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Good e-Reader is proud to unleash the latest feature to our Android and Blackberry App Store, ratings and reviews. This new system will allow users to leave a written review of the app they download and also give it a rating. The ratings and review engine is a great new feature that is tied to our mobile android app store. Every Time someone reviews or rates an app within our app for tablets/smartphones it is instantly visible on the website. Our main intention was to build more synergy between the mobile client and website. In the last few weeks we have developed some really compelling enhancements to the Good e-Reader App Store. One of the most recent was out App Notification System, where users can flag apps that are out of date or require a new version. Since that went in, we have had over 1,200 requests pour in. This helps assist us in having a better curated experience. Ratings and reviews has been a requested feature for quite sometime. We are really proud of the new system. If you notice any bugs or have any questions or concerns, let me know! Check it out, an example of an app with lots of ratings and reviews is Kindle for Android. Good e-Reader App Store Unveils Rating and Review System is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Good e-Reader App Store Unveils Rating and Review System
Freemium Games Barely Retain Users
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Swrve, a leader in driving engagement, retention and revenue in mobile apps and games, released a 90 day study of freemium games that demonstrated a significant and quick drop off rate of users, providing developers with only a short opportunity to monetize. The study stated that within 24-48 hours of the first session, only 33.9% of users were active. On day 7, only 16.4% of users were active and as few as 5.5% were playing 30 days later. Furthermore, 45% of new players had less than five session within the game. Swrve's results demonstrated that it takes, on average, almost 63 hours till a user's first purchase. 55% of those who make a purchase do it within the first week of playing and 36% of revenues are produced in just three days. A positive is that 60% of users who buy make more than one purchase. Swrve stated that it it's "imperative to make every effort to put the right experiences and offers in front of players from the very moment they begin play in order to maximize the revenue generated in what can be a very short window." Swrve calculated that total average spending was $20.62 which helps to produce revenue per install of $0.45. Only 1.5% of players producing 50% of revenues. Furthermore, only 2.2% of all new players make at least one purchase over the time period. The study can be downloaded here Freemium Games Barely Retain Users is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Breaking: Amazon Acquires Comixology
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Comixology is the largest digital comic reseller in the world. They account for the vast majority of sales for DC, Marvel, Archie, GI JOE and many other top publishers. Not only do they sell the comics in their own app, but they have developed custom apps for these publishers as well. Amazon has announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire comiXology. The writing was on the wall for the last year that Amazon was in negotiations to purchase Comixology. This prompted Marvel to make sweeping changes to their Marvel AR and Marvel Unlimited subscription program and lay the groundwork to sell their own comics. The purchase of Comixology will finally allow Amazon to make a series bid to control the entire digital comics market. The comics giant has had over 200 million downloads since its launch in 2007. Comixology recently expanded their European offerings—the digital vendor opened a French office last year—announcing a manga digital distribution agreement with VIZ Media Europe and its French subsidiary, Kazé. Amazon has always sold digital graphic novels in their Kindle store. One of the pitfalls of their strategy is the series are rather dated and series comic lovers often buy the single issues as soon as they are released. Amazon will now be selling single issues from over 70 publishers in their store in the near future. Amazon also expressed great interest in the self-publishing platform Comixology Submit and it is currently unknown if this program will play a part in Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle Lending Library and Create Space. "ComiXology's mission is to spread the love of comics and graphic novels in all forms," said David Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of comiXology. "There is no better home for comiXology than Amazon to see this vision through. Working together, we look to accelerate a new age for comic books and graphic novels." "Amazon and comiXology share a passion for reinventing reading in a digital world," said David Naggar, Amazon Vice President, Content Acquisition and Independent Publishing. "We’ve long admired the passion comiXology brings to changing the way we buy and read comics and graphic novels. We look forward to investing in the business, growing the team, and together, bringing comics and graphic novels to even more readers." Amazon controls digital books by a wide margin compared to the competition. With the acquisition of Comixology the company will now dominate the digital comic market too. Breaking: Amazon Acquires Comixology is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Weekly eHighlights: Teen edition
| Authors writing for the teen audience have really been knocking it out of the park with some amazing new titles! This week, we highlight some of the new and noteworthy YA titles your teen patrons will love. There are some great dramas this week in Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington, If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, the California Diaries Series by Ann M. Martin and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. Or if you have teen readers who are still loving all things steampunk, check out The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross. Fantasy and sci-fi are also not to be missed with The Maze Runner author James Dashner's new novella Gunner Skale: An Eye of Minds Story, a fresh spin on what's going on in Oz with Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page, and Earth Star by Janet Edwards. Happy Reading! 
Click Here for eHighlights Teen Edition 4-10-14 One Copy/One User Click Here for eHighlights Teen Edition 4-10-14 Metered Access
Fiction
Lucy Connors – The Lonesome Young The Rhodales and the Whitfields have been sworn enemies for close on a hundred years, with a whole slew of adulterous affairs, financial backstabbing, and blackmailing that’s escalated the rivalry to its current state of tense ceasefire. Victoria Whitfield and Mickey Rhodale are about to find out the most passionate romances are the forbidden ones. Romantic Times Most Anticipated YA Books of 2014
Kady Cross – The Girl with the Iron Touch When mechanical genius Emily is kidnapped by rogue automatons, Finley Jayne and her fellow misfits fear the worst. What’s left of their archenemy, The Machinist, hungers to be resurrected, and Emily must transplant his consciousness into one of his automatons or forfeit her friends’ lives. eBook newly available.
James Dashner – Gunner Skale: An Eye of Minds Story From James Dashner, the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series, comes an original thirty-page e-short returning fans to the fast-paced, high-tech world from The Eye of Minds, the first book in the Mortality Doctrine series. Find out how Gunner Skale, the best gamer on the VirtNet, becomes a legend in this story available exclusively online. Not available in print format.
Janet Edwards – Earth Star The highly anticipated follow-up to Janet Edward’s sensational YA sci-fi debut, Earth Girl. 18-year-old Jarra has a lot to prove. After being awarded one of the military’s highest honors for her role in a daring rescue attempt, Jarra finds herself – and her Ape status – in the spotlight. An Amazon Best Book of the Month.
John Green – The Fault In Our Stars Just in case you missed this bestseller when Penguin books became available for schools, we thought we'd remind you. The movie is coming on June 6!
Jaleigh Johnson – The Mark of the Dragonfly Piper has never seen the Mark of the Dragonfly until she finds the girl amid the wreckage of a caravan in the Meteor Fields. The girl doesn’t remember a thing about her life, but the intricate tattoo on her arm is proof that she’s from the Dragonfly Territories and that she’s protected by the king. Which means a reward for Piper if she can get the girl home. An Amazon Best Book of the Month. 100,000 print run.
Julie Kagawa – The Forever Song Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions. Goodreads Can’t Wait Books of 2014 #42. 150,000 print run.
Sherrilyn Kenyon – Illusion: Chronicles of Nick, Book 5 Nick Gautier is tired of his destiny. He doesn’t want to be the son of a demon who’s fated to end the world. Nor does he want to see another demon or other preternatural creature who wants to kill or enslave him. He just wants to be normal and have normal problems like everyone else. But normality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Goodreads Can’t Wait Books of 2014 #45. 350,000 print run.
M. E. Kerr – Deliver Us from Evie, Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack, Frankenlouse, Gentlehands, Hello I Lied, Is That You Miss Blue? Little, Little, Someone Like Summer M. E. Kerr has been described by The New York Times as "one of the grand masters of young adult fiction." She has won multiple awards for her novels, some of which are now newly available in eBook format.
Ann M. Martin – California Diaries Series Ann M. Martin's California Diary Series is newly available in eBook format. The series is a spinoff of The Baby-Sitters Club books. The premise is that students are required to keep a journal for a school project, and each book covers a part of a journal for that girl. The series covers more mature subject matter than The Baby-Sitters Club books, such as alcohol, eating disorders, cancer, and more.
Emily Murdoch – If You Find Me A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Booklist, SLJ, Kirkus Starred Reviews. 2013 book, but newly available.
Danielle Page – Dorothy Must Die "Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe. My name is Amy Gumm–and I’m the other girl from Kansas. I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I’ve been trained to fight." An Amazon Best Book of the Month. 125,000 print run.
Amy Talkington – Liv, Forever When Liv Bloom lands an art scholarship at Wickham Hall, it’s her ticket out of the foster system. Liv isn’t sure what to make of the school’s weird traditions and rituals, but she couldn’t be happier. But Liv’s bliss is doomed. Weeks after arriving, she is viciously murdered and, in death, she discovers that she’s the latest victim of a dark conspiracy that has claimed many lives. Debut fiction with lots of buzz. 50,000 print run.
Leslye Walton – The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender Ava, in all other ways a normal girl, is born with the wings of a bird. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naive to the twisted motives of others. An Amazon Best Book of the Month.
Nonfiction
William H. Harrison – Spanish Memory Book: A New Approach to Vocabulary Building The Intermediate Spanish Memory Book makes use of a series of mnemonic jingles that are by turns playful, sardonic, touching, and heroic to help both students and independent learners acquire and remember Spanish vocabulary.
Mark C. Purcell – Mindfulness for Teen Anger Using proven effective mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), Mindfulness for Teen Anger teaches teens the difference between healthy and unhealthy forms of anger.
R. Kent Rasmussen – World War I for Kids Emphasizing connections among events as well as the war’s influence on later historical developments, it leads young readers to fully understand the most important aspects of the war, including how the war came about, how changing military technology caused the western front to bog down into a long stalemate, how the war fostered an era of rapid technological advances, and how the entry of the United States helped end the war. 100th Anniversary of World War I coming in July
Murray Shukyn, Dale E. Shuttleworth, Achim Krull – GED Test for Dummies, Quick Prep Edition This complete guide provides test-prep instruction and information on the question types that apply to the 2014 GED test, and provides a quick check-up to test one's preparedness.
Did you miss these weekly eHighlights? Don’t worry – they’re still available. Check them out now for even more great titles! eHighlights Mar 13, 2014 Metered Access eHighlights Mar 13, 2014 One Copy/One User
*Geographical rights may vary by title. Kate Seivertson is a Collection Development Analyst at OverDrive. |
New how-to animation – special guest star!
| We’ve just taken delivery of another video from the lovely guys at Saladhouse Animation. This one’s for the new Quick Start page, to help out all those beginners who have asked which cables go where, and what they do. UK readers over 30 or so might recognise the voice of our animated presenter. Massive thanks, as always, to Sam Alder and Scott Lockhart at Saladhouse, who we love working with; they’re some of our favourite people. But the biggest thanks of all has to go to my childhood hero (he’s also the childhood hero of all the actual grown-ups in the office) – without this guy’s influence when I was a kid, I wouldn’t have ended up loving science, and I wouldn’t have ended up working on Raspberry Pi. Here he is at the recording session with Sam (mouth) and Scott (tall):
That’s the LEGENDARY Johnny Ball. Johnny donated his time and his voice talent to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and we couldn’t be more grateful: Johnny, please watch out for the postman next week, ‘cos we’re sending you a present to say thanks. |
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Booktrack Aids eBook Comprehension, Looks to Educational Application
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One of the concepts that launched early but (unfortunately) didn’t seem to take off with consumers was audio soundtracks that played while readers worked through the book. Not audio narration and not limited to music, these soundtracks were designed to move at the reader’s pace and fit the action of the story at that time. While the idea didn’t seem to get the attention that things like embedded content for tablet-based textbooks received, soundtrack reading is getting a new life through Booktrack. The company launched some time ago and has rolled out new features–like Booktrack Studio, which lets readers create these accompanying soundtracks from a library of some 20,000 different tracks–that have enticed more than 300,000 users to join, and led to the creation of almost four thousand reader-built ebook soundtracks since its recent launch. Now, Booktrack has secured $3M in funding to increase its capabilities and add new avenues to its focus, including a self-publishing angle and a classroom function. The latter focus, Booktrack for education, stands to become one of the more exciting innovations in classroom application for digital reading since the adoption of ebooks in K12 classroom. Multiple studies have shown that user engagement in both adults and students increases with the addition of music or other audio enhancements, leading to higher rates of reading comprehension and longer time spent engaging with a book.
Booktrack Aids eBook Comprehension, Looks to Educational Application is a post from: Good e-Reader |
