| Pinterest has been a rising star in the social media realms. They gained popularity with their organizational structure of user generated pictures. People can add their own and borrow other folks images into a comprehensive collection. So what is the main selling point, if you have never heard of this company before? Let’s say you are a bride to be, and you are dress hunting. You can scope out what other people have wore, and integrate them into your own collection, for research or ideas. Pinterest is doing something new, and going beyond simple image sharing, with the new teachers program. Almost one hundred school educators have already joined Teachers on Pinterest. It is basically a nexus where teachers can find everything from lesson plans, home school ideas and even classroom decorating ideas. There is also a new area for educators dealing with special needs students. Mithya Srinivasan said in a recent blog post that “Tons of teachers are discovering and sharing ideas on Pinterest. In fact, more than 500,000 education-related ideas are pinned each day. And, according to an annual survey by Edutopia, Pinterest is in the top five of professional development websites for teachers.” The new initiative by Pinterest is to put a massive amount of public attention and take individual boards and make them easier to discover. This hopefully will provide an influx of educators using the service to share and discover. Right now this program is only geared towards on elementary school teachers and they should expand it into other arenas in the coming months. Follow Teachers on Pinterest and start pinning from the boards! You can also comment and mention your colleagues on pins to start conversations. Pinterest unveils new Digital Elementary Teachers Program is a post from: E-Reader News |
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Pinterest unveils new Digital Elementary Teachers Program
Macmillan titles now available for Canadian Library partners
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This morning OverDrive is proud to announce that more than 1,600 eBooks from Macmillan are now available in Marketplace for Canadian public libraries. The collection of mystery and crime titles from Minotaur Books specializes in thrillers, cozy mysteries, psychological suspense, and hard-boiled crime. Select from must-have mystery authors like Chris Ewan, Ian Rankin, Lee Child, Charles Todd, and more!
Popular titles from this collection include:
Macmillan eBooks will be available in the one copy/one user lending model for the earlier of two (2) years or 52 checkouts, most priced at $27 CAD each. Titles will be purchased in the 'Metered Access' section in OverDrive Marketplace. Click here for the full Terms & Conditions of Macmillan content.
Your Collection Development Specialist is available to help create recommended lists and packages of the Macmillan catalog. Email collectionteam@overdrive.com for more information today!
Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive  |
BookRix Offers Higher Royalties, Cover Art for Authors
| Good eReader first met ebook developer and retailer at BookExpo America several years ago, and in that time the German ebook retailer has been quietly growing its brand and its user base. BookRix emerged at a time when ebooks were still not catching on among German readers, largely in part due to the odd tax laws that made ebooks fall under an almost punitive taxation rate as they were considered to be software downloads rather than books. Now, BookRix made an announcement today concerning two new ways it is helping authors and readers. The first is a collection of over one million stock images that authors can use for free in order to create their book covers, and the other is an increased royalty rate and the pending switch to monthly payouts of those royalties. For the covers, BookRix will be partnering with Getty Images to allow open access to license-free photographs and images from the Getty collection. Getty has been a long-time supporter of accessibility of this kind, and only requires credit given within the front matter. “The cooperation with Getty Images gives us the possibility to enhance our book cover editor in a way which enables authors to create affordable, professional, and commercially usable book covers with just a few clicks,” explains Nils Oppermann, Director of Marketing at BookRix, in the first of two press releases today. As for pricing, beginning in October BookRix authors will enjoy a 70% of net royalty rate, as well as the ability to sell their books for free, something that few platforms offer or that is limited to only so many days per calendar period. This will be a pleasant surprise for the 500,000 BookRix self-publishing users who rely on the platform to make their work available in online outlets outside of Germany. “We are continuously improving and optimizing BookRix, always taking the needs of our authors into account. As a result, we always offer our authors the best service," continued Oppermann in a press release on the royalties.
BookRix Offers Higher Royalties, Cover Art for Authors is a post from: E-Reader News |
Penguin Goes Digital with Value Added Content
| One thing digital publishing has done on a widespread basis for the industry as a whole is give content providers–from the newest writer venturing into self-publishing to the largest, oldest publishing houses–the flexibility and freedom to provide additional incentive for readers to pick up their books. Authors and publishers alike have experimented with bonus content in ebook form, bundling titles, and even offering special promotional pricing that couldn’t have happened when there was a minimum profit margin that had to be maintained on an expensive print edition. Now, one of the most well known brands in the publishing industry bar none, Penguin, is adding digital-based content to commemorate the work of one of its authors, Kelley Armstrong. Through Dutton, an imprint of Penguin, the iTunes store will feature the interactive world-building app Cainsville Files ahead of the August 20th release of the newest book, Omens. The game and bonus content were all written by Armstrong prior to being developed for iPhone, iPod, and iPad by Inkle. This app will give Armstrong’s fans a deeper insight into the town of Cainsville, the residents, and the goings on before reading the new book. "Cainsville Files is our first app to tell a new story and an interactive story, but it's also just another example of how we're collaborating closely with authors to help them engage with readers in new ways,” said John Morgan, Penguin's Director of Digital Publishing, to Good eReader. This is just another great example of how readers can interact more fully with a novel, especially one that has yet to be released, while publishers can reach a whole new segment of consumers through the technology that is already available. To coincide with the release of Omens, Penguin has also reduced the price of the app for a limited time to $2.99.
Penguin Goes Digital with Value Added Content is a post from: E-Reader News |
How to Create a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word
Ever wanted to add a list of chapters or a table of contents to a long Word document? It's easy! Find out how! |
Video: Rob Bishop talks to MAKE
| Rob’s in the US at the moment for a few weeks, covering the bits of the country we’ve not been to before, and he’s filled every waking moment with Pi-vangelism. You can read more about his schedule at this earlier post: the last unconfirmed date, in Kansas City next Friday, was just signed off today, and there are still places left at a few of the talks he’s doing, so check out the list to see if he’s visiting somewhere near you. Last night, Rob took part in a hangout with MAKE magazine and Matt Richardson. (He’s calling in from his hotel room in this video, hence the depressing lighting environment.) He’s talking here about the history of the project, where we’re going, and what he’s up to on his odyssey across the midwest. It’s well worth a watch. |
Dutch eBook Sellers Mandated to Provide Customer Data to Anti-Piracy Agency
| The Dutch eBook scene has grown up in the past few years and many companies have embraced the digital watermark. 62% of all digital publishers who produce digital books use this technology, while 24% use conventional DRM. Customers rights are coming under fire with a new agreement reached with anti-piracy group BREIN. The agreement signed last week will affect any publisher that uses the eBoekhuis platform to use their digital watermark technology. Publishers will then share previously-private customer data directly with copyright holders and anti-piracy group BREIN. This means that should digital books turn up on Torrent networks, with a minimum of fuss, BREIN will be able to match the embedded watermarks with the customer who bought them. In a blog entry, Kurt Roeckx, who runs the Dutch speaking e-book store E-webshops, shares his doubt about the legality of working hand in hand with the anti-piracy group. “We got a new contract that states that we must directly give information about the buyer if some anti-piracy agency (BREIN) finds an e-book file online. We must keep the information about the buyer for minimum of 2 years and maximum of 5 years. And if we don’t sign the contract we won’t be allowed to sell e-books with watermark anymore. So this means that they want to bypass the normal judicial system, and probably contact those buyers they accuse of piracy directly. I questioned that this was legal. They say that it is legal according to the Dutch privacy law, but I have a hard time interpreting any of the options in article 8 as that we can give that information without the explicit consent of the person.” This will be the first time that a formal agreement between a technology company, publishers and an anti-piracy agency has been formed. In the past, watermarked eBooks have leaked online, but rarely is anything done about it. Also, customers are now reselling their watermarked books to secondary parties, which violates the terms and conditions. Publishers have their work cut out for themselves to keep this quiet and to make existing customers agree to their updated terms and conditions. After all, who really reads the small print these days. Dutch eBook Sellers Mandated to Provide Customer Data to Anti-Piracy Agency is a post from: E-Reader News |
