| Auckland University Press has released more than 240 classic books from the region in ebook format. This can be considered a significant development considering many of the books that have been launched in digital format have ceased to be in print for long. Not only do the literary works get a new lease of life, the newer generations too get the chance to get acquainted with past works of literature. This has been made possible thanks to the efforts of Creative New Zealand, the country's national arts developmental agency, Copyright Licensing New Zealand and the Vice-Chancellor's Strategic Development Fund at the University of Auckland. Among the titles that has been released in ebook format include 'Keith Sinclair's Origins of the Maori Wars and M. P. K. Sorrenson's three-volume, collected letters of Apirana Ngata and Sir Peter Buck, Heather Nicholson's award-winning story of knitting The Loving Stitch, Ian Wedde's Spells for Coming Out and Roger Horrocks's superb biography of Len Lye.' “Over a hundred of the titles were published long before PDFs, so we sent hard copies off to India for conversion and then checked them back in New Zealand. For many of the old books, our information on the author and the title was shaky. Finding covers, updating websites, contacting authors and their estates – all of this work allowed us to get to know again the amazing depth of the Auckland University Press list,” the press release revealed. Auckland University Press also stated all of their ebooks are available with major ebook retailers, which includes Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, Apple, Whitcoulls and so on. “Along with our US distributors IPG, we have been fortunate to partner with Faber Factory who handle our digital distribution outside North America. Rooted in one of the world's great publishing houses, the Faber Factory team have developed innovative ways to make sure ebooks get out to multiple retailers in multiple formats around the world, to monitor availability, sales and pricing in real time, and to promote ebooks to readers,” the press release stated. The ebooks are available in epub and mobi ebook format along with PDF for many of the titles.
NZ Classic Books Released in eBook Format is a post from: E-Reader News |
Sunday, November 17, 2013
NZ Classic Books Released in eBook Format
eBook Review: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
| Verdict: 5 Stars This book should come with a warning: Don’t even open the cover until you’ve got your adult diapers firmly in place. Even from the Introduction, Brosh will have you crossing your legs while you laugh. Fans of Brosh’s blog, Hyperbole and a Half, turned out to purchase the author’s debut graphic novel (Touchstone), complete with her intentionally crudely drawn illustrations that just put the finishing touches on her amazing storytelling capability. In what is probably not even close to the weirdest thing about this book, it is at this very moment the number one bestseller on Amazon in the Love/Sex/Marriage, Satire, and Biography & History Graphic Novels categories. There’s not a metadata genius on Earth who can explain that. For the most part, Brosh’s writing serves as an amazingly hilarious cautionary tale for the rest of us. Our lives look stellar in comparison, and that’s even if we were facing jail time for a minor but repeat offense. However, the author also pours open several veins when she tackles the topics of self-loathing and clinical depression, even while making you laugh. Some of the criticisms of this graphic novel have been that there’s not enough new material, citing that most of the content within the book has been posted previously on the author’s blog. While frustrating for longtime fans of the site, new readers will delight in the side-splitting stories; additionally, a number of well-known bestselling titles that were curated from popular blogs contain previously published content. Readers will still enjoy having a collected volume of their favorite Brosh stories. The Hyperbole and a Half book is available now.
eBook Review: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh is a post from: E-Reader News |
Digital Comics Bargains for November 17, 2013
| Here’s our weekly look at the best-selling comics, as of Sunday evening. 1. The Walking Dead #116 You know, comiXology had some really great sales on really interesting comics this weekend, and it’s sort of disappointing to see that none of them showed up in the top ten—not the Hernandez Brothers’ Love and Rockets, not the excellent indie graphic novels published by Top Shelf. Just The Walking Dead and a bunch of superheroes who have been around since I was a kid. The top charting sale title was Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, a steal at $3.99, which made 14th place, and a bunch of Grant Morrison’s Superman titles did pretty well, too. 1. The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes Kindle users mixed it up a bit more, putting From Hell in fourth place (just behind another sale title). And the Calvin and Hobbes fans were out in force. George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight did well in pre-orders and will probably be on the list for a while longer. 1. The Sandman: Overture #1 The Nook top ten is exactly the same as last week’s. Just sayin’. iBooks 1. Avatar: The Last Airbender—The Search, Part 3 The iBookstore remains reliably eclectic, with a heaping helping of kid-friendly titles (Avatar: The Last Airbender, My Little Pony) and some seriously adult titles (The Walking Dead, Blue Is the Warmest Color), as well as a mix of single-issue comics and graphic novels. Digital Comics Bargains for November 17, 2013 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Rogers Media Pulls All Digital Magazines out of Zinio and Launches their own Service
| Rogers Media is likely the largest magazine publisher in Canada and they have pulled all of their digital editions out of Zinio. Rogers intends on launching their own Netflix-like app, called Next Issue magazine that will provide access to all of its magazines as well as dozens of high-profile American titles for a monthly fee. Rogers insists the decision to pull its titles from Zinio was not their own, and referred inquiries to trade association Magazines Canada. Zinio has been inroads in distributing their digital magazines all over Canada and the US by way of Recorded Books. Recently Zinio started offering back-issues available to be purchased, instead of just the most recent issue. The Toronto Public Library trumpeted their relationship earlier this fall, saying the digital magazines were extremely popular, with about 55,000 copies checked out in since June. Many libraries are voicing their disdain about the whole situation. Next Issue grew out of a joint venture started in 2009 by U.S. publishers Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp., and Time Inc. It provides subscribers with access to around 100 monthly magazines for $9.99 a month or both monthly and weekly publications for $14.99. Rogers’s Next Issue Canada service has adopted the same pricing as the U.S. service: $9.99 a month for monthly publications and $14.99 a month for monthly and weekly publications. Libraries may not have the large selection of Canadian titles via Zinio as they had before, but there is silver lining. In January, Magazines Canada is rolling out Canada's Magazine Store, promoted on its website as a "one-stop shop for all member titles." The association states that its "relationship with digital circulation suppliers is changing, including our Zinio-based program." It sure looks like Zinio is starting to get phased out and their one time allies are turning into direct competitors. Rogers Media Pulls All Digital Magazines out of Zinio and Launches their own Service is a post from: E-Reader News |
TWO MILLION!
| It took us almost exactly a year to sell the first million Raspberry Pis. Going on that basis, we calculated that we might, if we were lucky, reach the second million around January 2014, or slightly afterwards – we were confident we’d get there by the end of February 2014. So it was a bit of a shock at the end of last week when we got the latest sales figures and discovered that the 2,000,000th Raspberry Pi was sold in the last week of October. We don’t know who owns it – if you bought one between October 24 and October 31st, it might be yours. (It could even be the one we gave to Prince Andrew when he visited on Halloween.) Back in February 2012, we produced the first 2000 Raspberry Pis in China (UK manufacturing came later), and they were delivered to Jack’s garage in March, from where Eben and I split them into two lots of 1000, stuck them in the boot of our car, and drove them to Farnell and RS Components’ headquarters.  The first 2000 Raspberry Pis The Pis were in boxes of 50, stacked together to make a pallet of 2000. We took the web’s first Raspberry Pi unboxing picture. And on getting the news about the 2,000,000th Pi at the end of last week, it struck us that every single Raspberry Pi in that pallet represents 1000 of the Raspberry Pis that are spread around the world today. We never thought we’d be where we are today when we started this journey: it’s down to you, our amazing community, and we’re very, very lucky to have you. Thanks!
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Queens Library to Start Lending Nexus 7 Tablets Out
| Queens Library in New York will start offering tablet devices for free to its members from next week, or Nov 20 to be precise. The generosity can be attributed to Google donating 17,000 of its new Nexus 7 devices to the New York State Community Action Association to commemorate one year of Hurricane Sandy hitting New York and adjoining areas. Of these, Queens Library will be getting 5,000 units of the Nexus tablets. Valid card holders of the library will be able to retain the tablet for a month and can be renewed thrice at the most. What this means is that each member will be able to keep the tablet to themselves for four months at a stretch. The tablets on offer from Queens Library have proprietary software running on top which is based on icons. Further, each of the Wi-Fi capable devices being lent out by Queens Library will come pre-loaded with educational content, job searching resources, information on immigration and citizenship, information about health, and so on. The tablets also come loaded with curated content, which means users have access to lots of information irrespective of them being online or offline. Also, Queens’s move to lent out tablets running its proprietary software is perhaps a first among public libraries in the US. The other locations in Queens that will be lending the Nexus tablet devices include Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Arverne, Far Rockaway, Queens Library for Teens in Far Rockaway, Rockaway Beach and Rockaway Park. “Google is excited by the Queens Library innovative use of technology to engage their community and patrons,” said William Floyd, Head of External Affairs for Google. “With this tablet donation, we hope that the residents of this borough will have access to the information and resources they need to strengthen their communities.” “Public libraries are all about lifelong learning. The tablets provided by Google, coupled with innovative work by Queens Library, puts information and educational resources into the hands of Queens residents. It is a first step toward our strategic goal of bridging the information divide through digital resources, coupled with educational partners. We expect to advance adult learning, language learning, student resources, and more.”
Queens Library to Start Lending Nexus 7 Tablets Out is a post from: E-Reader News |
