According to a tweet from one of the five members of the Man Booker judging panel: "We are to be given Kindles for Booker judging so they won't have to post us tons of real books". According to The Age, judges last year had to deal with 138 hardback books. The article goes on to say that publishers had been asked, for the first time, to provide ebooks along with hard copies. Both will be available to the judges....

From the Unofficial Blog Kindle: This source for free e-books, articles and academic papers will probably be appreciated by very particular type of readers. Sejarah Melayu Library’s resources focus on Malay Archipelago (also called Indonesian Archipelago) and surrounding areas. All e-books, articles and academic papers are available for your Kindle for free and in .PDF format. Basically the library has seven sections:General section contains miscellaneous materials on Malay Archipelago that (I am guessing) do not really fit into other categories.Histories and Other References focuses on history and geography.Travelogue is self-explanatory: travelers’ notes about Malay Archipelago.Language section contains dictionaries & free grammar e-books.Fiction consists of novels,...

More and more innovative ways to bring your work to the attention of a publisher. From the press release: HarperCollins Publishers announced today the first acquisition from inkpop (www.inkpop.com), its interactive website for teen writing. Slated for Fall 2011, THE CARRIER OF THE MARK, by debut author Leigh Fallon, is a fresh and thrilling paranormal romance linking two teens to a supernatural destiny. Fallon, a native of Cork, Ireland, tried to get her manuscript published through conventional channels. She started by contacting agents and eventually took a less traditional route. She heard about inkpop through a writing group and decided to...

Digital Book World coverage: Publishers and agents differ on ‘fair’ e-book royalty rates, by Chris Meadows Its no pocalypse at Digital Book World, by Eric Hellman DBW panelists suggest children’s book apps need curating, by Chris Meadows Digital Book World: BISG research report on ISBN Digital Book World: consumer attitude and buying behavior studies Digital territorial rights hot issue in Europe, by Chris Meadows Digital Book World: Skill sets that publishers don’t have – how do we get them or deal with it Digital Book World: Will territorial sales become obsolete? An update on rights issues Digital Book World: New models for agents Digital Book World: what’s the future for...

I previously mentioned the OpenPandora Linux-powered gaming tablet back in April. As an entirely open Linux-powered device with a 4.3” 800x480 screen, it might have the same potential for e-book reading as any other small hand-held, and perhaps even better. Well, the $350 device is now shipping in dribs and drabs, as they become available to those who pre-ordered—but a number of the units have been set aside for immediate sale at the higher price of $500 for those who absolutely can’t wait, guaranteed to ship within 7 days. (As Engadget points out, this can’t make people who...

EBookNewser has reported that Samsung has lowered the price of the 7” Galaxy Tab Android tablet from $600 to $299 with contract from Sprint. Our sister blog Gadgetell reports that T-Mobile is going even further and throwing in a $50 mail-in rebate, making the price $249.99 with contract. The Android 2.2 device will naturally have access to a lot of e-book apps and stores, including Kindle. Of course, the question is whether a tablet that requires a locked-in broadband contract is really worth it even at those prices—especially if you’re paying for smartphone service already. Still, Samsung recognizes...

Capital New York has a story on The Atavist, an iPad long-form journalism magazine put together by freelance journalist Evan Ratliff, The New Yorker editor Nicholas Thompson, and developer Jefferson Rabb. The idea is to sell in-depth stories that are longer than most magazine articles but shorter than books. This fits in neatly with Kindle’s just-opened “Singles” store, which is why the first two Atavist stories can be purchased there for $2.99 each. But the Atavist writers are planning to bring out their own customized Atavist iPad and iPhone reader apps, which will presumably be used to buy...

On SFSignal, a number of authors and editors were asked to present their view of where publishing will be in ten years. These prognosticators include Cheryl Morgan, Neil Clarke, Gordon Van Gelder, Nick Mamatas, Lou Anders, and Tim Pratt. As might be expected, they have somewhat differing points of view, though they tend to agree that print books will still be around at least to some extent even as e-books become a more prominent form of publication. Cheryl Morgan’s point of view is self-confessedly dystopian—she predicts that net neutrality will go down in flames, and we will be more...

Now here’s something I didn’t know, but that will undoubtedly not surprise many. In the New York Times, cyberpunk author William Gibson writes that an early PC virus started out as a fairly primitive attempt at DRM, created by a couple of sibling programmers in 1986 to protect their heart-monitoring software from piracy. Computers that ran their program, plus this new bit of code, would stop working after a year, though they cheerfully provided three telephone numbers, against the day. If you were a legitimate user, and could prove it, they’d unlock you. Computer...

EBookNewser has a report on an ongoing disagreement between publishers and agents as to the nature of a “fair” e-book royalty percentage. It seems publishers think that the percentage is 25%, while many agents think it should be 50%. This comes by way of a survey presented yesterday at Digital Book World by Mike Shatzkin of the Idea Logical Company and Constance Sayre of Market Partners International. Apparently as many as 1/3 of agents claim to have negotiated 50% royalty deals. Furthermore, 90% of agents have clients who are potentially interested in self-publishing. Certainly, authors such as...

From the press release: Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. Since the beginning of the year, for every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the Company has sold 115 Kindle books. Additionally, during this same time period the Company has sold three times as many Kindle books as hardcover books. This is across Amazon.com's entire U.S. book business and includes sales of books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the numbers even higher. The Company sold millions of third-generation Kindle devices with the new advanced paper-like Pearl e-ink...

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a review of the new Ongo news aggregating app and doesn't like it very much: I'm fully on board with media companies wanting to make money on their content. Ongo seems half-baked and not terribly well thought out, and for U.S. $6.99 a month it should be better. You can widen the options of media sources, but most cost additional money, from $0.99 all they way up to $14.99 a month. I really don't think this thing is going to fly. I get more news and better control using Google or apps like the Pulse Newsreader...