HTML5 STEPS CLOSER TO BAKED-IN DRM SUPPORT
The draft specification would apply to video, audio or interactive content marked with HTML5 media element tags. The specification defines an API that would provide access to content decryption modules (CDMs), part of DRM systems, when that media was… [read more]
Source: ZDNet

BREAKING NEWS! AMAZON LAUNCHES KINDLE LOVE STORIES PODCAST
I’m in love. LOVE, I tell you. Amazon Publishing today launches a weekly romance-novel-focused podcast. Kindle Love Stories includes author interviews, book recs, commentary from book reviewers and excerpts of new books. Listeners get to participate… [read more]
Source: USA TODAY

AMAZON JUST GAVE KINDLE FIRE USERS $5
A few months ago we wrote about Amazon’s new virtual currency for Kindle users called “coins” to purchase apps, games, and in-app items on the Kindle Fire. Today, Amazon announced that customers can now use Amazon Coins, and to celebrate the… [read more]
Source: Forbes

W3C PRESSES AHEAD WITH DRM INTERFACE IN HTML5
W3C logo On Friday, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published the first public draft of Encrypted Media Extensions (EME). EME enables content providers to integrate digital rights management (DRM) interfaces into HTML5-based media players… [read more]
Source: The H

AMAZON’S KINDLE SMARTPHONE IS COMING! IT’S 3D! WE’VE HEARD THIS BEFORE! BUT THIS TIME, IT’S TRUE
kindle fire unboxing The Wall Street Journal says that Amazon is building at least two smartphones, including a high-end model with 3D graphics and retina-tracking technology so that users can navigate content… [read more]
Source: VentureBeat

PUBLISHERS MUST GET THEIR APPS IN GEAR
“People are more comfortable reading magazine content on tablets,” Lynly Schambers-Lenox, Adobe’s group product marketing manager for digital publishing, said in a recent interview. “That’s not surprising, and we expect it to continue.” Publishers… [read more]
Source: MediaBizNet

MICROSOFT MULLING NOOK MEDIA LLC PURCHASE FOR $1 BILLION
Microsoft is offering to pay $1 billion to buy the digital assets of Nook Media LLC, the digital book and college book joint venture with Barnes & Noble and other investors, according to internal documents… [read more]
Source: TechCrunch

THE COVER THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND IBOOKSTORE SALES
It analyzes an 11-month chunk of Smashwords sales data covering over 120,000 books, and aggregated across multiple Smashwords retailers (Apple iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Diesel, Smashwords.com), to identify data-driven… [read more]
Source: mediabistro.com

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY BARNES & NOBLE — AND MAYBE A NOOK, TOO
Last week, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS ) made a seemingly small announcement that made a huge difference to its customers. The announcement was that the Nook will now allow access to the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) Play store. What it really means is… [read more]
Source: Motley Fool

$300M INVESTMENT IN NOOK DELIVERS NEXT TO NOTHING FOR MICROSOFT
On April 30, 2012, Microsoft and the bookseller announced a new co-owned subsidiary that included Barnes & Noble’s Nook business. Microsoft’s contribution was a $300 million investment, a relatively small amount for the Redmond, Wash. developer, which… [read more]
Source: Computerworld

NOOK PRESS UPGRADE ALLOWS YOU TO EDIT YOUR PUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
Nook Press was unveiled a few weeks ago and is the direct followup to their PUBIT, self-publishing program. When Nook Press was released the platform saw a backlash of authors lamenting they could not edit, or make changes to their eBooks once they… [read more]
Source: Good E-Reader (blog)

AMAZON KINDLE FIRE TO GO 10-INCH
Amazon is expected to bring out a bigger version of the Kindle Fire, as it gradually grows the size of its tablets. Amazon arguably started the small tablet fad when it launched the 7-inch Kindle Fire in November of 2011. And it followed that with… [read more]
Source: CNET (blog)

20% OF ALL US NEWSPAPERS ARE DIGITAL
Newspapers in the US are on the decline right now and the entire industry is seeing explosive growth via the digital offerings. The New York Times is the current poster child of implementing a solid paywall strategy and seeing the largest gains… [read more]
Source: Good E-Reader (blog)

THE FUTURE IS NO FUN: SELF-PUBLISHING IS THE WORST
I’ve written many books but only three have gotten published — the others are either somewhere under my bed or somewhere on my hard drive. “West of Babylon,” I felt, did not deserve that fate. So we decided I should self-publish the book in electronic… [read more]
Source: Salon

WHY HTML5 WILL BE THE FUTURE OF TV
As The Drum reported recently, YouTube took advantage of the technology to launch an HTML5-designed app on the platform. The advantage of HTML5 is a dramatically improved integration process, making deployment far quicker than traditional routes… [read more]
Source: The Drum

File Size: 342 KB
Print Length: 146 Pages
Publisher: Rain and Sun Press
Publication Date: November 15, 2012
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

Book Summary:

A new YA fantasy from award-winning author of SCARS and HUNTED Cheryl Rainfield.

Visions can kill you. Would you risk your life to save someone else’s?

Kate sees psychic visions of the future and the past—but only when she’s having an asthma attack. When she “sees” her sister being beaten, she needs more visions to try to save her, along with a suicidal classmate—but triggering her asthma could kill her. Parallel Visions is the story of one brave, caring girl whose unusual gifts put her own life in danger.

About the Author:

Cheryl Rainfield is the author of the award-winning SCARS, a novel about a queer teen sexual abuse survivor who uses self-harm to cope; the award-winning HUNTED, a novel about a teen telepath in a world where any paranormal power is illegal; and the forthcoming STAINED, about a teen who is abducted and must rescue herself. Cheryl Rainfield is an incest and ritual abuse survivor, a feminist, and an avid reader and writer. She lives in Toronto with her little dog Petal.

Cheryl Rainfield has been said to write with “great empathy and compassion” (VOYA) and to write stories that “can, perhaps, save a life.” (CM Magazine) SLJ said of her work: “[readers] will be on the edge of their seats.”

For more information about the author go to: http://www.cherylrainfield.com

Book Review:

Parallel Visions by Cheryl Rainfield is a well written novel built on an important adolescent premise that is easily read in a day despite its sobering subject matter. Teenage Kate suffers from severe asthma which not only causes paralyzing fear, but also results in terrifying psychic visions. Her visions focus on friends and loved ones who are in imminent danger. Kate’s instincts immediately propel her to warn, help, and aid those she sees. The problem—Kate doesn’t know if the visions are past, present, or future.

Kate is tired of being the “sick kid.” The fact that she possesses a form of psychic visions furthers her feelings of isolation, particularly since her family doesn’t believe her whenever she’s tried to broach the subject.

Things begin to change for Kate when she forces herself to confide in a schoolmate and prospective love interest, Gil. Gil is a firsthand witness to one of Kate’s frightening asthma attacks after which he accompanies her to the school nurse. It is during this attack that Kate sees a vision of a teenage girl who is seriously contemplating suicide.

She accurately surmises this mystery girl to be connected to Gil—his sister, Inez, who was gang raped for being openly queer. Kate not only feels compelled to share this information with Gil despite the obvious risk of being ostracized, but gradually comes to realize the responsibility she now must own despite the unwanted gift.

Interspersed between the visions of Inez’s dilemma, Kate’s own sister, Jenna, is in dire circumstances as the victim of domestic violence at the hand of her controlling, possessive husband, Mason. Jenna’s abuse becomes Kate’s central focus as she attempts to warn her sister and seek assistance from her reluctant parents. It’s not that Kate’s parents don’t have misgiving about their son-in-law, but they can’t quite come to terms with the manner of Kate’s infused knowledge.

Similarly, Kate’s efforts to reach out to her sister are not only rebuffed, but eventually Jenna demands that Kate leave them alone as she is only making matters worse in the volatile marriage. Each attempt she makes to intercede on Jenna’s behalf seems to trigger another asthma attack, bringing her more urgent information even at the risk of her own life.

Gil is surprisingly accepting and appreciative of Kate’s efforts on behalf of his sister—a first for Kate. He quickly becomes her best ally in their joint effort to help their sisters; he also becomes her protector as Kate begins to subject herself to great personal danger by instigating her own asthma attacks in a misguided effort to save her sister.

We appreciate the author not overplaying the psychic aspect of the storyline. Instead, Rainfield treats Kate’s visions as just another quality that makes her different or special in her own way. It’s just part of who she is, and the more she comes to acknowledge and accept this part of herself, the less fear and anxiety surround it.

The author has excellent descriptive skills—don’t be surprised if you find yourself gasping for air during key scenes. There are a lot of writers who associate themselves with the ever-popular young adult genre merely because they have a young protagonist. However, context and subject matter are essential to a good young adult book experience, and Rainfield makes all the right points in all the right ways with interesting and well- developed teenage characters and good supporting adult characters.

At its core, this book is about acceptance—not despite our differences, but because of our differences which bind us together in meaningful ways. We highly recommend this thoughtful and insightful story for teens and parents alike. It’s not easy being a teenager or a parent raising teens, but books like Parallel Visions are great teachers of how better to support and communicate with those we care about and love as we face some of life’s greatest challenges both physically and emotionally.

This book was reviewed as part of the Wise Bear Digital Book Awards competition. Entry fees associated with the contest are administrative in nature and do not influence our honest, unbiased book reviews.

BARNES & NOBLE DEBUTS ‘TWO-FOR-ONE’ E-BOOK WEEKENDS
And its Nook e-reader device can’t seem to deliver a fatal blow to either Amazon’s popular Kindle or Apple’s dominant iPad. … All this has me scratching my head and wondering: what is Barnes & Noble’s true goal with such a promotion? Does the… [read more]
Source: ZDNet (blog)

HOW MANY COPIES MAKE A SELF-PUBLISHED BESTSELLER?
GalleyCat readers constantly ask us: how many copies does it take to get on the Self Published Bestsellers List? This is not an easy question to answer since all the major marketplaces for indie books carefully guard their sales figures… [read more]
Source: mediabistro.com

INGRAM CEO: BARNES & NOBLE SHOULD SPLIT, MICROSOFT SHOULD BUY NOOK
Ailing bookseller Barnes & Noble should split into two businesses — the Nook digital business and the retail store locations — and Microsoft should buy the Nook business, said Ingram Content Group chairman and CEO John Ingram, speaking candidly at… [read more]
Source: Digital Book World

AUTHORS SUE SELF-PUBLISHING SERVICE AUTHOR SOLUTIONS
Three authors have filed suit against self-publishing service provider Author Solutions, and its parent company Penguin, airing a laundry list of complaints and alleging the company is not a publisher so much as a “vanity press.” The complaint reads… [read more]
Source: Publishers Weekly

WHEN THE SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS TAKE OVER WHAT WILL PUBLISHERS DO?
In the first four months of the year, we’ve had four weeks where a self-published title was a No. 1 ebook best-seller. Last week, both the Nos. 1 and 2 spots were self-published ebooks. This week’s best-seller list brings fresh challenges to the… [read more]
Source: Forbes

NATIVE VS. HTML5: WHY COMPANIES NEED TO STOP TREADING MOBILE LIKE AN EPISODE OF MAD MEN
Amongst brands, marketers and developers, one of the most important and opinionated sub-plots has been about how to best develop those applications -HTML5, native or a combination of both. On the one hand, many are advocating the use of HTML5 as a… [read more]
Source: Huffington Post (blog)

TREAT HTML5 APPS AS A PROGRAMMING PLATFORM, NOT A WEB PAGE
Sencha provides tools for buildings Web applications to run on a variety of devices, including tablets, mobile phones, and laptops with touchscreens. Focused on HTML5, Sencha’s products include its Sencha Touch mobile application development framework… [read more]
Source: InfoWorld

DEBUNKING THE HTML5 DRM MYTHS
Kyre sez, “The Free Culture Foundation has posted a thorough response to the most common and misinformed defenses of the W3C’s Extended Media Extensions (EME) proposal to inject DRM into HTML5. They join the EFF and FSF in a call to send a strong… [read more]
Source: Boing Boing

AMAZON KINDLE LENDING LIBRARY SURPASSES 300,000 TITLES
The Amazon Kindle Lending Library has just surpassed 300,000 titles, according to the companies Q1 Financial Report. The service is an integral part of Amazon Prime, which allows users to borrow one eBook a month for free. The Amazon Lending Library… [read more]
Source: Good E-Reader (blog)

File Size: 320 KB
Print Length: 122 Pages
Publisher: Silversmith Book Club
Publication Date: September 10, 2012
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

Book Summary:

Suppose the casual conversation you’re having with this stranger is actually a job interview; and suppose you’re unknowingly interviewing for a job to fly half-way round the world to stop a madman. Would you have what it takes to be a Random?

The Organization has done the research, but Cam has the final say on who will be his five Randoms. Billy is the honest simpleton; every job needs the new guy. Manford is the Navy vet; life always deals him bad cards. Sarah is more than just eye candy; her street smart survival skills could mean the survival of the team. The Professor’s job is easy; analyze the data and get inside a madman’s head. Tom is the unwitting inside man; he’s the eyes and ears of the team, as long as he stays alive.

But which one is the Chameleon?

They all have to learn fast and think quick, because their rewards in life—and their lives—depend on it.

Join the Randoms in this new action adventure that takes them from Nowhere, USA, to a small tropical island where they find ancient secrets, defiant locals, and rogue military officers. Sometimes, the adventure is in the journey and the destination.

E.J. Silverman

About the Authors:

Eric Silverman is a defense contractor and project manager by day, and novelist and blogger by night. Because of his day job, he and his wife Sue, daughter Shyan, and son Cody relocated from Kansas, to Alabama, to New Mexico in all of three years. During these dynamic times Eric’s two constants were his family and his writing. The latter was has always been more of a hobby, until early 2012 when he focused on one writing project, a book; which was SILVERSMITH BOOK CLUB’s first publication: The Chameleon.

Gary R. Smith was raised during the Space Race and the Cold War. He was fascinated by the daily barrage of who was ahead of whom in technology, and in what beneficial or nefarious manner they were using that technology. Science fiction and technology were his youthful passions, fueled by his father’s passions of science and math. Many a happy hour was spent together watching some TV science program, or working through a math-logic puzzle. Gary also inherited his father’s sense of humor, although taking it to sardonic and sarcastic levels was all Gary’s doing – pretty much.

Words and writing come from Mom, who often comments how much she enjoyed English and Literature in high-school. Gary did well on English tests primarily by selecting the answer that, “sounded like how Mom would say it.” Being able to write well was as much a requirement of Gary’s childhood as good manners and cleaning his plate.

G.R. Smith

Although most of Gary’s early writings were technical, whether in school or industry, the desire to tackle some creative writing was always there. There were a few creative writing classes, such as the adult-ed class where he won the praise of the instructor for a creative piece about getting a tad drunk in a gourmet cooking class and flipping crepes, using only the well-buttered crepe pan, to impress the mostly female class; and some self-taught attempts, culminating in his highest writing award, a coveted Dishonorable Mention in Science Fiction in the 2007 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. All other attempts pale in comparison.

The Chameleon is Gary’s first true attempt of a writing of such magnitude. It has been and continues to be great fun. It shall not be the last.

For more information about the author go to: http://www.silversmithbookclub.us

Book Review:

The Chameleon, Part of the Randoms Act Series by E.J. Silverman and G.R. Smith begins with an ambiguous yet enticing premise. A team of strangers is being assembled for an unknown activity which feels criminal in nature, but we don’t have any solid information to be sure. It takes more than a few chapters to finally realize where the plot is headed, but this isn’t problematic because the characters as a group are well developed with wonderful quirks and imperfections.

The plot starts with an undefined financial opportunity offered by Cam, the group’s leader, to a crew of seemingly random individuals who he enlists in a mysterious clandestine operation. We come to know each member of the newly formed team as Cam expertly identifies, profiles, and sells them on the prospect of future financial wealth without any concrete proof of his promise to them.

Billy is the loyal simpleton of the group who will do whatever Cam tells him. Manfred is the wild card—verbally inappropriate with anger management issues churning below his ambivalent veneer. Sarah is the young, cute, but streetwise hooker without much mileage on her. The Professor is an online college instructor who is the sometimes annoying, but mostly likable, know-it-all of the team. As testament to the strength of each character, we didn’t have a favorite. In fact, we thought each team member had their own unique scene stealing moments.

Billy, Manfred, the Professor, and Sarah jump at the chance to be part of something life changing, as their current prospects range from mundane to bleak. This team shouldn’t work well together, but their personalities gel in a believable way. At a moment’s notice and with no preparation, Cam’s newly formed gang of misfits feels like a poor man’s version of an Ocean’s 11 type organizatin. There is shared humor, concern, and ultimately a bond that forms in a short period of time between literal strangers.

Ironically, it’s the book’s protagonist, Cam, who is more one-dimensional in his role. He is a man on a mission. We just don’t know if his objective is for good or evil. Who he is, what he does, and why are all reasonable questions, but his core motivations as a character are not revealed till much later in the book. What drives him with all of the secretive qualities he displays is the essence of the novel’s mystery.

The Chameleon is a rare breed of book that excels equally in terms of both plot and characters. You want to know more about these individuals from the moment they meet and embark on their subsequent road trip to an unknown destination and goal.

The story takes an unexpected turn and morphs into a military/spy drama with some quasi-paranormal elements about a third of the way through the novel, and we begin to understand the team’s purpose—kind of. Like any good spy thriller, the mission has its fair share of unforeseen obstacles, which require some quick adjustments by all the team members.

Readers will think they are reading one type of book, but eventually come to realize they are in the midst of something quite different. Don’t worry though, because once you come to know the characters, the action kicks in and The Chameleon takes on a completely different energy—you’ll want to plow through to learn the clever and satisfying conclusion.

We don’t want to give anything away because discovering the main objective of the mission is half the fun, but Cam and his team find themselves in a paramilitary fantasy of sorts and are faced with unanticipated challenges, including rogue military officers and secret ancient societies. The authors do a great job of providing the right amount of technical specificity to inform readers without overwhelming us in an overly detailed Tom Clancy type fashion.

The task of writing a book is hard enough with one imagination driving the storyline, but the fact that two writers managed to blend their styles and ideas into one fluid project is an outstanding achievement. We’re not sure how they separated the work load, but there are no detectable shifts in tone or writing style which could’ve easily hampered the reading experience.

Our main critical observation stems from the book’s somewhat graphically segmented cover. The images are too disconnected from each other and the typography is not worthy of the underlying content. The Chameleon is a great novel that could get overlooked because of a less-than-stellar visual representation of its writing quality.

It’s also important to mention that The Chameleon is not just for men. We highly recommend this book to all book lovers who enjoy character-driven novels with an action-packed plot. We could easily see this story transformed visually for television or as a movie as it strikes the right balance between cast, story, and adventure.

This book was reviewed as part of the Wise Bear Digital Book Awards competition. Entry fees associated with the contest are administrative in nature and do not influence our honest, unbiased book reviews.

File Size: 509 KB
Print Length: 322 Pages
Publisher: Assent Publishing
Publication Date: April 25, 2013
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

Book Summary:

Commander Celia Kelly is a perceptive Naval Intelligence Officer rebuilding her life after the tragic loss of her husband. Newly assigned a mission planning Intel for a SEAL Team…The suspicious suicide of a fellow Officer has Kelly questioning everything.

With the help of a one of a kind secretary, by the book assistant, and a Navy SEAL, Kelly discovers she’s been set up. Digging relentlessly, nothing is as it seems. Someone is after twenty million dollars that disappeared when Kelly’s husband went MIA and now that someone is after her!

With surprises at the turn of every page, the original characters and three dimensional plot lines keep the suspense going until the very end.

About the Author:

CN Bring gravitated toward military intrigue and suspense coming from a family whose members served in the Army and continues with relatives still serving. She earned her Associates Degree in Criminal Investigation for Private Investigation. Bring also worked as a Dispatcher for the LPD in Livingston, Montana where she currently resides. Her extensive research and life experience lend an authentic feel to both her Celia Kelly Series (Military/Mystery/Thriller), as well as the Jack Sleuth Series (Crime/Mystery) for youth.

For more information about the author go to: http://www.cnbring.org

Book Review:

The Pact is a classic military drama with a twist. The book’s protagonist, Commander Celia Kelly, is a female Naval Intelligence Officer assigned to the biggest mission of her career. Unfortunately, the new assignment also means taking over from her best friend, Commander Frank Scott, without explanation and under dubious circumstances.

It’s rare to find a feminine point of view within the military genre—even rarer to find a female protagonist who isn’t a caricature of a woman trying to fit into a man’s world. Celia is not only likable, you immediately feel respect for her as the leader of her team. She resonates a quiet strength—she has nothing to prove. She is honest, intelligent and attractive without it being a distraction to the main plot. In short, Commander Kelly is a good person who lives by the golden rule; but don’t mistake her kindness for weakness, because she’s as tough and brave as any Navy Seal.

The story gets off to a quick start and moves at a fast pace with plenty of intrigue and danger throughout. An unexplained death, a cryptic note, a mysterious picture and an underground military organization in search of $20 million sets the stage for the first book in this Celia Kelly mystery thriller series.

The cast of characters is extensive, but each plays a vital role in the story’s development and resolution. Commander Kelly is bookended by two other strong female supporting characters. Gwen Sherwood is Celia’s sarcastic long-term civilian secretary, who is loyal to a fault and the biggest scene stealer of the novel. On the other end of the spectrum is straight-laced, by-the-book Lt. Commander Georgie Round, who is assigned by the higher-ups to assist Commander Kelly in her new assignment.

The rest of Commander Kelly’s co-workers are comprised of seemingly über macho Navy Seals, who are surprisingly in balance with the feminine/masculine dynamic of their team. It would have been easy for the author to have conjured up a simplistic challenge of the sexes rivalry; instead, she focuses on the commitment and efficiency within the group—a much stronger, more thoughtful message. And while there are elements of who on the team can and can’t be trusted, this type of uncertainty and suspicion aids in the intrigue of the novel.

Another important element of the story comes from the unresolved issues surrounding her missing and presumed-dead husband, Tom. Somehow his alleged death is tied to this corrupt rogue military group known as “the pact” which places a large target squarely on Celia. This isn’t just a mission anymore—her life depends on solving the mystery. Each new detail unearthed gives Commander Kelly hope of discovering her husband’s whereabouts, or at least information concerning his demise, but also puts her in greater danger.

Mysteries have an innate formulaic quality which tends to draw readers back for more because they like the protagonist and/or supporting characters. The Pact is the type of novel that satisfies and succeeds because it’s not trying to be anything it’s not. Yes, there are some good plot twists in the book, but at its core, this is a good character-driven novel.

This book was reviewed as part of the Wise Bear Digital Book Awards competition. Entry fees associated with the contest are administrative in nature and do not influence our honest, unbiased book reviews.

THE SELF-PUBLISHING ERA CREATES QUANDARY FOR BRANDS
Being a self-publisher means you are a content producer and distributor. That content, in turn, must appeal to the audience you are serving. It’s not just enough to post photos of your product and tell your Facebook Facebook followers how amazing you… [read more]
Source: Forbes

A LITTLE COMPETITION FOR SMASHWORDS?
When the free ebook distribution platform Smashwords was created, critics claimed that it was nothing more than a portal for lousy ebooks to flood the market while supporters countered that it was the first genuine concept in stripping away… [read more]
Source: Good E-Reader

WHICH PUBLISHERS ARE THE BEST AT SELLING E-BOOKS IN 2013?
Everyone knows self-publishing is growing by leaps and bounds, but who can say how well self-published authors in aggregate are doing against the big publishing houses? To answer these questions, we at Digital Book World created Ebook Publisher… [read more]
Source: Forbes

HERE COMES AMAZON’S KINDLE TV SET-TOP BOX
Amazon (AMZN) is making e-readers and tablets and will likely soon introduce a smartphone. As it works to build all types of connected devices, that leaves a natural next step: a television set-top box. The e-commerce giant is planning to introduce a… [read more]
Source: Businessweek

SELF-PUBLISHING IS FOR CONTROL FREAKS
Holly Ward is the third self-published author to hit No. 1 on the DBW Ebook Best-Seller list in 2013, an incredible achievement considering that her title, Damaged, is up against big books from major publishers and established authors… [read more]
Source: Forbes

WHERE THE OPPORTUNITIES LIE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING
The digitization of our world seems to be inevitable, but there is more than the actual platform of books that is changing in the publishing world. You might hear that e-Reader + tablet sales have increased tremendously since their induction to the… [read more]
Source: Business 2 Community

5 KEY LESSONS FOR AUTHORS AND SELF-PUBLISHERS FROM NEIL GAIMAN
Neil Gaiman, one of the world’s most beloved authors, gave the keynote speech at last week’s Digital Minds Conference and although his audience was primarily made up of book industry executives, his talk was just as relevant to authors and self-publishers… [read more]
Source: Forbes

SECRET TO SELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESS: WRITE FOR YOUNG ADULTS
I admit that I haven’t done much research on this subject, but intuitively something tells me that self-published authors whose works are targeted toward readers who are young adults do much better marketing their books than self- published authors… [read more]
Source: Huffington Post

DID AMAZON OUTSMART APPLE ON THIS DEAL?
Apple was apparently interested in the possibility of integrating Goodreads’ book rating and recommendation features into Apple’s iBookstore. Goodreads was interested in having its user generated reviews and ratings appear in iTunes, similar to the way… [read more]
Source: Wall St. Cheat Sheet

WHEN DAVID SELF-PUBLISHES, WILL OTHER AUTHORS FOLLOW?
It makes sense that bigger names would eventually be tempted into the efficiencies that self-publishing offers. There are no mega $3.5 million advances like the kind Girls creator Lena Dunham got for her memoir… [read more]
Source: Upstart (blog)