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My Reaction to John Scalzi’s Reaction to Kindle Worlds

Juli Monroe — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:53:28 +0000

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, yesterday Amazon announced Kindle Worlds, otherwise know as authorized, paid fan fiction (sort of). In response to one of my comments on that post, our own Joanna Cabot linked me to John Scalzi’s initial thoughts on the move. I have tons of respect for Scalzi, and [...]

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Amazon Announces Kindle Worlds, a Platform for Fan Fiction

Susan Lulgjuraj — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:15:02 +0000

Fan fiction is an interesting genre. You start with characters that already exist from movies or television shows and create new stories around them. Admittedly, I read my share of fan fiction. Sometimes a show’s run ends too early, or a video game pulls me in so deeply, that I want to read more about [...]

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Barefooot Books Pulls its Books from Amazon

Susan Lulgjuraj — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:15:43 +0000

An independent children’s publisher has decided to cut ties with Amazon. Barefoot Books has pulled its books from the online retail giant, claiming that it wants to focus on more grassroots types of campaigns, it said in a press release on Digital Book World on Tuesday. Among the issues with Amazon that Barefoot faces is [...]

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Amazon’s UK Tax Debacle: Time for the scapegoat to butt back?

Paul St John Mackintosh — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:57:29 +0000

UK press, politicians and public all seem heated up about Amazon’s tax bills in the UK—or lack thereof. Seems those deceitful corporations have been daring to incorporate and structure across jurisdictions, rather than standing meekly inside good honest British borders and reaching their hands into their pockets whenever that nice Mr. Osborne tells them to. [...]

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E-Book Usability News: Adjustable line spacing now available on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9”

David Rothman — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:30:55 +0000

LibraryCity knocked Amazon for not letting users of the Kindle Fire HDs adjust their line spacing. But guess what I noticed just now within the font-related submenu of my Kindle HD 8.9” model running version 8.3.1 firmware? Alas, on my several files tested, I still couldn’t narrow the spaces sufficiently on the HD even though the Kindle app [...]

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Amazon Coins Goes Live, a Digital Currency for the Amazon App Store and Kindle

Arnold Zafra — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:51:00 +0000

Amazon has just gone live with its own digital currency dubbed Amazon Coins. Announced in February 2013, Amazon Coins is described as a new way to buy Kindle Fire apps, games and in-app items from the Amazon App Store and on Kindle Fire. To kick off the launch of Coins, Amazon also announced that they [...]

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Amazon Local Offering E-Books for Just $1.00

Susan Lulgjuraj — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:55:09 +0000

If you’re looking for new reading material this summer, Amazon Local might have what you need. The discount site is offering a free voucher to purchase specific Kindle books for just $1.00 each. The voucher is only good for 37 titles, which are all part of a series. Some of the books include The Hangman’s [...]

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Kindle Fire users: Check out your Amazon Coins!

Juli Monroe — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:00:02 +0000

When I stopped by Amazon this morning to check the Daily Deal, I saw something cool for you Kindle Fire owners. You’ve got free Amazon Coins! In case you missed the announcement of Coins earlier this year, they were supposed to start in May, and it looks like this announcement is the launch. What can [...]

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Amazon Rumored To Be Working On 10-Inch Kindle Fire With Impressive Display

Adrian Diaconescu — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:02:31 +0000

You’re familiar with the saying “Go big or go home?” Well, it doesn’t exactly apply to the tablet market nowadays, but the tide could turn soon enough. One of the biggest ongoing battles is for the small tab crown, with Google, Asus, Amazon, Apple, but also Acer fighting each other guns blazing. Meanwhile, the bigger [...]

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Amazon Reportedly Producing a “Kindle TV” Set-Top Box

Aggregated Content — Sun, 05 May 2013 14:00:25 +0000

By Jeff Kleist Amazon has been making its own devices for quite a while now. From e-readers to tablets to a rumored smartphone, the company has been pretty successful in establishing its own Apple-style ecosystem. So it makes perfect sense that Amazon wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to take charge of the one device [...]

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How Popular Are Amazon’s Kindle Singles?

Aggregated Content — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:05:21 +0000

By Moe Zilla The New York Times ran a fascinating profile of David Blum, the editor of Amazon’s “Kindle Singles” store. But along the way, they also took a look at the whole phenomenon of Singles—and what it means for the future of books. Amazon has sold nearly 5 million Kindle singles over the last 27 months, according to the [...]

Amazon’s Number One Book City, Alexandria, Va., May Cut Library Hours

David Rothman — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:47:35 +0000

Attention library advocates in Alexandria, Va.: Talking points for the local budget debate are here. Leaving us in the dark about the source of this tidbit, a Washington Post headline in the Style section blog says: “Alexandria, Virginia: the most well-read city in America.” Similar words show up elsewhere in the media about my hometown, the oft-paradoxical Washington suburb of some [...]

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Amazon Appstore Expanding to Almost 200 Countries

Juli Monroe — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:17:37 +0000

This story has been making the rounds of tech blogs today, and it’s interesting to watch the reactions. First, the story: Amazon announced today that developers can now submit their apps for distribution in nearly 200 countries. As I’ve said before, I think competition is a good thing, and the more competition Google has with [...]

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Are “new” books working Amazon’s system?

Susan Lulgjuraj — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:30:02 +0000

L.J. Sellers has picked up on a trend on Amazon. The novelist who writes for the Crime Fiction Collective blog noticed old books popping up on lists for new releases. If the book has been out for several years, how can it become a “hot, new release?” Sellers writes: “The newest trend I’ve noticed is the republishing of [...]

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Morning Links: Amazon investors get the shaft

Dan Eldridge — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:38:28 +0000

Surprise! Jeff Bezos explains to Amazon investors why no profits are a good thing (The Verge) “Jeff Bezos’ annual letter to investors is always worth reading.” What I’m really thinking: The literary agent (The Guardian) “I often drive 200 miles a week to visit that novelist who has a towering ego and has to be [...]

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