Readwise opens invite-only e-bookstore with Big Five deals
Readwise Books launched as an invite-only beta on October 28, with a public rollout planned before year's end.
Readwise, the company behind the Readwise Reader app, launched Readwise Books on October 28 as an invite-only beta on iOS and Android, according to Publishers Weekly. The platform combines a bookstore with a reading app and carries titles from all of the Big Five publishers. A public launch is planned before the end of the year, and sales are U.S.-only for now, with Canada, the U.K. and Europe expected within about six months, Publishers Weekly reported.
Founded in 2017, Readwise has 25 employees and no outside investors, according to the outlet. The company's Big Five access came through its acquisition of Glose, a Paris-based e-book retailer that had signed its own publisher agreements years earlier; Medium had acquired Glose in January 2021 before Readwise completed its purchase in late 2024, Publishers Weekly reported. Glose's side businesses, including digital fulfillment for HarperCollins.com and employee e-book programs at HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, will move to Readwise along with Glose's users.
Beyond the Big Five, Readwise works with Ingram and other distributors, with self-published titles arriving through IngramSpark, according to the outlet. Print books are available via Ingram fulfillment, and audiobooks are offered but less developed, Publishers Weekly reported.
Here's the part worth your attention, authors: Readwise didn't build its Big Five access from scratch — it bought Glose, a Paris retailer that had already done the slow, grinding work of signing publisher deals years earlier. That's the real story. Getting a new storefront into the Big Five's good graces is so hard that the fastest route in was acquisition, not negotiation. Watch this one, don't act on it yet — it's U.S.-only, still invite-only, and the real test comes when the public beta opens and we see if readers (and your sales dashboards) actually show up.
From the Coral Wire edition of Tue, Nov 3 2026 · Coral Index 10/100 (Storm warning)