According to a press release distributed late last week by BookBaby, the self-described “one-stop self-publishing solution” and “the world’s largest ebook distribution network for independent authors,” the company has just announced a new partnership with the Malaysia-based eSentral. Perhaps not coincidentally, eSentral is itself the biggest e-book store in Southeast Asia.
“I’m thrilled to add eSentral to our growing list of partners,” says BookBaby president Brian Felsen. “Now our authors can sell their books on the big e-book retail sites in over 200 countries, and manage it all from one account.”
Along with eSentral, BookBaby’s e-book distribution network includes Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Copia, Baker & Taylor, Gardners, eBookPie, the Sony Reader Store, and the Apple iBookstore. The eSentral partnership will now enable BookBaby’s authors to sell their e-books in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, bringing the number of countries in which BookBaby’s e-books are distributed to just over 200. According to the release, BookBaby, which is part of the AVL Digital Group, plans to eventually expand into other Southeast Asian countries.
As reported in Billboard about two weeks ago, however, AVL Digital Group (which also owns the Derek Sivers-founded CD Baby) was recently sold to Stephens Capital Partners, a private equity group based in Little Rock, Ark. According to the source who provided Billboard with the acquisition tip, Stephens Capital Partners intends to leave the AVL Digital Group companies in place.
