Over 150,000 new eBook titles added to industry-leading library, school and bookseller catalog during first quarter

 

London, UK at the London Book Fair—April 15, 2013— OverDrive, the leading distributor of eBooks and audiobooks for libraries, schools and booksellers worldwide, announced today that during the first three months of 2013 it added a record number of new eBook and audiobook publishers, authors and titles to its global distribution catalog.  With a catalog well over one million titles, OverDrive provides publishers unmatched discovery, marketing, and sales opportunities to a growing global network of millions of readers through leading booksellers, device manufacturers, as well as 22,000 schools and libraries.

Recent acceleration of OverDrive’s reseller collections has been driven by two key factors:  the global nature of the catalog and the company’s expertise in developing and managing complex and varied business models.  OverDrive has achieved significant growth in its international collections and titles in more than 50 languages, which gives it unprecedented channel reach and appeal. In addition, the company has consistently demonstrated its proven channels for digital media sales by leveraging its knowledge and experience with retail agency, wholesale, institutional licensing, and subscription models, as well as programs for metered access to eBooks, audiobooks and other digital media.

A small sampling of the wide range of genres recently added include children’s, graphic novels, popular adult fiction and Christian.  New publishers that OverDrive is making available to booksellers, schools and libraries in 2013 include:

  • BookLive Co., Ltd.: A Japanese aggregator that focuses on graphic novels, comic, fiction and nonfiction, with a title list of more than 5,500.
  • Publishing House of Electronics Industry China: A Chinese trade publisher that specializes in K-12, educational content and nonfiction, with over 2,200 titles, including many award-winning titles.
  • Lee & Low Books: An independent children’s publisher with a focus on elementary and middle school age range.
  • Lemonfizz: An Australian children’s publisher creating “stories kids love and parents trust”.
  • Desert Island Books: A UK small publisher of sports titles.
  • Smyth & Helwys Publishing Inc.: A Christian publisher that focuses on creative bible study, personal faith and growth, and church leadership.

 

“In addition to the offering the largest catalog of bestsellers from top publishing houses, we are now celebrating over 12 years as a leading international supplier of eBooks and audiobooks to booksellers and OEMs including barnesandnoble.com, Waterstones.co.uk, Books-a-million.com, Easons (IE), and Nokia in 6 countries and languages, along with dozens of other leading booksellers in a dozen countries,” said Erica Lazzaro, OverDrive’s Director of Publisher Relations.  “The recent surge in the international catalog is due to the many years of trusted services we have provided as a digital book specialist working with the international publishing community over the past decade.  We are optimistic about the continued international market opportunities for publishers.”

OverDrive is currently rolling out its Next Generation library service platform, which includes completely reimagined library websites featuring One-Step Checkout™, a powerful search engine, and the browser-based eBook reading technology OverDrive Read. Additional Next Generation enhancements coming later this year include streaming video technology, and new APIs that enable libraries to fully integrate digital and print catalogs.  Also later this year, OverDrive will host more than 500 librarians and industry leaders in Cleveland at its fourth international user conference, Digipalooza.

Based in Cleveland, Ohio, OverDrive offers a catalog of more than 1 million eBook, audiobook, music and video titles on a single platform, with support for all major computers and devices, including iPhone®, iPad®, NOOK®, Android™ phones and tablets, and Kindle® (U.S. only). To find a library near you, visit search.overdrive.com.

 

About OverDrive
OverDrive is a leading multichannel digital distributor of eBooks, digital audiobooks, music and video. We supply a secure lending platform for 22,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide with support for all major computers and devices, including iPhone®, iPad®, Nook®, Android™ phones and tablets, and Kindle® (U.S. only). OverDrive has been named to the EContent 100 as a company that matters most in the digital content industry and is a member of the 2012 Technology Fast 500. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland. www.overdrive.com

Contact:
David Burleigh
OverDrive, Inc.
216-573-6886 x218
dburleigh@OverDrive.com

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