Bookmate adds more titles for English language e-book section

Bookmate, the subscription-based social e-reading service, has expanded its English language e-book section following deals with e-book aggregator ePubDirect, ProfileBooks, Ingram, Diversion Books, Head of Zeus, Legend Press and Casemate. Bookmate is the first subscription-based e-reading service to partner with ePubDirect outside the US. The partnership with ePubDirect also includes Profile/Serpents Tail, Rosetta Books and Icon Books.

The service’s English language selection now includes more than 200,000 titles. More than 100,000 titles will be added from Ingram alone, with the partnership also including Workman.

Simon Dunlop, co-founder of Bookmate, commented: “English is the world’s most widely spoken language and a second language for many more people. Bookmate is strengthening its catalogue of English titles for these readers and these latest deals have brought many exciting authors to the service, continuing our trend of connecting readers with great books as we roll out to new markets this year.”

Bookmate is an open platform connecting publishers and readers directly. Authors listed on Bookmate are able to discover who is reading their book and access analytics which can aid their own promotion and marketing efforts. The platform has more than 1.5 million monthly active users. 

Read about Bookmate's Asia Pacific launch here.

Bookmate partners StarHub in first launch in Asia Pacific

Source: Bookmate. From left: Simon Dunlop, Founder, Bookmate, Andrew Baev, Managing Director, Bookmate and Michael Sim, Lead Futurist, i3 (Innovation, Investment, Incubation), StarHub at the launch of Bookmate - the social ebook reading service – in partnership with StarHub in Singapore on December 17.

Bookmate, a social e-book reading service, is now available in Singapore, its first port of call in Southeast Asia. The service boasts over half a million e-books from 600 publishers, and allows subscribers to read as many books as they like for a flat monthly fee.

Simon Dunlop, Founder of Bookmate, shared that people currently read between one and one and a half books a month, and typically have approximately four books open at any one time, dipping into each at will. 

He added that Bookmate wants to bring the mobile, social and subscription trends together, and noted that reading on-the-go is very common today. “Our mission is to make reading easy, accessible and fun for everyone with a smartphone. By expanding into Singapore, we have made a significant first step in increasing Bookmate’s footprint in Southeast Asia and thanks to our partnership with StarHub and their highly engaged customers, we will be able to reach millions of new readers," he said.

Michael Sim, Lead Futurist–Entertainment of i³ (Innovation, Investment, Incubation), StarHub said that the company wants to make book streaming as common as music streaming. StarHub i3 offers businesses go-to-market services, including funding, incubation facilities, mentorship, business networking, both in Singapore and overseas.

“Singapore consumers are fast growing accustomed to getting easy access to an unfettered catalogue of premium online content, for instance, video and music streaming, across multiple devices for a flat monthly fee. This advancement is changing the way people consume content, and we believe the time is ripe to bring this same convenience to book fans, providing a timely boost to Singapore’s e-book scene,” Sim said. 

A Bookmate office will open in Singapore in January, and the company plans to move into Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia next. "We think that Singapore has a very progressive culture and is very familiar with smartphone adopters. It's an ideal place to base our operations in Southeast Asia," Dunlop said.

Bookmate’s move into Singapore follows its agreement with HarperCollins, announced earlier this year, which saw Bookmate add hundreds of new authors to the service. Besides HarperCollins, the service features books Head of Zeus, Profile Books, Serpent’s Tail, and also offers content from local publishers such as Marshall Cavendish and Monsoon.

The Bookmate service is open to everyone and offers customers to privilege of accessing its content under three subscription tiers – Free, Standard and Premium. The Standard tier costs S$9.98/month and provides hundreds of thousands of fiction and non-fiction titles, including the seminal Why Nations Fail by Robinson and Acemoglu. The Premium tier at S$15.98 /month adds on thousands of business and professional books, such as Donald Trump’s Think Big, Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, and the Economist series.

The concept is similar to a gym subscription, where people pay for the privilege to use the gym but do not actually own any of the equipment. Similarly, Bookmate subscribers are paying for the privilege of reading the e-books but do not own the books themselves. Access to downloaded e-books is only provided as long as the Bookmate subscription is active. 

As part of its international expansion strategy, Bookmate is partnering exclusively with Singapore info-communications provider StarHub to introduce its book-streaming service to the local reading community and engage local publishers to offer their books on the platform. "Today is just the start of a very long partnership with them," Sim said at the launch. "We're helping to extend their services in the region as well." 

Through the partnership between Bookmate and StarHub, StarHub Hub iD users can enjoy an introductory rate of S$8/month for the Standard Tier, and S$14/month for the Premium tier. Registration for a Hub iD is open to all at www.starhub.com/hubid. From now till 23 December, the first 500 customers who register online at www.bookmate.com will enjoy full access to all e-books on the Standard tier free, for 30 days.

StarHub's Booktique brand, which offers 'ala carte e-books' is now replaced by the Bookmate proposition. Booktique still remains for StarHub's e-magazine offering, Sim said. 

The Bookmate app, available for free download on Apple App Store and Google Play, includes a social feed that allows users to follow their friends, favourite authors and celebrities on Bookmate, while also sharing their favourite books and passages. The service is also available through a supported web browser.

Kobo eReader ecosystem now available in GCC

Source: Kobo. The Kobo
Aura H2O eReader.

Kobo and multichannel distributor Lionfish today announced the arrival of Kobo's digital reading platform to the GCC region. Passionate readers can now enjoy Kobo's eBookstore with more than 4.2 million titles, eReaders, and apps for iOS, Android, Microsoft, and BlackBerry platforms. 

Starting today, Kobo will be available in 34 stores, including the Dubai Duty Free Stores, Virgin Megastores* and Xcite**. Kobo eReading devices will also be available for purchase online at Modvito, Souq.com and Jado Pado. Readers will have access to the Kobo eBookstore, featuring 4.2 million titles across 72 languages. From biographies and memoirs to business books, non-fiction to literary fiction, Kobo has something for everyone.

"Digital reading continues to rise across the globe and we're thrilled to be entering GCC countries to offer readers with best in class E Ink eReaders and eBookstore," said Jean-Marc Dupuis, Managing Director of EMEA, Kobo. "The Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura and Kobo Aura H2O offer different capabilities and price points, so there is definitely something for every reader. GCC countries are still in the early adoption stages of reading digitally and we are pleased to lead the transformation of this market."

Lionfish General Trading will be managing all facets of Kobo's presence in the GCC countries including distribution, retail partner relations, marketing and customer care.

The Kobo Touch eReader has an anti-glare 6" Pearl E Ink touchscreen that offers the closest experience to reading print on paper and is easy on the eyes, even in bright sunlight. Available in black, blue and lilac, the Kobo Touch has a battery life of up to one month and has 2 GB of internal memory for the storage of up to 1,000 books, with the option to expand to 32 GB with a micro SD card. The Kobo Touch will be available for AED429.

The new 6" Kobo Aura eReader is a front-lit E Ink eReader that features the first high-resolution, edge-to-edge display available in an E Ink eReader. Kobo's ComfortLight technology offers the most evenly lit display that is adjustable to suit any preference for the best reading experience, day or night. Available in black and pink, the sophisticated design of the eReader delivers the closest experience to print-on-paper with a 212 dpi and Pearl E Ink screen. With pinch-and-zoom capabilities for FLePubs/PDFs, Kobo Aura creates a smooth experience with a low-flash waveform screen to virtually eliminate page refresh and ghosting. With 4GB of storage (up to 3,000 books), expandable up to 32GB with a micro SD card, Kobo Aura has a battery life of up to more than two months. Kobo Aura will be available for AED729.

Kobo Aura H2O is IP67 certified, which means it is waterproof for up to 30 minutes in 1 metre of water with the port cover closed. This enables people to read more, more often, anywhere they like worry-free without damaging their device if accidentally dropped in or splashed with water. Reading on a sun-drenched beach is quite practical due to the device's dustproof design and anti-glare display.

At 265 dpi, the spacious 6.8" touchscreen with upgraded Carta E Ink technology - the first of its kind with these display dimensions - offers the closest experience to print-on-paper. The device's 1GHz processor means page turns are swift, and it comes with 4GB of onboard storage (expandable up to 32GB with a micro SD card). The Kobo Aura H2O will be available for AED999.

* All Virgin Megastores except those in Kuwait
** Only Xcite stores in Kuwait

New e-book offers advice on aceing the resume, the interview and more

iCIMS, a provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) talent acquisition software solutions, has introduced the second in a two-part series of e-books designed to help job candidates in their search. Searching for the Perfect Job: The Resume, Interview, and More is now available for complimentary download on the company's thought leadership site, the Hire Expectations Institute™.

Earlier this year, iCIMS conducted a survey of 700 job seekers and found that many do not know what to expect from the screening process or how to set themselves apart from other qualified candidates. By accessing the rich data available within 2,200+ customers' use of the company's flagship Applicant Tracking System, iCIMS Recruit, the Hire Expectations Institute research team was able to analyse more than 1.3 million jobs created in 2013 and survey more than 450 recruiting professionals to provide a better understanding of their hiring practices.

"Today the job market is very competitive with a lot of qualified candidates vying for available positions," said iCIMS Chief Marketing Officer, Susan Vitale. "We created this e-book series to offer job seekers a glimpse into the minds of recruiting professionals and the talent recruitment industry so they know what to expect, and therefore how to properly prepare to land the job they want.

According to iCIMS' research, 42% of recruiters do not like to see alternatives to traditional resumes, such as infographics and personal websites. More than half (54%) believe that non-traditional resumes should only be used when it is appropriate to the job being applied for. This study points out these recruiting professional preferences to provide job seekers with the information they need to separate themselves from other candidates and get recognition from potential employers.

Below are a few excerpts from the new e-book:

• Cover letters are still useful – 59% of recruiters consider the cover letter a useful tool, and 25% claim that the absence of a cover letter will result in disqualification. It is in the job seeker's best interest to submit a well-written cover letter with their job application. 
• Recruiters search online – 76% of recruiters say that they "always" or "sometimes" perform a Google search on candidates before hiring them. Furthermore, 40% of recruiters report finding online information that disqualified a candidate from consideration. 
• Behavioural interviews are common – 45% of recruiters will ask the job seeker for specific examples of past work experiences and 32% reported conducting unstructured interviews based on the individual's application documents. 
• Use specific examples to demonstrate soft skills – Soft skills like communication and teamwork must be demonstrated by adding examples to the resume and cover letter in order to make the resume stand out. 

"The end goal of talent acquisition and recruiting is to connect qualified individuals to positions that are mutually beneficial and rewarding for both candidate and employer," Vitale added. "By using candidate-friendly technologies, such as easy-to-navigate, mobile-optimised career portals and iCIMS' applicant screening tools, employers can effectively find the best fit for a job while balancing a positive candidate experience."

To view the e-book visit the iCIMS Hire Expectations Institute site. iCIMS' thought leadership site offers the latest information about industry trends and best practices for employers along with content specific to job seekers.