| So often we see reports in the news that are difficult to fathom. Sometimes we hear about, and even experience, these stories from being all too familiar with bullying, teen suicide, eating disorders, and many others. Being a former instructor of writing, I will never forget the stories my students were brave enough to share and the issues they were strong enough to overcome.
We hear stories about topics like these every day and at one point or another, most of us have come into contact with something that is so mind blowing, so heart wrenching, we can never forget it. Moreover, these topics aren't exclusive to schools, suburban communities, or inner city districts – they're universal, HUMAN issues. Often teens and children are reluctant to talk about their problems – or feel like discussion and intervention will only lead to more trouble. In my opinion, the important thing is to in whatever way possible, let the person suffering know that he or she is not alone.
OverDrive has created a list of titles all dealing with these tough subjects. The topics range from teen pregnancy, drug abuse, addiction, coming out, bullying, suicide, and so many others.
Titles in this collection include:
Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
"Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice explains that there are thirteen reasons she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why."
"A lonely 423-pound boy everyone calls “Butter” is about to make history. He’s going to eat himself to death live on the Internet – and everyone will watch. When he makes this announcement online, he expects pity, insults, or possibly sheer indifference. Instead, his classmates become morbid cheerleaders for his deadly plan. But as their dark encouragement grows, a few voices begin to offer genuine support and Butter starts to have doubts."
See You at Harry's, Jo Knowles
"Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. It seems as though everyone in her family has better things to do than pay attention to her: Mom (when she’s not meditating) helps Dad run the family restaurant; Sarah is taking a gap year after high school, and Holden pretends that Mom and Dad and everyone else doesn’t know he’s gay, even as he fends off bullies at school. If it wasn’t for Ran, Fern’s calm and positive best friend, there’d be nowhere to turn."
We hope that libraries and schools can use these titles to reach those who need help. We also encourage you to ask your account specialist to provide you with the preview function in Marketplace so that you can read and examine the different titles available. Stories unite us. They make the terrifying and awful seem a little less so. By reading about the experiences of others, we can attempt to make sense of our own feelings, and we learn that hopelessness can be overcome.
Kate Seivertson is a Collection Development Analyst at OverDrive  |
Monday, July 1, 2013
Tough Topics for Teens: titles to help get them through
The MagPi issue 14, out today!
| Your free copy of The MagPi, the magazine created by the Raspberry Pi community, is available from today. This month’s cover star is the camera board; there’s an article from our very own JamesH, who has contributed a huge amount of work to the development of the board, and talks new users through the device. (He’s also extremely modest, and seems to have written the whole thing without mentioning that he worked on it, let alone that we simply wouldn’t have a camera board without him.) JamesH will continue with a second piece on the camera board next month, with more advanced users in mind; if you follow what he’s writing about this month you should be well-prepared for August’s article! I have promised James his choice of drinks for the evening later this week to thank him for all the work on this article – if you’ve got questions for him, leave them below and I’ll pass them on. There’s lots of hardware besides the camera board to talk about this month: you’ll find a beginner’s tutorial using Python on the Pi to control the famously inexpensive Maplin robot arm, which makes a great starter project for budding roboticists wanting to get their heads around some of the basic concepts of physical computing. For advanced users, there’s the first part of a new input/output processor project, and Derek Campbell walks you through building your own Guzunty, a DIY expansion board. If you built the Pi Matrix from an earlier issue, you’ll learn more about controlling the individual LEDs as well as columns and lines of lights. If you’re interested in setting up a Raspberry Pi event for families, there’s a article from Dr Mike Bartley and Caroline Higgins, who set up the Bristol Raspberry Pi Boot Camp. The Boot Camps are becoming very popular; there are events of all kinds popping up now, with Raspberry Jams, Raspberry Pint meetups, and much more, so you’re bound to be able to find a template that suits you if you fancy organising something yourself. On the software side, there’s a continuation of the Charm tutorials, a piece on Java for beginners, and more advanced Python. This is a packed issue; our huge thanks, as usual, to the MagPi team, who are all volunteers. Congratulations are also due to the MagPi folk for getting their binders full of the first year’s magazines out to their Kickstarter supporters; we’ve got a few of the binders in the office, and they’re really professional-looking bits of kit. And please check out the ad on page 20; when you buy swag from us, you’re donating directly to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and helping us to train teachers, and get Pis and learning materials into the hands of kids. |
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Ten Titles to Celebrate Canadian Literature
|
In celebration of Canada Day (Today!), we wanted to spotlight some of the extraordinary literature being produced by our neighbors up north. Here are ten exceptional titles by Canadian authors—a very small sampling of all the CanLit available in OverDrive Marketplace—from some of Canada's best-known writers as well as a few up-and-coming literary stars.
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith by Andrew Preston
Journey with No Maps by Sandra Djwa
Time Lord by Clark Blaise
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
Dear Life by Alice Munro
Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler
The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary by Andrew Westoll
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Carrie Smith is a Technical Writer at OverDrive.
 |
Deal Alert: Kobo Glo for $99, Kindle Fire HD $169
| Kobo is running an unadvertised sale on the Kobo Glo through July 2nd at midnight. Instead of having to pay the usual $129, you can get it for $99 with promo code GL625 when ordered from Kobo.com. The catch is it is for US residents only (if you live in Canada you can still get [...] |
Moon+ Reader Pro is Free Today Only via AppGratis
| There’s a special edition of the popular ereading app for Android called Moon+ Reader Pro that is available for free today only thanks to a promotion over at AppGratis, which gives away free paid apps everyday. Normally Moon+ Reader Pro sells for $4.99, so this is a good time to get it even if you’re [...] |
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Shop e-Readers and Okanagan College Deliver Amazon e-Readers to Students
| Shop e-Readers has announced today that it has reached a new agreement with the Okanagan College to carry e-readers in its campus bookstore. Starting immediately, at the main branch in Kelowna, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Kindle e-Reader will be available for students to purchase. The new e-reader demo area will provide diligent young scholars with the ability to play with the devices and get information to aid in a buying decision. Carla Macfarlane, General Merchandise Buyer, OC Campus Store, said, “Okanagan College Campus Store is excited to partner with Shop e-Readers, to provide students and staff with e-readers and tablets and digital content for them. We are looking forward to a successful relationship and expanding our line in the near future!” Eric Johnson, Sales Director at Shop e-Readers, said, “We are very excited to offer students the latest generation Kindle tablets and e-readers at Okanagan College. It is important that Canadian students have access to the most cutting edge technology to enhance their education.” Shop e-Readers currently deals with a number of universities and campus bookstores all over Canada. Okanagan College joins the University of British Columbia, Langara, University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser University in offering e-readers and tablets to the general student body. Shop e-Readers and Okanagan College Deliver Amazon e-Readers to Students is a post from: E-Reader News |
BookOS Accused of eBook Piracy
| The issue of ebook piracy, or digital piracy in any form, is the topic of many debates all over the world. Within these discussions, it is generally concluded that those aiding in piracy are considered equal partners in the crime. One such site that does not have a clean record is BookOS.org, which many accuse of having a large number of pirated ebooks in its collection. The site, which claims itself to be the largest ebook library in the world, is also reported to have been down once, though it seems it’s back to business as usual. Needless to say, the author community is up in arms against the site and they have a valid reason to do so. If their works are pirated and sold or doled out for free, the authors are deprived of their livelihood. Authors typically are paid a percentage (which can be up to 40%) of the sale from their ebook or agree to a flat fee from the publisher which will remain fixed regardless of the number of books sold. The latter is generally applicable to the more renowned authors, and while they are less prone to suffer from piracy as far as their livelihood is concerned, those that depend on royalties are the ones that suffer losses if their works end up being pirated. Now imagine their surprise as authors discover their ebooks listed at bookos.org without their knowledge or consent. Bookos.org does have a provision for authors to have the links to their books removed, if they report it, although there have been many instances of ebooks coming back online again. A Facebook campaign called “Shut BookOS Down“ is also underway, though it only has a paltry 62 likes. The Facebook crusade seems to be working, however, due to constant pestering, which has forced BookOS to vastly limit its Facebook presence. In any case, BookOS still has managed to garner over 18k likes. As for the users, they don't have anything to complain as long as they have their books delivered completely free. It can be hard to remain ethical, especially when it can be about saving a few hundred dollars. Opinions are divided throughout, and some believe it's only a book that is priced too high that runs the risk of being pirated. Tor Books UK, a publisher of science fiction and fantasy, ran an experiment in which they stripped all copy protection from their books for a year. They claim this did not lead to any remarkable increase in piracy for any of their titles. However, in the end, what must kept in mind is that the author community runs the risk of being eroded in the digital age, where piracy is widely accepted. When a pirate website has more Likes than the site trying to shut it down, we have problems. When it comes to the success of BookOS, who is responsible for shutting it down? The publishers? Authors? Users? Pirate websites like this thrive when users refuse to pay for content, and in the end, authors suffer the most.
BookOS Accused of eBook Piracy is a post from: E-Reader News |
Judge Dredd Megazine Comes to the iPad
| The British publisher 2000AD has upped their game by adding Judge Dredd Megazine to their iOS Newsstand app, along with a major revamp that makes their comics easier to find and sort. When I first took a look at the app, last November, I found it to be “pretty basic”—really, just a grid of comics that you can buy, arranged in numerical order, and a subscription page. The new app is a bit more sophisticated, with a store page that sorts the comics by title and publication year. You still can’t preview individual comics, but there are two good-sized freebies, a 69-page sampler issue and a 12-page prequel to the Judge Dredd movie. The update also brings in two features that have become fairly standard in digital comics apps: Bookmarking and panel zoom. (Since the app is available for the iPhone as well as iPad, the latter feature is really not optional.) The biggest change, though, is the addition of Judge Dredd Megazine, a monthly magazine that is a thicker, richer version of 2000AD. The mix of stories usually includes some old and new Judge Dredd, creator interviews and other feature content, and a complete 64-page graphic novel drawn from the 2000AD archives. I have been a fan of 2000AD since I jumped on with their Prog 1824, which featured four new stories. 2000AD is a great action comic that presents interesting characters in extreme situations without falling into the two greatest pitfalls of American superhero comics, sexism and overly complicated continuity and crossovers. The women in the comics I have read have all been sexy, but they are also smart, fully rounded characters who really move the story forward, and the stories themselves tend to be fairly short and self-contained. It’s easy to start reading 2000AD, but it’s not so easy to stop. The app solves the biggest problem with these two comics, which has been distribution—the fan base has been limited for years by the fact that the print comics tend to show up irregularly in brick-and-mortar shops weeks after their UK publication date. The digital issues come out the same week as the UK versions, and at $2.99 for an issue of 2000AD (which is a weekly) and $7.99 for the much thicker Megazine, the prices are reasonable, although they can add up. The subscription shaves a bit off the cover price and also includes some back issues. Judge Dredd Megazine Comes to the iPad is a post from: E-Reader News |
Restrictions on In-Flight Devices May Soon Be Relaxed
| Travelers who have spent much time in this air can probably recite the intercom warnings verbatim, reminding passengers that it is against Federal Aviation Association restrictions to use portable electronic devices during certain portions of the flight, namely during take-off and landing. Some airlines’ announcements go so far as to list specific products by name, such as Kindles, Nooks, or iPads, in an effort to make guarantee that passengers were aware of precisely which devices are in question. Interestingly, travelers are informed that the devices must be physically stowed in the carry-on bag and not left in the seat pocket, presumably because the device–which incidentally is the same size or smaller than the stash of magazines and catalogs in that very same seat pocket–can be ejected from the pocket and injure someone. For Senator Claire McCaskill (D), this isn’t good enough. And in her role as chairman of Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, which presides over both aviation and communications policy, it is her job to be kept well-informed of the safety policies for airline travel and their justifications. Only there hasn’t been a justification. McCaskill has been arguing with various agencies for several years now about the restrictions on portable device use during air travel, not in an attempt to brush aside the potential dangers caused by any interference with the aircraft’s finely tuned controls, but because no one has come forward with any evidence that such interference even exists. This week, McCaskill’s office released a statement announcing that the FAA may soon lift much of the current restrictions on in-flight device use, and the Senator had following statement for the announcement: "It's good to see the FAA may be on the verge of acknowledging what the traveling public has suspected for years—that current rules are arbitrary and lack real justification. In the meantime, I'll continue my effort to have these regulations rigorously examined until scientific evidence has been presented to justify them, or the rules are altered." In her capacity as chairman, McCaskill has maintained that restrictions to protect consumers should be in place if the evidence supports the cautionary measures, but no evidence has been provided that tablets, e-readers, or cell phones are potential threats to passenger safety.
Restrictions on In-Flight Devices May Soon Be Relaxed is a post from: E-Reader News |
Friday, June 21, 2013
Apple Reveals Pie Chart Showing iOS Usage
| One of the reasons many believe the Android Key Lime Pie release is being pushed back is to allow manufacturers more time to upgrade to the latest iteration of Android Jelly Bean. However, in some cases, even previous versions of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich or Gingerbread, are still being in used. The precise figures are illustrated in a pie chart released by Google. Now Apple has now joined the ranks and has come up with a pie chart of its own, which shows the usage pattern of different iOS versions. What is immediately apparent is the overall simplicity of it. Revealed at the WWDC event, it depicts just three versions, with iOS 6 overwhelming being used by 93% of devices. A minuscule 6% have still remained faithful to iOS 5, which was released in 2011, while an even smaller fraction of 1% have kept to versions 4 and older. This basically shows that Apple users do not have a major issue with updating to the latest and greatest operating system updates. Unfortunately, Android reports a vast majority, 36.5% of their users, are still stuck with Gingerbread, the version Google had launched more than 2 years ago. What is evident is that about two-thirds of Android users are lagging behind Jelly Bean, which is still being used by 33%. One main factor that Google charts don’t dive into is taking into account the devices that don’t have access to Google Play. Tablets such as the Kindle Fire and many devices originating from China are not officially licensed.
Apple Reveals Pie Chart Showing iOS Usage is a post from: E-Reader News |
Good e-Reader Radio Show – with Jeremy Greenfield of Digital Book World
|
Today, we talk about the Justice Department case against Apple and how it will all play out. We also discuss Barnes and Noble, in regards to their latest slashing of hardware prices in the UK and US. Kobo has also lowered the entry level price on the Kobo Mini. A firestorm erupted this week with the recent commentary on Good e-Reader on self-publishing and eBook discovery. Jeremy contributes his unique perspective and makes some excellent suggestions. Finally, Digital Book World recently had a Women in Publishing event in New York, he sums up what exactly transpired. This is a great show as always, so check it out. Good e-Reader Radio Show – with Jeremy Greenfield of Digital Book World is a post from: E-Reader News |
ABNA Winner Rysa Walker on her Publishing Journey
| 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 |
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
|
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
|
“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 |
