Despite a series of pivots, a name change and rebranding efforts, Entitle, an e-book subscription venture launched in 2013, is shutting down. The company closed for good July 21 and current users are encouraged to move their accounts to Scribd, which is offering former Entitle members a month of free service.
The shutdown was announced on the Entitle website. The company launched in 2013 as eReatah offering three subscription plans (starting at 2 books a month for $16.99 and going up to four titles for $33.5). However the venture’s prices were high, its first app glitchy and the company was never able to compete with the quality, pricing and services of competitors Oyster and Scribd. The venture renamed itself Entitle in late 2013 and began selling e-books to own rather than subscription access (the site also launched Entitle Christian in 2014 for the Christian market), but never received much traction.
Although Scribd is offering former Entitle members a month of free service, Scribd spokesperson Lyndsey Besser said there is “no deal or liquidation of assets” agreement between the two firms. Besser said, “We’ve always been fans of Entitle and their team. We are excited to be working alongside them to welcome their readers into the Scribd community.”
