Day: July 4, 2011

Go Read This | Amazon to Acquire The Book Depository – Yahoo! Finance

~ Eoin Purcell ~ 10 Comments

UPDATE: According to a tweet sent this afternoon, the copany will retain operational independence from Amazon.

http://twitter.com/#!/bookdepository/status/87876554142658561

Congrats to the Book Depository team. I guess this is a case of, ‘How do you know you are doing something right? Amazon acquires you!’

It’s hard to know what the play is here. It could be any of:

1) Increasing UK and European exposure
2) Building a better position in Australia
3) Defensive market-share building

Or any number of other things. There must be some worries about competition approval, at least in the UK, with this.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – News) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire The Book Depository International. The Book Depository is an online bookseller offering over six million books for delivery worldwide.

“Customers in more than 100 countries enjoy The Book Depository’s vast selection, convenient delivery and free shipping,” said Greg Greeley, Amazon’s Vice President of European Retail. “The Book Depository is very focused on serving its customers around the world, and we look forward to welcoming them to the Amazon family.”

Amazon to Acquire The Book Depository – Yahoo! Finance.

Go Read This | 7 Platforms Changing the Future of Publishing | Brain Pickings

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

Rushing to finish things, but this is worth a read. If I was betting I’d wager on Byliner and Red Lemonade, in both cases because I think they use the web to best effect AND show signs of having thought through the implications of digital distribution on publishing and the industry around it. I could be wrong, but that’s my two cents as it were:

Depending on whom you ask, these are either the best or the worst of times for the written word. As with every other branch of traditional media, the Internet has pushed the publishing industry to a critical inflection point, something we’ve previously discussed. Disrupting the mainstream marketplaces for journalism, literature, and the fundamental conventions of reading and writing themselves, here are seven startups that promise to reshape the way we create and consume ideas.

via 7 Platforms Changing the Future of Publishing | Brain Pickings.