| The Tolino Shine features a six inch e-ink Pearl display with a resolution of 1024×758 pixels. You will be able to garner around seven weeks of battery life and store 2,000 ebooks on it with 4 GB of storage. If you need more memory, you can upgrade it via the Micro SD card. It primarily will read EPUB and PDF files. It does have support for Adobe Digital Editions, so you can read books you purchased from other stores. It will also be running on the Google Android operating system. This e-Reader stemmed from a partnership between Thalia , Weltbild, Hugendubel, Bertelsmann Club, and Deutsche Telekom. At Sid Display Week 2013, we got our hands on this little unit and give you a first impressions of the device and what you can expect on a general level if you purchase one. This device certainly won’t compete with the Amazon Kindle, as intended. Instead, it offers an innovative feature that appeals to indie bookstores and publishers. When the device is sold, there is the ability to link in a specific bookstore on the e-Reader. This means, if Thalia sells in their shop, they can attach their own bookstore on it, if another company sells it, they can link to whatever digital bookstore of their choosing. First Look at the Tolino Shine e-Reader is a post from: E-Reader News |
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
First Look at the Tolino Shine e-Reader
Apple Deems 55 Digital Comics Too Hot for In-App Buying
| Remember a couple of weeks ago, when there was a fuss about Saga #11 not being available in comiXology’s iOS apps because of some sexy content? And then it turned out that comiXology, not Apple, had rejected the comics, because they felt that they didn’t comply with Apple’s content guidelines so Apple would have rejected them anyway? Turns out they may have been on to something. On Tuesday, comiXology announced, via its blog, that several comics had been removed from the apps “In order to comply with the Apple App Store guidelines regarding adult or inappropriate content, some new releases were rejected for our iOS app this week. In addition, certain previously released titles that fall outside of these guidelines were also rejected and will be removed from sale.” This was blandly cast as a “content update,” and the rejected/removed comics were grouped together as “Featured Digital Comics.” (This is the cautious approach; when some Digital Manga titles were booted from Amazon’s Kindle Store two years ago, Digital gleefully responded by packaging the books as a “Too Hot for Kindle” bundle for every other platform.) The list of too-hot-for-Apple comics is impressive and eclectic. As of this writing, there are 55 titles, including Howard Chaykin’s Black Kiss, Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit and Angry Youth Comix, Jess Fink’s Chester 5000, the classic Omaha the Cat Dancer, and, predictably, a handful of Digital Manga titles. While some may bristle at Apple’s action, the fact is that these comics are still available on comiXology—they just can’t be purchased by in-app buying. Instead, readers will have to buy them through the comiXology web store or Android app, and then sync to get them on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Apple Deems 55 Digital Comics Too Hot for In-App Buying is a post from: E-Reader News |
Hands-On with the Sony 13.3 Inch Prototype e-Reader
| Sony announced a new 13.3 inch e-reader last week that uses technology the company developed internally and in conjunction with E Ink Holdings. The new Sony e-Paper reader will seriously appeal to anyone that has lamented that their PDF reading and editing experiences have been sub-par on six inch devices. At SID Display Week in Vancouver, we caught up with Giovanni Mancini, the head of RND at E Ink, to check out the new Sony e-Reader. This was the lightest device I have ever played with in the history of e-readers. The 13.3 inch screen is beguiling to behold and you would figure from looking at it that it would weigh significantly more than the Kindle DX. In truth it weighs only 12.6 oz, compared to the Kindle DX, which weighs a hefty 18.9 oz. The e-paper screen glides like a feather when dropped, as I found out. The screen itself is quite respectable in terms of resolution and pixel density. The resolution on the display is 1200×1600 with 150 PPI. It is dubbed Mobius by E Ink and the company is actively shopping it around to the who’s who list of the e-reader world. The main attraction is using the active digitizer and interacting with complex PDF documents. You can edit documents by jotting down your own handwritten notes, or even highlight passages to go back to later. The large screen display will simply give you the best PDF experience you have ever had on an e-reader. I have personally reviewed over 83 different e-readers since launching Good e-Reader in 2009, and this was the first one to give me a quality PDF experience. I have received emails from airline pilots, heads of research divisions, and publishers about what device they should buy to read their PDF Files. I would implore everyone to buy this Sony one when it comes out; it changes the game. I don’t normally gush about things like this, but when it comes to school, work, newspapers, gaming guides, and technical PDF documents, this is solid. The software right now is quite buggy, and we often found ourselves hitting a function key many times before the feature loaded up. The digitizer pen has a small button it that allows you to erase things when pressed. One of my concerns, along with some of the other media people there, was that the “erase” button was placed where you naturally grip the pen. This may result in you pressing down on it during your natural tendency to grip the stylus like a pencil. We noticed that when you are holding down the button, you can’t launch any commands or click on any of the GUI buttons. This forces you to write on the e-reader in a very unconventional way that may take some getting used to. Hands-On with the Sony 13.3 Inch Prototype e-Reader is a post from: E-Reader News |
eBooks Account for 15% of All Books Sold in Canada
| Electronic books are catching on like wildfire in the US and UK, but in Canada, their traction leaves something to be desired. A recent study conducted by Book Net has its research saying that paperback books (including mass markets) comprised 58% of all purchases in 2012, hardcovers accounted for 24%, and ebooks 15%. Book sales peaked in Q1 at 17.6% of unit sales and declined steadily over the rest of the year to hit 12.9% in the last quarter. The 5% decline is likely due to heightened sales in Q1 after receiving new devices over the holidays followed by declining interest or having enough titles banked after the Q1 spike, as well as a preference for giving physical books as gifts. Further proof is that paperback sales had an inverse trend throughout the year and steadily increased in market share over the course of the year. Hardcovers also had their strongest quarter in Q4. 16% of book purchases were gifts in the holiday quarter. Digital adoption rate certainly needs some momentum behind it to increase the footprint of ebooks in Canada. It comes down to the devices we use everyday to read and Kobo usurped the lead from Amazon from 2011. Kobo accounts for 25.2% of the entire Canadian market, while the Apple iPad is at a steady 14.0%, and the Amazon Kindle at 18.4%. e-Reader availability is not very high in Canada and this creates barriers for customers to fall into it. The only major retail outlet to sell them is Chapters/Indigo, and other big box retailers like Future Shop and Best Buy have a paltry selection, mainly on outdated devices from Sony, Aluratek, and Ectaco. You would be hard-pressed to find anything by Amazon in the retail environment and instead you have to buy it online only. “The research suggests that the ebook market in Canada may have reached a plateau," says BookNet Canada President and CEO Noah Genner. "Early 2013 data backs this up. So far, we’re seeing the same pattern repeating itself." eBooks Account for 15% of All Books Sold in Canada is a post from: E-Reader News |
E Ink Debuts Spectra and Aurora Digital Signage at SID 2013
| The one thing that was clearly evident at SID Display Week this year was the gravitation towards e-paper price tags, billboards, and advertising. E Ink Holdings is putting a priority on expanding outside of its bread and butter e-reader market and focusing on new applications. Spectra is a new E Ink technology that is quite different from the full color Triton technology. It gives you the very crisp black and white shades, but also a new color: RED. Many companies, such as Target, KMart, Macy’s, and a slew of others, have their main logo in red. This technology is geared towards digital price tags and ranges from a few inches to six and greater. The intention behind Spectra is to offer commercial operations to implement digital price tags, with the sale logo or numbers to really pop out and grab peoples attention. It can be dynamically updated via WIFI or a dedicated internet connection. For example, E Ink hyped the fact that if it is raining outside, the companies could put an instant discount on umbrellas and prices would be automatically updated. AURORA technology focuses on sub-zero temperatures, which is ideal for the freezer, milk and yogurt isles in super markets. It will function indefinitely at -25 C and is appealing towards labs, medical, and logistics markets. These new tags can be custom tailored from 2, 2.7, 4.41 and 7.4 inch screens. It can also be updated via WIFI, so you can update the prices on the fly, without having to worry about people updating them manually. The spirit behind these new e-Paper technologies is to do away with the costly expensive of paper every month for retail stores and supermarkets. Most of the big stores spend close to $50,000 a month on tags, paper and other aspects of making pricing available on produce, microwave dinners and everything else. The new e Ink signage aims to streamline the process, and allows the IT department to update prices on the fly, and even dynamically offer deals. If its a really hot day, they could discount or increase the cost of water, if something is in season, they could reduce the prices, the applications are endless. E Ink Debuts Spectra and Aurora Digital Signage at SID 2013 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Qualcomm Mirasol Technology Reimagined as Wearable Tech
| “The Internet of Things” is the new mandate from Qualcomm, as the company transitions its Mirasol technology from tablets to wearable tech and smartphones. Many industry analysts wrote off Mirasol e-Paper technology as dead, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, as Qualcomm as updated the screens for a new breed of devices. SID Display Week 2013 just kicked off in Vancouver and I had a chance to catch up with Jesse Burke, who is the new public face of Mirasol. He explained that Mirasol technology had an existing roadmap and that it has deviated from it in small ways to brave a new frontier of wearable technology. There were three new products showcased at the vent, such as a smartwatch, a secondary screen for a phone, and Mirasol technology as the main display on new smartphone. One of the big adjustments to Mirasol across the board was fitting everything on a single screen. In the past, Mirasol had two different layers of screen for its line of tablets that came out a few years ago, including the Bambook Sunflower and the Kyobo. This gave the user a more washed out approach to images and colors and the tradeoff was great battery life. Qualcomm managed to merge the two layers, producing rich and vibrant color. The Mirasol smartwatch was the main attraction at SID and had a 1.2 inch screen and lasts a few weeks before needing a re-charge. The intention behind this product is not just to tell the time, but to be an extension of your digital life. On average, we reach for our smartphones almost 100 times a day, to check Twitter, Facebook, messages, and missed calls. The watch will ping you with Google Now updates, Facebook Home, and other essential apps. Mainly, it will serve as a secondary screen that will assist you in staying on top of all the action, without constantly referencing your bulky phone. Currently, Qualcomm is shopping this technology to various vendors, and we will likely see something happening towards the end of 2013 and mid 2014. Smartphone screen technology is a huge focus for Qualcomm right now and the opportunity is ripe for Mirasol to sweep in and gain some market share. The average phone has a better life of 12-24 hours, depending on your use. Mirasol will extend this up to six times, which amounts to hefty savings over LED and OLED screens There were two phone displays shown at SID, one was a fully featured smartphone, using Mirasol, and the other was a second display screen on the back of the phone, that draws parallels with the upcoming Yota. The smartphone had sported a 5.1-inch panel with a stunning resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and 577 ppi. This phone is in the RND phase and is not commercially available yet. It is likely we will have to wait until 2015 to really see it in action. The second display was on the back of the phone, and mirrors the watch in terms of form and function. It allows you to have a secondary screen with dedicated apps running on it. Useful, but it remains to be seen if multi-screen smartphones are viable with your average consumer. Qualcomm Mirasol Technology Reimagined as Wearable Tech is a post from: E-Reader News |
OverDrive Media Console for Android and iOS out May 28th
| OverDrive Media Console v2.6.5 is coming to iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod touch) and Android on May 28th. This release is all about bug-fixes to improve the end user experience. Here is what's coming out in v2.6.5:
Due to a change in Apple's privacy policies, we've had to make changes to the way we handle licensing of EPUB eBooks and MP3 audiobooks. As a result, the OMC for iOS v2.6.5 update will de-authorize every users' Adobe ID. Upon opening OMC for the first time after the update, users will be prompted to re-authorize. Audiobook users that have only partially downloaded an audiobook prior to the update will need to return to the library bookshelf to download any missing parts. If users try downloading missing parts directly without first reactivating the download from their library website bookshelf, they will receive a 'downloadManagerErrorDomain:403' error. Note: The Adobe authorization and audiobook download issues will only impact iOS users. We've created two help articles to help end users through both Adobe authorization and audiobook download:
If you have any questions, please contact support through Content Reserve under the Support tab.  |
The Ultimate Teen Summer Reading list
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Interested in seeing what they picked? You can find the list by visiting teenreads.com.
With special thanks to OverDrive's extensive catalog of over one million titles, we were able to recreate nearly the entire Ultimate Teen Reading List with our own collection of eBooks and audiobooks. We have made this list available to you in Content Reserve, and would like to invite you to log in and check it out. With such an amazing plethora of visionary, infamous titles to choose from, you'll find it hard not to get inspired to buy them!
(Their imaginations will thank you.)
Rob Mooney is a Collection Development Analyst with OverDrive  |
Bowker Reaches Out to Self-Published Authors
| Most industry professionals know Bowker as the source for ISBN numbers. And while the company is the overseer of those cataloging numbers for North Amercia, Bowker has also long been the driving force behind bibliographic information and searchability. Now, Bowker is setting its sights on helping indie authors find the tools they need to publish. "Bowker has tracked extraordinary growth in the number of self-published works over the past five years," said Beat Barblan, Bowker director of identifier services, in a statement. "There are thousands of authors who need access to advice, guidance and resources. SelfPublishedAuthor.com is designed to be their partner, helping them bring their books to market in the most effective way." According to the statement on Bowker’s website, it makes sense for the company to offer a stronger connection and toolset for self-published authors and indie publishers since purchasing ISBN numbers is often the first step in beginning a book’s publication process. Thanks to a new site, SelfPublishedAuthor.com, Bowker is able to offer advice to authors, connect them with other industry professionals, and more. "We're committed to being a comprehensive, practical and valuable resource that helps publishers build connections with the right partners and the right audiences," said Mr. Barblan. SelfPublishedAuthor provides newcomers with a checklist of items to be done on their book projects, a resource of blog posts written by professionals on key decisions that need to be made, and vetted companies, like publishing professional clearinghouse BiblioCrunch, that they will endorse to help authors who aren’t quite ready to go it alone. The information is aimed at no single subset of of indie publishing, but instead seeks to speak to a broader audience of users whose publishing plans involve more oversight and creative control.
Bowker Reaches Out to Self-Published Authors is a post from: E-Reader News |
Monday, May 20, 2013
Reading Rainbow Android App Tipped by Amazon
| The Reading Rainbow television show was broadcast for almost two decades and it taught young children the value of reading. When the show was cancelled a few years ago, Levar Burton and producer Mark Wolfe sat down and decided what to do next. 18 months later they debuted the Reading Rainbow iOS app and secured partnerships with Natgeo and a number of other media properties. Today, the Amazon App Store Twitter account posted a picture of Levar visiting Amazon headquarters. This leads me to believe that for the first time the Reading Rainbow will launch an Android App designed for the Kindle Fire. The Reading Rainbow app features a ton of original content and appeals mainly to kids. There are some customizable features such as your "Backpack" that contains all of the books you are currently reading. Books are attained when you visit different "Islands" that are themed. Each island has original video content that is hosted by Levar and is made specifically for the iPad app. "We ran the show for over two decades and had lots of content in the library. We made a decision to film 100% original content exclusively for the app and will continue to develop more in the coming months," Levar told Good e-Reader in an exclusive interview. The Kindle line of tablets is drawing a ton of public attention with Kindle Freetime and their various parental controls. Parents can establish how long each day they can read, play games, watch video and tweak their limits on the fly. Last week, Amazon unveiled Amazon Coins, which acts as their virtual currency to buy in-app content and also buy new apps. Likely, the Reading Rainbow will have Coins integrated into the app, to buy access to new islands.
Reading Rainbow Android App Tipped by Amazon is a post from: E-Reader News |
Finalists Selected for eBook Discovery Hackathon
| The first ever digital publishing hackathon took place over the weekend at The Alley in New York. Organized by Perseus Books Group and Librify, the event transpired over 32 consecutive hours and was attended by 200 people. Over 30 different teams sought to develop new ideas for digital book discovery. "It was exciting to watch 200 people come together at one time in one space and grapple with the challenge of digital book discovery," said Rick Joyce, CMO of Perseus and one of the judges. "Not only were fascinating solutions developed, but there was a lot for a publishing person to learn about the ways content is connected and discovered digitally from these talented designers and coders." The finalists have now been selected and the final award will be announced at Book Expo America. All of the selected entrants will also receive coaching from publishing and technology mentors and have 10 days to work on their project. We now have a copy of the finalists that have participated in the hackathon. •Library Integration Challenge from NYPL – $1,000 was awarded to Visibrary (Sara Michener, Carrie Segal, Alessandra Nova, Iv Segal) for the best library discovery project or the best integration of library data. •Children’s / Literacy Challenge from NYPL – $500 was awarded to the Evoke team (listed above) for the best project for children and adults that either (a) enables book discovery, (b) encourages a love of reading, or (c) facilitates literacy. •Avalon Travel Discovery Challenge – $500 was awarded to BookCity (listed above) for the project that best promotes discovery books related to travel. •Manuscript to Metadata Challenge from PublicAffairs – $500 was awarded to Publy.io (Megha Gulati, Rajeev Gulati) for the best approach to improving metadata from the manuscript. •Pearson API Challenge – $250 was awarded to Evoke for the best use of either (or both) of Pearson's APIs. Finalists Selected for eBook Discovery Hackathon is a post from: E-Reader News |
CourseSmart Enhances its eTextbook Offerings
| With some reports showing that the Android platform currently holds about 68% of the market for applications, digital content creators are taking steps to increase their current offerings to meet these customers where their devices are. CourseSmart, a leading provider of digital educational materials and textbooks, has been available on the Android platform for some time, but today announced that it is enhancing its current Android capabilities. “We have been a leader in the Android space for a long time, and our new application takes that commitment to the next level, offering consumers several highly-anticipated new features," said Sean Devine, CEO of CourseSmart, in a statement today. "As mobile devices continue to proliferate, we will maintain our track record of offering innovation and convenience to both Android and IOS users." While the free CourseSmart app for Android has offered a number of support features like thumbnails, in-book search capability, zoom for graphics and charts, and more, today CourseSmart announced the ability for students to access content while offline. “CourseSmart eTextbooks is reflective of the company's long-standing commitment to the platform as well as a response to the growing market demand for Android applications,” stated the explanation in a press release. “CourseSmart's enhanced Android app provides real time mobile access to students, even while an eTextbook download is occurring. CourseSmart users will also have the ability to checkout titles for offline use and sync notes and highlights across the reading system, ensuring access to their own notations regardless of which device they use.” In addition to new features and access capabilities, CourseSmart materials have grown in popularity due to the full catalog of titles from 90% of the educational publishers that the company offers at as much as a 60% discount over the original print price. Students and faculty alike are able to access their course materials through any Android-enabled device, tablet, or smartphone.
CourseSmart Enhances its eTextbook Offerings is a post from: E-Reader News |
Yahoo Buys Tumblr
| Yahoo's recent acquisition of Tumblr, the popular blogging site, presents an interesting scenario now prevalent in the tech scene. Yahoo is eager to pay a premium and remain competitive in the long run, even if the investment does not guarantee much profit right away. To attempt this, Yahoo shelled out $1.1 billion for Tumblr, which not too long ago was valued at about $800 million. However, the deal does make sense when seen from Yahoo's perspective. For one, Yahoo is seen as a company that is popular with an older generation. It could be risky for Yahoo to keep operating with that image. That Yahoo's revenue has more or less remained stagnant around the $5 billion mark is another reason for Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to start pushing for new revenue streams. Also, another big advantage that Ms. Mayer believes the buyout will bring to Yahoo is that it will open up to a new user segment comprising mainly of the younger generations that are among Tumblr's biggest user base. Perhaps the biggest advantage that Tumblr's acquisition will mean for Yahoo is that it will introduce the company to the thriving social networking medium. Companies like Google and Facebook have already proven there are boatloads of money to be made by way of ad revenue when there is enough of an audience enjoying a free service. The fact that Tumblr right now is on a steeper growth curve than Yahoo cannot be ignored, either. Also, with Tumblr under its belt, Yahoo will have the much needed presence in the mobile computing devices segment, where it has relinquished the lead to companies like Apple and Google. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs, have seen maximum activity in recent times, so much that companies are required to reorganize their operations to be centered around these in order to survive. As for Tumblr, it has been in operation for six years and boasts of a user base of 100 million, a figure that is ever growing. However, that does not translate to big profits right now, given its CEO's David Karp's abject dislike to plastering ads and risk the experience of its users. The company that operates out of New York is run by 175 employees and boasts of some 108 blogs. The company recorded 117 million core users in March, which has nearly doubled from the 58 million users it had just a year ago, thereby making it among the faster growing start-ups. Apart from allowing users to create their own blogs, a unique aspect of Tumblr is that it also enables one to follow other’s blogs and share ideas. It's somewhat like a marriage between blogging and social media. Speaking of the acquisition, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said, “Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” before also adding: “On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn't be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn't be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet's original media network. Tumblr is the Internet's fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands – established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday.” Yahoo has stated it will remain out of the way of Tumblr, which will continue to operate as a separate entity. However, Yahoo does expect Tumblr to generate more revenue by way of ads. This could be tricky given Karp's insistence of having just the bare minimum ads, as he believes the opposite could irk its core user base. Karp will continue to be at the helm of affairs at Tumblr while also being the biggest shareholder as well. There is much for Tumblr to gain from the deal; it can make the best of “Yahoo's personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they'll love,” the PR stated. “Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from,” Karp stated to the Tumblr community. Ads began appearing at Tumblr from last year while the revenue that the company generated last year stood at a measly $13 million. A former Google Executive, John Saroff, believes the figure could easily be in excess of $108 a year. Such a venture has paid off big for Google after it acquired YouTube. The mega video sharing site had cost Google $1.65 billion, but is estimated to earn Google about $4 billion in sales. Similarly, the ad revenue that Facebook generated in the first quarter stood at $219 million, while the same for Twitter has been $288 million.
Yahoo Buys Tumblr is a post from: E-Reader News |
iPad 5 Production to Begin Soon, Shipment Starts in September
| As per news coming from Taiwan, trial production of the 5th gen iPad is set to kick off soon with volume production expected to begin in July. Initial plans call for the shipment to stabilize at around 2-3 million by September. As for the iPad 5′s specifications, Digitimes has some interesting bits to share. For instance, the site is claiming the new iPad will come with the same display resolution of 2048 x 1536, though the differences lie elsewhere. This being that the glass substrate to be used in iPad 5 will be thinner by 0.2mm from the 0.25mm thickness as is seen in the iPad 4. The touch panel to be used in the iPad 5 will be based on GF2 tech, which employs 1 layer of glass and two layers of ITO film, whereas the same in case of iPad 4 was based on G/G bonding technique. The sources further claim iPad 5 will be using “one LED light bar for backlighting” whereas the iPad 4 used two LED light bars. The report also confirms what has always been rumored, that the next gen iPad will be lighter and sporting thinner bezels. The two South Korean companies, LG Display and Samsung Display, alongside Sharp are among those believed to have been contracted to supply the iPad 5 display. iPad 5 Production to Begin Soon, Shipment Starts in September is a post from: E-Reader News |
The Next Stephen King Book Will Forgo a Digital Edition
| Digital readers may find themselves unable to read the next Stephen King novel. The author has announced today that his upcoming June 4th release, Joyland, will only be available via traditional bookstores. Stephen King is no stranger to digital and released a novel in 2000 called Riding The Bullet, that was only available as an ebook. Last year, he released a Kindle Single exclusive that was basically an essay. Today, King told the Wall Street Journal: “I have no plans for a digital version. Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one.” Many publishing industry experts are surmising that this book may draw people into their local bookstores, but people who prefer to read digital may end up pirating the book. If you look at the Harry Potter case study, when the books were unavailable in electronic form, it created a wellspring of book piracy, with some torrents having hundreds of thousands of seeders. Many people we spoke with at the time felt no remorse about downloading the books, because they were being ignored as digital readers. In the absence of a true digital copy that people can buy, it is only a matter of time before this book is scanned and posted online, stinging the very bookstores Stephen King is trying to help. Amazon is also selling the physical book at a very steep discount and in most cases will sell it for less than you can buy in a physical bookstore. The Next Stephen King Book Will Forgo a Digital Edition is a post from: E-Reader News |
Simon & Schuster Hires Doug Stambaugh to be Vice President, Global eBook Market Development and Strategy
| Simon & Schuster has created a new position within the company to focus on the growing popularity of ebooks. Doug Stambaugh has been named to the newly created position of Vice President, Global eBook Market Development and Strategy, reporting to Dennis Eulau. S&S released an internal email confirming the news saying, “Doug’s responsibility will be to help us further develop our ebook business in a manner that best positions us for success in all our markets around the world. He will work with sales colleagues from each of our companies to identify and evaluate opportunities for retail expansion, and new partnerships, digital channels, and publishing initiatives. He will develop company-wide strategies, policies, and best practices for all our domestic and international publishing units in areas ranging from terms and pricing to digital rights management, technology platforms and new business models. He will assist our teams from legal, sales, technology, and operations in opening up new accounts and in negotiations with existing retailers, and will help all our divisions around the world to work in a unified fashion with our common retailers. We will also look to Doug to assist us in tapping the potential for ebooks in nonretail channels, such as special sales and the school, library, and academic markets.” The statement went on to say “Doug is ideally suited for this position. He has been with Simon & Schuster Digital since 2007, most recently as Vice President, Business Development, and has been a central figure in establishing our presence in the digital marketplace. He has worked with colleagues across the company to finalize ebook agreements with all our major retailers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Open Market. Most recently, he was instrumental in launching our pilot e-lending program with three New York area libraries that were our entry into this important channel.” Doug will serve as the point of entry into the company to assess these new prospects, and will advise senior management in our publishing and operations groups on the many opportunities and issues that will inevitably arise in this exciting and ongoing transition. Simon & Schuster Hires Doug Stambaugh to be Vice President, Global eBook Market Development and Strategy is a post from: E-Reader News |
Summer Marketing Materials: Now Available!
| Summer is just around the corner. Time for road trips, the beach, vacations, and lazy summer days! I can think of nothing I'd rather do today (one of the first days above 70 degrees here in Cleveland) than read library eBooks on my NOOK outside in the sun!
To help you promote your digital collection inside the library, we've created a Summer Marketing Kit. You can help your community cool off by getting crafty with these promotional materials. We've designed the smart guides with plenty of empty space at the bottom – perfect for gluing a popsicle stick to and creating an instant fan. There are also summer posters you can display around your library.
Don't forget about reaching out to your community with ways other than inside your library doors. Post status updates of new titles via Facebook or Twitter, start a Summer Reading Digital Book Club, and be sure to promote at any festivals or community events your library attends.
Check out the Marketing & Outreach section of the Partner Portal or reach out to your Account Specialist for more great marketing ideas.
Cassie Renner is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive  |
Big Library Read Facebook Chat with Michael Malone on May 23rd
| Through their incredible generosity, author Michael Malone and his publisher, Sourcebooks, have invited millions of readers around the world to simultaneously enjoy 'The Four Corners of the Sky' through June 1st as part of the Big Library Read event. This week, readers will have the chance to chat with Michael about his critically-acclaimed novel.
We're expecting a large crowd, so please submit your questions for Michael in the comments section of this blog and we'll make sure they're asked during the chat! Also, keep sharing your thoughts on Twitter by using #BigLibraryRead and be sure to follow Michael's Twitter and Facebook page for updates from the author.
We're looking forward to your questions for Michael and chatting with you this Thursday!
Adam Sockel is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive  |
Kobo Aura HD Review
| Today I was finally able to get the Kobo Aura HD review posted, which includes some pictures, a couple of videos, and a written review. The video review ended up being really long this time. I was able to cover a lot of details and show some complaints. I also decided to put together a [...] |
Raspberry Jam at the National STEM Centre York, Saturday 8th June 2013
| A post from Mr Raspberry Jam himself, Alan O’Donohoe. This one promises to huge and fabulous, and the National STEM Centre is an outstanding venue. I am strangley drawn to joining the trans-Pennine convoy from Preston. “You may have seen that we are holding a big Raspberry Jam in York on Saturday 8th June, 3 weeks today. Tickets are available here. I’ve been working with the folks at the National STEM Centre there to help establish a presence in Yorkshire for Raspberry Jams. There are a lot of people in Yorkshire who have bought Raspberry Pi computers or who have not bought one but are interested in discovering just what you can do with them and this event is to give them a taste of the Raspberry Pi. This event is going to be much larger than our regular Raspberry Jam events and we know that people are travelling from far across the UK to attend. I will be travelling in a convoy of cars from Preston bringing old friends and new friends on the journey across the Pennines. Road-trips like these add an enormous amount to the whole experience. Our busy programme of talks, demonstrations, stalls and hands-on classes is now filling up. We are delighted to have Pete Lomas of the Raspberry Pi foundation speaking and leading a workshop, he is the gentleman who actually designed the Raspberry Pi. We also have Amy Mather the 14 year old who learnt how to program Conway’s Game of Life on the Raspberry Pi, her film on YouTube has attracted over 27000 views. If you look at our programme , you will see that we have a wide range of classes from how to switch on a Raspberry Pi to building weather stations, interfacing, networking, robotics, game making for all the family and programming in Python. David Whale will be running a workshop on how you can set up an after school Raspberry Pi club.  ‘import random’, the start of great game! A Raspberry Jam programming class. We hope to attract a diverse range of people to attend this family friendly event:
If you have never been to the National STEM centre before, this is a fantastic opportunity to come and discover what is there http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/ |