Bookmate Launches Its Subscription Service in Latin America
Bookmate, which now spans several global markets including Southeast Asia, Russia and Sweden, announced yesterday its first foray into Latin America. Through a partnership with Tigo Mobile, the social reading and ebook subscription platform will provide over 40,000 Spanish-language ebooks to readers in Paraguay and Guatemala. Bookmate has also launched its self-publishing platform in these markets with over 20,000 self-published, Spanish-language titles available for users.
Bookmate sees significant opportunity in this region. According to the company’s press release, the Latin American ebook market is forecasted to reach $100 million by 2016. It’s also a market in which smart phone penetration is quite high, making it an ideal region for mobile-centric Bookmate.
“Ereading is increasingly popular with mobile users,” said Tigo Mobile’s head of SmartApp Products Isabel Maria Rendon in the press release, “and we are happy to offer our customers Bookmates’ service with an exciting range of local and international titles.”
In an interview with Book Business in January, Bookmate co-founder Simon Dunlop explained why attracting mobile readers is so critical to his company’s mission. “I think mobile reading is where a lot of growth will come from in the next five years,” said Dunlop. “I can see that publishers are more interested by the mobile angle and more willing to work with us because we focus on that platform. The plan is to emerge in the next three years as a dominant player in that space.”
Read the full press release here.
Related story: Bookmate's Simon Dunlop Talks English-Language Expansion & Making Bookmate the Leading Mobile Reading Platform
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Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.