| The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards got a bit of a facelift this year, with one winner being selected from each of the separate categories, a new feature for the awards. Following the selection of each winner, one grand prize winner was also selected. This year’s grand prize winner, young adult category top author Rysa Walker, spoke to GoodEReader about her publishing journey and what this year’s round of awards meant to her and potentially to authors everywhere. “This has been an incredible year. I entered hoping I would get to the point where I just got the Publisher’s Weekly review. I didn’t think about much beyond that,” explained Walker of the entry process. “The contest came by at a wonderful time.” Walker’s young adult book, Timebound, was originally self-published last year and will now go on to be overseen by a team of people who will work to re-release the book this fall, along with the books written by Walker’s fellow category winners. “I self-published because the traditional publishing industry wasn’t working for me. I tried for a year to get attention from an agent and in almost every case I didn’t even get an email back from them saying why they weren’t interested or even that they’d gotten my email with the attached file.” Walker attributes this lack of attention from the fact that the agents would often reply wanting more information about her background, and discover that she had published non-fiction in her field and feared that pigeon-holing her as an author might be behind the lack of notice. “I feel like I’m putting my baby in the competent hands of a nurturing nanny, leaving me more time to continue to write,” said Walker of the process by which her book will now be published by Amazon Publishing’s Skyscape imprint, addressing one of the reasons other hybrid authors have given for accepting a traditional publishing deal that does result in relinquishing a significant portion of the royalties to the publisher. Walker’s advance, won as result of the ABNA awards, will afford her the opportunity to focus more on the planned novella and subsequent sequel. Walker spoke about the benefits of this year’s updated format for the awards event this year, indicating that this was the first year that all of the winners were brought together at a ceremony in Seattle for the announcement of the grand prize winner. Each of the category winners was awarded a $15,000 advance and a publishing contract with the correct imprint from Amazon Publishing. “I’m so glad that it was this year that I entered, because I could look out at the people that I had just had dinner with and know that everyone was leaving a winner. Any one of their books could do just as well as or better than mine, because their books are going to be out there and they’re going to have a chance to actually succeed.”
ABNA Winner Rysa Walker on her Publishing Journey is a post from: E-Reader News |
Friday, June 21, 2013
ABNA Winner Rysa Walker on her Publishing Journey
E FUN Launches 7″ Nextbook Tablet for $69, 8″ for $99, Both with Google Play
| The prices of Android tablets just keeps falling lower and lower all the time. Getting a 7-inch tablet for $99 used to be a good deal, but not anymore. E FUN is taking it to a new level of cheapness with the Nextbook Premium 7SE-8GP, which sells at Walmart for $69. It basically has the [...] |
Monday, June 10, 2013
Penguin Book Truck Takes Off on US Road Trip
| It’s big, it’s orange, and it’s on the move. Branded with the iconic Penguin logo and orange color scheme, a food truck-sized vehicle is making its way around the country, selling books and promoting the Penguin family of titles. “The Penguin Book Truck was inspired by several things,” said John Fagan, Vice President & Director of Marketing at Penguin, in a blog post announcing the launch of the vehicle. “Back in 2010 when we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Penguin Books, we acquired and designed the Penguin Car, a Mini-Cooper, painted Penguin Orange, with our famous brand all over it. The car was a great hit, visiting some of our most prominent authors in their hometowns across the U.S., and hosting anniversary celebrations at their local bookstores.” The Book Truck made its debut at the recent BookExpo America conference, and from there will go on a national tour to cities such as Chicago for the ALA Conference, Hartford, Connecticut, for Tom Sawyer Day, and more. The truck will also be on the road to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Grapes of Wrath by traveling from Oklahoma to California on the same route that carried the historically famous Okie migrants during the Dust Bowl era. Other stops on the book truck tour will Sallisaw, OK; Oklahoma City, OK; Canyon, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Flagstaff, AZ; Bakersfield, CA. For a complete look at the cities and the planned dates, as well as updates from the Book Truck’s travels, follow the truck on Twitter at @PenguinBkTruck.
Penguin Book Truck Takes Off on US Road Trip is a post from: E-Reader News |
Book Stacking Techniques Taking Japan by Storm
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In Japan, book stacking is taking the country by storm. With all of the manga and comic shops, it takes a fair bit to get noticed. This has prompted the industry to try and outdo each other with solid book display designs. People are flocking to the bookstores in record numbers to check out the new ways artists are stacking books. The trend of stacking books is going viral on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. A movement is taking shape with who can take the best pictures of the displays, and often are buying the physical book as keep sake. Book Display art is something that never took root in North America, as ergonomic design and the scientific approach, takes precedence over artistic sensibilities ability. Sure the odd boutique fashion store, goes the extra mile to really do up their front window, but bookstores themselves are static and uninspiring.
Book Stacking Techniques Taking Japan by Storm is a post from: E-Reader News |
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Sign Up for Amazon’s Comics Newsletter, Get a Free Superman Comic for Your Kindle
| The Amazon folks want you to subscribe to their Amazon Delivers Comics Newsletter, and they are willing to offer a small bribe: A free copy of Superman #1. I’m not kidding about it being a small bribe, as the comic currently retails for 99 cents, but it’s a good read, and free is free. The offer is good through July 21. Here’s what you do: 1) Click the button on the linked page to sign up for the newsletter. That’s a lot of steps, and I was a bit worried the discount wouldn’t come through at the end, but everything worked just like they said it would. I’m actually looking forward to the newsletter. But what about the comic? Superman #1, by George Perez and Jesus Marino, came out in November 2011, and it was part of the New 52, a relaunch of all the characters in the DC Universe. That means you don’t need to know any backstory or continuity to read this comic, although it helps if you have read Superman or seen a Superman cartoon in the past. The comic deftly weaves several storylines: On the evening the Daily Planet changes hands, going to a Rupert Murdoch-type owner, a fire monster attacks Metropolis. As the gala evening event turns into a scramble to cover the breaking story, Superman battles the fire monster high in the sky. It’s absolutely classic Superman, made even more so by the heavy use of text boxes, which seem like a newsreel narrator announcing what is happening in each panel. The art is standard superhero-modern, hard-edged and overly detailed, but it’s very dramatic and the action scenes are handled deftly. And it’s not all Superman battling the monster, either—Lois Lane plays a prominent role, and there is a bit about her and Clark’s relationship at the end. I read the comic on the Kindle app on my iPad 3, which has a retina display. The problem with reading comics on Kindle is that the page size is too small, even on an iPad. The comic is considerably smaller than the screen size, with a big white border all the way around. By contrast, the Comics by comiXology reader shows the page at a larger size, bringing it all the way to the top and bottom of the screen. This particular comic has a lot of small panels and word balloons, so reading it at the smaller size, even on a retina display, is a challenge. The Kindle app does allow the reader to enlarge each panel with a double tap, then swipe from panel to panel, but this particular comic may not have been the best choice, as the busy layouts don’t really lend themselves to panel by panel view. Still, if you’re a Superman fan, this is a classic story, and it’s free. Amazon sells digital comics for Kindle, available the same day as print, and if you want to keep all your reading on the same platform, and you don’t mind the smaller page size, it’s worth considering. Sign Up for Amazon’s Comics Newsletter, Get a Free Superman Comic for Your Kindle is a post from: E-Reader News |
Archie Comics Transitioning into a Feature Film
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“The idea for this is to capture a very truthful, authentic coming-of-age story with these kids that includes heartache, that includes pain, that will obviously temper the fun and the hijinks,” said Aguirre-Sacasa. “It’s going to be a fun — hopefully — summer movie, but we’re not shying away from the truth and the awkwardness and the growing pains of being a teenager.” The plans for the new Archie movie is to paint a different picture of the idealistic small town of Riverdale and to focus real issues. Many people in the movie camp want to make the movie less wholesome and have darker overtones. These sentiments are echoed by the internet community who have commonly said, “The teens of today want Riverdale High to be edgy and contemporary. They don't want to see a cliched version of Riverdale.” The Archie franchise has not had a feature length movie before, but has had a number of animated television shows in the 1970′s. In the early 1990′s there was an abysmal television special. In the last few years, Archie has undergone in a resurgence in popularity due to its digital distribution deal with Comixology. A new generation of readers are being introduced to the franchise on their smartphones and tablets. Recently, Archie started a Facebook Store, leveraging their 120,000 fans into buying content via Graphicly. Close to 30 issues are released every single month, and overall sales were pegged at 40 million in 2012. Archie is staying current with younger readers with the very popular series where the gang meets the cast of Glee. "We’re thrilled with the team that Warner Bros, Dan and Roy have put together here," said Archie Comics publisher/co-CEO Jon Goldwater. "Roberto has become a prolific comics writer for us, and having Jason Moore is the icing on the cake as Pitch Perfect is one of my favorite movies." How, in the digital age, has a 72-year-old wholesome comic franchise inspired by the Andy Hardy movies managed to stay relevant? "Archie has remained extremely competitive enough to be a trendsetter in contemporary comic books," Goldwater said. "We were the first to introduce a gay character into the storyline, and that was an incredible success. We’ve had different comics where Archie was married to Betty in one and Veronica in another. But the core, the characters and Riverdale, remains part of the fabric of classic Americana." Archie Comics Transitioning into a Feature Film is a post from: E-Reader News |
Nook Father’s Day Sale: Nook HD+ $149, Nook HD $129
| Barnes and Noble is running yet another sale on the Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets, and it’s the best deal yet, especially now that they come with access to Google Play. The Nook HD starts at only $129 for the 8GB model and the Nook HD+ is $149 for the 16GB model. Those are [...] |
Digital Magazine Advertising to Hit 3.8 Billion by 2017
| Magazine companies have been one of the most successful segments of publishing to take advantage of the digital space. Very early on they have been able to leverage their strong brands across a wide spectrum, including paywalls, dedicated apps, and inclusion into Zinio. Advertisers are increasingly spending more money on digital properties, and by 2017 analysts expect almost 3.8 billion dollars will be spent. The big news coming out of the annual Price Waterhouse and Cooper report on digital advertising, has overall spending to dramatically increase to $3.8 billion in 2017, when it will represent a quarter of overall advertising, from $2.4 billion in 2012. Customers who actually purchase the digital content will also increase from $275 million in 2012 to $1.4 billion in 2017. North America and Britain are poised to generate 20% of their overall revenue from digital properties. This mainly stems from their investment in a proper dedicated infrastructure, while the rest of Europe will only see a modest 10% increase by 2017. Westerners have had a proven track record of expressing a willingness to pay for digital content, whether it be accessing the HTML5 edition or taking out a subscription on the Apple Newsstand. The shift to digital advertising is almost proportionate to the rate the decline of the print industry. In 2008, a record 9.8 billion was spent and then fell to $7.9 billion in 2012, and it is expected to diminish further to $6.4 billion in 2017. Statistically younger people tend to embrace digital media over the printed editions, due to the versatility of being connected to your smartphone or tablet. This demographic represents the core buyers of tomorrow and they in turn influence their own children within twenty years. Companies such as Glossi are spearheading the next generation of magazines, who are adopting a DIY approach. Anyone can take pictures, generate internet content, or write their own articles and offer them to any social or website platform. Currently, magazine companies do not operate their digital properties as autonomous entities and they are heavily reliant on their printed editions for their articles. Likely this trend in the industry will not change by 2017, due to the failures of The Daily. One of the largest barriers of digital advertising in magazines is the lack of a unified standard. This applies not only to metrics, with being able to monitor your data, but also the wide array of platforms. There are different requirements to deliver your media to Blackberry, Android, iOS, Windows 8, HTML5, Zinio, PressReader, Apple Newsstand, or any other 3rd party. All of these options have the entire industry in a state of confusion over what ecosystem to support and where the money is best spent. Do you continue with online advertising on their main website? Do you invest with Amazon, Google and Apple to spread your message via in-app advertising? Do you continue to spend money on the printed edition? There are many options to consider, with no definitive status quo. Digital Magazine Advertising to Hit 3.8 Billion by 2017 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Saturday, June 8, 2013
How Will you Celebrate Audiobook Month?
| Besides also being the month that plays host to National Donut Day, June is audiobook month, a campaign that was originally created by the Audio Publishers Association to make more readers aware of the joy of listening to audiobooks. A number organizations have joined in on the campaign to reach a broader reaching audience with narrated books. But do we really need to raise awareness of audio? In an interview last week with Amazon’s audiobook creation platform ACX, vice president Jason Ojalvo shared a staggering statistic, that only around five percent of “professionally” published books ever even make it to the audiobook market. At the same time, some reports indicate that as many as one in five households consumes audiobooks. If both of those statistics are accurate, that demonstrates an under-appreciation for the industry as a whole. Check out some of the organizations below and their offerings for the month of June: Spoken Freely and Going Public are sharing a month-long offering of audio works. Lightspeed magazine and Skyboat Media are hosting a daily series of podcasts of audio narration from authors such as Hugh Howey and Karen Joy Howler. Big Happy Family Audio has a comprehensive list of ways to celebrate the month, including ways to spread the news. Additionally, June 17th through 21st has been designated as Audiobook Week, which will contain its own events and promotions to spread the news about voice-over reading. Visit the Audiobook Publishers Association website for news on various aspects of the campaign.
How Will you Celebrate Audiobook Month? is a post from: E-Reader News |
Amazon Storyteller Offers Tools to Screenplay Writers
| In an effort to be an all-encompassing option for writers of any type of media, Amazon Studios announced the beta launch of its new application, Amazon Storyteller. Aimed at screenwriters, Storyteller lets the writer create panels of storyboards, complete with characters, props, background settings, and more. The tool works on two levels, the first affording the writer the ability to see the material played out complete with camera pans and zooms. The second feature is the opportunity to publish something tangible and professional-looking to present to studios, presumably Amazon’s own program. “Amazon Storyteller is a new application from Amazon Studios that lets you turn a movie script into a storyboard,” explained the company’s website. “You choose the backgrounds, characters, and props to visually tell a story. A successful storyboard can tell the full story of a script, or capture its essence in short form, like a trailer. Either approach can be a great way to build an audience for your story and see how people respond to it.” As part of the agreement for using Amazon Storyteller, only scripts that have been made available exclusively through Amazon Studios are eligible to use the Storyteller feature, and while others can create the storyboards for a given script, only the owner of the script can give the permission to publish the completed storyboards on Amazon. One of the limitations that will hopefully evolve as Storyteller undergoes a full launch later on is the single-user aspect. As of right now, only one user can work on a storyboard, meaning collaboration isn’t possible yet. Amazon didn’t indicate when that collaboration will be possible, if ever, but as screenplays are often a partnership, that could potentially be a source of frustration for screenwriters. A complete explanation and lengthy list of FAQs can be found HERE.
Amazon Storyteller Offers Tools to Screenplay Writers is a post from: E-Reader News |
Friday, June 7, 2013
Microsoft Previews Windows 8.1 at Computex 2013
| With Microsoft set to launch the Windows 8.1 preview on June 26, it is quite natural for the company to have it showcased at the Computex event, which is the last big event before the official launch. The new updates and design changes are the highlight of the sneak peek provided at Computex 2013, with the biggest feature being the return of the start button. In fact, no other single factor symbolizes the Windows experience more than the start button, something that has been conspicuously missing in Windows 8. The start button is less than even half the story, as its functionality is vastly reduced this time, according to the video the company released to showcase the new Windows 8.1. All it does is return the user to the Metro UI and nothing more, a far cry from the start button of yore that led to the interiors of the device by allowing the user to deal with files as well as launching programs. Interestingly, the button is still at the same bottom left corner. Another of the biggest changes brought about to Window 8.1 would be the extensive enhancements introduced to make the operating system equally appealing to sub-10 inch sized tablet devices. "We did some work at the device interface level around edge detection and things like that to make it easier to have smaller bezels on these devices so that OEMs and folks who build devices like this could build exactly the kinds of devices they want, and Windows 8.1 will be great on them," stated Antoine Lebond, Microsoft's Windows corporate vice president of program management. This is of critical importance to Microsoft at it struggles to gain traction in the mobile computing devices segment, and the sub-10 inch segment here is attracting the maximum attention. Also, with tablets projected to emerge as the future of personal computing, it is turning out to be a litmus test for Microsoft's Windows OS, something that could even determine the company's existence in the long run. Towards this, Microsoft is also seen including its Office 2013 suite in all 7 and 8 inch tablets, complete with Excel, Word, OneNote, and Power Point. The new improved Bing based search feature is also a highlight of the new Windows 8.1. The real attraction is not just the way a search term is treated by pulling up data from both the device as well as the web, but also the way the search result is actually displayed. Here different content types are displayed in a different color schemes for easy recognition. Thumbnails of websites will also be displayed if those match the search term, with the option of exploring them further. With Windows 8.1, the lock screen is turned into a digital photo frame with images pulled from the device as well as the SkyDrive account. Image orientations change automatically to allow for optimum viewing. Other features to look forward to in Windows 8.1 include the ability to open two windows simultaneously, introduction of the latest IE 11, or better customization options for the home screen. As for the other contentious issue of reducing licensing fees to push further adoption of the platform, particularly in the small tablet segment, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of OEM division, Nick Parker, evaded a direct response but said Microsoft is offering its Small Screen Touch Program to the tablet makers, enabling them to include the Office software suite on their devices. So far, the Acer Iconia W3 is the only tablet running Windows 8 that offers a 8 inch display. Also interestingly, it was at Computex 2012 that Microsoft had previewed Windows 8 before its eventual release in October. Meanwhile, here is a video that highlights the new features of Windows 8.1. Microsoft Previews Windows 8.1 at Computex 2013 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Authorgraph Big Data Illuminates Trends in Digital Publishing
| Authorgraph is an innovative service that allows authors to personally autograph Kindle and EPUB eBooks. The community has over 7,000 authors that are very engaged in the community and sign a copious amount of digital eBooks every day. The company is starting to mine into its big data and is able to tap into popular trends of hot genres, authors and a myriad of other factors. For the month of May the hottest genres were: “Romance”, “Teens (YA)”, and “Science Fiction”. We talked to various authors at Book Expo America, including bestselling author Sylvia Day. She mentioned that Paranormal Romance in general is getting harder to break into, due to the inundation of titles. Authorgraph has continued to see this sub-set of eBooks to be the most popular in their network of authors and people wanting autographs. Over the course of May, the most popular authors on the service that had the most autographs fulfilled was Sylvain Reynard, E.L. James, Raine Miller, Abbi Glines and Sylvia Day. This leads to further credence that Romance and Erotica are the hottest genre in all of publishing. The month of May had the following interesting trends, compared to April. Travel was up 83%, Health, Fitness, & Dieting: up 78%, Gay & Lesbian: up 76%, Sports & Outdoors: up 73% and Religion & Spirituality: down 57%. The CEO of Authograph, founder and CEO Evan Jacobs remarked “Many of these trends appear to be seasonal but I’m not sure what to make of the decline in Religion & Spirituality or the rise in Gay & Lesbian.” Next month, Authorgraph intends on monitoring the big data trends and will begin a predictive analysis of emerging authors and the genres that are on the rise. This type of data is useful to publishers and indie authors struggling to find their niche in the industry. Authorgraph Big Data Illuminates Trends in Digital Publishing is a post from: E-Reader News |
PressReader Makes Digital Newspapers Social
| NewsPaperDirect has brought new social functionality to its seminal PressReader application for iOS today. Digital subscribers can now comment on newspaper articles and interact with each other. Traditional newspapers are mainly a quiet, solitary experience, and if you really want to make your viewpoint known, you have to write an editorial. No longer, as you can easily comment on any one of the company’s 1,000 newspapers that carry and make your viewpoint known. Not only has PressReader introduced new social commenting, but it also implemented a support and oppose button to each article. You can let people know how you feel about a particular story or even oppose someone’s comment. Finally, it has enhanced the ability to search for a specific newspaper publication, instead of having to manually browse for your particular publication. There is also the ability to search for newspapers based on particular keywords, which is useful if you are traveling abroad and want to see what’s happening in the city you are visiting. For example, I can search for New York, and see all the local papers that are available from that particular city. I think the ability to bring more social interactions to thousands of newspapers to be fairly compelling. Sure, some existing digital editions like The Guardian allow you to do this on their website, PressReader brings it to thousands that would normally never allow people to comment on their various articles. Regrettably, all of these new features are only on the iPad and iPhone right now, but hopefully they are pushed to Android and other platforms soon. PressReader Makes Digital Newspapers Social is a post from: E-Reader News |
DC Delays Price Drop on Its Digital Comics
| For a couple of years now, comics fans have had the option of getting new comics from Marvel and DC (and a variety of other publishers) digitally the same day they are released in print. While the Big Two were willing to make that leap, they were not willing to give any discount: When the comic is fresh, the digital edition costs the same as print. That’s $2.99 or $3.99 per comic. For those who are willing to wait a bit to save a buck, though, DC has had a policy of dropping the price by a dollar 30 days after the release date. Until now. DC is now delaying the price drop for two months, as Kiel Phegley of Comic Book Resources learned when he followed up on a tip from a reader. Here’s what an apparently nameless DC Entertainment spokesperson told CBR “Digital comics is still a very young business and as such we are constantly evaluating the best business models and pricing strategies. Moving forward, all same-day digital books released on May 1 or later will drop in price by $1 two months after the initial release date. We will continue to offer an extensive back catalog of titles at a discounted rate, and all of our digital-first titles are available for $.99 per weekly issue. Unlike many of our competitors, we still offer a policy of discounting across our entire line.” A little defensive toward the end, no? In fact, delaying the discount may make perfect sense for DC, if not their readers. Let’s talk about comiXology, the main digital outlet for single-issue superhero comics. When I spoke to comiXology CEO David Steinberger in January 2012, I asked him specifically if comics get any sort of sales bump when the price goes down. His reply: “Not as much as much as you might expect, but sure.” That’s a rather anemic response. Later that year, comiXology inaugurated a “Recently Reduced” section so readers could easily track those discounted comics. It seems to have disappeared. So, what can we conclude from this? That any sales bump those comics got when the price dropped wasn’t enough to cancel out the price difference. That’s just a guess, but since DC is in business to make money, I’d say it’s a good one. There’s an interesting debate about whether digital comics cost DC more than print in the comments to the CBR article, but that misses the point. (If you’re curious anyway, Jim Zubkavich lays out the costs of digital on his blog.) The question is not “How much does it cost DC to produce?” The question is “How much are customers willing to pay?” At the moment, the answer seems to be full price. Take a look at the image at the top of this post—it’s a screenshot of the best-selling comics on comiXology as of this writing. All are this week’s releases; all are full price (the two 99 cent comics are digital-first issues). And DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson just revealed that over 1 million DC comics are downloaded each month. Given the overwhelming acceptance of full-price digital comics by the core consumer, it makes sense for DC to kick the discount further down the road. It’s a bit tough on their readers, but it’s safe to say that if sales dropped off drastically, that decision would be revisited. DC Delays Price Drop on Its Digital Comics is a post from: E-Reader News |
Barnes and Noble’s Q4 Earnings Call to Occur on June 25th
| Barnes and Noble has announced today that its fourth quarter earnings call will occur on June 25th, 2013 at 10 AM EST. This will give us a clear indication on how the Nook Media unit is doing and if it continues to follow the trend of being a loss leader. Currently, Barnes and Noble is supporting the Get London Reading Campaign and has been doing brisk business in the United Kingdom with price slashes on its E Ink line of devices. In the USA, Walmart and Target are giving massive discounts on the hardware. Many new customers are buying into the Nook brand for the first time with the inclusion of Google Play on the Nook HD and HD+. This call is being webcast by Thomson/CCBN and can be accessed at Barnes & Noble, Inc.’s corporate website at www.barnesandnobleinc.com/webcasts. The webcast of this call will be archived and available at www.earnings.com. Barnes and Noble’s Q4 Earnings Call to Occur on June 25th is a post from: E-Reader News |
Amazon Begins Selling e-Readers and Tablets in China
| Amazon opened up its Kindle store in China last December and also updated its popular reading apps to support complex Chinese characters at the same time. Amazon really wanted to put its e-readers and tablets on sale around the same time, but various regulatory bodies put the kibosh on it. The online giant has worked with the government of China and is now officially selling the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Paperwhite on its main Chinese website. The popular E Ink driven Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-Reader is now available for ¥849 (USD $138), and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is ¥1499 (USD $244) for the 16 GB version, and ¥1799 (USD $293) for the 32 GB version. Customers now have the ability to purchase these directly, instead of importing them from abroad. The Chinese Amazon Kindle Store now offers 47,000 ebook titles available in local languages. A number of major publishers have signed up with the service, and now that the hardware is available, it should attract even more to the distribution platform. The e-reader itself will be available online, but Amazon also struck a distribution deal with Suning and Tesco Shi to have the e-reader available in the retail environment. Customers will be able to purchase them directly in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, and Chengdu. The Amazon Chinese site claims that the Kindle hardware is optional to read ebooks. This is primarily due to the fact that most tablets purchased in that country tend to be lower-end Android devices. It will be interesting to see if Amazon can be successful at selling ebooks in that market, which is often plagued by online piracy. Amazon Begins Selling e-Readers and Tablets in China is a post from: E-Reader News |
Amazon Launches Indie Gaming Store
| Amazon's Digital Video Game Store has a new interesting category, the Indie Game Store. This section will host games developed by independent developers who have never experienced much exposure. The developers will also benefit from the “Indie Spotlight,” along with a host of other features, all aimed at ensuring the developers get noticed. These include Q&A sessions, interviews, and biographies of the game developers on a weekly basis. "It's hard to get noticed, though. If you’re an indie game developer, it’s usually a headache to get your game in front of people, both gamers and reviewers. Amazon recognizes this. As part of our commitment to independently developed games, Amazon is launching the Indie Games Store, a new category on Amazon in the Digital Video Games Store, designed specifically to address this problem," said Amazon's Peter Heinrich. Amazon also plans to offer deals called “Indie Bundles” to keep consumer interest going. These special bundles will cost just $9.99 and can include up to 10 games. Users will also be provided with free games with the purchase of another. The special deal can be purchased from now until July 17th. Indie Games is also entirely developer oriented, in that all of the proceeds from the sales go to the game makers. However, the games are only compatible for Windows right now, though more platforms are expected to be included at a later date. Amazon also intends to involve the users in a big way, as they get to say which game gets the focus for a specified amount of time as part of the Indie Gamer's Choice program. Two games will be pitted against each other and the users’ votes will decide which game gets featured at the store. Currently, the store can still be considered to be at a nascent stage with just about 200 titles to choose from. However, the numbers will go up soon, though the indie developers will have to get their games approved to get featured at Amazon. All in all, a nice development which will pit the online retailer against the likes of Steam and Humble Bundle, two of the biggest names in the field of online gaming.
Amazon Launches Indie Gaming Store is a post from: E-Reader News |
Self-Published eBooks Account for 12% of the Entire Digital Market
| Bowker Market Research is reporting today that self-published eBooks now account for 12% of the entire digital publishing market. In some cases, the number actually rises to a very respectable 20%, but is fairly genre specific to crime, science fiction and fantasy, romance and humor. Indie authors, much like the entire book industry is all about market data and trends to determine what the hot segments are. If you live in New York, you would be very hard pressed to have a new Paranormal Romance book approved, because the whole genre is cold. For example, self-published authors are struggling with graphic novels, food and drink, and children’s non-fiction eBooks. All of these segments combined only account for 5% of volume sales. The figures also show that heavy readers are more likely to buy self-published books, with 61% of people who buy self-published books likely to read every day compared to 37% of all book buyers. 36% of self-published book buyers are females over 45, who make up 24% of all book buyers. Bowker reports can be taken with a grain of salt, as they are not indicative to the entire eBook industry. They tend to only talk to 3,000 companies and authors for their research and many of the leading eBook sellers do not publicly divulge their eBook sales. So reports like this, aren’t the snapshot of the industry that everyone hopes they are. Barnes and Noble continuously hypes that their self-published titles via Nook Press account for 25% of their overall digital sales, while Amazon is thought to be around 15-30% and finally, Kobo Writing Life titles account for 10%. Self-Published eBooks Account for 12% of the Entire Digital Market is a post from: E-Reader News |
B&N Mysteriously Removes Nook for PC and Nook for Mac for Download
| Yesterday a reader tipped me about some strange goings-on at Barnes and Noble that is leaving people wondering what direction B&N is headed with their reading apps. For some reason unknown Barnes and Noble has taken down the Nook for PC and Nook for Mac ereading programs from their website. The only program that remains [...] |
Liz is poorly
| Liz has spent most of this week suffering from an affliction picked up in Tokyo. We’re assuming this is flu, as even the worst sake hangover doesn’t usually last this long. I’ve sent her to bed to rest up; normal service will be resumed when she’s feeling better, hopefully early next week. |