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You can now listen to the 'Game of Thrones' audiobooks on Scribd
At this point, it's almost illegal if you don't describe Scribd as the Netflix of reading, which has just signed a new audiobook deal with Penguin Random House. The agreement gives the service access to 9,000 of the super publisher's library, including blockbuster titles like the Game of Thro... A Song of Ice and Fire series. If your inner goddess prefers something more sensual, however, you can enjoy Fifty Shades of Grey on a train before jumping on transport-based thriller Girl on the Train. The titles are available to everyone who pays the $8.99 monthly fee, but we should warn you that it's not likely that you'll finish all of George R.R. Martin's books before the fifth season of Game of Thrones ends.
Penguin and Random House merge, promise a brave new e-book future
The pressure of digital transitions can lead traditional media companies to circle the wagons -- for better or for worse -- and book publishers certainly aren't immune as e-books take hold. Bertelsmann and Pearson are worried enough to be merging their respective Random House and Penguin publishing wings into a joint venture, not-so-creatively titled Penguin Random House, that they hope will better survive "long-term trends" like the shift away from paper-centric business models. While the two are engaged in the usual corporatespeak of creating "synergies" (read: resource cuts), we're more interested in talk of the union being a springboard for digital efforts: Penguin Random House wants to be "more adventurous" with e-book models like self-publishing. Whether the merger leads to a renaissance for established publishers or just reduced competition when the deal closes in the back half of 2013, we're bracing ourselves for the possibility of a Fifty Shades of Jamie Oliver crossover.
