Over the course of this summer I've read a couple of great Yankees books: Munson and The Bronx is Burning.  The former was read on my iPad and the latter, because it's not available digitally, was read from a dead tree.  After seeing countless references in both to another Yankee classic, The Bronx Zoo, I decided that should be on my reading list too.  Unfortunately for me, that's another book that's not available digitally.  I also was unable to find a copy at the local brick-and-mortars or even the second-hand bookstore, which got...

A while back I was talking to an Australian who has been in the book publishing biz since Adam was on a skateboard. We were talking about other stuff, and I was bemoaning how it was that one industry (book publishing) didn’t learn from the recent mistakes of a similar industry (music publishing). Off the record (that’s why he doesn’t get a name here) he told me: “Truth is, I know the major publishers in this country saw the ebook writing on the wall, but they’ve done everything they can to stave off the...

Cory Doctorow and Joe Konrath are not the only e-pushing authors with already-planted stakes in the dead tree world! A growing cohort of Smashwords authors established writers who have regained rights to some or all of their backlist titles and have chosen to e-issue it themselves. A recent encounter I had with Patricia Ryan, who is one of them, first alerted me to this growing trend. THE BEAUTY OF THE INTERNET, PART 1: AS A MATCHMAKER Ryan found her way to me through a recommendation a Mobile Read user made to me when I was looking for some new titles. I had...

From a Blog Post In June, we concluded a survey, linked on 10 of our highest traffic websites, with more than 5,000 responses from patrons around urban and rural America. The survey included questions regarding demographics, computer/device usage, borrowing habits, general feedback on user experience, and suggestions for collection development. [Snip] Here Are a Few Findings: + 74% of users are female, between the ages of 30-59. + Nearly 70% have a college and/or postgraduate degree. + 60% learned about the download service from the library’s website (if our past blog posts and training sessions weren’t enough to get you ...

A recent exchange on a message board I frequent led me to a surprising realization: there is a demand for ebook readers even for very young children, and it might not be a device maker that wins this niche at all. It might be a peripheral maker. Here's why. The initial poster was looking for advice on a reading device for her toddler daughter, let's call her D. D is already an avid reader, enjoys paper books immensely, and also enjoys playing with Beatrix Potter downloads on Mama's Kindle (she can turn the pages already herself). Mama never thought she would consider...

The Kindle 3 was released to much Amazon fanfare late last week; in the sea of iPad and general tablet news at the moment I wonder how many people have even noticed. My girlfriend didn’t know what a Kindle was until tonight, and I really don’t know how this has happened. I can only assume that I’ve been right every time I thought she wasn’t really listening to me. She’s been mocking my iPad cravings for a little while now (I maintain it’s not iPad-lust (iLust?), but borderline-usable-tablet-lust, it’s just I happen to think that that’s a very narrow category...

 Where I buy a print book often comes down to convenience (which store is closest), pricing, availability (is the book in stock?) and loyalty programs (e.g., member discounts).  The choice of a brick-and-mortar vs. an online store adds in the component of urgency; do you need the book today or can it wait till tomorrow? I'm buying ebooks almost exclusively now.  In fact, I can't even recall the last print book I bought for myself.  Although I ditched my Kindle on day one with my iPad, I do most of my book reading in...

Every week it seems something new is happening in eBookland to set the ebook cause back a decade or two. Always at the forefront of the reversal of fortune is greed. This week’s menace to eBookland is literary agent Andrew Wylie and his new publishing venture Odyssey. Wylie could have summed up his actions in simple terms: to disserve both his clients and the ebook-buying public. What, you ask, did he do? He agreed to give Amazon exclusive rights for 2 years to his authors’ backlist titles; Wylie will publish the books and exclusively sell them through Amazon. The backlist includes...

The big news this week in eBookland was Amazon’s announcement that ebooks outsold hardcovers 1.8:1 in the last quarter. That set tongues awaggin’ and has prompted hundreds of articles, blog posts, and comments, now including this one. So that raises the question: Who’s on first? One of the best comedy routines of all-time was Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine and Amazon’s announcement brought the routine to mind after many years of having been forgotten. For those of you unfamiliar with the routine, here it is: Isn’t this really the story — and value — of Amazon’s announcement? As many...

If you’re holding on for a price cut to the Australasian version of the Kobo eReader, prepare to be disappointed. What?! But wait – isn’t there an eReader price war going on? Yes there is – overseas. The Kindle 2 and Nook have both added features and offered substantial price cuts, but Borders management say that the Kobo eReader won’t be following suit, at least not on a permanent basis. Kobo eReader supply dramas Mooching around the Australian Booksellers Association Conference & Trade Exhibition shindig at the Brisbane Hilton yesterday, I ran into REDgroup Retail’s Group Communications Manager Malcolm Neil. Why do you care?...

As I re-read this recent NY Times article about Google's possible role in the ebook retailer world I started thinking more about how the whole marketplace could shake out. It's important to note that Google Editions is a program that's been talked about for a couple of years but still hasn't materialized. The latest rumor is it will launch very soon...pretty much the same rumor that's been around the last couple of years! Nevertheless, at some point I'm convinced Google will produce an ebook retailing platform and it's sure to have an impact on our industry. Google Editions...

WHICH KINDLE SOFTWARE VERSION IS THE ONE FOR YOUR KINDLE? No one outside Amazon knows, I imagine. But as long as you have Kindle software update v2.5.x (the "x" meaning any number), you can use the new Kindle features such as Collections, Pan & Zoom, Sending of highlighted passages to Facebook and/or Twitter, etc. The Amazon Kindle software-update files currently on their servers for download are all labeled v.2.5.2 within their long filenames and should be chosen for the Kindle model you have, which is explained there. See Intro and Guide to Software version v2.5.x for information on: 1. how to...