is close to bringing the remaining functions back online. READ MORE >>

Apple Books has set out the delivery deadlines for anyone wanting to release ebooks on its platform over the holiday period between November 27, 2020, and January 1, 2021. READ MORE >>