| The Good e-Reader Android and Blackberry App Store has been going strong for over two years now and searching has always been a big issue. In the past, we relied on Google Search that would not normally index new apps right away. Sometimes, it would take weeks before an app we just uploaded would appear in the search results. Obviously this created a huge bottleneck with app discovery and being able to find new content quickly. Today, we are happy to report we solved this problem. The new Good e-Reader App Store Search program was custom written for our website to handle the extensive app library. The end result allows you to search for new apps, the second a developer uploads it to the site, or our staff of curators contribute content. Getting search to function correctly was a huge undertaking. The download suite we use has been 100% custom written for the store, and there are no existing libraries or code that would work. We basically had to start from scratch and build a new system that would use Elasticsearch and talk directly to our database. Right now, the end result for search is not sexy, but it is functional. In the coming months we will implement a brand new site design, so stay tuned. Goodereader Android and Blackberry App Store gets Better Search is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Goodereader Android and Blackberry App Store gets Better Search
Self-Published eBooks Dominate Bestseller Lists
| Self-Publishing is getting to be big business and on a monthly basis these indie titles are dominating bestseller lists. The New York Times, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble are the main ones people pay the most attention to. Today, we look at some interesting statistics on how self-published titles are starting to dominate the bestseller lists. Penguin and Random House had 478 eBook bestsellers in 2013, while Hachette had 258. The vast majority of other titles that dominated the charts were written by independent authors. In 2013, self-published books accounted for 27% of the 100 top selling e-books on Amazon each week, on average. Barnes and Noble has said that “30% of NOOK customers purchase self-published content each month, representing 25% of NOOK Book sales every month.” Many indie authors made the New York Times bestseller list in 2013, such as Bella Andre, Rachel Van Dyken, Abbi Glines, Katy Evan, Barbara Freethy. Mark Coker of Smashwords has stated that by 2020, 50% of all eBooks will be self-published. Does this mean that the traditional bestseller list will have more indie works on it? Will we reach a time when the New York Times doesn’t even have a traditionally published book on it? Self-Published eBooks Dominate Bestseller Lists is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Joyland by Stephen King Finally Goes Digital
| Joyland was a novel by Stephen King and was released back in June of 2013. The author buckled the trend of a simultaneous release in trade and digital formats. Instead, he only published it only in hardcover, citing "I have no plans for a digital version. Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one." Well, it looks like a full year later Joyland will finally be available as an eBook. Stephen King is no stranger to digital and released a novel in 2000 called Riding The Bullet, that was only available as an ebook. This was during a time when no one really knew what a digital book was, other than the extremely tech savvy. Last year, King released a Kindle Single exclusive that was basically an essay. The industry was taken aback from Stephen decided to only do a physical book and not do a digital release. Many major news organizations, such as the New York Times, Washington Journal and others picked up on the story. Really, the buzz surrounding the entire situation got more people talking about the book, so mission accomplished, in terms of overall awareness. Joyland, the coming-of-age story of a college student who works at a funfair where a murder has been committed will be available on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo April 4th 2014. The pre-orders are available right now, so you can insure an automatic download the day it comes out. Joyland by Stephen King Finally Goes Digital is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sony Sends First Email to Customers about Kobo
| The Sony Reader Store will be closing operations March 20th in the USA and Canada. Kobo will be taking over the existing customer base and support the exporting of purchased books from Sony to the Kobo platform. Last week, Sony sent out an email to anyone who has purchased an eBook from them to prepare them for the coming move. “Dear Reader Store customer: As a follow-up to our announcement on February 6, 2014, we wanted to remind you that Reader Store will be closing March 20, 2014 at 6 p.m. (EST). Although we are sorry to say goodbye, we are confident that the transition to Kobo will allow you to continue to enjoy a high quality e-reading experience. So, what’s next? As a reminder, in late March, you will receive a notification from us with a link that will allow you to transfer your library to Kobo. Whether you are new to Kobo or already have an account, you’ll be able to transfer your Reader Store eBooks to your Kobo account so you’ll continue to have access to them in the future. Plus, any existing Reader Store credits you might still have in your account will transfer to your Kobo account to use at the Kobo Store. And of course, you can continue to use your Sony Reader to read eBooks from Kobo. We are fully committed to helping you through this exciting transition to Kobo. With the Kobo Store, you’ll have access to more than 4 million of the world’s best eBooks, magazines, comics and kids’ titles, all at your fingertips. We want to thank you for being such loyal customers, a part of our reading family, and for your continued support as we work to complete this transition. It has been a pleasure reading with you! Sincerely, The Reader Store Team Sony Sends First Email to Customers about Kobo is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Asus Transformer Book Duet Axed Due to Pressure from Microsoft and Google
| The Transformer Book Duet was designed to offer the best of both worlds, Android and Windows. The device was first shown off at CES in Las Vegas and became one of the new computers that people started to obsess about. Apparently, Google and Microsoft were not consenting bedfellows and made Asus cancel the device. The Book Duet Transformer hybrid laptop and tablet concept basically allowed users to switch between both Android and Windows with just the press of either a tab on the display or a special button on the keypad unit. The best thing with the entire set up was that there wasn't the need for restarting the device each time one needed to switch OS. However, with mounting pressure from both Google and Microsoft, Asus has caved to the pressure. Microsoft said that they have stopped supporting dual OS devices with a new policy. Google basically said that they don’t want to give Microsoft a foothold into an industry where they haven’t had much success and want to stop the Redmond company from piggybacking.
Asus Transformer Book Duet Axed Due to Pressure from Microsoft and Google is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Microsoft Establishing an Internal Date on Office for iOS
| Microsoft is believed to be in a position of unleashing its popular productivity suite, the MS Office across iOS platform any day now. Experts predicts it's no longer a matter of if, but when. Microsoft stands the risk of losing market share of its Office software suite. The scenario in some ways is akin to BlackBerry holding on to making its BBM to rival platforms for fear of denying its own smartphone range one of its biggest attractions. Microsoft has been resistant to bringing a full version of their seminal Office system to touchscreen systems. The have basically alienated an entire new generation of users that have grown up with iPads and Android tablets. Instead, most users gravitate towards less developed word processors. These are either available free or charge a small amount and are less refined and elegant. Overall, Microsoft has found itself at the crossroads of an important change in the computing industry that it helped shape years ago. However, its time they reinvent themselves and appeal to a wider demographic. It is only a matter of time before the new Microsoft CEO pulls the trigger and establishes a definitive release date.
Microsoft Establishing an Internal Date on Office for iOS is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Banned Erotica eBooks Given a New Home with EXCITICA
| Sometimes Erotica books can be too racy for the sensibilities of major digital bookstores. Amazon, Apple, B&N, Kobo and Smashwords all have their different rules for what is acceptable erotica and what is not. Last October a firestorm erupted with hardcore titles being listed in the kids section, due to the gaming of keywords attached to the book. This resulted in over one thousand titles being removed from the various ecosystems and some publishers accounts suspended. A new bookstore is being launched to give all of these removed titled a new home. EXCITICA is a new website by beselling author Selena Kitt. Its key focus is to capitalize on the success of erotica eBooks. The site is currently in beta and gives self-published authors a 60% revenue share program. Their target market is basically banned eBooks and subject matter that is not appropriate for the general public. In order to not break any laws, EXCITICA has imeplmented a number of rules for indie authors. They make it a point to insure that no books have minors in them and to limit your interspecies relationships to Shapeshifters, Vampires, Zombies or various other paranormal subsets. The new site will have their work cut out for them, as they are in the company of some established players. Red Sage has been around since 2001 and Ellora’s Cave launched a year later. They have the largest following of hardcore readers, other than Amazon, Apple, Kobo and others. Banned Erotica eBooks Given a New Home with EXCITICA is a post from: Good e-Reader |