Tag: digital news

New Study: Mobile Reading is Up

Posted November 3, 2014 by Holly in Discussions, News | 8 Comments

mobile readingThis was a UK study, but I found it really interesting. I read books primarily on my e-reader, but I do read on my phone on those rare occasions I’m out and about without my Nook. However, when it comes to blog-hopping, news, social media, etc, I use my phone more than my table, e-reader or even my pc.

Mobile phone book reading boom takes hold

Oxford, UK, 7 October 2014 – We are more likely to use our mobiles to read books than ever before, according to new research by publishing services provider, Publishing Technology.

The survey, which polled 1,500 UK consumers, found that 43 per cent of people read (or have read) ebooks on their mobile. And our love of mobile reading is on the rise, with a huge 59 per cent of people reading more on their phones now than they did last year. Younger people in particular are not just using their mobiles to text, Snapchat and take selfies, they’re also taking to their mobile phones to read more frequently, with 23 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds using their mobiles to read books on a daily basis.

The trend for shorter, snappier online content looks to be changing the way we read books on our phones. The survey shows that we read on our mobiles in short bursts with a growing preference for bite-sized content that is easier to consume on the go.

For example, two thirds of Brits (66 per cent) tend to spend less than 30 minutes reading on their mobile phones in each sitting. And more than a third of young people aged 18-24 said they preferred to read shorter content on their mobiles (38 per cent).

But one thing that doesn’t change just because we’re reading on our mobiles is our favourite genres. As is true in the world of printed books, crime and thriller books are still the most popular genres for readers (27 per cent), followed by autobiographies/biographies (25 per cent), general fiction (20 per cent), sci-fi/fantasy (19 per cent) and romance/erotic fiction (18 per cent).

We all have our favourite places to read too. Relaxation and home comforts are top of the list for young people most of whom prefer to read on their mobiles in the comfort of their homes, either snuggled up on the couch or while taking a long bath (61 per cent). By comparison, older generations (35 and over) are reading around the pressures of busy work lives, mainly reading books secretly on their mobiles at work and during the daily commute on public transport (73 per cent).

Michael Cairns, Publishing Technology’s CEO, said: “As mobile phones become a more intrinsic part of our lives, we are increasingly using them to read our favourite books. Technology is changing the what, where and how of book reading and this survey shows us how significant mobiles, in particular, are going to be to the future of books.”

“We can see that the technology still has a long way to go before it satisfies everyone. But as mobiles continue to improve the user experience, we can expect more people to choose them as a convenient way to read books.”

The Mobile Book Reading Habits survey was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Publishing Technology. The full results can be accessed at www.publishingtechnology.com/research.

I thought it was interesting that romance readers showed the lowest percentile. Since romance is the highest selling fiction genre, I can only conclude that, like me, most romance readers have an e-reader or still prefer print books. I used to read way more print than digital, but in the last couple years my print reading has dwindled to practically nothing. I might read 5 print books a year, which is nothing when I average 200+ books.

Do you read on your mobile phone, or do you prefer to read in print or on your e-reader? What’s your current print vs digital ratio? 

Publishing Technology plc:

Publishing Technology is the world-leading provider of content solutions that transform business.  We cover the publishing process from end to end with content systems, audience development and content delivery software and services. Combining our unmatched publishing knowledge, global operations and perpetual support model with our advance enterprise system, ingentaconnect scholarly portal, pub2web custom hosting platform and PCG (Publishers Communication Group) sales and marketing consultancy, we offer the industry’s only full spectrum of solutions to help publishers move their content forward.  Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, the company operates jointly from Europe (Oxford) and North America (Boston and New Jersey), with local offices in Brazil, India, China and Australia.  Assisting 400 trade and scholarly publishers for over thirty years, Publishing Technology solves the fundamental issues content providers face.

 Visit publishingtechnology.com, follow @publishingtech on Twitter, or connect with us on LinkedIn.


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Julie Garwood Titles Now Available in Digital Format

Posted July 15, 2011 by Holly in News | 2 Comments

I have been waiting for this day forever. Julie Garwood is finally releasing her backlist in digital format. Which means I can download my favorite comfort reads and take them with me everywhere.

You can now download copies of Castles, Prince Charming, Guardian Angel, For the Roses, The Bride, Saving Grace and The Gift have been newly released as e-books, and The Secret, The Wedding and The Prize e-books became available on July 5th.

I’ve already downloaded Saving Grace, The Secret, The Bride and The Wedding. Those are some of my favorite titles.

Are you excited to see some of your favorite authors releasing their backlists in e-format? What are your favorite Garwood novels?


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Julie Garwood Titles Now Available in Digital Format

Posted July 15, 2011 by Holly in News | 2 Comments

I have been waiting for this day forever. Julie Garwood is finally releasing her backlist in digital format. Which means I can download my favorite comfort reads and take them with me everywhere.

You can now download copies of Castles, Prince Charming, Guardian Angel, For the Roses, The Bride, Saving Grace and The Gift have been newly released as e-books, and The Secret, The Wedding and The Prize e-books became available on July 5th.

I’ve already downloaded Saving Grace, The Secret, The Bride and The Wedding. Those are some of my favorite titles.

Are you excited to see some of your favorite authors releasing their backlists in e-format? What are your favorite Garwood novels?


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Updated: Publishers Alienating Readers Through Libraries

Posted March 2, 2011 by Holly in Discussions | 4 Comments

I missed the announcement last week, but apparently HarperCollins has decided to put a lending cap on e-books through library systems. e-book lending is still in its infancy, but I know many readers (read: Casee) who have discovered the service recently and are overjoyed. HC, one of the Big 6 in publishing, has decided to limit the number of times a library can lend a digital title to 26, for 2 week periods. This means that after 26 people have borrowed it, the library will have to repurchase the license. In essance, it’s like buying a print book after it has been checked out 26 times. Rather ridiculous, no?

I understand that publishers are still finding their way in this new digital age. Digital reading is taking the publishing world by storm, and concerns of piracy and pricing and digital rights management (DRM) are making an already unfamiliar situation seem impossible to deal with. But I’ll tell you this, as a reader, I’m sick and tired of being taken advantage of and made to feel like a criminal for wanting the same rights for my digital library that I have for my print library.

So we’re not mistaken here: Libraries pay for the digital books they lend. The books can only be lent one at a time, to one person, for a period of 2-4wks (depending on the library). The book cannot be lent again until that lending period expires (in most cases, even if the book is returned early). Libraries are not stealing these books, then lending the same copy out to 1 million readers at once. It’s the same concept as for print books. If they have 1 in stock, only 1 reader at a time may have it.

I’m not an idiot, you know. I see what publishers are doing, and it makes me very, very angry. As it happens, I really enjoy novels from HarperCollins (and Macmillan and Simon&Schuster, who don’t even allow digital lending through libraries). Some of my favorite authors publish with them. At the end of the day, am I going to stop reading my favorite authors because the publisher won’t allow me to borrow the digital book from the library? No, I’m probably not. So the publisher has me over a barrel. They can charge twice the amount for a digital book, or make sure it isn’t available to me at my library for free, or not release the digital book until the print version has been available for a minimum of 30 days..and it isn’t going to stop me from buying it. At the end of the day, my need to read will trump my disgust with the publisher.

But that doesn’t mean I have no voice. I do. And I’m using it today to urge all of you to write the publisher, or your favorite authors (some of who are even worse than the publishers when it comes to digital advocacy), and tell them you want their books available in the library. Share with them your love of reading, and your case for wanting the same rights for digital books as for print. Let us stand up and be heard.

(as it happens, it looks like I’m just echoing what Jane @ Dear Author had to say about this subject, though she said it better. If you’re looking for more information, check out her post, or the one Overdrive recently put up to defend its position)

ETA: It looks like HarperCollins responded to the public outcry. Today Josh Marshwell, director of sales, posted an Open Letter To Librarians on the HarperLibrary blog. I’m very disheartened by his response.  Here’s the section that most baffles me:

We have serious concerns that our previous e-book policy, selling e-books to libraries in perpetuity, if left unchanged, would undermine the emerging e-book eco-system, hurt the growing e-book channel, place additional pressure on physical bookstores, and in the end lead to a decrease in book sales and royalties paid to authors. We are looking to balance the mission and needs of libraries and their patrons with those of authors and booksellers, so that the library channel can thrive alongside the growing e-book retail channel. 

 This tells me that publishers still aren’t thinking clearly about digital reading. Whether you’re an e-book reader or not, I hope you’ll agree with me that digital reading isn’t something dirty. The rights and obligations to the digital community should be the same as those offered to the print community. There’s an email address listed on that open letter..I hope you’ll utilize it. I know I plan to.

To continue the discussion please email library.ebook@HarperCollins.com


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Updated: Publishers Alienating Readers Through Libraries

Posted March 2, 2011 by Holly in News | 4 Comments

I missed the announcement last week, but apparently HarperCollins has decided to put a lending cap on e-books through library systems. e-book lending is still in its infancy, but I know many readers (read: Casee) who have discovered the service recently and are overjoyed. HC, one of the Big 6 in publishing, has decided to limit the number of times a library can lend a digital title to 26, for 2 week periods. This means that after 26 people have borrowed it, the library will have to repurchase the license. In essance, it’s like buying a print book after it has been checked out 26 times. Rather ridiculous, no?

I understand that publishers are still finding their way in this new digital age. Digital reading is taking the publishing world by storm, and concerns of piracy and pricing and digital rights management (DRM) are making an already unfamiliar situation seem impossible to deal with. But I’ll tell you this, as a reader, I’m sick and tired of being taken advantage of and made to feel like a criminal for wanting the same rights for my digital library that I have for my print library.

So we’re not mistaken here: Libraries pay for the digital books they lend. The books can only be lent one at a time, to one person, for a period of 2-4wks (depending on the library). The book cannot be lent again until that lending period expires (in most cases, even if the book is returned early). Libraries are not stealing these books, then lending the same copy out to 1 million readers at once. It’s the same concept as for print books. If they have 1 in stock, only 1 reader at a time may have it.

I’m not an idiot, you know. I see what publishers are doing, and it makes me very, very angry. As it happens, I really enjoy novels from HarperCollins (and Macmillan and Simon&Schuster, who don’t even allow digital lending through libraries). Some of my favorite authors publish with them. At the end of the day, am I going to stop reading my favorite authors because the publisher won’t allow me to borrow the digital book from the library? No, I’m probably not. So the publisher has me over a barrel. They can charge twice the amount for a digital book, or make sure it isn’t available to me at my library for free, or not release the digital book until the print version has been available for a minimum of 30 days..and it isn’t going to stop me from buying it. At the end of the day, my need to read will trump my disgust with the publisher.

But that doesn’t mean I have no voice. I do. And I’m using it today to urge all of you to write the publisher, or your favorite authors (some of who are even worse than the publishers when it comes to digital advocacy), and tell them you want their books available in the library. Share with them your love of reading, and your case for wanting the same rights for digital books as for print. Let us stand up and be heard.

(as it happens, it looks like I’m just echoing what Jane @ Dear Author had to say about this subject, though she said it better. If you’re looking for more information, check out her post, or the one Overdrive recently put up to defend its position)

ETA: It looks like HarperCollins responded to the public outcry. Today Josh Marshwell, director of sales, posted an Open Letter To Librarians on the HarperLibrary blog. I’m very disheartened by his response.  Here’s the section that most baffles me:

We have serious concerns that our previous e-book policy, selling e-books to libraries in perpetuity, if left unchanged, would undermine the emerging e-book eco-system, hurt the growing e-book channel, place additional pressure on physical bookstores, and in the end lead to a decrease in book sales and royalties paid to authors. We are looking to balance the mission and needs of libraries and their patrons with those of authors and booksellers, so that the library channel can thrive alongside the growing e-book retail channel. 

 This tells me that publishers still aren’t thinking clearly about digital reading. Whether you’re an e-book reader or not, I hope you’ll agree with me that digital reading isn’t something dirty. The rights and obligations to the digital community should be the same as those offered to the print community. There’s an email address listed on that open letter..I hope you’ll utilize it. I know I plan to.

To continue the discussion please email library.ebook@HarperCollins.com


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