Top 9 Ebook Subscription services

Latest news about Ebook Subscription services

08.04.24. Scribd rebrands as Everand



Scribd, that erstwhile haven for the bibliophiles, file-sharers, and audiobook aficionados of the cosmos, has undergone one of those grand existential makeovers, emerging with the curious new moniker Everand. Where once stood three familiar empires—Everand, Scribd, and SlideShare—each politely minding its own, now lies a singular, unified universe beneath the Everand banner. However, the company’s wizards have assured users that, in a sort of quantum way, everything will appear exactly the same. Yes, their login details and billing artifacts still hold up, and from the user's vantage point, the whole affair should feel remarkably ordinary. Just one grand, universal Everand, orbiting itself quietly as if nothing at all had happened.


2023. Overdrive Libby is making it easier to read magazines



Overdrive, the rather clever entity behind the digital cogs and wheels of most public libraries across Canada, the U.S., and a healthy chunk of Europe, is busy sprucing up its beloved app, the charmingly named Libby. Among its new tricks is a cornucopia of complimentary magazines—more than 4,000 of them, no less, spanning both the contemporary and the dusty archives of yesteryear. The genius? Absolutely no queues, no irate muttering about holds, just an infinite number of eyeballs poring over The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and Elle. For free. Yes, really. Overdrive assures us that Libby's upgrades make magazine subscribing a breeze, even tossing in helpful nudges when shiny new issues hit the shelves. Oh, and the magic doesn’t stop there—content discovery is now so seamless you’ll be flipping through pages with the graceful simplicity of a single tap. Delightful, isn’t it?


2023. Kobo launched e-book and audiobook subscription service Kobo Plus



Kobo has announced the launch of its Kobo Plus subscription service in the US and UK. Similar to Kindle Unlimited, subscribers can pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to a select library of e-books and audiobooks. Kobo’s Kobo Plus catalog currently features over 1.3 million e-books and over 100,000 audiobooks, with additional titles being added each month. Kobo Plus offers separate plans for e-books and audiobooks, allowing subscribers to choose one or both services based on their preferences. Kobo Plus is available for a monthly subscription fee. For the e-book and audiobook plan, the cost is $9.99 per month in the US and €12.99 GBP per month in the UK. Alternatively, customers can choose to subscribe only to e-books or audiobooks, with prices of $7.99 per month and €9.99 GBP per month in the US and UK, respectively. On the other hand, Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 per month in the US without separate plans for e-books and audiobooks.


2020. Kindle makes it easier to borrow ebooks from Prime Reading



Kindle readers now permit borrowing ebooks from Kindle Unlimited, Prime Reading and the public library directly from your home screen. This feature is part of the 5.13.3 firmware update released today and is compatible with most devices going back to the Kindle Voyage. To view recommendations for popular titles from Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading, you need to have Home Screen View activated. You can toggle this feature on or off in the settings menu. Additionally, Amazon has relocated the Kindle user guide from your library shelf to the help menu, which will help free up some space. The update also includes several performance improvements, bug fixes and other general enhancements.


2019. DC Comics now available on Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited



Amazon has just finalized an agreement with DC Comics, making select titles now accessible on Comixology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading. Broadening access to these three platforms makes it simpler than ever for Amazon customers to enjoy DC’s Super Heroes. With the inclusion of thousands of select DC single issues, collections and graphic novels – including exclusive fan-favorites from the DC Vertigo imprint – comiXology Unlimited continues to be available for $5.99 a month, featuring a 30-day free trial for new users. Kindle Unlimited subscribers will also have access to a variety of single issues, collections and graphic novels, while Prime Reading members will be able to enjoy a curated and rotating list of acclaimed DC and DC Vertigo graphic novels at no extra cost. This expansion across the three services offers ideal entry points for newcomers to DC and DC Vertigo.


2018. Amazon discounts Kindle Unlimited to compete against Scribd



Amazon is running a promotion offering two months of access to Kindle Unlimited for just 99 cents, after which you will be automatically charged $9.99 at the end of the offer. Amazon claims this promotion is in celebration of World Book Day, but the real goal is to lure subscribers away from Scribd. Scribd offers an unlimited ebook subscription service for $8.99 per month, providing access to audiobooks and ebooks from all major publishers. Over time, Amazon has struggled to gain support from major publishers, with content largely coming from its Kindle Direct Publishing platform, which impacts the overall quality of its ebook collection. To compete with Scribd, Amazon resorts to offering significant discounts to attract readers.


2018. Scribd reintroduced unlimited audiobooks and eBooks



Scribd has reinstated an unlimited audiobook and ebook subscription service. This allows users to read as many ebooks, magazines, newspapers, sheet music and audiobooks as they wish each month while remaining a subscriber. Casual readers who consume a few books per month from major publishers will find Scribd's service appealing. However, avid readers may encounter restrictions—not in a literal sense, of course. After reaching a certain number of titles, users will lose access to the full Scribd catalog and will only be able to read from a restricted selection. The exact threshold for this limitation is not specified. Amazon Kindle Unlimited serves as Scribd's main competitor but is available only in select regions and lacks many titles from major publishers.


2015. Kindle Unlimited will pay authors get paid based on the number of pages consumer reads



Amazon announced plans to significantly alter the way it compensates authors enrolled in its Kindle Unlimited program, the Netflix-like service that allows readers to pay a flat fee ($10) to borrow an unlimited number of books each month. Starting July 1, authors will be compensated based on the number of pages read by consumers. Previously, Amazon paid authors based on whether a reader had reached the 10% mark in a book, regardless of its length. After this was calculated, a general revenue pool was distributed among authors. However, some independent authors figured out how to exploit the system by publishing a larger number of shorter books, thus earning the same, or sometimes more, revenue than those with fewer, but longer, titles.


2014. Amazon launched own ebook subscription service Kindle Unlimited


Amazon is introducing an unlimited subscription eBook service called Kindle Unlimited to compete with companies like Scribd and Oyster. Currently, the service is available only in the U.S. Kindle Unlimited lets users select from around 640,000 eBooks and read as many as they want for $9.99 per month. In addition to offering over 600,000 eBooks, Kindle Unlimited is also one of the most economical ways to enjoy audiobooks and eBooks together. With thousands of Whispersync for Voice-enabled audiobooks available, you can easily switch between reading and listening, allowing the story to continue even when your eyes are occupied.


2014. Forgotten Books launches ebook subscription service



Forgotten Books is among the world's largest online eBook libraries. From now on, its subscribers can download as many eBooks as they wish to read for $8.99 per month. They plan to expand access even further, with mobile apps for iOS and Android set to launch soon. The online library has been utilized by a variety of users, ranging from professional scholars to amateur genealogists. Individuals with authors in their lineage have discovered their ancestors' works and shared them with family members, like Twitter user @hummingbirdbook, who found her great-grandfather's autobiography. Forgotten Books is dedicated to keeping these writings accessible, regardless of their commercial viability.


2014. Oyster comes to Android, Kindle Fire and Nook tablets



The ebook subscription service Oyster, which was previously available solely on iOS, is broadening its reach to Android, Kindle Fire and Nook HD tablets. New functionalities include a “read time” feature for books (a similar feature is available on Kindle e-readers) and the capability to navigate a book’s pages using the volume buttons on an Android device. Oyster, which provides unlimited reading for $9.95 a month, now offers over 500,000 book titles from two of the major five publishers — HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster — along with numerous small and medium-sized publishers. This places it approximately on par with Scribd, another ebook subscription service, which is accessible on iOS, Android and the Web.