- Cybook Orizon officially unveiled
August 27, 2010
Bookeen just revealed the new Cybook Orizon. Apparently I was wrong and the model from CES 2010 was not replaced. I don’t have all the details yet, but I do know that it has a 6″ touchscreen and Wifi. There’s no word yet on price or availability. From past coverage, I know that it’s suppos...
- Review: eBooks by Kobo for iPhone and iPad
August 26, 2010
This hybrid iPad-iPhone offering adds to the number of e-book readers in the App Store. It's a little slow at turning pages and doesn't do much to distinguish itself from the other offerings out there, but if you're dissatisfied with other e-book reader apps, eBooks by Kobo is certainly worth a tria...
- The Sharper Image announces Literati color e-reader
August 26, 2010
The Sharper Image may not be quite the retail presence it once was, but it looks like its still in good enough shape to hop on the latest trend -- its just announced The Literati by The Sharper Image, a $159 e-reader with a 7-inch color screen. That device actually comes courtesy of MerchSource, an...
- A book library on your phone - Mail & Guardian Online
August 23, 2010
Times LIVEA book library on your phoneMail Guardian OnlineThe m4Lit project began in 2009 to test whether teens in South Africa would read stories on their cellphones. Most of the reading and writing that happens ...Yoza m-novel library launchedTimes LIVELink Love: Yoza.Mobi Brings Mobile Fiction t...
- More Android e-book devices on the way
August 25, 2010
Ars Technica’s Ryan Paul has a look at three upcoming or recent Android e-book readers, including the Cruz Reader, the Pandigital Novel, and the SmartQ T7.
Velocity Micro’s Cruz Reader looks particularly impressive. Paul writes:
The device has a seven-inch color LCD touchscreen with a resolutio...
- A selection of the best tablets you can buy now
August 23, 2010
The announcement and subsequent release of Apple's "Jesus tablet" has set the portable touchscreen computer market on fire. Manufacturers are scrambling to release devices, wanting to get in on the tablet craze while it's still hot.
- Sony Touch Edition has been discontinued!
August 22, 2010
At least, that’s the product status reported by BH Photo. You usually only see “discontinued” when a retailer tries to order more and is told it won’t be available. Of course, at this point it’s not really that much of a surprise, is it? We already knew about the new models.
via Mike Cane...
- Mobile Ebook Reading
August 16, 2010
Mobile Ebook Reading - That's a good question. Does the future of books lie in the increasing popularity of mobile eBook reading? eBook readers have certainly advanced a great deal in recent months, partially because they allows people ...
- EC Media launches Wink e-reader in India
August 21, 2010
While the world holds its collective breath for India to actually mass produce that $35 tablet it's been trumpeting here lately, the country's own EC Media International is taking the wraps off of a sparkling new e-reader: the Wink. This cutely titled device doesn't look much different than older g...
- Pocketbook announces color touch screen Android powered e-reader and more
August 21, 2010
Manufacturing upstart PocketBook is clearly still gung ho about e-readers, judging by the five new models it has announced will be released at IFA in September, which include a pair of entry-level ProBook 602 and 902 units, as well as the ProBook 603 and 903 premium units. The 60x designated models...
- Books Have Many Futures : NPR
August 21, 2010
If many types of paper-based books are headed for extinction, what will take their place? "E-readers" are a big part of the present and future -- but not the whole story. Video games and multi-narrator online stories will have their places too.
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- liquidpubs – new publishing service launched
August 20, 2010
Has anyone heard of them?
From the press release:
liquidpubs is a set of services and technologies that allows publishers of magazines, newspapers and books to offer a groundbreaking experience of their content on tablet computers and smartphones. For newspapers and magazines, whether it’s the iPa...
- Ebooks: Revolution Or Fad?
August 20, 2010
HSINCHU, Taiwan — The marriage of an American technology firm and a Taiwanese display panel manufacturer has helped make digital reading a prospective challenger to paper as the main medium for transmitting printed information.
Four years ago Cambridge, Mass.-based E Ink Corporation and Taiwan's...
- Kobo Price To Drop To $99 By Christmas
August 19, 2010
With all of the new tablets rumored to come out this fall and the new Kindles almost ready to ship, this should be an interesting holiday season for the eReader. And the price wars are likely to continue.
The New Yorker is reporting that the Kobo will be down to $99 by Christmas. From The New Yo...
- HOW TO: Make Your Mobile Websites Act More Like Native Apps
August 18, 2010
This series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace’s hosting solutions here.As smartphone sales continue to soar, more and more developers are focusing their efforts on building applications for mobile devices. Whether it is a native application or a mo...
- Google Editions "Due To Launch This Fall"
August 18, 2010
In a Reuters article about indie bookstores, the reporter broke some news about the seemingly postponed launch of Google Editions. It appears that Google's bookstore--poised to compete with Apple iBookstore and the Amazon Kindle Store--will "launch this fall."
Check it out: "The [American Booksell...
- Self Publish Your Tweets & Tweetpics with Twournal
August 19, 2010
The brand new Twournal service launched yesterday, allowing people to print and sell copies of their Twitter feeds. The company also offers a free eBook edition of your tweets, even if you don't want to pay to print your Twitter journal.
Here's more about the site: "All Twournals have color cover...
- Wattpad launches marketing program for self-published authors
August 18, 2010
From their press release:
In the first half of 2010, Wattpad has established cross-promotional partnerships with major self-publishing houses Smashwords, Lulu and Bubok.
To assist writers in connecting with readers on the site, Wattpad is launching the Self-Published Writers Program, a new marketi...
- eTextbooks: iPad & eReaders Lag Behind, PCs Still Dominant
August 18, 2010
Last week we looked at the pros and cons of eBooks vs traditional paper books. For the consumer market, eBooks are still at the early stage of adoption - but becoming more popular due to the iPad and the price point getting lower for eReaders like Kindle.
Another market where eBooks have a lot of po...
- Half.com Offers iPhone App to Find Cheap Textbooks On The Go
August 16, 2010
With college students around the country heading back to school in the coming weeks, the hunt for cheap textbooks is on. If you've ever spent a couple hundred collars on a single book, only to read a few chapters and put the book back on the shelf, then you know the unique sticker shock that comes w...
- Can Apps Save Content Publishers?
August 16, 2010
Can apps save content publishers? That was a question posed today at the DigiDay: Apps conference in New York. Panelists from the magazine and mobile industry discussed the growth of mobile devices and tablet devices for reading and asked how this new adoption can help save magazines. EBook publis...
- Is all piracy bad piracy?
August 13, 2010
The law’s not working, the entertainment industry is ignoring the problem and piracy’s not going away anytime soon: these were just a few of the ideas circulating at Wednesday’s panel debate on piracy in East London.
read more
- iPad Passes Print Reading in User Preference
August 13, 2010
That didn’t take long now did it?
The iPad is king of content absorption, according to a new survey from media agency Cooper Murphy Webb.
Less than six months of age, the iPad has changed the way readers prefer to get their content. The survey results show that iPad owners now prefer their tablet...
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- Ebooks: New Android-based Sony Readers May Be Coming
August 12, 2010
It is a day for Sony news it seems, but this is based on a very interesting notice pasted on a professional bulletin board which has now apparently been taken down. According to the posting, Sony is looking for an engineer with Android experience to join their Reader team…gosh I wonder why?
The wa...
- 41% Of UK iPad Owners Prefer iPad As Reading Devices
August 13, 2010
UK iPad owners use their iPads as their main reading device. According to a poll of iPad owners by copywriting agency Cooper Murphy Webb, 41% of the respondents prefer the iPad as their method of reading books.
The survey also found that 31% of iPad owners preferred reading newspapers and magazin...
- Getting Ready to Publish
August 13, 2010
The very first thing to do when you start thinking “Should I self-publish?” is to find out what kind of publisher you might become. This decision is critical because it will influence the decisions you make down the road about organizing your publishing business, if you start one, budgeting for...
- 10 Kindle tips
August 12, 2010
Got an email from John Cog about 10 Kindle tips he put up on his Me and My Kindle blog. Well, I took a look and found some stuff I didn’t know about. Here are the tips and go over to his blog to get the details:
1. Justify your Kindle’s text
2. Skim faster
3. Instantly clear a note or S...
- Top 10 Ways Authors Can Use Twitter
August 11, 2010
It's Twitter week here at the Savvy Book Marketer! In today's post, I discuss the many benefits of Twitter for authors. Tomorrow, novelist Graham Storrs shares his secrets for planning a successful round-the-world virtual book tour on Twitter. On Thursday, Tony Eldridge and I will be presenting the...
- EPUB Straight to the Point (Book Review of the Paperback)
August 11, 2010
EPUB Straight to the PointCreating ebooks for the Apple iPad and other ereadersby Elizabeth CastroPeachpit Press, ISBN: 978-0-321-734686Available Formats:Paperback, 192 pagesPDF (watermarked with buyer's name)EPUB (unencrypted, direct from Castro's web site)Reviewed by Michael Pastore, Epublishers W...
- Plastic Logic Cancels Que ProReader
August 11, 2010
After many delays in a ship date, Plastic Logic has officially canceled its Que ProReader product, which debuted in January and was supposed to ship this year. At CES, mediabistro.com's editorial director took a video tour of the eReader with a premium $799 price tag.
Looks like the new Kindle, the...
- 5 Ways That Paper Books Are Better Than eBooks
August 11, 2010
Yesterday we gave you 5 reasons why you should read your next book on an eReader device. Needless to say, many paper book fans protested in the comments. And with good reason. Paper books have many things going for them and it's still early in the evolution of eBooks.
This is a technology blog. Howe...
- 5 Ways That eBooks Are Better Than Paper Books
August 10, 2010
Recently I began to buy eBooks for the Kindle application on my iPad. While I still love paper books, the digital wiles of eBooks are looking increasingly attractive to me. Below are five eBook features that may tempt you to buy electronic books too.
I should note that I wasnt a hold-out on eBooks f...
- Project Gutenberg and OverDrive integrate
August 10, 2010
OverDrive has announced integration with Project Gutenberg. Boston Public Library is the first to add this featured collection of more than 15,000 EPUB eBook titles to its website. There’s no authentication needed to access these eBooks, and the eBook titles don’t expire or count against a user...
- Google’s count of 130 million books is probably bunk, says Ars Technica
August 9, 2010
That’s the title of an Ars Technica article today. The article discusses, at length, the problem with Google’s metadata and says:
Google’s counting method relies entirely on its enormous metadata collection—almost one billion records—which it winnows down by throwing out duplicates and no...
- Self-Publishers Start Here: Understanding Fonts & Typography
August 10, 2010
In my recent blog redesign I added the “Start Here” categories on the left sidebar to make it easier to find articles with basic information about self-publishing. Each introduces a stage on the journey to publication with links from the archives of TheBookDesigner. This is the fourth in the se...
- 9 Reasons To Be Optimistic About Books
August 5, 2010
In the midst of one of the most disruptive transitions the modern publishing industry has ever experienced, it can be easy to give in to pessimism, fall in with doom-saying pundits and short-term gamblers, and forget why you thought working in publishing was ever a good idea to begin with.
- InDesign CS5 ePub Export
August 7, 2010
Another novel, another excursion into e-book conversions. But this time, its with all new software. InDesign has bumped up to CS5, and of course Sigil and Calibre have both had numerous updates since I used them the last time. The process has gone much smoother.
Step 1, make minor formatting...
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- Updated txtr app allows Adobe protected eBooks onto iPads
August 6, 2010
iPad owners looking to read existing Adobe DRM protected books - including those bought from UK retailers such as Waterstones, WH Smiths and Foyles - on their iPad can now do so thanks to an updated version of the txtr app.
- Some Smashwords stats – growing like Topsy
August 6, 2010
I received this in an email from Mark Coker and I thought it was interesting enough to republish:
Although stats are tough to come by, measured by title count, I think we’re probably the largest ebook publishing and distribution platform for indie authors next to Amazon. We now publish over 16,00...
- Smashwords and Diesel Ebooks team up
August 5, 2010
From the press release:
Los Gatos, CA. and Richmond, VA — July 5, 2010 — Smashwords, the leading eBook publishing and distribution platform, and the Diesel eBook Store, the world’s largest independent eBook retailer, have announced two eBook distribution agreements that will expand eBook publi...
- HOW TO: Self-Publish Anything Online
August 5, 2010
Scott Steinberg is the CEO of high-tech consulting firm TechSavvy Global, and a frequent tech analyst for ABC, CBS and CNN. He’s covered the field for 400+ outlets from NPR to Rolling Stone. His latest self-published venture is the online video series and magazine Game Theory.Starting your own fas...
- Mobcast Selling eBooks On Android Phones In Europe
August 5, 2010
Digital content provider Mobcast is now selling eBooks on Android based phones in Europe by enabling mobile carriers to sell books to Android and smart phone customers.
T-Mobile UK Orange UK are the first mobile operators to sign up to sell books this way. Through the operator-branded stores users...
- Kindle Gets Games; Two Free Apps Launched
August 5, 2010
The Kindle is no longer an e-books-only device; developers have just released two Kindle-ready games, thanks to the Kindle Development Kit (KDK).The KDK was launched earlier this year. At that time, we predicted more non-book apps, from productivity tools to games, would be available for Kindle user...
- Lonely Planet Launches Interactive Travel eBooks
August 4, 2010
Lonely Planet released its first interactive travel eBooks called Discover. The books are designed liked a guidebook and is full of images, tips from locals and suggested itineraries.
But unlike a print guidebook, the eBooks include more than 3,000 hyperlinks so that readers can make hotel reser...
- Linked: Simon & Schuster Releases Choose Your Own Adventure Apps
August 4, 2010
Simon Schuster have released a series of Choose Your Own Adventure apps for $3.99:
Instead of turning to a particular page to make a choice, the U-Ventures apps allow the reader to tap the screen and enjoy, with sound, light and other special effects — music and alien voices, for example — adde...
- $99 Color E-Reader and Social Platform to Challenge Amazon, B&N This Fall
August 3, 2010
Following recent price cuts on Amazon’s Kindle 2 and Barnes Noble’s Nook, a new manufacturer is set to stir up even more competition in the e-reader pricing wars with the debut of a $99 color device this fall.The device, which weighs in at .42 lbs and features a 5-inch, 800×480-pixel, color LC...
- HarperCollins To Release Five More Enhanced eBooks By Year's End
August 3, 2010
HarperCollins released its first three enhanced eBooks last week. The publisher told Publishers Weekly that they plan to do at least five more enhanced eBooks in the coming months.
Ana Maria Allessi, VP, publisher, HarperMedia told PW that they are experimenting this year. They are working with r...
- HarperCollins released enhanced ebooks; will do simultaneous ebook releases
August 3, 2010
Publishers Weekly is reporting this. According to them HarperCollins strategy will be to release print editions, ebook editions and enhanced ebooks simultaneously.
This all comes about because HarperCollins is releasing three enhanced ebooks and plans to do at least 5 more in the coming months. Th...
- Are eReaders Bad For The Environment?
August 2, 2010
Are eBooks environmentally friendly or are they worse than their print counterparts?
Raz Godelnik, co-founder and CEO of Eco-Libris, has a new article in the Independent Book Publishers Association's (IBPA) monthly journal called "Is E-Reading Really Greener?" positing this very question.
Accor...
- Kindle for iOS updated: use it as a free dictionary app
July 30, 2010
A new update of Kindle application is up in the AppStore (link). It brings a long-awaited functionality – a dictionary look-up. Together with a possibility to search through the book content, now available also for iPad, it becomes an unexpected alternative to standalone dictionary applications fo...
- Traditional Publishers Release Enhanced E-books for iPhone and iPad
July 30, 2010
Scribner and Simon Schuster Digital have released what they are calling their first-ever “enhanced e-book,” Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland, via Apple’s iBookstore application.The enhanced e-book [iTunes link] includes an original interview with the author and 27 historic video segments produced...
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- Are ebook readers for book-lovers?
July 30, 2010
As Amazon unveils two lighter, more advanced versions of the Kindle e-reader, we ask: can they ever replace books?
- How Low Will E-Reader Prices Go?
July 29, 2010
As Amazon prepares to release a $139 Kindle e-reader next month, could even cheaper e-readers be close behind?
- Amazon: E-books Will Overtake Paperbacks by the End of 2011
July 29, 2010
Amazon predicts that it will sell more e-books than paperbacks by the end of next year, and that they will eclipse both paperback and hardcover sales combined shortly thereafter.“I predict we will surpass paperback sales sometime in the next nine to 12 months. Sometime after that, we’ll surpass...
- Simon & Schuster Releases Its First Enhanced eBook
July 29, 2010
Simon Schuster has built its first enhanced eBook--complete with CBS News video clips and a $15.99 price tag. What do you think? How much value does video add?
CBS News and Simon Schusters Scribner imprint have teamed up to build an enhanced ebook edition of Rick Perlstein's 2008 book, Nixonlan...
- Amazon launches new Kindle e-reader and UK ebook store
July 29, 2010
Amazon hopes the redesigned, lighter Kindles and new store will be the 'tipping point' in the UK e-reader marketAmazon unveiled two lighter, more advanced versions of the Kindle e-reader today, alongside a new UK ebook store that it claimed will send sales of the device soaring in Britain.Faced with...
- Amazon Customers Now Order $1 Billion of Products Per Year via Mobile
July 22, 2010
Amazon –- who earlier this week made some noise by reporting that Kindle books now outsell hardcovers –- is out with another tale of the times stat: customers are now ordering more than $1 billion worth of products per year via mobile devices.In a statement, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, "The lead...
- An Amazon-Facebook Alliance to Make Shopping More Social
July 28, 2010
When shoppers connect their Amazon and Facebook accounts, they will get recommendations on what to buy based on what their friends like.
- Apple’s Magic Trackpad: is iBooks coming to the desktop?
July 27, 2010
This morning’s announcement from Apple has brought about some fantastic pieces of hardware that we’re chomping at the bit to get our hands on. Of course we’re all loving the newly-updated Macs and iMacs, but what’s really caught our attention is the new Magic Trackpad.
We first talked about...
- Author Sells 1 Million Books On Kindle Alone
July 27, 2010
Amazon has just reached an important milestone: a single author has sold 1,000,000 Kindle books. If there was any doubt as to the long reach of Kindle in the electronic reading wars, this settles it.
Stieg Larsson, author of the wonderful trilogy of books The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl...
- Amazon Now Connects to Facebook, Suggests Gifts for Friends
July 27, 2010
The experience of shopping and buying items has always been a social one, but online we largely browse and purchase items by ourselves while parked at of our computer monitors. The online shopping experience may soon get far more social as online retail behemoth Amazon has added connectivity to Face...
- Project Gutenberg turns its attention to cell phone reading
July 25, 2010
A MobileRead forumgoer reports that the latest Project Gutenberg newsletter contains an announcement of a new Project Gutenberg mobile website, m.gutenberg.org. The site is to be optimized not just for iPhones, but for any mobile phone including browsing-enabled dumbphones. Writes Gutenberg:
There...
- Upstart E-readers Fade to Black as Tablets Gain Momentum
July 23, 2010
Squeezed by larger companies such as Amazon and Barnes Noble, smaller e-reader makers are going out of business even as consumer interest shifts toward tablets.
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- A $20 eReader For NGOs
July 21, 2010
A $20 eReader? Humane Informatics has designed a new low cost eReader for NGOs called the Humane Reader. It uses a TV screen as a display device and books and text are stored on a simple SD memory Card. The device can hold up to 5,000 books on a 2G card and it does not require an Internet connecti...
- 30 Million People In U.S. Will Own eReaders By 2015
July 21, 2010
By 2015, 29.4 million US consumers will own eReaders. This is according to a new report from Forrester Research called, "How eReaders Will Fare In A Tablet PC World," by analyst James L. McQuivey.
According to the report, eReaders are facing challenges with the rise of tablet PCs. From the report...
- Shanda To Release eReader
July 22, 2010
Chinese social writing network Shanda Literature, a company owned by Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, has plans to release an eReader called the BamBook sometime in the next couple of weeks.
The eReader will come in two versions, both of which will be equipped with Wi-Fi and a 3G network....
- eReaders Beat iPad For Popularity
July 22, 2010
While iPads are challenging eReader sales, eReaders still beat the iPad, according to Forrester Research.
In a report called, "How eReaders Will Fare In A Tablet PC World," analyst James L. McQuivey found that more consumers want an eReader than an iPad.
Kindle was the winner in terms of eReader s...
- Nook for Android Is Here
July 22, 2010
Nook for Android hit the Market for free download today, and it has some nifty features that make e-book reading easy and clean, even for someone who would much rather breathe in the dust of a library book than stare fixedly at her Droid X.A little less than a month ago, the Kindle for Android app c...
- Write.fm Makes Sharing Text and Files Amazingly Simple
July 22, 2010
I love simple solutions to common problems. Write.fm is one of those services that manages to reduce the number of steps to do a task — in this case, sharing simple text messages and files of any kind — to the absolute minimum.Hailing from Anthony Feint, the same developer who brought us the sim...
- Sharp To Enter eBook Market
July 20, 2010
The Sharp Corporation announced today a new version of its XDMF eBook formatting functionality, which will include the ability to embed video and audio content into an eBook. Sharp plans to release this "next-generation eBook format" sometime this year.
Sharp also plans to build digital eBook dis...
- Top 10 Worst Self-Publishing Mistakes—Explained!
July 21, 2010
I learn a lot from the comments readers leave on the blog. People have pointed out errors, shown me resources I hadn’t heard of, and made connections that had never occurred to me. It’s a big web out there, and one of the things I enjoy most is this sharing of knowledge, resources and experience...
- Penguin Releases Amplified Editions
July 20, 2010
The Penguin Group is making its books interactive, beginning with The Amplified Edition of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.
The publisher partnered with entertainment company Starz to make the interactive version of the print title. The "Amplified Edition" of Follett's work includes video...
- Would You Pay More For A Video Enhanced E-Book?
July 20, 2010
That is the question that Penguin wants answered, and they are running a test to get an answer. Teaming up with Starz, Penguin is launching an e-book on iPad that contains video from a television mini-series based on the same tract.
The company plans to price the book at $12.99, a steep rise over t...
- Adobe to Roll Out New Publishing Software for Tablets
July 19, 2010
Adobe is working on a new kind of creative software specifically intended to help you publish digital magazines for tablet devices such as the iPad, the company revealed today.This new software, which will soon take its place in the Creative Suite pantheon, will be downloadable from Adobe Labs and w...
- The Importance Of Social Networking To Authors And Professionals
July 19, 2010
With a title like The Importance Of Social Networking To Authors And Professionals, you could expect to have a book, or volumes written to cover all the ways social media has become an indispensable tool for marketing your business. Well, I am not going to write a book here, but I am going to share...
- Simon & Schuster Unveils Mobile Site
July 7, 2010
Today Simon Schuster unveiled a mobile edition of their site, bringing shopping capabilities, full search, author pages, book excerpts, and video to smartphones.
You can see the iPhone version in the image embedded here. The site will also feature a video hub collecting videos from the publisher...
- Publishing & Self-Publishing: Where Is the Tipping Point?
July 16, 2010
Another interesting day in the world of publishing. I picked up on this story by Yoree Koh from the Wall Street Journal’s Japan Time from an alert early this morning:
One of Japan’s best-known novelists and film makers, Ryu Murakami, has announced he’s cutting his pretigious publisher (Kodans...
- Major Japanese author to release iPad-only book
July 15, 2010
From the Wall Street Journal Japan blog:
Novelist Ryu Murakami plans to release his latest novel exclusively for digital bookworms through Apple Inc.’s iPad ahead of the print version. Mr. Murakami, the acclaimed author of over 15 novels including “Coin Locker Babies” and “In the Miso Soup
Recently updated Polish tech-absurdist and mobile fiction writer 3.0 beta. Addicted to ebooks and technology. Guest writer at Publetariat, Fiction Matters and TeleRead. Read more »»»
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