Naver’s US$600 million acquisition of Wattpad, announced early this year, is completed just as potential competition arrives from Amazon’s new Kindle Vella and Seoul’s Kakao.
In Seoul, a line of bus passengers and their cell phones during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Image – Getty iStockphoto: Wonseok Jang
South Korea’s Kakao Is Also a Buyer: Radish and Tapas
In January, as you’ll recall, it was announced that the Toronto-based Wattpad was to be acquired by Naver, a South Korean Internet search engine conglomerate, the home of Webtoon, a digital comics platform.
In its messaging overnight (May 10), the Canadian company has reiterated its earlier citation of the acquisition being a cash and stock transaction valued at more than $US600 million. It also restates that Wattpad’s co-founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen will continue their direction of Wattpad, and that the company will remain based in Canada. Lau, who is CEO, is to report to the Jun-koo Kim, the found
Meet the Berklee student making $15,000 a month writing steamy werewolf fiction for a smartphone app
By day, Sapir Englard is a music student in Boston. By night, sheâs the wildly successful writer behind a romance series thatâs burning up phones around the world.
By James SullivanUpdated May 11, 2021, 9:48 a.m.
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Sapir Englard came to Boston in the fall of 2019 to study at Berklee College of Music. She has been making money publishing stories through the Inkitt publishing platform.Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe
From an incredibly young age, Ali Albazaz was immersed in computers. He was writing code by the age of 10. He knew he wanted to design apps long before he could afford his first iPhone.
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair Outlines Its 2021 Programming
The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair’s programming is to be entirely streamed live, free of charge, May 23 to 29.
At the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the 2019 edition. Image: ADIBF
Today (May 11), this major Arab world public-facing show’s umbrella producing bodies the Department of Culture and Tourism and its Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre have announced the outlines of a program that’s expected to be posted soon to the show’s site.
Featured speakers are to include the American author Tayari Jones, the British motivational speaker Vex King, International Publishers Association president Bodour Al Qasimi, bestselling writer Mitch Albom, and the Emirati author Sultan Al Amimi.
In a survey conducted by the United Kingdom’s Emerald Publishing, researchers say they’re not satisfied with how academic publishing presents their work to a world that needs to understand it.
In Brussels, December 21, 2020. The billboard over the Pfizer building entrance says, ‘#ScienceWillWin’. Image – Getty iStockphoto: Alexandros Michailidis
Sally Wilson: ‘A Clear Role to Play’
It’s hard to think of a time in recent memory when so many have questioned so much scientific research. Almost any guidance from public health scientists today triggers questions and challenges from citizens exhausted by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. People who don’t know an mRNA vaccine from a shot of vodka are in researchers’ faces, while government health services are continually assailed for changing the protocols and contradicting their own precautions.
Industry Notes: As Berlin underwrites exhibitors’ risk at Frankfurt, the Börsenverein makes ‘Freedom of Expression Week’ a recurring program and plans activities during Frankfurt Book Fair 2021.
In Hall 3 at the 2008 Frankfurter Buchmesse, the Comics Central programming area. Image: FBM, Nurettin Çiçek
Boos: ‘Planning Security’
With a deadline of May 31 for 2021 Frankfurter Buchmesse registration, the trade show today (May 10) is announcing that Germany’s federal commissioner for culture and media is making available new funds that can be used to protect exhibitors registering for the October 20-to-24 fair.
Publishing Perspectives readers will recall, the fair is working for what’s hoped will be a physical iteration this year, with Guest of Honor Canada onboard and at least four major halls of the sprawling Messe Frankfurt fair complex in use.