Wattpad Continues to Evolve After Acquisition by Naver - Publishers Weekly

 Today, Panzer made a stop at the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about Wattpad.

It was expected.

According to Ed Nawotka's post, it's been a year since Korean business Naver bought Candadian business Wattpad. Now, Allen Lau, cofounder of Wattpad, has announced he's leaving Wattpad to become executive advisor at Webtoon. Jeanne Lam, Wattpad president, will be taking over the managing of Wattpad.

Panzer says, "This little kitty was surprised he stayed as long as he did."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a brownie for today's reading.

To read the post tootle over to Wattpad

Interview: CEO Allen Lau on Wattpad's $600 Million Merger with Korea's Naver - Publishing Perspectives

 Today Panzer made another stop at the Publishing Perspectives site. Yesterday the site had a post about Canada's Wattpad merger with South Korea's Naver. Today the site has an interview with Wattpad CEO Allen Lau about the reason's for the merger.

Maybe a cat comic? I'd read it.

According to Porter Anderson's post, Wattpad CEO Allen Lau is elated about the merger with Naver. The merger will form a combined user base of 160 million. Naver has 72 million users and Wattpad has 90 million users. The post includes some interesting information about the two company's channels/platforms and Wattpad's expansion into comics with Naver's Webtoons.

Panzer says, "This sounds like it will work out fine as long as Wattpad gets to stay a separate company in Canada and doesn't get lost in Naver's future plans."

Note: This is an exceptionally long post. Bring a thermos of tea and five muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Wattpad CEO Allen Lau

Canada's Wattpad Announces It's Being Acquired by South Korea's Naver - Publishing Perspectives

 Panzer had hardly entered the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was violently shaken by yelling and screaming coming from outside. Following all the chaos took our brave kitty boy to the Publishing Perspectives site. With no digging at all he found a post about the acquisition of Wattpad was what was causing all the noise.

Surprised me.

According to Porter Anderson's post, Wattpad's board announced the company is being acquired by the South Korean company Naver. Wattpad's acquisition is priced at US$600 million in cash and stock. Wattpad will stay in Canada. In addition to the platform and services, Wattpad Studios division and Wattpad Books will join Naver's Webtoon. The post contains much more information about both and the acquisition.

Panzer says, "This little kitty didn't know they wanted to sell the company. Did you?"

Note: This is an extra l-o-n-g length post. Bring a large mug of cocoa, a muffin and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Wattpad

After Protest, Booksellers Are Victorious Against Amazon Subsidiary - The New York Times

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere just minding his own cat business when he heard clapping and cheering. Following the all the hoopla took our inquisitive kitty boy to The New York Times site. It didn't take any time at all to find the post about Amazon's AbeBooks causing all the happiness.

How did they do that without my help?

According to David Streittfeld, it's being reported that Amazon subsidiary AbeBooks has caved under the protest begun day before yesterday by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and other antiquarian bookseller groups against them. The booksellers banded together and took a "vacation" from AbeBooks by making their books temporarily unavailable at the site. According to ILAB president Sally Burdon it appears AbeBooks is backtracking on their plans to remove some booksellers from AbeBooks. There's still no explanation about the exact reason(s) why the booksellers in Hungary, South Korea, Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland were being removed.There are links included to other posts about the protest.

Panzer says, "That has to be one of the shortest successful protests in human history."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring half a thermos of tea and four muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links included in the post and read the posts at other sites bring another half a thermos of tea and four more muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon's AbeBooks

To read yesterday's post about the protest tootle over to  AbeBooks booksellers

Booksellers unite in protest as Amazon's AbeBooks withdraws from several countries - The Guardian

Panzer was eating his lunch when his tender ears were assailed by the sound of crying and shouting coming from the Catosphere. Not even finishing his lunch our brave kitty hopped in the Panzermobile to go investigate. Following all the noise took him to The Guardian site. With no digging at all he found a post about Amazon's AbeBooks.

According to The Guardian's Alison Flood, members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and other organizations have joined together to protest Amazon's AbeBooks. The company sent notices to secondhand bookstores in South Korea, Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic that AbeBooks is closing the bookstores' sales channels through the company. In protest 460 booksellers are taking a "vacation" from AbeBooks and will not have their books available there. AbeBooks says the company is changing their third party payment service. While not explained in the post, it appears that for whatever reason the bookstores specified aren't compatible with the new payment service.

Now for my lunch.

Panzer says, "This kitty is confused. Is it a software problem between the new payment system and the secondhand bookstores' system?"

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post. Bring half a thermos of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon AbeBooks