| What city was named one of the 52 Places to Go in 2015 by the New York Times, one of the Best Places to Travel in 2015 by Travel + Leisuremagazine, and made Fodor's Travel Go List 2015? The same city was also named to the top of the list of America's Best Beer Cities by Conde Nast Traveler and chosen as one of the 15 destinations for travelers to set their sights on in 2015 by the Los Angeles Times. Would it surprise you to learn that the city collecting all these accolades is Cleveland, Ohio? It doesn't surprise us at all. OverDrive is proud to call Cleveland our home and we welcome all of you to join us in our beautiful hometown this August for Digipalooza '15. Come early and stay late to enjoy all that Cleveland has to offer! Our conference runs from Wednesday August 5th through Friday August 7th, leaving the weekend open to explore the city and turn a business trip into a great summer vacation. During Digipalooza, you'll have a chance to visit OverDrive headquarters and sample local cuisine from area food trucks, check out the views of downtown from our new conference home in the Cleveland Convention Center, and party at the historic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We're partnering with Destination Cleveland, Cuyahoga County's convention and visitors bureau, to offer our attendees the best experience while in town. You can check out the Official Visitors Guide and area Dining Guide to start planning your trip! Keep an eye on the #digip15 hashtag on Twitter where we'll share some of our favorite Cleveland sights, sounds, and local events happening for Digipalooza attendees who plan to spend additional time in the CLE. If you haven't registered yet, what are you waiting for? Come see what everyone is talking about and visit Cleveland this August for Digipalooza '15! Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive. |
Monday, March 9, 2015
Come see why Cleveland Rocks at Digipalooza!
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Publisher Revenue Plummets as the Novelty of eBooks Wane
| Major publishers are starting to see lower than expected quarterly results because of the novelty of the e-book has severely waned. Some of the largest publishers such as Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster are facing tough times. Total profit dropped 5.6% at S&S and approximately 12% for Penguin. The lack of revenue is primarily attributed to the lack of bestselling titles and lower e-book sales. Publisher's Weekly weighed in on the issue “one reason for the 2014 decline in revenue and earnings was also a drop in digital sales. E-books accounted for 23.2% of S&S sales last year, down from 24.4% in 2013. Total digital revenue, which includes downloadable audio, generated 26.4% of revenue, down from 27.1% in 2013.” If you look at it from an outsiders prospective, whats a few percentage points lost with a billion dollar publishing industry? Most insiders are saying its a tremendously big deal. Most booksellers are at the mercy of Amazon who tries to get the lowest price possible on digital editions, so they can out price most other online stores. Publishers are also worrying about Amazon getting into the publishing industry with their many imprints and new Kindle Scout program. Is the novelty of e-books wearing off? It depends on who you ask. I think the main reason is that 95% of all US libraries currently have an e-book collection and its very easily to borrow them. e-Book subscription sites have also gained traction with Entitle, Scribd and Oyster offering compelling value propositions. Publisher Revenue Plummets as the Novelty of eBooks Wane is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Opens Online Marketplace in China via Alibaba
| Amazon has been trying to be a major player in the Chinese e-commerce scene but the response has been tepid. This has prompted Amazon to open up an online shopping system with Alibaba’s Tmall. Amazon is used to charging its marketplace sellers 20 to 30% for each transaction. The deal with Alibaba only has them paying 5% for each sale on products such as candy, clothes, shoes and wine. One of the big reasons why Amazon has really failed to have a meaningful impact in China with selling digital books or products is because government regulations have historically safeguarded China-based companies, making it difficult for foreign firms to gain a foothold without at least partnering with a Chinese company. For instance, in the video game market, the only way for console makers to sell their hardware to Chinese consumers is to team up with a China-based business. This is why basically in order to do business in China they had to partner with Alibaba. Alibaba is a juggernaut, although some people have equated them to being an Amazon clone. When they filed for an IPO the company was valued at $25 billion dollars, which is more than Amazon and eBay combined. It will be interesting to see if Amazon can solve the shipping issue, which historically has not resonated well with Chinese customers. Things simply take too long to get from point a to point b and likely Amazon will have to heavily invest in fulfillment centers in China to predicatively stocks the most commonly ordered products. Amazon Opens Online Marketplace in China via Alibaba is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Reviewing I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son
| Karen Russell's Swamplandia! wowed me (if you haven't read it, do it now), so when I found out that her brother penned a collection of essays I had to pick it up. Kent Russell's I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son is very different from Karen's writing (she writes offbeat fiction, he writes literary nonfiction), but the siblings share a spectacular amount of talent. It doesn't seem quite fair that one family contains two literary virtuosos. In I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son, Kent invites readers on a hilarious and intimate exploration of self and society's fringes. Russell shares frank vignettes of his familial relationships and childhood, parlaying them into observational portraits of the unorthodox people he encounters. He mingles with misunderstood Insane Clown Posse fans at the Gathering of the Juggalos. He spends an alcohol-fueled weekend with a self-immunizer, a man who conditions himself to survive poisonous snake bites by injecting himself with venom. He visits a retired (and possibly brain-damaged) hockey enforcer, takes in an Amish baseball game, enrolls in a course taught by a horror movie make-up artist, and maroons himself on a deserted island with a modern-day Robinson Crusoe. Kent Russell is a robust voice in nonfiction. He is sure to become a favorite among fans of Hunter S. Thompson and David Foster Wallace. You can read more of his essays in The New Republic, Harper's, GQ, n+1, The Believer, and Grantland. I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son will be available to borrow from your library on March 10th, but you can read a sample below and place a hold right now! |
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Where do You Hear about New e-Books?
| Every few weeks Good e-Reader Research conducts statistical analysis of the digital publishing industry. Over the course of the last three weeks we wanted to find out how readers discovered their next great read. Over 388 people responded and we are pleased to present our findings. When you think of book discovery in the past, it normally involved going to your local bookstore and seeing what they were promoting, in other cases you may consult a newspaper such as the New York Times. With the advent of digital books, there are many options that simply weren’t available in the past. GoodReads is a book discovery website and has a vibrant social community. It captured the crown in our report, garnering 14.63% of the vote. One of the advantages of this service is that it connects up with your Facebook account and you can see what books your friends are reading. It also serves as an avenue to meet new friends with the same taste in books as you and thousands of big name authors also share their reading lists. In second place with 13.41% of the overall voting population are book blogs. This could be anything from a small one man operation to a large scale site with many different reporters. I think blogs are important because most sites are written by one person and you can trust in reading their reviews over the long haul. People are fairly loyal once they find a few sites they really like and put heavy stock in their opinions about a great new title. Third place capturing 11.59% of the overall vote, was friends. Often books will inevitably come up in conversation and its far easier to loan out physical titles. You trust your friends and are unlikely to discount their opinion if they are raving about a new book they just finished. I was very surprised that bestseller lists, newsletters, the library and podcasts did not resonate with readers as much as I thought they should. Instead, people tend to make buying decisions based on what Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Kobo are hyping in their online bookstores. Where do You Hear about New e-Books? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Pre-Register for Final Fantasy: Record Keeper
| The Final Fantasy games have been entrancing game audiences since 1987. With over thirteen games to it’s name, four films, and even a television series to it’s name, the Japanese gaming series has become recognizable among gaming and anime fans alike. Recently, a free-to-play smartphone game was released in Japan, called Final Fantasy: Record Keeper. A social game, Record Keeper allows players to re-enact memorable battles from past games. The game is already wildly popular in Japan, with over five million downloads. And Square Enix has announced the game for a North American release this spring. While the game isn’t available for download just yet, you can pre-register for free on the official website. Not only will you be notified when the game is released, but signing up boosts the points meter, unlocking bonuses, including Tidus from Final Fantasy X and an 8-Bit Creator that allows some players to see themselves in 8-bit. Below, see the teaser for the 8-Bit Creator, and don’t forget to pre-register here to be notified when the app becomes available on the App Store and Google Play. Pre-Register for Final Fantasy: Record Keeper is a post from: Good e-Reader |
George R.R. Martin Donates First Edition Hobbit to Texas A&M
| The Texas A&M Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection is one of the most extensive and best regarded libraries of its type in the world. The library currently has five million books available and is George R.R Martins institution of choice for all of his titles since 1993. For the first time ever George donated a book not written by him to the library, a first edition copy of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first edition of the Hobbit is an expensive book with the average title fetching £60,000 at auction. There was only 1,500 original copies were ever made and collectors go wild when one becomes available. When George donated the book on Febuary 29th he made it a point to say that the highbrow stuff shouldn’t be the only thing preserved “All of it should be preserved. Not just the stuff that we deem high culture, but popular culture and ordinary culture and ephemera and juvenilia, preserve all of it because we don't know what we'll want 50 years from now, what's going to be important 100 years from now, or whether indeed 1,000 years from now, Stan Lee will stand next to Shakespeare. George R.R. Martin Donates First Edition Hobbit to Texas A&M is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Clean Reader Removes the Profanity from e-Books
| Contemporary e-books are normally full of profanity and some of the classics use verbiage that upset the delicate sensibilities of readers. In order to solve this issue, a new app has been developed called Clean Reader. Clean Reader has settings that users can employ to customize how clean they want their books to appear.To preserve the context of the book, an alternative word with the same general meaning is available for each instance where a word is blocked from being displayed. In order for users to read a book with Clean Reader it must be purchased through the in-app bookstore. With more than 1 million titles, including all the latest books from top authors and publishers, the Clean Reader bookstore offers the same books as any other online retailer and with comparable pricing. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the app may not be to everyone's taste. As pointed out by Ron Charles of the Washington Post, there was an uproar after a revised edition of "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain was published in 2011. The edition removed instances of the n-word from the text, but Salon writer Elon James White wrote at the time, "The book, which deals directly with racism, is not better served by erasing the racial slur," while The Washington Post's Alexandra Petri wrote, "The word is terrible. But it's a linchpin of this book." If you have young children and don’t want to expose them to young adult fiction with swear words or just want to check this app out, you can download it for Android or iOS. Clean Reader Removes the Profanity from e-Books is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Good e-Reader Radio Show – March 6 2015
| Welcome back to a full sized edition of the Good e-Reader Radio Show! Today Michael Kozlowski is flying solo and giving you a sense on the latest happenings in the e-reader industry. On the show today Michael talks all the latest Kobo news and some of their devices that have recently been discontinued. Amazon is also on the news, with their new venture into eCommerce with an arch-rival and Kindle Japan now offering free previews on manga and comics. Whats happening at Good e-Reader these days? Michael launches into a pure state of exuberance about the new App Store for e-Ink, new developers system for paid apps and why Amazon/Google is bad for your privacy. Have you noticed lately that Good e-Reader has the odd story on anime and digital manga? This is by design, Michael wraps up the show talking about falling in love with anime at an early age, tape trading, BBS days and eyelashes freezing in the cold. Good e-Reader Radio Show – March 6 2015 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Friday, March 6, 2015
Apple Gives Overhaul to iPads in Education Offering
| The first few iterations of any new project are always going to suss out strengths and weaknesses. To this end, Apple has listened to feedback aimed toward their iPads in Education program and is making more than a few changes (at just the right time, when educators are starting to make plans for the next school year beginning in the autumn). Changes to the program are focused primarily on making content easier to download, and devices easier to administer. Having to link downloads to an Apple ID makes sense for devices being used by a single individual or family, but the requirement lead to the creation of generic accounts that offer little security while adding a lot of hassle. Also exciting is news that younger students (below 13 years old) will be eligible for their own Apple IDs in 2016 –which means they will have access to services like iCloud while still paying all due respect to COPPA requirements protecting the online privacy of children in the United States. It may seem like a minor thing (if you will pardon the pun), but providing this type of continuity honors the important role technology now plays in the learning process (one child, one account). Apple’s reveal came from an email delivered to their educational partners, the full text of which reads:
With the presence of iPads in educational environments continuing to improve the test scores of the students using them, making it easier for schools to implement them is never a bad thing.
Apple Gives Overhaul to iPads in Education Offering is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Pebble Raises Ridiculous Capital on Kickstarter for Watch Sequel
| Known by the world as Kickstarter’s darling, the makers of the tremendously popular Pebble smartwatch are hoping for a repeat performance. A little bit ahead of the launch of Apple’s wearable debut, Pebble wanted to raise $500K to produce their new Time Steel product. It appears a few backers have some interest in the new wearable; with 20 more days to raise funds, nearly 66K people had promised Pebble almost $16.7M dollars. There is no question that this is another Kickstarter success story, but it really isn’t a win for the crowdsourcing concept. Many would-be backers have described their Kickstarter experiences as being similar to shopping in an online store. That kind of logic is hard to argue with when Pebble has basically used it as a means by which to offer pre-orders for their latest timepiece. It’s unfortunate if not inevitable. Places like Kickstarter were brought to life so the little guy could bring a great idea to market, even without the capital to do so (funding creativity, as they say). It kind of ruins things when an already well-funded company like Pebble uses it to generate enthusiasm for something they would have released anyway. Their behavior smells opportunistic and is clearly a publicity stunt… which violates the spirit of the site, and is more than a little disappointing. No matter, Pebble is still a worthy contender in the battle for dominance in the wearables market –but that could change after Apple’s next event on March 9, during which we expect to hear a lot more about their highly anticipated watch.
Pebble Raises Ridiculous Capital on Kickstarter for Watch Sequel is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kobo Aura HD is Officially Discontinued
| Kobo has officially discontinued the Aura HD e-reader which was the first 6.8 inch device the company had ever launched. When this e-reader originally came out it caught Kobo off guard how much consumers loved it. CEO Michael Tamblyn told Good e-Reader that this model accounted for 25% of all hardware sales in 2013. This model has experienced poor retail visibility in the last four months and and it is no longer available anywhere. Kobo has removed the sales button on their main website and all of their global worldwide partners are basically all out of stock. You cannot order them online anymore and you might get lucky in a random bookstore in Europe, but for all sense and purposes this e-reader is gone. The only large screen e-reader that Kobo is actively marketing is the waterproof H2O model that came out in 2014. Kobo Aura HD is Officially Discontinued is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kobo is Developing Windows Phone 8 e-Reading App
| Kobo has developed a new e-reading app for Windows 8 phones and is actively looking for people to participate in the beta test program. The purpose of this invite only program is to get feedback based on a wide variety of real usage scenarios and essential features that would make the app better. Beta Builds will only be released to the beta participants so you can rest assured that the only difference between betas and the final product would be a bit of polish here and there. If this sounds like something that you're interested in, then please send an email to windowsappfeedback@kobo.com with your email address associated with Microsoft Store so you can download the beta builds. Kobo is Developing Windows Phone 8 e-Reading App is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Is this the Future of Digital Magazines?
| Magazine publishers are constantly talking about the future of their medium. Will people continue to buy the print edition or gravitate towards digital? Are customers satisfied with a replica edition or do they want something more unique and original? AnOther Magazine has their finger on the pulse and has just released a digital first: a high-definition, moving magazine cover with a bespoke soundtrack. Rihanna's moving image filmed by Inez and Vinoodh is displayed on the digital screen which wraps around 440 pages of fashion, interviews and more. It is important to note that this isn’t an app that the company has developed but they are marketing it as a boxed set that includes a 9 by 12 tablet on the front and a more traditional magazine contained within. There is an audio soundtrack that can be listened to via the 3.55 mm headphone jack. This boxed set is retailing for $125 and was unveiled today at Paris Fashion Week. Is this the future of publishing? I could see special anniversary issues and end of the year best of issues being the most compelling. What if the Time Man of the Year issue had interviews and motion animation displayed on the front cover and people could use as an artistic centerpiece in their homes? The possibilities of technology such as this are endless.
Is this the Future of Digital Magazines? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Unveils Comic and Manga Previews in Japan
| Amazon Japan has just unveiled a new function that will allow customers to read free previews of comics and manga. You will be able to send the content to your e-reader, smartphone or tablet. Free Previews have been around for quite sometime in most major markets that Amazon operates in. Japanese readers have only been able to read previews in the Kindle Cloud Reader, which launched in September 2014. Now, anyone using the Kindle App for Android, iOS, Windows and Amazon branded devices can sample something before making a buying decision. Amazon Unveils Comic and Manga Previews in Japan is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Digital News Readership Continues to Gain New Ground
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According to an article by Erik Sass for MediaPost, there are reports of the “digital audience for U.S. newspapers reaching a record 173 million in January 2015, according to comScore data cited by the Newspaper Association of America. That figure is the highest ever, up 19% from 146 million in January 2014, and 4.8% from 165 million in December 2014. The latest figure represents 82% of the total U.S. adult online population in January 2015. Furthermore, newspapers' digital content reached 91% of U.S. adult women ages 25-34, and the same proportion of U.S. adult men ages 35-44.” Interestingly, there was a sharp increase reported in the numbers of readers who limit themselves not only to digital consumption, but also to utilizing only mobile devices for digital newspaper reading. That fact should speak volumes to publishers and providers alike. Publishers need to ensure that their content, especially their all-important advertising content, lends itself to mobile reading. Digital content providers like subscription providers or other sources such as libraries and the hospitality industry need to ensure a seamless experience for people who plan to read on the small screen. More importantly, the data revealed crucial information about exactly who is reading on their mobile devices, which should give publishers and advertisers the leg up in providing targeted content that speaks to readers. “Within the mobile-only group, the fastest growth in proportional terms came among young women ages 18-24, as this subset soared 155% from 3.2 million to 8.2 million over this period. Not far behind were men ages 34-44, with the number of mobile users in this demo up 122%.” There’s one final piece of information that publishers and providers must understand about the way digital newspapers are currently consumed. Last year, digital advertising revenue accounted for just over $3 billion, or roughly 14% of total newspaper ad revenue; at the same time, digital subscriptions through both stand-alone apps and service apps like Pressreader accounted for almost $11 billion, meaning the money is coming from the readers, not the advertisers. Digital News Readership Continues to Gain New Ground is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Crunchyroll Adds Kite and Godzilla vs Megalon to it’s Rosters!
| Crunchyroll, the popular media distribution for anime and manga, has announced on Thursday that it has added two new old school favourites to it’s rosters! Kite (OVA originally released in 1999) and Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) are up and ready to be viewed either in the English dub or subtitled format! Premium Crunchyroll users can immediately view these classics in the US and in Canada, though free users will have to wait patiently till April 5th (Though it’s never a bad thing to start up that subscription anyways!) Released in 1972, Godzilla vs Megalon, has to be one of the most aggressively funny Japanese Monster movie ever made! If you’re ever feeling down, definitely give this movie a go if you haven’t seen it! Crunchyroll’s description: While we have our inner five year olds screaming in delight for Godzilla vs Megalon, Kite (OVA released in 1999) is on a whole different level. There have been a few sequels as well a Live Action take on it (Which I would encourage to check out, because how could you not watch anything with Samuel L. Jackson in it!), but still nothing can top the original high style and fantastic action scenes. And if any of you are wondering, the Crunchyroll version that is being streamed is of streaming equivalence to Media Blasters Kite Remastered release, which made it’s debut on Blu-ray in 2013. Crunchyroll’s description: Crunchyroll Adds Kite and Godzilla vs Megalon to it’s Rosters! is a post from: Good e-Reader |
By Librarians, For Librarians… and cats.
 It's no secret that OverDrive loves librarians. Librarians are information superheros. To quote Judy Blume, "Librarians save lives…" In celebration of librarians, our own punk-rockbook jockeys banded together to compile a list of titles for librarians (and their cats) to enjoy. Crafting with Cat Hair by Kaori Tsutaya – Crafts and cats go together like books and tea. Liven up your #MakerMonday with an adorable finger puppet or picture frame forged from feline fur. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris – Aurora Teagarden is my favorite fictional librarian. She will inspire you to become an amateur sleuth. Tequila Mockingbird by Tim Federle – After a long day at the library, unwind with a literary cocktail. Bridget Jones's Daiquiri is particularly delicious. This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson – Lend this title to every person who asks, "Why do we need librarians when Google exists?". The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne – A memoir about your average Tourette's-afflicted, weight-lifting librarian. Click here to view these titles and more in Marketplace. Title availability may vary based on platform or region. Michelle Ross is a Collection Development Analyst at OverDrive. She aspires to one day use her librarian skills to solve crime. |
Astro Pi: Flight Hardware Tech Specs
| Stop! Before you read anything please watch NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman giving us a quick fly-through of the ISS. In the video you see various computers and screens on the walls and it’s crazy to think that two Raspberry Pis will soon be there alongside them. Even crazier to think that you can get your code running on them! What would you make them do? A space tamagotchi perhaps?! So let’s have a look at the flight hardware shall we? …and here is a picture of everyone’s favourite spaceman, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake, taking a short break from his training to check it out for himself.  Image courtesy of ESA Tim is going to get a rather awesome (and expensive) space grade aluminium case with heat dissipation fins, Velcro strips and support arm attachments for his Astro Pi. No you cannot buy this case, trust me it will be prohibitively expensive! What you’ll get is what you see in the pictures above. It will either be free as a reward for submitting a good primary or secondary school idea by the 3rd of April or, if you buy one, around £30 + delivery. There will be another announcement when they are on sale. Below is a summary of the Astro Pi software and hardware. If you have any questions please comment below. We’re all standing by to answer you! Python API
Note: The data sheet links below are only for those of you who really want that information, most humans don’t need to look at them at all! I²C Sensors
Inputs
Outputs
Micro controller
For more information on the Astro Pi: Your Code in Space competition please visit astro-pi.org and click on How to Enter in the toolbar at the top. |
No Tax Break on eBooks in the EU
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The humor is that tax law is not only good for kindling, it’s plentiful because it could fill the first floor of a library with its droning minutia. It also changes each year, and the surprising results of those changes have left more than one consumer irritated. Just ask anyone in the US who filed this year and had to provide proof of health insurance or risk facing a $500 fine. But that’s nothing compared to the head-scratching that the EU’s highest court has caused when they upheld the ruling this week that ebooks were not books, and therefore would be taxed at a higher VAT rate than their print counterparts. How much higher? As much as 20%, where print books are more typically in the 3% to 6% range. Two countries, France and Luxembourg (who, coincidentally, have strong agreements and corporate locations with Amazon) have been skirting the ruling for quite some time, and have actually been sued by the EU for only collecting the lower VAT rate on ebooks. Those governments have been eating the rest of the tax cost, leading some to accuse Amazon of paying hefty incentives to the governments to offset that burden. Fortunately, this is an issue that may not be over. The reason the court gave for calling ebooks a separate product than a book (and therefore subjected to a different tax rate) is that a separate device must be used and presumably purchased in order to read the ebook. That statement threw the door wide open to punish the film and music industries, since their end products also require some other forms of technology to use them. By that logic, anything could fall suspect: sure, you can eat an apple straight from the tree, but flour must be mixed with other ingredients and then cooked on another implement. Will there be separate taxes on different types of products within the same category, and will consumers have to prove how they actually consume the product in order to avoid the additional taxes? That is obviously a fairly ridiculous example for the purposes of illustrating where industry watchers already fear this precedent could lead, but what is clear is that the tax structure surrounding the entire book industry has been called into question in Europe for some time, largely with the advent of corporations like Amazon having one set of rules, and local booksellers being subjected to another.
No Tax Break on eBooks in the EU is a post from: Good e-Reader |
