A new dramatic battle is brewing in the publishing industry, this time over competing organizations that both claim to advocate and speak for authors but who have vastly different goals and ideals. The long-standing Authors Guild, often scoffed as a proud member of the gatekeepers club and a rather irrelevant entity that has yet to embrace the current publishing climate, … [Read more...] about Authors Guild, Authors Alliance Battle Over Speaking for Writers
E-Book News
Why Used eBooks Still Have Not Happened
The Holy Grail of digital publishing is the end user being able to sell the eBooks they purchased from online retailers. Amazon and Apple actually have filed for patents in 2013 to make this happen, but have yet to introduce anything coherent. Why have used eBook stores failed to materialize and what are the extenuating factors hampering a huge industry?The first sale … [Read more...] about Why Used eBooks Still Have Not Happened
Samsung Readers Hub Disbanded
Samsung is disbanding the Readers Hub that they have owned and operated since they started to seriously focus on Android tablets and smartphones. The South Korean company is suspending their relationship with PressReader and Zinio, two partners they have had since the beginning. Samsung is also closing down their own eBook store that they established in 2012 and relying on … [Read more...] about Samsung Readers Hub Disbanded
Chipotle Cups and Takeout Bags Adorned with Quality Litterature
Chipotle is one of the best chain restaurants in the US that focuses on gourmet Mexican food, such as burritos. The company has taken the unusual step to distinguish themselves from the competition by adorning their disposable cups and takeout bags with short stories by Jonathan Safran Foer, Malcolm Gladwell, Toni Morrison, George Saunders, and Vanity Fair contributing editor … [Read more...] about Chipotle Cups and Takeout Bags Adorned with Quality Litterature
Publisher Terms: Amazon Behaving Badly, or Business As Usual?
News came out last week that Amazon is butting heads with one of the Big Five publishers, Hachette Book Group, over contract terms. In true "I'm bigger than you, so I can" fashion, Amazon has imposed lengthy delays on the shipment of some of Hachette's titles, almost amounting to refusing to sell them at all. In an even more nefarious approach, Amazon is even suggesting … [Read more...] about Publisher Terms: Amazon Behaving Badly, or Business As Usual?
eBook Pricing: What’s Wrong with Free?
Once publishers began to truly embrace ebooks as a viable business model for their content, the next great debate became how much to price them. Numerous studies and surveys have been conducted that look for consumer behavior where price is concerned, and a few logical guidelines have come about as a result.One thing that still riles both publishers and authors is the … [Read more...] about eBook Pricing: What’s Wrong with Free?
The Distractions of Writing in the Modern World
Writers have a very hard time focusing on pumping out enough content to get their books done and start marketing them. The internet is rife for distractions with instant messaging, popups, emails and our favorite news websites. How can we start to eliminate some of these distractions and make better use of our time?George RR Martin, the author behind the bestselling books … [Read more...] about The Distractions of Writing in the Modern World
Twitter Mute is a Savior from Spamming Indie Authors
Twitter is often a vehicle employed by self-published authors to promote their eBooks. Thousands of Tweets are sent out everyday with no value other than the desperate attempts to sell a few copies of their Book on Amazon. Â Twitter is seeking to save us from the maelstrom of spam with the advent of a new Mute function.Twitter Mute is a new software enhancement that will be … [Read more...] about Twitter Mute is a Savior from Spamming Indie Authors
Espresso Book Machine Streamlining a Subset of Self-Publishing
The Espresso Book Machine is a kiosk-style printing press that stood to revolutionize both book printing and book selling, at least at the beginning. These stand-alone machines were envisioned to virtually replace bookshops, meaning the customer of the future would enter a significantly smaller retail space that was completely void of any printed material, select the book from … [Read more...] about Espresso Book Machine Streamlining a Subset of Self-Publishing
IndieReader Launches First of Its Kind App and eBookstore for Self-Published Works
Self-published authors have a new sales and distribution opportunity, thanks to the pioneers in indie book promotion, IndieReader. The company, long known for its awareness-raising efforts for self-published and small press titles, has added a branded app and ebookstore to its list of services for authors."The IR app has all of the features you would expect in a great … [Read more...] about IndieReader Launches First of Its Kind App and eBookstore for Self-Published Works
Scribd Incorporates Notes and Highlights Features
When the so-called "all you can eat" ebook subscription platforms first began to take shape, there were a lot of hurdles to be overcome. The first, and probably most important, was that there wasn't a lot of content; publishers weren't exactly eager to post their bestselling titles without seeing concrete proof of how the compensation would pay out, and letting members pay a … [Read more...] about Scribd Incorporates Notes and Highlights Features
The Sony Reader Store is a New Priority in Japan
Sony has been heavily invested in e-readers and eBooks since 2007 and was one of the first companies actively developing products in this space. During the last few years Amazon, Apple, Â Barnes and Noble, and Kobo have all been out pricing Sony on eBooks and e-reader prices have fallen dramatically, due to cutthroat competition. This has resulted in Sony abandoning their Reader … [Read more...] about The Sony Reader Store is a New Priority in Japan
Amazon Sync for GoodReads Now Available in the UK
GoodReads introduced a new feature this past April in North America and Australia that allowed people to sync all of their Amazon book purchased with their GoodReads account. This bulk  import feature certainly makes life easier for those who want to have every book they have ever read or intend to read on their main public shelf. Today, Amazon Sync is now available to … [Read more...] about Amazon Sync for GoodReads Now Available in the UK