Canadian bookstore chain Indigo has added its voice to Barnes & Noble and Books a Million in stating that it will not carry books published by Amazon’s publishing imprint, the Globe and Mail reports. Indigo issued the standard statement decrying Amazon’s predatory tactics and congratulating Barnes & Noble for “taking a leadership stance on the matter.” Not too surprising, especially given that Indigo was the creator of Kobo, one of the only serious e-book competitors Amazon has. The Globe and Mail article characterizes this as a “setback” for Amazon, and quotes the Wall Street Journal that this is “sending...

Engadget has the press release from Kobo on the completion of its purchase by e-commerce company Rakuten. Kobo’s HQ will remain in Toronto, though Rakuten is based in Japan. Given that Rakuten owns a lot of popular e-commerce and other industry sites already (including e-tailer Buy.com), it has the potential to give Kobo a lot more expansion and marketing opportunities than its erstwhile partner, the late Borders. Will that be enough to let Kobo catch up with Amazon, or even maintain its lead in international areas Amazon doesn’t service yet? That remains to be seen. But if there...

The Canadian Press reports that Montreal’s largest library, the Grande Bibliotheque, is thriving, and Canadian library usage in general is up 45% over the last ten years, largely due to electronic media. The article states that use of electronic databases “more than doubled” and Internet use of library websites and catalogs quintupled over that period. The key to a library's success, said Guy Berthiaume, director of the Grande Bibliotheque, is to adapt with the times. The Montreal library now has 200,000 ebook titles available with plans for more on the way. ...

From Quill & Quire: With e-books opening up more opportunities for authors looking to self-publish, a newly revived Toronto firm hopes to offer some of the convenience of self-publishing while maintaining the quality associated with traditionally published books. The brainchild of Editors’ Association of Canada president Greg Ioannou (who also runs the editing and copywriting company Colborne Communications), Iguana Books charges authors fees for design and editorial work in advance of publication. However, Ioannou says the start-up, which focuses on e-books, is more selective than many online self-publishing platforms. “When you go shopping for e-books, there’s an awful lot of self-published stuff out...

As Amazon goes, so goes Kobo? A report from CBC suggests that would seem to be the case. Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis says that Kobo is developing a publishing arm to offer complete publishing services (including editing and design) for authors who would like to publish through it. It’s not clear from the article whether this service just covers e-books, or is like Amazon’s new publishing division in offering both electronic and print publication services. Either way, it’s one more way e-book-based firms are competing with traditional publishers, though traditional publishers don’t necessarily seem to be worried just yet....

In a remarkable coincidence, today Zite gave me four articles in a row about “the future of books” or “the death of print”. I’m not sure what caused so many people to take a look ahead right out of the blue like this, but it seems like a good time to look at the articles and compare notes. On Singularity Hub Aaron Saenz points to the recent Kindle library news, and the rise of e-book sales as printed book sales decline. He suggests that digital downloads could become the majority of the market as early as 2015 or as...

A French-speaking Canadian, François Lauzon, has written in the Montreal Gazette of the effect his new Kindle has had on him. Since getting it January 15th, he has had time to learn to use and enjoy it (though it’s new enough that “it still feels like Christmas” to use it). However, he points out a couple of problems that Canadian users experience. He had hoped to be able to get the New Yorker magazine on his device—it’s available in America for $2.99 per month. However, Amazon was not able to make it available in Canada because “editions of newspapers...

Speaking of Kobo, Diane Duane posted another note on her blog about the Canadian Young Wizards situation (which we previously mentioned here). Nathan Maharaj, Kobo’s Merchandising Manager, saw her earlier blog and contacted her publisher to find out about the Canadian rights for the Young Wizards novels. Upon learning they did have the rights, Kobo immediately made them available in its Canadian store. Links follow, for the benefit of Canadian readers: So You Want To Be A Wizard (eISBN 9780547545110) Deep Wizardry(eISBN 9780547538662) High Wizardry (eISBN 9780547540306)...

When I mentioned the Young Wizards series here a time or two in recent memory, one TeleRead commenters complained, “Why can’t we buy them in Canada?” Duane has now posted to her blog that she is in the process of getting ready to beard her publisher about this, and would like help from Canadian readers to gather information. The problem comes in two pieces. I get reports that: (a) Canadian would-be purchasers of the YW books from Amazon.com cannot purchase Kindle / .mobi versions of the books from either Amazon.com or Amazon.ca. Is...

Canadian SF writer Dr. Peter Watts just can’t seem to catch a break. We covered his arrest and conviction for getting out of his car when crossing the US/Canada border. Now, while in the hospital for a routine skin biopsy on his leg, he managed to contract necrotising fasciitis, otherwise known as “flesh-eating bacteria”. After emergency surgery, he is now stuck in the hospital recovering, with no prospect of going home any time soon. To make matters worse, the hospital does not have Internet access. (I’m not making light here. When I was in the hospital for a...

The Canadian Federation of Students has proposed "a series of recommendations for Bill C-32 the Copyright Modernization Act to ensure it strikes a fair balance between the rights of users and creators," according to a CFS news release on Feb. 1. "Education and innovation depends on fair access to copyrighted works," said Dave Molenhuis, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. "A few simple amendments would ensure fair copyright for all Canadians." The recommendations center around the need for a "fair use" policy similar to that in U.S. copyright law, and laws that accept the concept...