| When it comes to bestseller lists, the average reader will base their decisions on what to buy through them. The New York Times started to include ebooks in print and online editions back in 2011 when the Kindle and Nook first became popular. The dominate force in bestseller lists is Nielsen BookScan, who harvests their data from major online booksellers. Many of the top newspapers in the world, such as the Wall Street Journal, use Nielsens book data in their own lists. Sadly, Nielsen is capitalizing on faulty sales data from online sellers and is abusing the public trust . Nielsen BookScan gleans its online sales data from companies such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million. The offline data comes from a myriad of non-traditional bookselling outlets such as big department stores or supermarkets. Nielsen condenses the information and then publishes it to their affiliate list, such as major newspapers and then back to the online retailers. So how exactly is Nielsen providing faulty sales data in their reports? The crux of the issue is authors using services such as ResultSource to inflate their sales figures, effectively buying their way onto the bestseller lists. Since authors do this over a period of a few weeks, it provides falsified data to Nielsen and then they distribute it worldwide. Mark Driscoll pastors a large church in Seattle and recently paid a marketing firm, more than $200,000 to get his book onto the New York Time bestseller list. The scheme included hiring people to purchase 6000 copies of the book in bookstores, then ordering another 5000 copies in bulk. They even made sure to use more than 1000 different payment methods, so Nielsen BookScan couldn’t track all the purchases back to a single source. Soren Kaplan, a business consultant and speaker, hired ResultSource to promote his book "Leapfrogging." Responding to the WSJ article on his website, Kaplan breaks out the economics of making the list. “With a $27.95 list price, I was told that the cost of each book would total about $23.50 after various retail discounts and including $3.99 for tax, handling and shipping. To ensure a spot on The Wall Street Journal's bestseller list, I needed to obtain commitments from my clients for a minimum of 3000 books at about $23.50, a total of about $70,500. I would need to multiply these numbers by a factor of about three to hit The New York Times list.” Amazon bestselling Author Norm Schriever explained on a basic level how all of these companies operate. ”The formula is simple – pre-order enough of your own books from the right book stores (albeit at a discount) and you will rank high enough to show up on the list. Then you can re-sell the books to recoup some of your costs. To avoid transparency, the firms break up the orders into purchases from smaller corporate entities with different names. It might cost you $50,000-$80,000 to get on the Wall Street Journal's list, and triple that to be in the big-daddy NYT list. So it should now be obviously quite clear that a bunch of authors are buying their way onto the bestseller lists. Book sales are the main component, but Amazon is now employing other factors such as book reviews. Todd Rutherford ran a website called GettingBookReviews.com that reviewed books for $99.99 a pop or arranged 20 reviews for $499 or 50 reviews for $999. He would post them on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other self-publishing websites to help authors get noticed. It certainly helped indie darling John Locke, who ordered 300 reviews and went on to sell over one million ebooks on Amazon. Before this website was shut down, it was generating $28,000 a month from authors looking for a competitive advantage. So how many books do you need to sell to get on Amazons bestseller list? Normally you need to get between 500 and 1,000 sales of your book within the first few days following its release then you are on your way to making it on the top 100. If you're really ambitious and your aim is to hit the list of Top 5, you're going to have to be a lot more aggressive in getting higher sales numbers. It seems that a title in Amazon's top five averages 1,094 print copies sold across all channels, including other retailers, on a typical day. Amazon controls close to 70% of the US eBook market and 30% of selling physical books. Many authors are abusing the bestseller lists using the above methodologies. They understand the prerequisites of what constitutes a bestseller from the online merchants and brick and mortar stores. Since Nielsen pulls its data primarily from these two companies, you can see how their data is falsified on a regular basis. Many authors can then add the title “bestselling author” to every book they publish and will automatically garner more attention than someone else without the credentials. Is it legal to buy your way onto the list? Of course, all it takes is a few hundred thousand. If your goal is to be a professional author, this can be seen as an investment into your future. It might be an a really good idea to start your own real world botnet of people willing to buy other authors books. Either way, the very definition of a bestseller list is being bastardized and its being increasingly harder to trust indie authors, who are often the most guilty parties. Nielsen BookScan is Providing Faulty Data in their Bestselling Book Lists is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Friday, March 21, 2014
Nielsen BookScan is Providing Faulty Data in their Bestselling Book Lists
Top 10 New Android Apps of the Week – March 21 2014
| Some great apps from Disney and other companies have been released this past week. Rovio also dispensed an update for their seminal Angry Birds Go racer. Today, we look at the top 10 new apps of the week from our own Good e-Reader App Store. FarmVille 2: Country Escape – Farm at your own pace, whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes. Play with friends or on your own in our new Anonymous Mode: Facebook not required. You can also play when not connected to the internet. Join a Farm Co-Op to trade and share, and go on Farm Adventures to collect rare goods. Now, you can finally play FarmVille anytime… anywhere. Best of all, it's free! Ustream – Watch live video and broadcast live on your phone or tablet – anytime, anywhere! Smash Hit – Take a surreal journey through an otherworldly dimension, move in harmony with sound and music and smash everything in your path! This experience requires focus, concentration, and timing to not only travel as far as you can, but also break the beautiful glass objects that stand in your way. Vinylmation: Create Your Own – Unleash your inner artist when you design and decorate a custom Vinylmation character! Paint, accessorize, and apply decals to blank Mickey or Minnie molds. Then save your creation to build your own Vinylmation collection. Crazy Taxi Free – Hey hey, come on over and have some fun with Crazy Taxi! Barrel through traffic packed streets, hurdle off parking garages, and crazy combo your way to crazy money in a wild frantic race to scare up the most fares. In Crazy Taxi, time is money, and only the craziest cabbies come out victorious. Catch the Candies – A group of lovely pets are given a tour in your mysterious candy factory and it is your job to feed them the candies and make them happy. The goal of the game is very simple but how you do that is what makes the game a treat in its own right. The candy will bounce off multiple pegs, each hit adding up points and changing the direction of the candy to the bottom pets. Atari’s Greatest Hits – Relive the Golden Age of Gaming with a collection of the most popular retro games from the 70s and 80s. This extensive catalog pays homage to each of the originals, with controls designed to mimic what Atari fans remember from 30 years ago! For those who love the classic gaming experience, this handheld breakthrough is sure to guarantee hours of fun. Squiggle Racer 8 Bit Race Game – Do you like games that are REALLY hard, yes REALLY hard?? Did you find the Flappy Bird game / clone WAY too easy… good, this game is for you! Don't think it's as easy as it looks! Yes, it's that hard, you might not get a single lap in without a bit of practice, but once you do, its just oh sooooo sweet!! Episode – Choose Your Story – Welcome to Episode: your home for interactive, visual stories, where as the player YOU choose what path your character takes! Shaw Go: Movie Central – With Shaw Go and the Movie Central app, Shaw and Shaw Direct Movie Central subscribers can now get instant, on-the-go access to recent box office hits, popular HBO and Showtime series and more. Over 800 titles available – anytime, anywhere. Top 10 New Android Apps of the Week – March 21 2014 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Apple Considering Launching iTunes for Android
| Apple is considering making an Android version of their iTunes Store. This Billboard has stated that “Apple has opened exploratory talks with senior label executives about the possibility of launching an on-demand streaming service that would rival Spotify and Beats Music, according to three people familiar with the talks. Apple is also thinking about adding an iTunes App for Android phones, the Google rival that has been growing faster than the iPhone, these sources said.” iTunes is currently available for Apple TV, iOS and Windows 8. Moving to the only other ecosystem of note would make sense. It would allow people who invested themselves into the Android ecosystem to make purchases from Apple and give them a valid alternative to dealing directly with Google. Apple Considering Launching iTunes for Android is a post from: Good e-Reader |
RasPiO – new breakout boards from Alex Eames
| Alex Eames started doing amazing things with the Raspberry Pi very shortly after we launched. He runs RasPi.TV, and he’s become a good friend of the Raspberry Pi project over the last couple of years. RasPi.TV is a really terrific blog and YouTube channel dedicated to all things Pi, and in recent months Alex has also been branching out into Raspberry Pi peripherals: you may well have seen his extremely successful HDMIPi Kickstarter last year. The latest addition to Alex’s stable is a range called RasPiO: at launch, it’s a selection of three new expansion boards for your Pi. There’s a GPIO labeller; an expansion board that takes male or female wires; and another expansion board with a protection circuit for each GPIO port. We think they’re great: extremely simple, phenomenally useful, and very keenly priced. Here’s Alex to explain what it’s all about. You can read more about RasPiO at RasPi.TV. We’ll be ordering some ourselves for Pi Towers, once we’re all done with the work on our new website (coming real soon now - we’re very much on the final stretch!) and have some time to play again.
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Now that Anyone Can Publish, Anyone Can Be a Publisher, Too
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Home-based publishing businesses are on the rise, and unfortunately, many have created a niche for themselves that falls somewhere between legitimate publishing and vanity press. While still taking submissions of manuscripts–often unagented submissions, which has been attractive to authors who’ve been rejected by the first level of gatekeeper to the industry–the numbers of rejected manuscripts from these new publishers are surprisingly low. Once a manuscript is accepted, publishers work in one of two ways: the traditional royalty model in which the author fronts none of the costs associated with editing, art design, layout, or publication, or the pay-upfront model in which the author pays for his services, and the completed product is his sole property. The problem comes in due to these so-called publishers who are operating under both systems. Authors are charged for their necessary services upfront–sometimes to the tune of thousands of dollars–and then are also charged a portion of their book sales in royalties. The publisher controls the sales of the book even though the rights to the book are still legally the author’s due to the arrangement. The author (and still rights holder) has no access to the sales data or royalty payments, and instead has to request that information from the publisher in terms of quarterly sales reports and quarterly royalty checks, which often include as much as 55% of net sales deducted for the publisher. Sadly, only moments after digital publishing and print-on-demand allowed anyone to become a published author, the process allowed nefarious business operatives to dangle the dream of being published in front of desperate authors. Authors who are offered contracts by companies who do not have a well-known presence in the industry must still do the legwork of checking out the company, browsing through some of the publisher’s previously released titles, and reaching out to authors who’ve worked with the publisher in the past. Small presses and independent publishers are very real, very vital parts of the publishing industry, but only if they’re legitimate. With the rise in popularity of the hybrid publisher and publishing consultants, however, the lines between legitimate and scam have become very blurry, and plenty of authors have felt the pinch of an unsatisfactory and expensive mistake. One of the most important contract negotiation steps is to demand that no royalties be withheld by the publisher if there are upfront costs to the author; of equal importance is the need to retain complete control over sales data and retailers’ accounts, ensuring that the rights holder (in this scenario, the author) still has that level of control over his own work.
Now that Anyone Can Publish, Anyone Can Be a Publisher, Too is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Weekly eHighlights: Juvenile Edition
| Greetings to all and a very happy March! Spring is just around the corner and this week's Weekly eHighlights brings variety and fun to your juvenile selections. Plan some fun and engaging activities with your young readers that involve our hot juvenile nonfiction titles like The White House for Kids by Katherine L. House and The Book of Languages by Mick Webb. Inspire your readers to help their fellow neighbors with One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway. Let your imagination and careful planning hatch the creativity in your juvenile community! In fiction, there are some great additions to bestselling series like Mr. Jack Is a Maniac! By Dan Gutman from My Weirder School, The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Grownups by Stan Berenstain, and Stink and the Shark Sleepover by Megan McDonald. Also, there are great classics like Harriet the Spy's 50th anniversary edition. Happy Reading!  Fiction Stan Berenstain – The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Grownups Brother and Sister Bear’s parents always seem to be nagging them about something, so the cubs decide to show how their parents annoy them by creating a play entitled “The Trouble with Grownups.” Then Mama and Papa put on their own role-reversal skit, and everyone winds up learning something about themselves. Ages 3-7
Judy Dunn – The Little Rabbit Full-color photographs. “The warm, cuddly world of a real rabbit family is introduced to young readers in enchanting photographs.”–Children’s Books of the Year, Child Study Assn. Ages 6-8
Louise Fitshugh – Harriet the Spy This special 50th Anniversary Edition of the classic and ground-breaking coming-of-age novel, Harriet the Spy, includes tributes by Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Lois Lowry, Rebecca Stead, and many more, as well as a map of Harriet’s New York City neighborhood and spy route and original author/editor correspondence. Using her keen observation skills, 11-year-old Harriet M. Welsch writes down in her notebook what she considers the truth about everyone in and around her New York City neighborhood. When she loses track of her notebook, it ends up in the wrong hands, and before she can stop them, her friends read the sometimes awful things she’s observed and written about each of them. How can Harriet find a way to keep her integrity and also put her life and her friendships back together? Ages 8-12
Dan Gutman – Mr. Jack Is a Maniac! For A.J. and the gang at Ella Mentry School, weirdness and fun are all part of the routine. In this tenth book in the outrageously funny My Weirder School series, Principal Klutz thinks the kids at Ella Mentry School need to learn some self-defense moves. But the guy he hired–Mr. Jack–thinks he’s an action hero! He spends all his time looking in the mirror. He does everything in slow motion. How are the kids supposed to learn anything? Perfect for reluctant readers and word lovers alike, My Weird School has something for everyone. More than 6.5 million books sold in this series. Ages 6-10
Erin Hunter – The Broken Path Erin Hunter, the #1 nationally bestselling author of the Warriors series, is back with book four in the New York Times bestselling Survivors series about a dog named Lucky. This thrilling animal fantasy series was praised by Kirkus as “wild and wonderful adventure” in a starred review. It will be welcomed by all fans of epic animal fantasy adventure. Lucky and Alpha have reached a shaky truce, but tensions within the newly united Pack are still running high. As the dogs search for a home far away from the Fierce Dog camp, they discover that no territory is truly safe when they encounter a terrifying new Pack. 100,000 print run. Ages 8-12.
Colin Meloy – Wildwood Imperium From Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of The Mysterious Benedict Society, comes the stunning third book in the New York Times bestselling fantasy-adventure series the Wildwood Chronicles. A young girl’s midnight séance awakens a long-slumbering malevolent spirit. A band of runaway orphans allies with an underground collective of saboteurs and plans a daring rescue of their friends, imprisoned in the belly of an industrial wasteland. Two old friends draw closer to their goal of bringing together a pair of exiled toy makers in order to reanimate a mechanical boy prince, as the fate of Wildwood hangs in the balance. 200,000 print run. Ages 8-12.
Kathy Reichs – Exposure When twin classmates are abducted from Bolton Prep, Tory and the Virals decide there’s no one better equipped than them to investigate. But the gang has other problems to face. Their powers are growing wilder, and becoming harder to control. Chance Claybourne is investigating the disastrous medical experiment that twisted their DNA. The bonds that unite them are weakening, threatening the future of the pack itself. The Virals must decipher the clues and track down a ruthless criminal before he strikes again, all while protecting their secret from prying eyes. And everyone seems to be watching. 75,000 print run. Ages 10 and up.
Megan McDonald – Stink and the Shark Sleepover Shark-tastic! Stink gets to sleep with the fishes after his parents win an aquarium sleepover. But wait—what’s that lurking beyond the KEEP OUT sign? When Stink’s parents win tickets for the whole family to sleep over at the aquarium (along with Stink’s two best friends), it sounds like a science freak’s dream come true. Stink loves the sea-creature scavenger hunt, the jellyfish light show, and the shiver of sand tiger sharks with razor-sharp teeth. And of course Stink is nuts about gross stuff, but after some spooky stories around the virtual campfire, can he manage to fall asleep thinking about the eating habits of the vampire squid? Especially Bloody Mary, the mutant, glowing Frankensquid that’s supposed to be on the prowl? Ages 6-9.
Charles M. Schulz – Charlie Brown and Friends: A Peanuts Collection Charles Schulz’s Peanuts is one of the most timeless and beloved comic strips ever. Now AMP! helps carry on that legacy with new collections of Peanuts classics focused around topics sure to resonate with middle-grade readers. Second in the series is Charlie Brown and Friends. Whether it’s the curious relationship between a bird, Woodstock, and a dog, Snoopy, or the never-ending crush that Peppermint Patty has on Charlie Brown, the gang’s interactions are what make Peanuts resonate with kids. Ages 7-12
Piers Torday – The Last Wild In a world where animals no longer exist, twelve-year-old Kester Jaynes sometimes feels like he hardly exists either. Locked away in a home for troubled children, he’s told there’s something wrong with him. So when he meets a flock of talking pigeons and a bossy cockroach, Kester thinks he’s finally gone crazy. But the animals have something to say. And they need him. The pigeons fly Kester to a wild place where the last creatures in the land have survived. A wise stag needs Kester’s help, and together they must embark on a great journey, joined along the way by an overenthusiastic wolf cub, a military-trained cockroach, a mouse with a ritual for everything, and a stubborn girl named Polly. The animals saved Kester Jaynes. But can Kester save the animals? 75,000 print run. Ages 8-12.
Nonfiction Marc Brown – In New York Marc Brown now calls New York City home, and with In New York, he shares his love for all that the city has to offer and all that it stands for, including the way it’s always changing and evolving. From its earliest days as New Amsterdam to the contemporary wonders of Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building, to the kid-appealing subway, High Line, and so much more, Marc’s rollicking text and gorgeous illustrations showcase what he’s come to adore about New York after fulfilling his life-long dream to live in the city he fell in love with during a childhood visit. Preschool to Grade 3. By the author of the Arthur series.
Rob Elliott – Laugh-Out-Loud Animal Jokes for Kids All kids love animals, and all kids love to laugh. Now the author of the popular Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids offers an all-new collection of animal-themed jokes that will have young animal lovers rolling in the aisles. Ages 6-12
Margaret Frith – Who Was Louis Braille? Louis Braille certainly wasn’t your average teenager. Blind from the age of four, he was only fifteen when in 1824 he invented a reading system that converted printed words into columns of raised dots. Through touch, Braille opened the world of books to the sightless, and almost two hundred years later, no one has ever improved upon his simple, brilliant idea. 75,000 print run. Ages 8-12.
Katherine L. House – The White House for Kids An intriguing, in-depth look at the most famous home in the United States, this kid-friendly activity book educates young readers on the White House. Blending facts from numerous primary sources with engaging anecdotes—from learning that George Washington never actually slept in the White House and Abraham Lincoln never slept in the Lincoln Bedroom to how Gerald Ford’s daughter Susan held her high school prom in the White House—this book provides the complete story of the presidents’ home. Ages 8-12
Katie Smith Milway – One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference Inspired by true events, One Hen tells the story of Kojo, a boy from Ghana who turns a small loan into a thriving farm and a livelihood for many. Ages 8-12.
Jim O'Connor – What Was Pompeii? The morning of August 24, AD 79, seemed like any other in the Roman city of Pompeii. So no one was prepared when the nearby volcano Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupted, spouting ash that buried the city and its inhabitants. The disaster left thousands dead, and Pompeii was no more than a memory for almost 1,700 years. In 1748, explorers rediscovered the port city with intact buildings and beautiful mosaics. This easy-to-read account is gripping and includes photos of the ruins. 75,000 print run. Ages 8-12
Mick Webb – The Book of Languages Did you know that there are nearly 7,000 languages spoken around the world? This book introduces you to a wide variety of different languages to start you off on your language-learning journey. Find out where languages come from and where they are spoken. From Arabic to Zulu, Morse code to whale song, this book is packed with language facts and phrases to help you communicate all around the world. It includes: basic vocabulary and short dialogues to practice, maps and flags to show where languages are spoken and information on non-verbal languages, including sign language. Nominated for UK School Library Association Book Award. Ages 7-12.
*Geographical rights may vary by title.  |
How Does a Bookstore Thrive in this Economic Climate? Beer.
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Alcohol. The newly opening Books&Brews seeks to combine the best of both worlds, books and the camaraderie of your favorite neighborhood bar. Sadly, bookstores and restaurants are possibly two of the highest-risk ventures for a private owner to take on, but founder Jason Wuerfel and the support of a Kickstarter campaign raised enough capital to launch the concept, which is set to open today. But unlike typical incentives for Kickstarter backers, Wuerfel took the gamble a step farther. As the Books&Brew is also a brewery and will make its beers on site, those backers who pledged $500 or more were given the rare opportunity to be a part of the brewing and naming process. As part of the founder’s dedication to the local economy and craftsmanship, the beer isn’t the only thing handmade at Books&Brews. All of the tables, chairs, bookshelves, and even the bar were handmade from locally purchased materials, allowing Wuerful to funnel backers’ donations into the overall startup operation. Even the barware and menu ingredients are sourced from local businesses. Wuerful’s plans for the business include a used book section, a local authors section, book signings and readings, and even a parents’ section where their children can play while the parents browse and relax, but the real draw may be in the novelty of the concept and the avid adherence to the increasingly popular “localism” movement. As he stated on his campaign, “Where else can you trade used books for craft beer?”
How Does a Bookstore Thrive in this Economic Climate? Beer. is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wattpad Announces Two Writing Contests for Its Authors
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Now, Wattpad has announced not only the return of the Wattys peoples’ choice-style awards for different categories of work posted on the site, but has also introduced a new award this year, this time established by jury selection. The Wattpad Prize is “a juried award to recognize the best original fiction and non-fiction on Wattpad. Winners will be chosen by a jury of expert Wattpadders who are active in the community.” While the Wattys submission period opens in October and winners were announced last month, the Wattpad Prize will open on April 2nd, only a little less than two weeks from now. According to a post on the new prize, “This April we are doing something completely different: we will ask a jury of Wattpadders to help us recognize original works of fiction and non-fiction. Winning stories will be chosen by theme, rather than by category or genre, and the jury will be made up of experienced readers and writers who are active in the Wattpad community.”
Wattpad Announces Two Writing Contests for Its Authors is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Pebble has Sold a Staggering 400,000 Units in 2013
| Pebble is off to a solid start, if the over 400,000 smartwatches it sold in 2013 is any indication. Unofficial estimates has put revenues earned to an impressive $60 million, something that is expected to double by the end of the year. One of the factors of the success of Pebble is the robust development team comprising of 1,200 developers that continue to make and refine apps. Currently there are around 1,000 apps available for Android and iOS. Pebble might have their work cut out for them to really shine in the wearables market. Google recently launched the Android Wear, a version of Android dedicated for smart watches. The launch of the new Google SDK is showing up already in the new LG G Watch and nifty Moto 360, which has turned a few heads with its visual aesthetics.
Pebble has Sold a Staggering 400,000 Units in 2013 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Medium Launches Read-Only App For iPhone
| Medium, the popular blogging platform has made its iOS debut today. The app is fairly simple and users can read articles from the site. After signing in, the app presents you with a list of stories based on what’s popular and what you have already chosen to follow from the main website. It tells you about how long it will take to read each story, and if you get bored partway through, you can swipe to the next story. The app also lets you share articles through Twitter, Facebook and email. Users can also bookmark, share or recommend stories on their social circles. The primary way to login to the Medium app on their iPhones is using their Twitter account. This is understandable, considering Medium founder Ev Williams is also the one who had started Twitter in the first place.
Medium Launches Read-Only App For iPhone is a post from: Good e-Reader |
