Sometimes an idea or a technology will emerge from one sector, only to have a huge impact on another. Virtual reality is one example of this. The technology is rooted very much in the games industry. For decades now developers and designers have been working towards making it as slick and as sophisticated as possible. Delivered via a headset, virtual reality transports users to … [Read more...] about Is virtual reality the next step in education?
Digital Publishing News
Amazon Files Lawsuit Against 5 Fake e-Book Review Websites
Amazon has just filed a lawsuit against five different companies that offer authors the ability to pay for e-book reviews. The suit filed Friday alleges that these websites violate Amazons existing trademarks and wants them to stop offering Amazon reviews for sale and help Amazon find those engaged in fake reviews.In Friday's suit, Amazon sued California resident Jane … [Read more...] about Amazon Files Lawsuit Against 5 Fake e-Book Review Websites
Amazon is enticing publishers to opt into Kindle Unlimited
Amazon is one of the few companies left standing after the collapse of the e-book subscription model in 2015. Oyster and Entitle both went out of business and Scribd abandoned the model altogether. Amazon is now actively courting agents and publishers in an attempt to woo them over to Kindle Unlimited with a series of perks.Amazon Kindle Unlimited is a program where authors … [Read more...] about Amazon is enticing publishers to opt into Kindle Unlimited
Amazon will provide New York Schools with e-books
Amazon has just won a $30 million dollar contract to provide New York schools with e-books and digital textbooks. The city’s Panel for Educational Policy voted Wednesday in favor of the three-year contract for the Department of Education, which will take effect in the coming school year.The New York School District has 1.1 million diligent young scholars in over 1,800 … [Read more...] about Amazon will provide New York Schools with e-books
Datalogics is now offering Sony DRM for e-books
Datalogics is the largest player in the Digital Rights Management sector and they are officially licensed to sell all of Adobes SDK and PDF solutions. They have a huge portfolio of app developers and e-reader companies that use their technology and they make a killing. Datalogics has just announced that they are the exclusive providers of the new new Sony DRM system for e-books … [Read more...] about Datalogics is now offering Sony DRM for e-books
These are the key findings of the Smashwords survey
What are the writing habits that successful indie authors employs? When it comes to self-publishing what are the hottest genres and is it worth it to engage in pre-orders? Smashwords seeks to address some of these issues in their latest report.Fiction dominates - 89.5% of our sales were fiction titles. Despite fiction's dominance, a number of non-fiction titles were … [Read more...] about These are the key findings of the Smashwords survey
Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Shortlist Announced
Kobo has just announced the shortlist for its second annual Emerging Writer Prize. The award was created with the goal of kick-starting the careers of debut authors, with a $10,000 CAD cash prize awarded to a book in each of three categories: Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Genre Fiction (Romance). In addition, each winning author will receive promotional, marketing, and … [Read more...] about Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Shortlist Announced
Supreme Court Refuses to Grant Authors Guild an Appeal Against Google
The Supreme Court has announced that they refused to grant the Authors Guild an appeal against the Google Book scanning project and this official ends an 11 year legal saga.The idea behind Google Books was to preserve millions of bodies of texts, and put them into a searchable database. Users could look up and read passages from the books. And the fact that in most cases, … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Refuses to Grant Authors Guild an Appeal Against Google
Women represent 75% of the most active digital readers
The most active digital readers are women who are aged 45 and older and they spend on average 30 minutes per day reading on their Kobo e-reader. This is not surprising considering If you take a look at the iBooks top 100 authors you will notice that 64% are written by women. Meanwhile at Amazon, 56% of the top 100 bestsellers are women and Publishers Weekly top 25 has been … [Read more...] about Women represent 75% of the most active digital readers
London Book Fair Does Not Respect Indie Authors
The London Book Fair is the largest publishing event in the United Kingdom. Indie authors are really pissed off at the organizers this year due to the fact that all of the self-publishing companies have been relegated to the very back of the showroom floor.Ben Galley, who self-published The Scarlet Star trilogy, said Author HQ and “indie-centric” stands such as Kobo, … [Read more...] about London Book Fair Does Not Respect Indie Authors
QueryTracker is the best way for self-publishers to find an agent
If you are a self-published author with aspirations to get a traditional publishing deal it is important to have an agent. Major publishers and their imprints normally do not accept unsolicited manuscripts and an agent can assist with getting your book into the right hands. Researching literary agents is complicated enough without having to worry about whether or not the agent … [Read more...] about QueryTracker is the best way for self-publishers to find an agent
80% of US schools use e-books or digital textbooks
Overdrive has just published a new survey that takes a look at digital penetration in schools in the United States. They take a look at what medium is the most popular and what type of tech devices diligent young scholars are employing to get the most out of their education.Based on a survey of more than 2,000 administrators at the school or district level in the U.S., the … [Read more...] about 80% of US schools use e-books or digital textbooks
Kotobee Makes Self-Published Digital Textbooks Possible
The digital revolution is well underway, but one of the original promises this new wave of electronic reading was supposed to bring hasn’t happened in a major way: digital textbooks. From the advent of fully-downloadable ebooks to the return shift to internet-based reading, digital publishing has evolved in just a few short years to look almost nothing like it did when … [Read more...] about Kotobee Makes Self-Published Digital Textbooks Possible