[Lin2412]

News from LJ:

Although subscription service users currently account for only four to five percent of the ebook reading market, this small base of users “continue to maintain their purchase behaviors and patterns. They actually spend more than typical book buyers” after subscribing, Jonathan Stolper, senior VP of Nielsen Book Americas, said during the “Subscriptions for Ebooks: How is it Working Out?” session Wednesday afternoon.

“We’ve been quite pleased so far” with subscription service partnerships, Stambaugh said, later explaining that S. & S. currently offers access only to backlist titles that are at least one year old via Oyster and Scribd. “The one factor that’s been really great for us is that there’s been a tremendous breadth of titles that have gotten both views and reads…. It’s even broader than we see on the ebook sales side. We definitely think it’s fulfilling the promise of being a discovery platform for titles. It’s not just our biggest titles. And we’re not seeing any [negative] impact, at this point, on our sales of those titles.”

Zacharius was also enthusiastic, describing subscription services as “one of the brighter spots” for Kensington’s ebook sales during 2014.

“I have only good things to say,” Zacharius said. “We are making money, I hope they’re making money. I think it’s good for the readers, and we have not seen cannibalization” of ebook sales of titles that are available via Oyster, Scribd, or Kindle Unlimited. Kensington’s frontlist and backlist titles are available via these subscription services.

(Original Article from Library Journal)