Starting April 2, libraries will be allowed to offer digital copies of Penguin Group’s newest releases – at the same time print copies of the books release, according to the Associated Press.

It’s a switch from the publisher’s previous stance, which required libraries to wait six months before offering ebook copies of new titles.  

Publishers placed restrictions on library ebooks because they worried about losing sales.

According to the Associated Press, Penguin has tracked ebook usage at libraries and decided the library downloads had an acceptable impact on commercial revenues.

Penguin publishes popular authors such as Khaled Hosseini and Harlan Coben.

Access to library ebooks will still be limited. Libraries can lend one ebook version of a title at a time, and must pay yearly to continue making the ebooks available for library patrons.

It’s the kind of Cinderella story every author dreams of.

The Wall Street Journal reports bestselling, self-published author Hugh Howey signed a six-figure, print-only deal with Simon and Schuster. The unusual deal allows the author to keep all digital rights.

Of course, unlike most authors, Howey had plenty of leverage to negotiate a deal to his liking.  His thriller, “Wool,” has sold more than a half-million copies.

According to the WSJ, Howey was already raking in $120,000 a month, so he had little incentive to give away digital rights.

Other self-published authors, like romance novelist Bella Andre, have also negotiated print-only deals. Again, Andre had plenty of negotiating power, since she’d already sold 1.5 million copies of her books on her own.       

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Grand Central Publishing plans to almost double  the number of titles from its Forever romance imprint this year.

Forever Yours, the company’s ebook-only imprint will also release more books.

The publisher will increase the number of romance titles from 64 last year, to 120 in 2013, expanding to 190 titles in 2014, according to a press release.

“With the romance audience more robust and diverse than at any other time, we are thrilled to expand our program to match the insatiable demand in the marketplace for romance books in every format available,” Forever Editor Beth de Guzman said in a release.

Grand Central usually only accepts agented submissions but Forever Yours is open to unagented submissions.

The manuscripts should be between 8,000 and 100,000 words in all romance sub-genres, including contemporary, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, western, historical, inspirational, paranormal, sci-fi/fantasy, futuristic, urban fantasy, steampunk, time-travel and erotica.