Top 10 Online eBook Stores

Latest news about Online eBook Stores

2023. Amazon is attacked by AI-generated books



Amazon's Kindle Unlimited platform recently encountered a troubling issue involving an influx of AI-generated books that contained nonsensical content. The Top 100 chart for Best Sellers in Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance eBooks was flooded with AI-generated books designed to manipulate rankings and generate more clicks. Vice reported that out of the top 100 books on the chart, only 19 appeared to be legitimate. Although Amazon appeared to have taken action against these books, this incident emphasizes the problem of individuals spamming the platform with AI-generated material to profit from it. On Monday, Caitlyn Lynch's tweet referred to the situation as AI bots disrupting Amazon. She also shared a screenshot of the Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance category's Best Sellers list, which clearly showed that the majority of books were AI-generated and created solely for the purpose of click farming.


2023. Book.io - Web3 marketplace for buying and selling books


Book.io is an innovative web3 marketplace where users can buy, sell and read top-quality e-books and audiobooks. This cutting-edge platform operates on the concept of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and represents the future of the publishing industry. By leveraging decentralization and encryption, Book.io ensures complete ownership for its users, addressing the common concern of fair compensation for authors found in traditional approaches. This platform's unique features have revolutionized the digital publishing world, promoting fairness, transparency and efficiency. Additionally, Book.io offers a lending library service, allowing users to share their books with others for a small fee. This new initiative has the potential to completely transform the e-books industry, providing users with a seamless reading experience and a comprehensive solution.


2023. Amazon makes Kindle Rewards Beta program less rewarding



Kindle Rewards is an exclusive beta program offered to specially invited customers by Amazon. Upon enrollment, customers have the opportunity to accumulate points by purchasing Kindle Books and Print Books, which can later be redeemed as credits for additional book purchases. However, there have been recent adjustments to the program, resulting in reduced earning rates. Now, customers will only receive 3 Kindle Points for every dollar spent on Kindle books and 1 Kindle Point for every dollar spent on print books. This is a significant departure from the previous credit system, where customers earned 5 points for Kindle Books and 2 points for print books. Consequently, customers are now required to accumulate 300 points in order to receive a meager $3 book credit. As a result of these changes, many participants in the Kindle Rewards program are dissatisfied, particularly with the decrease in points earned per dollar spent.


2023. Amazon launches cheap ebook discovery program



Amazon has recently introduced a new notification system called Great on Kindle for non-fiction titles in specific markets. This program offers several compelling features such as cheaper Kindle book prices compared to print editions, high-quality images that allow zooming in for a closer look and Wikipedia integration (which is already available in most Kindle books). "Great on Kindle" is prominently placed below the book formats (Kindle, hardcover, paperback, audiobook and CD) and has its own landing page that lists all the eligible ebooks. The "Great on Kindle" program offers significant benefits for consumers who purchase Kindle editions. However, the enrollment process for authors is another key feature that sets this program apart.


2019. Microsoft Bookstore for Windows 10 is now officially closed



Microsoft has closed its separate ebook store, Microsoft Bookstore, which allowed US customers to download both free and paid titles. Microsoft’s “official reason” is that this decision is part of a strategy to streamline the focus of the Microsoft Store. It appears the company no longer wishes to compete with Amazon, Apple Books and Google Play Books. One major reason for the failure of the Microsoft Store was the lack of distribution options for self-published authors and all the links that publishers used to stock the Microsoft Bookstore’s virtual shelves led to 404 errors. The fact that the bookstore was limited to US customers was a critical issue, as Amazon controls over 75% of all ebook sales, making it nearly impossible for Microsoft to compete unless they sold their books internationally.


2018. Walmart and Kobo launched online e-book and audiobook store



Walmart has teamed up with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten to offer audiobooks, e-books and e-readers alongside its selection of physical books. The new site, named Walmart eBooks, features a collection of over 6 million titles, including NYT best-sellers, indie books and children’s literature. Similar to Amazon’s Audible, Walmart will also provide a monthly audiobook subscription service. However, Walmart is undercutting Amazon on pricing. While Audible subscriptions start at $14.95 per month for one audiobook, Walmart’s subscription is priced at just $9.99 per month for the same service. Walmart will also offer Rakuten-owned Kobo e-readers both online and in stores.


2017. Amazon is renaming Kindle Books to Digital Books



Amazon is altering terminology: Kindle eBook and Kindle Edition will now be referred to as Digital Book or eBook. Dropping the word Kindle from e-books clarifies to users that an e-reader is not necessary to access e-books, as there are now various platforms Amazon uses for reading or having books read aloud. For instance, you can now have e-books read aloud to you using the Amazon Echo and Alexa.


2014. BookBub builds a book marketing platform



As book publishing continues to evolve, new companies are emerging to meet the industry's demands. BookBub is one of these and will be intriguing to follow. The concept behind BookBub is remarkably straightforward. It's a service that highlights temporary substantial discounts on popular ebooks. Readers subscribe and then receive a notification when there’s a discount on an ebook that aligns with their preferences. However, it’s not only readers who benefit from the bargain reads. Publishers have discovered that it’s an excellent way to get their books and authors noticed. If we feature a book, not only does it sell thousands of copies, but the author’s other works also see increased sales. The program’s costs are based on the size of the email list and the price of the ebook. The expenses range from $50 to $1250 per promotion and can accommodate most budgets.


2014. Amazon.com continues price battle against big publishers



Over the past few months, Amazon has been waging a quiet struggle with Hachette (one of the largest publishers in the world) to secure more for "co-op" (that is, marketing funds publishers spend with retailers to ensure certain in-store or, in Amazon’s case, on-website marketing). Amazon was reportedly making it more difficult for readers to obtain the company’s titles. In addition to being slower to deliver Hachette products to customers, Amazon has also ceased discounting Hachette titles as much as before. Last week, Amazon removed preorder options for upcoming titles from publisher Hachette. Remember, back in 2010, Amazon stopped selling titles from another major publisher - Macmillan. But after public outcry, Amazon surrendered.


2014. Sony is closing the Reader Store, content to be available via Kobo



Sony is shutting down its international Reader Store on March 20, 2014. The Japanese version will remain operational. The dedicated e-book reader market has significantly cooled off from the days when Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Amazon competed fiercely for customers. Amazon's Kindle brand is now clearly dominant, making it challenging to recommend alternatives due to risks like Sony's store closure. The positive aspect is that Sony is not leaving customers in the lurch; it will be transitioning content to Kobo. Over the next month, you can re-download your Reader content and save it for later reading. In late March, Sony will send an email with a link to transfer your existing Sony library to Kobo. Some titles might not be available in the Kobo store, so it's advisable to download all your library titles and back them up for future use.


2013. Amazon wants to create used ebook marketplace



Amazon recently secured a patent to establish a marketplace where individuals can sell their used (read) ebooks. While ebooks don’t experience physical wear and tear, think of the resale process as more of a way to transfer your book licenses. Amazon’s method of reselling assumes that an Amazon book is downloaded to a new device while being deleted from the original owner’s bookshelf. Kindle users can currently “lend” ebooks, which then vanish from your device as your friend keeps the copy in their digital library. But why not earn from this? The only question is—will Amazon lose its profits if users opt to buy cheaper books from their friends instead of visiting the Kindle store?