Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Hachette eBooks are here!

Just last week we announced that Hachette Book Group, one of the world's leading publishers, has agreed to make its entire digital catalog of eBooks available to libraries and schools in the U.S. and Canada. Please reference our press release for more information about Hachette eBook availability via OverDrive.

 

We go live tomorrow (Wednesday, May 8), and we want you to be ready to add titles by James Patterson, Kami Garcia, David Baldacci, Sarah Zarr, Malcolm Gladwell, and many more. To remove some of the burden of wading through over 5,000 Hachette titles, the OverDrive team has done a preliminary sort for you. Just log in to the Content Reserve Marketplace on Wednesday, click on the orange cart icon in the upper right corner, and you'll find several carts of titles already prepared for you.

 

These carts include:

  • James Patterson & More – Hachette's Hottest Titles for Adult Readers (2 carts)
  • Hachette Graphic Novels & Manga
  • Top Hachette Children's & YA Titles
  • Top Hachette Nonfiction
  • Hachette – All Titles

You'll also find several carts of nonfiction, broken down by topic. Hachette is still working on delivering all of their titles, so don't forget to monitor Content Reserve for more of their titles to become available in the coming days. You can find new content by using the Advanced Search. Check ‘eBooks’ on the top left, then choose a time period under ‘On sale date’.

Here is just a very tiny sample of some of the hottest authors you'll want to buy right away:

Hachette Flyer

Customize and print this promotional flyer to inform your community about some of the great new titles in your digital collection.

  • David Baldacci
  • Alice Sebold
  • Carol Higgins Clark
  • David Foster Wallace
  • Dorothy Garlock
  • Faye Kellerman
  • Donna Tartt
  • Anita Shreve
  • George Pelecanos
  • Ian Rankin
  • James Patterson
  • Christopher Hitchens
  • Karen Kingsbury
  • Marcia Muller
  • Michael Connelly
  • Nelson DeMille
  • Sandra Brown
  • Walter Mosley
  • Stephenie Meyer
  • Nicholas Sparks
  • Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

 

Don't wait. Your readers will be so happy with your new purchases. Tomorrow's gonna be a great day!

 

Cindy Orr is a Digital Collection Advisor at OverDrive.

Review: Nook HD+ with Official Google Play (Video)

First and foremost, it should be noted that this article is more of an addendum to my initial review of the Nook HD+ that was posted back in November when the device first came out rather than a completely new review. I’m not going to cover any of the hardware details or any specific Nook [...]

Big Library Read is coming soon!

Last week we announced the new Big Library Read initiative as a joint effort between Sourcebooks, OverDrive and public libraries worldwide.  It's a unique program (May 15-June 1) designed to unite the world in reading the same eBook title at the same time and to demonstrate the influence library patrons can have. We already know the power of libraries – this is a unique way to let the rest of the world know!

 

Excitement is building….since last week, over 2,000 libraries have opted-in to participate in this event from 8 different countries – on 4 continents!

 

The eBook for this pilot is Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone.  Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Malone, every member of your community (with a valid library card) can read the eBook at the same time at no cost to the library!  For more information about Big Library Read, Sourcebooks and the author, please see http://www.overdrive.com/big-library-read/.  See also this blog post from Sourcebooks' CEO, Dominique Raccah.

 

As librarians, you are helping to develop this innovative and unique event that is the first of what could be an exciting, ongoing program.  Big Library Read resulted from numerous meetings with you, our library partners, ALA, Sourcebooks and other publishers, and we anticipate it will evolve into a program that can be customized for your local library or region.  When you opt-in to this first Big Library Read, you'll be able to participate in the selection of future Big Library Read eBooks (and audiobooks), and you'll also have access to promotional templates that you can use to build interest in your communities!

 

This free program runs from May 15 through June 1, so if you haven't opted-in yet be sure to contact your OverDrive Account Specialist today.  Meanwhile, join the conversation on Twitter by using #BigLibraryRead!

 

Adam Sockel is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive

Tokyo: Big Raspberry Jam 2013

Eben and I are going to be out of the UK for much of the rest of May, doing press, meeting partners, visiting Raspberry Pi fans, hanging out with science fair kids and giving talks. We’ll be in Phoenix for Intel ISEF, San Francisco for Maker Faire (come and listen to our talk! We don’t have a stand this year, but Raspberry Pis will be on sale in the Make Shed), and, most excitingly for both of us, in Tokyo for the Japanese Raspberry Pi User Group’s Big Raspberry Jam on May 25.

Masafumi Ohta, who moderates the forums here (he’s most often to be found in the Japanese language forum, but also pops up in the English sections every now and then), is running the event. Admission is free. We’ve heard from people who don’t even live in Japan who are making the trip to Tokyo; it promises to be an amazing day, with lots of hacking sessions, tutorials, talks and opportunities to meet like-minded Pi enthusiasts. We were last in Tokyo back in November; the Pi has become much more easily available in Japan since then, and we’ve even seen an official Japanese translation of the Raspberry Pi User Guide appear since our last visit. Masafumi-san’s been sending me artwork for displays and badges, and notes about the day: we can’t wait to get stuck in. RS Components, who have a large presence in the far east and are one of our two manufacturing distribution partners, will be sponsoring the event.

Eben in Akihabara Electric Town last November.

Masafumi-san has asked me to publish the following information here on the blog. If you’re in Tokyo on the day, please come and see us!

Japanese Raspberry Pi Users Group will hold the event to welcome Eben and Liz Upton, Founder of Raspberry Pi Foundation coming to Japan. It is for encouraging Raspberry Pi users and community in Japan, now growing up rapidly.

Gathering 150+ people at the big event – 4 sessions, 1 mini session,3 LTs and more. It is also not only for Raspberry Pi users and geeks, but also the Raspberry Pi beginners. RS Components and some companies help the event, and have booths exhibiting Raspberry Pis and some stuff (books,boards,cases…and more).

13:00-13:30 Door Open
13:30-13:40 Greeting from Japanese Raspberry Pi Users Group and RS Components
13:40-14:30 Keynote by Eben Upton of Raspberry Pi Foundation
14:30-14:40 break
14:40-15:10 Session:WordPress Home Server with Raspberry Pi by Yuriko Ikeda
15:10-15:40 Session:Scratch Hacking with Raspberry Pi by Kazuhiro Abe
15:40-15:50 break
15:50-16:20 Session:Let's play 'Eject Command' with Raspberry Pi – CD-ROM Cooking with Raspberry PI by Akira Ouchi
16:20-16:50 Session:Gadget Colloquia for Unix Natives by Hiroyuki Ohno
16:50-17:00 break
17:00-17:15 Mini Session:Raspberry Pi Lego Cases Cooking by Keika Komura
17:15-17:30 Lightning Talks (5 min x3)
17:00-17:50 Introducing Raspberry Pi by RS Components
17:50-18:00 Closing event
19:00- Raspberry PIe after-party for the attendees

For more information please check Japanese Raspberry Pi Users Group website.

Registration: http://atnd.org/event/E0014486 (for Japanese)

http://bigraspberryjamtokyo2013.eventbrite.com (for Non-Japanese).

The Great Gatsby eBook is Free – Don’t Waste Money Buying It!

It irritates me to no end when I see big companies trying to capitalize off of a book being turned into a movie so they can rake in every little cent that they can squeeze out of consumers. Unfortunately that is the case with The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. Ever since it has [...]

Indie Authors Help Each Other with Book Promotion

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One of the great struggles in the current climate of digital and self-publishing has been making a book stand out in the crowd. Of course, the great paradox is that even traditionally published authors now have to put in some measure of leg work to ensure that readers find and purchase their books. But more than ever, authors are banding together to help one another promote their work.

Kayla Curry, author of the Mystic Stones series (Martin Sisters Publishing), created a unique event in response to not only the need for promotion, but also the need to reach a broader audience than one can do from a typical geographical book event. The Blogger Book Fair, created last summer, is a biannual event that brings authors and book bloggers together for much needed book discovery.

“Blogger Book Fair was created in the summer of 2012, when I was planning the launch of my debut novel,” explained Curry to GoodEReader. “I was faced with the dilemma of whether or not to get a booth at the county fair. I decided to have my own in the comfort of my home. I had a support group of authors I had met online and I approached them about the idea. They were all very enthusiastic and I told them to tell any and all authors they might know. We ended up with over 40 authors with almost 80 books.”

Putting together an event of that magnitude is no small feat. Curry originally did all of the preparation and organization of the event on her own, but as the event has grown with its third staging this summer, she has enlisted the aide of fellow authors and bloggers Fel Wetzig of The Peasants Revolt and Pereza Thompson of Pezz Rambles. Due to extra support for the event, this BBF has an additional day and will run from July 22nd through July 26th.

“The basics of Blogger Book Fair include authors exchanging posts for each other’s blogs. This cross promotion is fun and helps authors and book bloggers bring more books to their audiences. Participants are matched up according to genre. There are also events hosted by whoever comes up with an idea for one. We also have our own Reader’s Choice Awards, which is hosted by our book blogger friend, Sheri at Shut Up and Read.”

While there is no cost to participate in this event, authors are asked to make donations towards the prizes that are given away during the multi-day virtual event. Authors interested in signing up may do so by clicking HERE, while readers who are interested in the book discovery this event brings can be notified when the event launches this July by signing up HERE.

“The authors who participate in this event are amazing people. Many of them have helped me out in this venture and others. Many of us form bonds and continue to work together on various projects even after BBF ends.”

Indie Authors Help Each Other with Book Promotion is a post from: E-Reader News

Hearst Magazines Hit One Million Active Subscribers

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The Hearst Magazine Publishing division has seen rapid growth on tablets since the company formed a strategic relationship with Apple. In January, the two sides announced a new partnership with the Apple Newsstand that delivers the Digital Editions of its entire catalog days before print and and other sources. This means if you are a fan of Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Esquire, Seventeen, and Harper's Bazaar among many others, you will get them on Newsstand days before anywhere else. When this first went down, Hearst had only 800,000 subscribers and in a few short months it has hit the magical one million.

Hearst claims its digital division subscriber base is jumping up by 10% each month. This is mostly due to the iPad, whose customers are often spending $70,000 per day on digital magazines. Although, the magazines are found via dedicated apps on the Kindle Fire, Google, and Barnes and Noble. Still, if you want to get your news ahead of everyone else, the iOS ecosystem is the place to be.

Hearst had planned to hit the million subscriber milestone by the end of 2012, but the publisher missed its goal by 90 days, Hearst chief David Carey told AllThingsD. Carey expects that the magazine will have about three million digital subscribers by 2016, about 10 % of Hearst's entire base.

Hearst Magazines Hit One Million Active Subscribers is a post from: E-Reader News