I wrote previously about Star Dispatches, an e-book subscription service being produced by the Toronto Star. According to this article on The Star's website, they're being recognized for this series with two Online Media Awards. The service has an intriguing set-up where, for a nominal fee, subscribers get a new e-book sent to them every week. There is no à la carte purchase, but the weekly fee is so affordable that subscriber retention has been high. From the admittedly self-congratulatory write-up: "We’re extremely proud of the stories being told in our weekly eRead format, our subscribers are highly satisfied and the business model has...

From Boing Boing comes news of this year's Locus nominees, shared there because one of its editors, Cory Doctorow, is nominated. I am not a huge SF reader, so most of these have stayed off my radar. But if you go for that stuff, enjoy this list of good books! SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL • The Hydrogen Sonata, Iain M. Banks (Orbit US; Orbit UK) • Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen) • Caliban’s War, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK) • 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK) • Redshirts, John Scalzi (Tor; Gollancz) FANTASY NOVEL • The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK) • The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan...

I won't pretend to be familiar with the European Inventor Award myself, but according to the European Patent Office, "it pays tribute to the men and women whose quest for new ideas drives technological progress and economic growth, shapes society and improves our daily lives." Fifteen inventors are in the running for the award this year, and interestingly enough, one of the non-European inventors in the running is the U.S.-based team of Joseph M. Jacobson (pictured above) and Barrett Comiskey. Never heard of them? Me neither. But apparently they were the actual inventors of E Ink technology. E Ink displays, of course, have...

TeleRead was the recipient of a rather flattering honor earlier this week. On Wednesday, we were informed that we'd been featured on the just-published list of 100 Essential Sites for Voracious Readers, which is curated by Masters in English, "a site dedicated to helping students find the right graduate-level English program." "We built this list for our audience of aspiring graduate students in English literature and relevant fields," says MIE's Elizabeth Kelly. "But we think anyone who likes to get lost in a book will find something they love here. The list of 100 Essential Sites is split into five different categories; TeleRead...

One of the best ways for a young organization to quickly add some legitimacy to its brand is to create an industry award, and the indie publishing website IndieReader, launched in 2009, has done just that. Its first annual IndieReader Discovery Awards is now accepting submissions through February 29th, 2012, with winners announced next June. I imagine a lot of indie authors are eager to see a legitimate annual award established, both to help publicize stellar works and to add a sheen of respectability to the self-publishing side of the marketplace. However, as with so many writing awards this one...

Unlike Stephenie Meyer, Tor.com knows how to give away free e-books for real. The site gave a bunch away as part of its launch promotion, and now it’s doing it again (albeit on a much smaller scale). Four stories that premiered on Tor.com and are now eligible for Hugo, Nebula, or Locus awards are now available for free download via the US iBooks (no direct link available, but it’s showing up as “Award-Nominated Sci-Fi Short Stories” in the rotating ads at the top of the iBooks store right now), Kindle, and Sony Reader stores. They will remain...