Vook acquires Byliner

15 September 2014 Books+Publishing

In the US, digital publishing service provider Vook has acquired digital publisher Byliner, reports Publishers Weekly. Byliner’s catalogue of 60-70 longform nonfiction and fiction titles and small team of staff will be used to create Vook’s first in-house publishing imprint. Vook cofounder and publisher Matt Cavnar said the company will add more titles ‘that are true to the Byliner vision’. Byliner was founded by CEO John Tayman in 2011 to publish and sell longform journalism online. The company initially sold nonfiction ‘e-singles’ for US$0.99 (A$1.10), then experimented with different publishing models, such as offering digital fiction, partnering with online news services, publishing enhanced ebooks and distributing print editions via Ingram. In June, Byliner sent an email to its authors saying that the company was struggling ‘to reach the level of growth we’d been hoping for the business’. Vook CEO Josh Brody said the acquisition will help ‘create a new publishing model that empowers authors to publish faster, market smarter, and keep more creative and financial control of their work’.

Category: International news