German E-Book Subscription Service Succeeds Where Others Falter

By Dianna Dilworth 

While e-book subscription services are floundering in the U.S. –Scribd cut its catalog several months ago and Oyster revealed plans to close up shop last month– a German company called Skoobe is finding success with the business model.

In an interview with Publisher’s Weekly, Skoobe CEO Constance Landsberg explained why her startup, which launched in 2012, continues to grow. Here is an excerpt:

Our business model is sound and sustainable. The catalogue is growing, and all partners who have signed with us since the start are still on board. Publishers are growing their title base constantly and are establishing strategies on how best to use the potential of subscription services. Skoobe is proving to be a great opportunity to market titles, especially from the backlist, and new authors alongside bestsellers and new releases. As the overall quality of the catalogue is very high, customers are eager to discover new authors and genres. Some 80% of our customers rate the quality of our book catalogue with “very good” and more than 80% have recommended books that they have read through the service to others.