| When Good e-Reader first burst onto the scene in 2009, the e-reader landscape was very different than what we see today. Amazon had been releasing Kindles for a few years and along with Sony’s e-readers were the only devices in retail. We saw the rise of Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and many other companies, as they experimented with electronic books and e-readers. Since our launch date 53,804,252 people have read our publication or visited the App Store we launched last year. e-Readers and ebooks have come a long way since we first started. At the time, something was very compelling about having a library of thousands of books in your pocket. I have always been a reader, learning how to read at 3 with those old Star Wars read along records, and I was hooked ever since. When we started, there were no iPads, no tablets to speak of, e-readers were very fringe, and most libraries’ entire digital strategy was PDF files. We have seen the rise of digital libraries, digital magazines, digital newspapers, the onslaught of self-publishing, and the companies that have risen up to fill voids in the market. We now see e-readers in every single major store and many publishers are seeing 24% of their entire revenue stream stem from digital. The entire Good e-Reader team is very happy with the way the industry has grown up in a short period of time, and companies that only have been in business for a few years are being sold for billions of dollars. It is very exciting for us to see the rise of an entirely new industry and we’ve been in the game long before 95% of the online publications even knew what an e-reader or tablet was. We have had a fun time traveling the entire world covering digital books, e-readers, tablets, and digital publishing news. I have been lucky enough to visit Taiwan, London, Germany, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Seattle, and many other cities and countries covering the news. It was always very important to our entire team to not just parrot the news, but make the news. Be there live on the scene, getting the essential stories, conducting interviews, and talking with the movers and shakers of the publishing world. We take great pride in being the most beloved and respected news sources in the world that focus on digital reading. We have produced over 675 YOUTUBE videos and our entire channel has millions of hours already watched. We have launched an eBook Lending Site, an App Store, a Cloud eBook Storage Locker, and purchased a local company to provide schools and the general public with e-readers. We are also proud to sponsor great companies like the IDPF in determining the future course of ebooks and digital formats. We are heavily invested in the digital realm and are here to stay. I would like to thank everyone in the industry that has granted us an interview and to the many friends of our website. It is very exciting for us to meet old friends at all of the events we visit, and it feels like you all are family. I would also like to thank our loyal readers, some of whom have been with us since the very beginning. Our entire staff has been doing a great job maturing as writers and globetrotting in search for the latest scoop. 53 Million People Choose Good e-Reader is a post from: E-Reader News |
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
53 Million People Choose Good e-Reader
Top Five Literary Fiction eBooks for the Mainstream Reader
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The best books challenge us to think critically and look at the world in a new way. But I admit it; as much as I love a well-written story, my attention drifts when the plot fails to develop along with the characters. I want a little action, a little intrigue or just a hint of the fantastical. So, there's nothing I love more than the rare book that combines complex characters and beautiful prose with captivating storylines.
Here are five of my favorite titles uniting the best elements of popular genre fiction with the power of great literature for a variety of audiences. Share your picks in the comments!
"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak This is the book I give as a gift to friends and family. I love this book. The story and characters are fascinating, but I'm absolutely in awe of Markus Zusak's writing style.
"Skellig" by David Almond I read somewhere that Skellig was one of J.K. Rowling's favorite books for children — high praise in my mind — but I was still caught off-guard by the brilliant magic realism.
"The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain Before The Paris Wife was published, I had the chance to attend a workshop with Paula McLain, who taught at my college, in a creative writing class. Needless to say, it was awesome and I've been following her career ever since.
"When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead Rebecca Stead strikes the perfect balance between science fiction and the real world. Plus, one of my all-time favorite books, Madaleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," served as inspiration and is referenced throughout the story.
"The People of Forever Are Not Afraid" by Shani Boianjiu A quick glance at the reviews for this title will motivate anyone to pick it up. I'm a fan of coming-of-age novels, and this is among the best in contemporary fiction.
Honorable Mention to "The Burgess Boys" by Elizabeth Strout While I haven't read Elizabeth Strout's new novel yet, the critical acclaim it's receiving has catapulted it to the top of my to-read list.
You'll find all of the titles listed above on discount as One Book, One Community Reads in Content Reserve through June 30, 2013.
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Change.org Petition to Require Amazon to Pay Tax Delivered to British PM
| British booksellers have taken to the internet for help in spreading a petition to ask the Prime Minister to take swift action against Amazon for not paying the same taxes that the independent bookshops do. A Change.org petition started by Frances and Keith Smith has received over 150,000 signatures so far, with the backing of some authors and a member of the British Parliament. Currently, Amazon and several other large corporations can avoid paying certain taxes by basing their operations in Luxembourg, despite doing business online through dedicated sales pages. This complaint is in addition to the sentiment that Amazon hires employees in the UK and pays such a low wage to those people that they receive tax credits from the government, allowing Amazon to benefit again at the hands of the tax payers. The Smiths, bookshop owners since 2004 who now own two locations, started a petition in order to ask David Cameron to enact change to correct what they feel is a situation that allows a much bigger entity to benefit over the smaller businesses unfairly. The petition that they hoped would receive a few thousand signatures has been more than they could have hoped for and has been now delivered to 10 Downing Street. According to the Smith’s petition, “Times are tough and getting tougher. We face unrelenting pressure from huge online retailers undercutting prices, in particular Amazon, and it’s pushing businesses like ours to the brink. But what’s even worse is that Amazon, despite making sales of £3.3 BILLION in the UK last year, does not pay any UK corporation tax on the profits from those sales. In my book, that is not a level playing field and leaves independent retailers like us struggling to compete just because we do the right thing.” For their part, whether or not this petition has any effect on tax laws, the Smiths can at least be comforted by the fact that this is obviously an issue that consumers have taken notice of. For their part, it is now up to the consumers to speak with their wallets when deciding to support a local bookseller or an online discount retailer.
Change.org Petition to Require Amazon to Pay Tax Delivered to British PM is a post from: E-Reader News |
Pocketbook Announces Two new e-Readers
| Pocketbook has been very quiet the last calender year, while the company restructured themselves on a business level. Today in Russia, Pocketbook announced two new e-Readers and a tablet. They are betting on an color e-ink alternative to the Jetrbook Color and a new six inch device. The most exciting device they announced today was the PocketBook Color Lux. It features a full color e-Ink Triton 2 display, with a resolution of 800 × 600 pixels. It has a seven inch screen, which is the only e-Reader in the world with this type of display. Commonly, most eBook Readers have a six inch screen, the extra screen real estate should make reading PDF files a bit easier. PocketBook Color Lux can connect up to the internet via Wi-Fi, has 4 GB internal memory and can be enhanced further with the Micro SD card up to 32GB. It has a Freescale 800 MHZ processor, and 256 MB of RAM. The second e-Reader to be announced was a six inch Pocketbook Touch 2. It features the same HD e-Ink Pearl display found on the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo. The exact resolution is 1024×758 and has a front-lit display, that is optimal for reading in the dark. It also has 256 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal memory and SD card support for up to 32 GB of memory. Battery life should be good up to 7,000 page turns. It also has an audio jack, so you can listen to audiobooks and music. The final device to be announced today, is an Android tablet named the Pocketbook Surfpad 2. It has a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280×800. It has 8 GB of internal memory and support for a Micro SD card. I am happy to report that it has a dual-core 1.5 GHZ processor and 1 GB of RAM. It also is Google certified, which means you can connect up to the official Google Play market. Pocketbook has risen from the ashes and announced three compelling products. The brand, still means something in eastern Europe, but sees poor visibility in the North American market. Stay tuned for full hands on reviews of their entire lineup in the next few weeks. Pocketbook Announces Two new e-Readers is a post from: E-Reader News |
Skype to be released on Blackberry Q10 May 1st
| Skype is one of the most sought after apps for the new BB10 operating system and we now have an official date on when it will arrive. Skype me be bundled into the new firmware debuting on the Blackberry Q10 on May 1st, when it launches in Canada! Skype for BlackBerry 10 is now available in BlackBerry World, but only for the BlackBerry Q10 and Dev Alpha C. The Z10 will get it in the next few weeks when the new firmware is released. The Playbook will likely never see a native Skype application, but the new models with BB10, out this summer, will have it as a launch title. Skype on the Blackberry 10 operating system has been something of a holy grail for most avid users. There is still many notable big name apps that are lacking in the latest offering from Blackberry, most notably Instagram and Netflix. For now, you can get the Android versions of these apps on the Good e-Reader App Store. Skype to be released on Blackberry Q10 May 1st is a post from: E-Reader News |
Rogers Gives Thousands of Kindle Paperwhites Away with New Promotion
| Rogers Wireless unveiled a massive campaign that has taken over print, television and online advertising in Canada. The company is giving away a Amazon Paperwhite e-Reader, many customers have been emailing us for clarification on the offer, and we have some news! Rogers has told Good e-Reader Exclusively that “We're excited to offer innovative promotions to our customers giving them access to new technology and devices, including the recent Kindle Paperwhite 3G e-Reader offer. We've seen great interest and thousands of our customers will be rewarded with a Kindle Paperwhite 3G e-Reader.” They also clarified on what devices and plans are available for the promotion, telling us that “Customers would need to activate a new line on a 3-year talk, text and internet plan with a min. $55 monthly service fee. So, they could activate an iPhone, HTC One or Sony Xperia ZL on a 3-year talk, text and internet plan with a min. $55 monthly service fee to be eligible.” So there you have it folks! The online and television advertisements really don’t say what devices or how you can take advantage of the offer, merely telling patrons to call or visit the store. We now know that all smartphones are eligible as long as you activate a new line on a 3-year term with a $55 plan, you'll be eligible. It also seems apparent, that over 2,000 e-Readers have been given away and there is more to come before the promotion ends. Rogers Gives Thousands of Kindle Paperwhites Away with New Promotion is a post from: E-Reader News |
Kobo Aura HD eReader Available at a Number of Canadian Stores Tomorrow
| The Kobo Aura HD is a new e-Reader that was almost a year in development. One of the big hyping factors is the 1440×1080 resolution with 265 DPI. This e-reader is seriously the best in the business with its high-definition display. The Kindle Fire HD 7 has 1280×800 and the Nook HD has 1440×900. Starting tomorrow this device will be available at a number of Canadian retailers to purchase. Starting April 25th in Canada, the Aura HD will be available at Indigo, Chapters, Coles, Best Buy, Future Shop, Staples and the Source. The price is poised to start at around $169.99 and normally comes with a one year warranty. If anything starts to go wrong with the device, keep your receipt and bring it back to the store. I recommend buying it from Chapters, as they often have the best return policy and normally swap devices out for you with little to no questions asked. Kobo Aura HD eReader Available at a Number of Canadian Stores Tomorrow is a post from: E-Reader News |
2013 Pulitzer Prize Winning eBooks
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The 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winners have been announced and now is the time to build your collection with these award-winning books! The winners and selected finalists featured below are available for purchase in Content Reserve. For our value shoppers, the Fiction and General Nonfiction winning eBooks are both currently priced under $15 (USD)!
FICTION - “The Orphan Master’s Son” by Adam Johnson
In 2012, there was no winner for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction so Johnson's "The Orphan Master's Son" is the first to win the award since 2011's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan.
Also nominated as a finalist in the Fiction category this year: ”What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander
HISTORY - “Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam” by Fredrik Logevall
Also nominated as a finalist in the History category this year:
POETRY - “Stag’s Leap” by Sharon Olds
Also nominated as a finalist in the Poetry category this year: “Collected Poems” by Jack Gilbert
GENERAL NONFICTION - “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America” by Gilbert King
Also nominated as a finalist in the General Nonfiction category: “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity” by Katherine Boo
BIOGRAPHY - “The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo” by Tom Reiss
For these acclaimed titles and more, log in to Content Reserve or contact our Collection Development Team.
Title availability may vary by geographic region.
Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.  |
Txtr Opens 5 New eBook Stores
| Berlin Germany based txtr has just unveiled five new ebook Stores in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, and Canada. Expanding into English speaking countries seems to be a huge priority, since txtr already has stores all over Europe. txtr has launched in Australia with books from Hachette, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Pan Macmillan, as well as leading independent publisher Allen & Unwin. In South Africa, txtr provides access to best-selling titles from US and UK-based publishers as well as over a thousand titles from New Holland Publishing and Random House Struik. In all seven countries, the txtr stores offer a choice of well over half-a-million English-language titles. For example 660,000 titles are available on au.txtr.com and over 720,000 titles are available on gb.txtr.com. txtr’s Vice President of Content & eCommerce Anne-Sophie Lanier says, "The rapid expansion of txtr's operations bears testimony to the flexibility of the txtr e-reading platform. Our track record in rolling out new local content catalogs as well as localized shopping and reading experiences is unparalleled." txtr now has ebook stores in 17 different countries and the company’s technology powers the 3M Cloud Library service. All of these new stores are available via the Android platform, the web, and iOS. Hopefully, when its Beagle e-Reader is officially on sale, all of this content may sway a few people to buy one. Txtr Opens 5 New eBook Stores is a post from: E-Reader News |
University of Cambridge Computer Lab 75th anniversary
| We’re celebrating today: it’s the 75th anniversary of the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory. From its beginnings in 1938 as the Mathematical Laboratory, it’s provided the foundations for much of our computing history; Raspberry Pi is only one of hundreds of successful business set up by academics and alumni, and we’re very proud to be associated with the Lab.  The old Mathematical Lab, on the New Museums Site in the centre of Cambridge  The University of Cambridge Computer Lab today: the William Gates Building. Things have changed in computing since the Mathematical Laboratory’s early days. Just before our wedding, when Eben was writing up his PhD and we were living in university housing, the wife of one a very old, very decorated gentlemen took me by the elbow with startlingly strong fingers after a dinner, and proffered a dire warning. “You need to understand that life will not be easy if you marry a computer scientist, especially early in your marriage; you won’t always come first. When we were young marrieds, John would disappear for hours in the middle of the night to cool that damned machine for his supervisor.” It turns out that “that damned machine” was EDSAC. (My advice to “young marrieds”: if you can’t beat them, join them.)  EDSAC1 in the 1940s, with Maurice Wilkes and William Renwick. It’s thanks to work done in that laboratory that you’re holding a Raspberry Pi now that doesn’t need cooling at all, let alone in the middle of the night; ARM, whose technology is in the Pi’s processor, was originally a spinoff from the Computer Lab. The Lab’s anniversary announcement says:
We’re a bit overwhelmed to find ourselves discussed in such august company. Eben’s one of the (ha) Distinguished Speakers at today’s celebrations; tomorrow it’s back to normal, but for today we’re enjoying an incredible feeling of taking part in history, and a sense of the extraordinary pace we’ve been moving at for the last 75 years. Congratulations to everybody at the Lab, past, present and future. Here’s to the next 75 years – let’s make them good ones! |
DPLA Gets a Boost of Content from University of Georgia
| When the Digital Public Library of America launched last week, it brought millions of pieces of content from major universities, museums, and library collections together for public perusal. But what about the historically vital content that currently languishes in back rooms of small, regional libraries or historic societies? One such growing collection that was incorporated into the DPLA came from the University of Georgia’s massive archives, which chronicle the history of the state. According to Jean Cleveland of AthensPatch.com, these pieces of history are now available to DPLA users and feature some historic insights. Included in the collection were more than five million photographs from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s archives, including photos dating back to when the two newspapers were separate, along with photos from smaller local newspapers that were absorbed by the JC. Also included is a 1734 drawing of Savannah, the first city established in Georgia. Historically notable movie clips are also included, such as a 1919 clip of African-American employees playing a game of baseball, and the interview of Marion King in the hospital following her beating by police while pregnant for visiting protesters in jail. What made the incorporation of Georgia’s content feasible was the forward-thinking nature of library collections in the state. Patrons and researchers in Georgia have already enjoyed the use of its own state digital library, GALILEO, and the state’s digital library was selected as one of seven hubs around the country from which to support the DPLA. “We are so pleased to contribute to this national effort and to make more of the record of Georgia's history and culture available online," said Toby Graham, UGA's deputy university librarian and director of the Digital Library of Georgia, to AthensPatch. To date, more than sixty different state collections have contributed digital content to the DPLA, which aims to bring local archives to the public across the country for free and searchable access. “The launch of the Digital Public Library of America is particularly significant for communities—it provides them with the technology and resources to see their local history preserved and use it to build a fresh perspective that will eventually shape their futures," said Jorge Martinez, vice president and chief technology officer at the Knight Foundation, to Cleveland. "It is also an opportunity to spur greater community engagement and make a body of rich local heritage accessible to the entire world." The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation donated one million dollars to the DPLA in order to fund the regional hubs that will support the digitization of archived content.
DPLA Gets a Boost of Content from University of Georgia is a post from: E-Reader News |
