| Blackwell’s is one of the premier bookstores in the UK and the company is launching a new digital learning service that has been built for students, academics and professionals to download and annotate eBooks on any device. Blackwell’s learning is launching this September and it will provide publishers with a secure additional sales channel, the ability to sell print and digital content in one place whilst gaining access to detailed consumer insight data. The service, which will integrate with university virtual learning environments and learning management systems, has been built in partnership with academics and students to ensure it meets the needs of key stakeholders from day one. Right now, as you can see Blackwell’s is trying very hard to build a system to attract publishers and schools to do business with them. "Blackwell Learning has been in development for over nine months. It is built by a dedicated British technology team," explains Matthew Cashmore, Blackwell's Digital Director. "In addition to benefiting from Blackwell's inherent understanding of the academic sector across 135 years, it has been actively created in association with a large and diverse group of academics and students." Cashmore adds that Blackwell Learning will deliver a consistent and enjoyable user experience across all devices online and offline, enabling students to buy and annotate texts which can be shared through a built-in social media interface. "Students will be able to bring their own technology to access the service free of charge," he adds. "This is just the first stage for Blackwell Learning and for the new digital development team on Silicon Roundabout". "We know from conversations already held that publishers, academics and students are all very excited about its potential and we have already begun looking at additional post-launch features and other new products for this and other market sectors." Blackwell’s Learning Launches this June in the UK is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Blackwell’s Learning Launches this June in the UK
EBSCO Gains 30,000 eBook Titles from Random House
| Random House and EBSCO have come to terms on a new digital book strategy for libraries. Starting today, over 30,000 titles will be available from some of the most notable Random House authors, including Dan Brown, Sheryl Sandberg, Dean Koontz, Gillian Flynn and more. Random House titles have been added to the nearly 600,000 eBooks and audiobooks that EBSCO eBooks already offers. The titles represent both frontlist and popular backlist titles from all Random House imprints and publishing groups, which publish fiction and nonfiction, both original and reprints, by some of the foremost and most popular writers of our times. The partnership will help librarians acquire high-demand titles in a cost-effective way since there are no markups or fees of any kind on EBSCO eBook titles. EBSCO makes it easy for librarians to build or grow e-book collections through featured collections. Random House titles will be included in EBSCO's Best-Sellers Collection, New Releases Collection and Youth Award Winners Collection. Many libraries that do business with EBSCO such as Brooklyn and Philadelphia currently do not have any of the new Random House titles. It is up to the librarians to order the books to make them available to the patrons. Hopefully many libraries all over the US will be putting in orders to stock their virtual shelves with a ton of great titles. EBSCO Gains 30,000 eBook Titles from Random House is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Meet Jasper: open-source voice computing
| Meet Jasper. He’s like Siri, but much better, in that it’s open-source and completely customisable. All you need to set up your own is a microphone, a speaker, and a Raspberry Pi. Jasper already comes with modules to deal with things like time, weather, Gmail, playing your Spotify music, news (and what’s on Hacker News)…and knock knock jokes. You can build your own modules to add more functionality. We’re really impressed by how well-documented Jasper is; new developers should be able to get to grips with building on the platform very easily, and we’re looking forward to watching what you guys get up to with it. |
Back by popular demand: Marketplace Reports Training
 OverDrive's Training Team is excited to reintroduce OverDrive Marketplace Reports training now available from the Learning Center. The new "Reports" training menu will expand to reveal four modules covering all of the reports within Marketplace:
Have another OverDrive topic you'd like training around? We would love to hear from you. You can contact OverDrive's Training Team directly at training@overdrive.com.
Anders Brooks is a Training Specialist at OverDrive.
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New SelfPub Writing Award Backed By The Guardian
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But some headway has occurred now that The Guardian has announced its monthly award to recognize self-published works, with the support of industry mainstay Legend Times. According to a press release on the award, the motivation for the move is simply the self-publishing has become too important to continue being ignored. "The phenomenon of self-publishing over the last couple of years has become too big for any of us to ignore. We've showcased some of the proven stars on the Guardian Books website. We're confident that our partnership with Legend Times, who lead the way in industry innovation, will give us a chance to find the brightest and the best in this dynamic new sector," explained Claire Armitstead, Literary Editor of The Guardian. While judges for the award will still include traditional publishing industry professionals, the acquisitions editor for independent publisher Legend Times will also weigh in. Authors may submit one English-language novel per year, always during the initial two weeks of any calendar month. For entries, go to http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/self-publishing-showcase.
New SelfPub Writing Award Backed By The Guardian is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Adobe Drops Support for Amazon Newsstand and Kindle Fire Reading Apps
| Adobe has quietly dropped support for the newsstand aspects of the Amazon App Store and reading apps for the Kindle Fire. Publishers and developers using Adobe DPS will find that Adobe has removed the ability to create an in-app purchase experience and will affect hundreds of companies such as Conde Nast. Adobe DPS is basically the system that hundreds of magazine and enhanced eBook companies use to sell and distribute content. Adobe has created a custom publishing solution that includes access to APIs for integration with back-end publishing services such as subscription management, print fulfillment, and dynamic rich media ad platforms. Publishers also have the ability to create custom viewers, unique HTML5 stores for in-application merchandising of content and services, dynamic serving of targeted, rich media advertising, and access to more in-depth analytic reports through tight integration with SiteCatalyst. Adobe has released DPS30.1 and it only has support for native Android apps. This means ecosystems with custom SDK’s such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble will not allow publishers to utilize the system anymore. This will not affect existing apps, but any new apps that are being made. Adobe Drops Support for Amazon Newsstand and Kindle Fire Reading Apps is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
60% of Teens Own an iPad
| There is no denying that the Apple line of tablets is the most successful. A new report surveyed 7,500 teens and asked them about what phones and tablets they have or plan to buy. 61% of teens now own an iPhone, compared to 55% from a survey conducted in October 2013 and 40% in the fall of 2012. When it comes to tablets, 60% of teens own one, up from 56% in the fall. When it comes to iPad tablet ownership group 66% of teens have one, 55% full-sized, 11% iPad mini. 18% percent of teens who don’t own a tablet expect to buy one in the next sixth months and of those prospective buyers, 66% plan to choose an iPad. Last summer Samsung ran a campaign of advertisements that portrayed Apple users as being uncool. The plan seems to have backfired as iPads and iPhones are still the most popular out there. 60% of Teens Own an iPad is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Walking Dead Season 1 for Android Hits the Good e-Reader App Store
| TellTales masterpiece the Walking Dead Season 1 has finally hit Android 2.3 devices and is available for free at the Good e-Reader App Store. The first episode is free and each one costs a few dollars to play, this pack includes 400 days. The Walking Dead is an epic series that follows Lee Everett who meets and becomes the protector of orphaned Clementine. Many prominent game review companies have proclaimed this series as the best game of 2013. The essence of the game is making decisions in a mortality play. In most cases you choose dialog options and in others you have to swipe the screen to duck, run and dodge walkers. It has been available on iOS, Xbox and a myriad of other game systems for quite sometime and many people have been clamoring for an Android release.The day is finally here and you can play it on your phone, tablet or Nvidia Shield. Download it today from the Good e-Reader App Store. Walking Dead Season 1 for Android Hits the Good e-Reader App Store is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Easy as Pi Piano
| I’m on the fence about whether or not this is an effective way to learn how to play the piano: but it’s definitely an effective way to learn about electronics, Python, servo motors, and why lasers are cool. Shane Snipe and his dad took about 50 hours to put this project together – astonishingly, neither of them had ever written any Python before they started the project. Over at YouTube, Shane says:
Thanks Shane, and thanks Dad! |
Office 2013 classes are now available!
All of our online classes for Microsoft Office 2013 are now available! |
Podcast: New and featured content for April
 Calling all Marketplace shoppers! Our April collection highlights podcast is now available on OverDrive's Learning Center. In it, we give you the inside scoop on some of the highly-anticipated new additions to OverDrive Marketplace, including hit movies from Starz Digital Media and popular textbooks from Pearson. We also highlight the latest crop of publishers and streaming video suppliers to partner with OverDrive, whose content you can expect to see in Marketplace soon. As always, we wrap up our podcast with our personal picks for the month, news about sales, and additional tips about placing orders in Marketplace—all in under 15 minutes. You can access our Collection Highlights: April podcast now through the end of the month on OverDrive's Learning Center (find it in the "Collection Development" section). We hope to see you there!
Carrie Smith is a Technical Writer at OverDrive.
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Just touched down in London Town
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We will also be giving a presentation titled, "Connect with Readers Around the World" that will cover our HTML5 reading platform, OverDrive Read. You can check this out both Wednesday, April 9 at 1:30pm-1:50pm, and Thursday, April 10 at 3:00pm-3:20pm in the Technology Theatre to learn how OverDrive Read has simplified the eBook reading experience, making borrowing titles on the go easier and more engaging than ever. Visit us at stand #V500 Tuesday through Thursday, and if you weren't able to make it to the London Book Fair this year, be sure to follow us on Twitter and check out the hashtag #LBF14 for all the latest from the conference!
Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist at OverDrive.  |
OverDrive eReading Rooms Engage Libraries’ Youngest Patrons
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But one area where digital adoption has traditionally been slow to take root is in children’s and teens’ books, a fact that digital content provider OverDrive is helping to erase with the opportunity for its member libraries to offer digital eReading Rooms. These virtual spaces work much the same as a physical location that caters to young library patrons, but still keeps the need for digital adoption in mind. A recent blog post from OverDrive outlined how one library in San Antonio is making headway with the incorporation of two eReading Rooms, one for younger readers and one focused specifically for teens. “The San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) is committed to providing the best possible customer service to our patrons, and kids and teens represent large segments of our patron population. The ability to customize the collections within the eReading Rooms allows us to tailor the content to align with library initiatives like the Summer Reading Program and Teen Tech Week and yearly themed content such as National Poetry Month and Women's History Month. Also, developmentally appropriate material is now more easily accessible to teachers and parents since content can be searched by reading and interest level. These eReading Rooms bring attention to the great richness of SAPL's collections, while helping us to accommodate the evolving interest that our patrons have for accessing content digitally,” explained Caitlin Cowart, Community and Public Relations Manager, in the post. While Cowart went on to explain that a project like this is not a catch-all solution for encouraging reading and library participation, it is a valuable tool for reaching patrons where they are and for making the library an important part of the community for all citizens, not just the few who come to the physical location for content, education, and technology needs. “The library understands that the digital marketplace is maturing. Remote, online access to library content and resources that is personalized and user-friendly drives the virtual user and positions SAPL as a responsive, innovative resource for a new, technology-conscious generation of library patrons.”
OverDrive eReading Rooms Engage Libraries’ Youngest Patrons is a post from: Good e-Reader |
E-reading Leading to Alarming “Digital Brain” Phenomenon
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In some ways, the widespread adoption of digital reading has lead to an illusion that more consumers than ever before are reading, even if that doesn’t necessarily translate into book consumption or publishing sales. Whether it’s Facebook status updates, text messages, or War and Peace, people are reading. But is this a case of quantity over quality? An article by Michael S. Rosenwald in the Washington Post has highlighted the dangers of having so much content available literally at our fingertips, leading to a phenomenon researchers are calling “digital brain.” Essentially, there is so much to read now that consumers are merely skimming the content, looking for the highlights and a few keywords before moving on to the next activity. Besides training our brains to enjoy an attentive-deficit-disorder approach to reading, scientists fear we may lose the capacity to read for in-depth understanding, knowledge enhancement, and pure enjoyment. According to the interview, "I worry that the superficial way we read during the day is affecting us when we have to read with more in-depth processing," said Maryanne Wolf, a Tufts University cognitive neuroscientist and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. Wolf’s fear seems to be a valid one, considering the development of the human brain over time to reach the capacity we now have for the written word. But what may be even more alarming than our continued ability to read and enjoy the written word is the devaluation that this skimming behavior brings to literature and news. As our online world takes precedence and we train ourselves to look for the shorter sentences that permeate digital text, will our ability to read and enjoy the classics suffer? Researchers like Wolf say yes. But while some are alarmed by this apparently unnatural evolution towards a different mode of reading, we have to remember that we no longer speak like Shakespeare’s audience members or write like Chaucer’s early fans. The evolution of written content isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as the capacity to find interested reading remains intact.
E-reading Leading to Alarming “Digital Brain” Phenomenon is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Apple Requests Stay in Proceedings
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The trial and subsequent proceedings have not gone well for the tech giant, with Apple’s attorneys openly stating that this amounts to nothing more than a witch hunt and that the judge presiding over the suits has agenda against Apple. While the publishers involved in the case settled out of court but maintain that there was no wrongdoing–citing that the settlement terms were ultimately less expensive than the legal fees to fight the lawsuit–Apple was not offered that opportunity yet has remained smugly confident that it will come out on top. In this recent motion, Apple’s attorneys state their confidence in winning the pending appeals is the deciding factor. In their minds, if and not when they win, the proceedings would be undermined if they were allowed to move forward at this time. Apple has had its share of pain in this process, with an outsider moderator appointed to oversee the company’s dealings in order to avoid future antitrust violations. The company was accused of not playing nicely with its court appointed moderator, leading to new appearances in court to be reminded that they will comply with the ruling and turn over crucial documents in a timely way to this moderator. Apple is awaiting the May court date to determine the damages they will pay for attempting to oust Amazon in the e-reading market by colluding with publishers to artificially raise ebook prices. Although the early figures on the damages seem staggering on the surface, the 200-plus million dollars can actually be tripled under punitive damages regulations; that resulting $800 million–give or take a few million–would be approximately .5% of Apple’s cash on hand.
Apple Requests Stay in Proceedings is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, April 7, 2014
eBook Discovery Platform ‘My Independent Bookshop’ Launches
| Penguin Random House has launched a new initiative that will allow readers to discover and purchase new eBooks. The My Independent Bookshop project is currently UK based and will be coming to the US later this year. The essence of the social platform is that it encourages readers to set up their own virtual bookshops to share their favourite reads as well as discover, recommend and review books online. The free site launches today in closed beta, kick-starting a month-long period where select authors and book fans will be invited to join the community and start creating their shops. Anyone with an interest can also register at www.myindependentbookshop.co.uk to be among the first to set up their virtual bookshop when 'My Independent Bookshop' goes live to the general public. There is a strong social media element to the Bookshop with users being able to connect with Facebook, Twitter and Google+. This makes it easy for readers to give their friends, family and fans in their social networks a window into their shops. Through the website itself readers can also share and request personal recommendations from among the 'My Independent Bookshop' community if they choose. The second part of this bookshop is to purchase eBooks through the system. All books in the virtual shops are available to buy online through hive.co.uk, the ecommerce arm of Gardners wholesalers, which is connected with hundreds of independent bookshops across the UK. As part of the registration process, 'My Independent Bookshop' users can choose their favourite real-world independent bookshop to connect with. Hive will then pass a commission from any purchase made through the website to their chosen shop. Transworld author Terry Pratchett has praised the way the platform will support independent bookshops. He said: "Independent bookshops supported this jobbing genre author long before the geeks were let out of their wardrobes, being able to support these talented retail wizards through 'My Independent Bookshop' is a very, very good thing."
eBook Discovery Platform ‘My Independent Bookshop’ Launches is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The Publishing Industry is Flourishing
| There is certainly a copious amount of negative press surrounding the publishing industry and booksellers all over the world. Major chains have folded in the US, Germany and Australia in the last few years and indie bookstores continue to go out of business. Journalists and public officials constantly single out Amazon, lambasting them for disrupting an entire industry. As it happens, the publishing sector is doing quite well, and even flourishing. The London Book Fair has just started and it is attracting the global publishing industry to bid on book rights and to talk shop. “Some commentators say the publishing industry is in enormous trouble today. They are completely wrong, and I don’t understand that view at all,” says Tom Weldon, UK chief executive of Penguin Random House, one of the biggest players in Britain’s book world. Traditional publishing revenue has increased in a geometric rate during the last few years. Penguin, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins and others all report between 24-32% of their global earnings stemming from digital. "In the last four years, Penguin and Random House have had the best years in their financial history," Weldon says. "Book publishers have managed the digital transition better than any other media or entertainment industry. I don’t understand the cultural cringe around books." It would be heartening in some ways to think that the book trade could actually learn from what had happened in other media, instead of simply ignoring, discounting, or blocking it.” When it comes to the transition of the publishing industry into the digital world, there has been numerous case studies to learn from. The music and video sectors saw tremendous growing pains. Piracy ran rampant with Kazaa and then Bittorrent. The streaming technologies were slow and unwieldy and it looks lots of wrangling from Apple and Amazon to get everyone on the same page and develop an industry standard for selling songs individually and convincing executives and artists that they aren’t being devalued. This opened up the system for companies like Hulu, Pandora, Soundhound and iHeartradio to develop amazing ecosystems that stand out in a crowd. This is no denying the bookstores all over the world are in decline. Indigo and Barnes and Noble continue to survive in North America. In recent years these stores have managed to implement lifestyle products such as wine glasses, pillows and bath robes, which have helped offset the decline in book sales. RedGroup, Borders, and Weltbild have all collapsed in recent years as readers switch to digital. This is prompting the publishing companies to put an emphasis on initiating digital discovery features to rope in more readers. Penguin UK already has 700,000 followers on Twitter, while every month 2,500 subscribers open an email from the company. “We might tell our stories many different ways, whether that is books or ebooks, or apps, or toys, or clothes. We are developing a much broader range of intellectual property and exploiting it.” Penguin/Random House takes a gamble on 250 new writers a year in the hopes a few of them will take off. No other industry takes a gamble on young artists in this manner. The real bread and butter though, is the bankable writers with big names. They generate the most revenue for the publishers which allow them to take risks on new ones. In the end, if you follow the publishing industry there is a lot of doom and gloom. Everyone jumps on the decline of the publishing and book industry bandwagon. Most publishers and mid-level publishers are doing record business and this allows companies such as Amazon to make billions on it. The Publishing Industry is Flourishing is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Plastic Logic Gets into the Wearables Game
| Plastic Logic is intent on leveraging their screen technology to the wearable sector. In order to facilitate this move they have engaged in a new partnership with Solvay Specialty Polymers, a recognised leader in polymeric materials development for the electronics sector. The two companies will combine their labs to deliver low power flexible electronics suitable for today's ever-changing world of ubiquitous sensors, mobile displays, and wearable devices. The companies have committed to a joint development program that will initially demonstrate and then industrialise low power variants of such devices within two years. The technology will enable product designers to develop stylish, more ergonomically-friendly devices in several emerging industrial segments, including flexible AMOLED and other displays for mobile and Wearables and the Internet of Things,- markets which are forecast to be worth $12Bn by 2020 (IHS 2013 report) and $1.9 trillion across all sectors in 2020 respectively. Plastic Logic has not seen much commercial success in their entire line of products. Instead, they tend to act as a white label solution for companies wanting to use low-powered flexible display screens for their phones, e-readers and tablets. In recent times they started making secondary screens, built into smartphone cases with a faux e Ink screen. Plastic Logic Gets into the Wearables Game is a post from: Good e-Reader |
ComiXology Begins Selling Eco Comics Digitally
| Comixology has just signed a digital distribution deal with Eco Comics. The move sees Eco Comics bringing all its past, present and future titles – including flagship books Green Man, and Dracula vs. Robin Hood vs. Jekyll & Hyde directly to comiXology’s global-reaching digital comics platform. Individual issues are priced between 99 cents (60p) and $1.99 (£1.20). Graphic novels are priced $2.99 (£1.80). Preview issues will be distributed for free. We’re excited to be offering Eco Comics’ great line of environmentally conscious comics that we’re sure that fans everywhere will love,” said comiXology VP of Communications & Marketing, Chip Mosher. “We believe in the green message of Eco Comics and are happy to push their comics farther than ever before through comiXology’s global reach.” “Eco Comics is proud to have been digital, green and paperless since we began, but joining forces with comiXology – which recently passed two hundred million downloads of comics and graphic novels – is the next big step in our evolution,” said Eco Comics Editor, Stuart Buckley. “It’s an exciting development and the perfect opportunity to provide our bold claim to represent the future of comic books.” ComiXology Begins Selling Eco Comics Digitally is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The Bullies Win: Authors Abandoning Publishing Over Online Behaviors
 An example of the behavior authors like Rice are working to stop. Good e-Reader has given extensive coverage to a situation plaguing the publishing industry, both from a self-publishing standpoint and a traditional one: author bullying. While information has come out that some authors have engaged in less-than-professional tactics, particularly where book reviews are concerned, the situation has escalated to the point that some well-known authors like Anne Rice have lent their support to calling for a change in how online platforms allow anonymous “trolling” of authors and their works. News has come out this week of at least two authors who have declared that they will no longer write and publish their works due to the behaviors of a handful of people. Authors Sarah Daltry and Nadine Christian, independently of each other, have announced on their blogs and social media that they will be closing their accounts and removing all of their self-published works, although they will be unable to do anything to remove their contracted titles. Daltry had this to say on a blog dedicated to her decision: “I want to start positive. For all of you who have supported my work and been there through this process, thank you. I will be eternally grateful. I wish I could have done more, could have been more, because it means so much to me that you've stuck by me. For the characters – especially Jack – thank you for trusting me with your stories. I love you with a part of myself that will always belong to you. I'm so sorry I didn't do you justice and that you trusted me rather than someone who could have truly given you a voice.” In Christian’s case, the aggressive behavior was never in the form of book reviews, but rather in personal and anonymous contacts in the form of harassing emails and messages. She spoke with Good e-Reader about the behavior and her decision to discontinue her work as a writer. “If being in the public eye led to that sort of vicious — and obvious stalking — was it worth continuing? I love to write, but would putting my work out there be worth the heart ache? The reaction I feel deep down every time I open an email from someone I’m not sure of was starting to give me stomach pains.” In this age of online anonymity that allows small people to behave this way towards authors, why couldn’t Christian simply change her online name and start over, building a new brand and readership? “It had run through my mind. Starting over, becoming Joe Bloggs, Jane Doe. But what if it’s me? What if I’ve done something to someone and not realised it? What if it’s my location, personality, even writing style that’s insulted so many? I love to write, even if it’s not published.” What makes the bullying so disturbing in Christian’s case is that the author herself admits that she’s far from being a bestseller, and simply enjoyed writing and publishing her work and making her fan base happy; she has also stated that she did not engage in any of the behaviors which the so-called Goodreads bullies say justified their relentless attacks against authors, such as responding to negative reviews or blogging about the issue. The targeted behavior, which has lead to multiple harassing and threatening emails sometimes daily, isn’t aimed at someone who is serious competition or even on an international stage. The author herself remains unaware of what brought on this rabid attack. “Some [of the messages] are about me and where I live, which makes me wonder if that’s the fun for these people. Hassle me about who and where I am, what I do. Most though–eighty-five percent–are about my writing.” Both Daltry and Christian are in the process of removing their works and closing their blogs and social media accounts.
The Bullies Win: Authors Abandoning Publishing Over Online Behaviors is a post from: Good e-Reader |