Kickstarter announced yesterday that the crowdfunding service has reached a new milestone by launching more than 100,000 projects. Nearly 44 percent of the projects have been successfully funded by a total of $535 million. The top categories for launched projects include Film & Video, Music, Publishing, Art and Games. If its current funding rate continues, the service could raise its first billion as early as sometime this year. Continue reading New Milestone: 100,000 Projects Crowdfunded via Kickstarter

Amazon announced Kindle Worlds yesterday, a digital publishing platform that enables fan fiction authors to publish under official licenses and receive royalties. The current deal is limited to “Gossip Girl,” “Pretty Little Liars” and “The Vampire Diaries” from Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment, but Amazon promises licenses for more Worlds in the future. Stories will be made available via Amazon.com, Kindle devices, iOS, Android and Kindle Free Reading apps. Continue reading Kindle Worlds: Amazon Debuts Fan Fiction Publishing Platform

As the shift to mobile devices continues, media including e-books, music and video are becoming increasingly popular when distributed through a “less is more” model. Consumers are gravitating to short form content they find more convenient. Amazon has brought back serial novels for its Kindle, Capitol Records Nashville has debuted at number one with its EP releases, and shorter films such as the 42-minute documentary “Inocente” are drawing viewers and winning awards. Continue reading Less is More as Consumers Turn to Short Form Content

The Web-based reader “StorEbook” has expanded on the idea of computers interacting with users via voice technology. During last week’s Foundry event, the audio book’s “voice synthesis engine” was demonstrated as it recited the classic tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The Web-based app, which uses AT&T’s Natural Voices, provides story characters with multiple voices, creating a new dynamic to the idea of “story time.” Continue reading New StorEbook Reader Uses Natural Voices to Tell Stories

A federal court in New York has sided with the Associated Press and The New York Times in a case involving a company that “scraped” news content from the Internet without paying for it. This case was closely watched because of its possible implications for what counts as “fair use” under copyright law in the online media world and how it may impact the future of content producers and free speech. Continue reading Fair Use Case: Court Rules in Favor of Associated Press

New York-based startup 29th Street Publishing wants to make it easier for freelance writers and independent editors to publish in a digital world. The company helps develop and maintain iOS apps for serialized content and, in the process, just may help revolutionize magazine publishing. 29th Street already builds apps for about 20 publications, some of which are established names and others that are brand new. Continue reading NYC Startup Looks to Revolutionize Magazine Publishing

Time Warner, named partly after a signature magazine, is getting out of the magazine business. On Wednesday, the company said it would spin off its entire Time Inc. magazine group, creating a separate public company. Moves like this aren’t entirely surprising considering the industry’s decline in newsstand sales and ongoing ad slump, which affects all publications but particularly weekly ones. Continue reading Time Warner Announces Spinoff of Entire Magazine Division

Entertainment trade publication Variety has announced it will end its long-running daily publication schedule after March 19 and launch a new weekly Tuesday edition. The five-days-a-week newspaper and Sunday magazine will both shutter this month. Under new owner Penske Media, the publication’s digital Variety.com edition will also drop its paid-subscription plan and will be offered for free. Continue reading Variety Drops Daily Publishing, Opts for New Weekly Edition

Independent bookstores have filed a lawsuit alleging agreements between Amazon and six large book publishers violate federal antitrust law. The small bookstores cite the proprietary coding software that only allows users to read e-books on a Kindle or the Kindle app. They are making an argument for open-source coding that would allow for a more open e-book publishing market. Continue reading Small Bookstores Sue Amazon, Seek Open E-Book Market

Entrepreneur Yoarv Lorch’s newest enterprise hopes to disrupt what he views as an antiquated system of book sales. Total Boox offers book payments by the page, rather than paying for the entire book up front. Lorch argues people often purchase a book on a whim and then realize they do not like it after a few pages. When books had to deal with publishing and distribution costs the advanced payment method made sense, but may not in the world of e-books. Continue reading Total Boox Offers New Pay-As-You-Go E-Book Reading Service

Nearly two years (and three CEOs) after its intended start date, Bookish finally launched earlier this week. The company is backed by “big-six publishers Hachette, Penguin and Simon & Schuster” and intends to “promote book discovery and sell books,” writes paidContent. The company wants to be “a one-stop shop for readers looking to connect with authors and find their next book.” Continue reading Bookish Now Live, Features Database of 1.2 Million Titles

In what may indicate a shift in print to digital pricing patterns, Cosmopolitan readers will now have to pay $19.99 for a digital subscription to the magazine on iPads. The cost of a year’s subscription for the print edition is just $10. In both the book and newspaper industries, print versions are usually still more expensive than digital ones. Continue reading Digital Magazine Prices Surpass Cost of Print Subscriptions