Digital Magazine Advertising to hit 3.8 billion by 2017 (Good e-Reader) Magazine companies have been one of the most successful segments of publishing to take advantage of the digital space. Very early on they have been able to leverage their strong brands across a wide spectrum, including paywalls, dedicated apps, and inclusion into Zinio. Advertisers are increasingly spending more money on digital properties, and by 2017 analysts expect almost 3.8 billion dollars will be spent. --- Don't Make a Costly Mistake: Know Apple's In-App Purchasing Rules (GigaOM) Did you know that you can lose points, virtual weapons, virtual currencies and other items you’ve bought...

From The Digital Shift comes the intriguing news that Google's app store is launching an education portal in a bid to gain traction in the schools. With Google Play for Education, coming this fall, schools will be able to purchase educational apps using money orders and other alternative methods, to push them to Nexus tablets in bulk to all devices, groupings of them, or to individual devices. They can also select from curated app lists to easily find content that interests them. At launch, the program will only work on Nexus tablets. That may change in the future. Speaking personally as an educator,...

Have you been following the story of Xbox LIVE, the latest-generation video game console from Microsoft? If you have any interest in media, content creation, and the new digital economy, you should be. Here's why: it allegedly comes with some of the most onerous DRM I've ever heard of. This article from GigaOM explains some of the restrictions Microsoft has built in: • It automatically makes a cloud copy of every game you play—allegedly for your convenience so you can play without the disk, but additionally because the 'always on' Xbox will phone home to Microsoft every day to verify that you...

Why Google Reader Really Got the Ax (Wired) When Google announced its plans to shutter Google Reader in March, the Internet freaked out. Twitter users raised their virtual pitchforks in outrage. Bloggers wept, scrambling to find a suitable replacement by the service’s July 1 death date. --- LaMP Teaches You a Foreign Language Via Movie and YouTube Subtitles (Lifehacker) LaMP, or Lingual Media Player, is a neat program for learning a new language through watching videos—one of the best ways to become more efficient in a foreign language. --- How Best-Selling Authors Use Email to Connect With Readers (GalleyCat) At BookExpo America last week, Copyright Clearance Center business development...

To See the Value of Social Media, Watch What Happened in Turkey When Local Media Failed (Paid Content) Social media and tools like Twitter have come under fire during real-time news events because critics say they spread misinformation — but in places like Istanbul they can be a lifeline when the traditional media is ineffective. --- Happy Birthday, Richard Scarry! (GalleyCat) Happy Birthday Richard Scarry! To celebrate the famous kid’s author’s 94th birthday today, we’ve rounded up our favorite Scarry links below… --- Penguin's David Shanks Testifies at Apple Trial (Publisher's Weekly) The second day of the Apple e-book price-fixing trial continued with the government’s continued focus on Apple...

Paywalls Being Considered by Thousands of Newspapers (Good e-Reader) The essence of a paywall is giving 5-10 online articles away a month, for free, and then prompting them to subscribe digitally to read more. Thousands of Newspapers are evaluating buying into this new subscription model at the World Newspaper Congress in Bangkok. --- DC Says Readers are Downloading 1 Million Comics Every Month (TechCrunch) DC Entertainment is announcing two new technologies today that should give readers more opportunity to interact with their digital comics. The company is also sharing some numbers about the growth that it’s seeing on the digital side. --- PwC: The US Consumer eBook Market...

I had a fascinating conversation today with an aspiring self-publisher. I accompanied my kindergarten classes on a field trip to a conservation area, and during the lunch break I was chatting with our tour guide, who happens to be an aspiring author. He took the guide job because he loves working with kids, and the flexible hours gave him time to work on his creative projects. Turns out he's writing a book. He told me enough about what he's done already to demonstrate that he's actually done his research, which was refreshing. He knows the marketplace, knows what niche his book...

In this era of cloud-everything, Michael Geist reports on a hugely important story for Canadians—the CRTC, the regulatory body that deals with telecommunications issues, has released a new 'Consumer Wireless Code' that addresses a number of consumer complaints about cell phones. Significantly, it effectively eliminates onerous three-year contracts by phasing out the cancellation fee for customers whose contract has lasted a minimum of two years. The new rules also put limits on fees for cell phone roaming and data overages, and require carriers to permit unlocking of any paid-for phone. From the article: "The issue of contract length was the top issue raised by...

Do Publishers Need a Bigger Boat? (Futurebook) If HarperCollins does merge with Simon & Schuster will that be good news for writers? Or, for that matter, readers? --- Penguin & Random House Merger to Complete in July (Good e-Reader) Penguin and Random House have cleared the last hurdle with their proposed merger with China giving their blessing today. These two companies will officially join forces in July and will account for 1/4 of all books to be published globally. --- What Newspapers Need to Learn from the Disruption in the Auto Industry (paidContent) Newspaper companies might not want to think of their business as being similar to...

Self-Publishing Has Become a Cult (Salon) What’s funny is, the adherents would have you believe that once you self-publish, the scales will fall from your eyes and you’ll recognize self-publishing as the One True Path. Traditional publishing will reveal itself to be a lost circle of Dante Alighieri’s Hell, full of damaged souls who want to enrich themselves off your work while destroying every shred of your creativity. I call shenanigans. --- Digital Magazine Usage Growing Via Tablet Users (Good e-Reader) Digital Magazine usage is growing with people who have adopted tablets into their lifestyle. Recently a survey polled 1,293 people on how they have...

It's been a busy month for me—school is winding down, so I had class plays, field trips, report cards and other wrap-ups to do. I haven't read much, but I have been stockpiling for the summer, when I'll have some time off. I seem to be in a series mood these days... 1. Blake Crouch | I picked up a few Blake Crouch books on sale. I found him through Konrath, and liked the first one I read. I had a chance to snatch up some others, and did so. 2. Diane Duane | I bought Diane Duane's Wizards series awhile ago but haven't...

A History of Intellectual Property in the United States (Scholarly Kitchen) The history of patents, trademarks, and copyrights in the United States may not seem to be the most interesting topic in the world, but my favorite history podcast, BackStory with the American History Guys, manages to make it compelling on many levels. --- Simon & Schuster Opens New Publishing Division in Canada (Good e-Reader) Simon & Schuster has a print and distribution center in Canada, that sends print and eBooks to the various stores and retail chains. In the past, if you were a Canadian author you actually had to publish with S&S...