Mar 29 2011
REVIEW: The Widowed Bride by Elizabeth Lane
Dear Ms. Lane, Harlequin Historicals will still occasionally branch out beyond Regencies and I’ve come to look for your books to be among those branchees. I’d started reading in this series two years ago with “The Borrowed Bride,” but will be honest and say that I’d lost touch with it since then. Now, a few(…)
Mar 20 2011
What is the right price of a book, print or digital, part one.
Pricing of books is a very important topic, both to readers and authors. With the rise of self publishing, finding the right price for a book falls heavily on the shoulders of the author. There is much discussion about the right price of books. Stephanie Laurens blog seems heavily devoted to exploring the topic of(…)
Mar 6 2011
The Comeback of the Backlist
I started reading romances in the mid 1980s, cutting my teeth on books written by Judith McNaught, Catherine Coulter and Jude Deveraux. I’ve haunted used bookstores for backlist titles to fill out my collections because once I glom an author, I just have to have every book out there. With right returning to authors, backlists(…)
Feb 28 2011
EBOOK ALERT: Random House Instituting Agency Pricing as of March 1
Update: I took some screenshots of prices last night to see how the new Agency prices would compare. Random House’s digital book prices appear to be equal for mass market, $9.99 for trades, and varying prices for hardcovers. As of March 1, 2011, Random House will move from its existing retail relationship to Agency(…)
Feb 27 2011
Reading with Android: Sony
Sony has at long last followed Amazon, B&N, Borders and Kobo and released a reading app for the Android platform. Was it worth the wait? Upon opening the app you are presented with the >>˜Home’ screen. At the top of the screen you’ll see your most recently opened book. Below that is >>˜Books’ which(…)
Feb 22 2011
Authors, Readers and Discoverability in the new age of publishing
We are now in a period of disintermediation which essentially means the number of entities in the supply chain between the content creator and the customer have been reduced. The reason for this is because the supply channel has become incredibly efficient and cost effective. If you can type up a book in Word, you(…)
Feb 14 2011
Share your thoughts on ereader hardware, software, and purchasing
Sarah Wendell and I were invited to give a presentation this week at Tools of Change on the end user experience of ereaders. We want to share your thoughts so please leave a comment on what you think of ereader hardware, software, and the purchasing environment. What you like. What you don’t like. What you(…)
Feb 13 2011
Reading with Android: Aldiko 2
Aldiko has long been a favorite among Android users, now the developers have taken things a step further by adding support for Adobe DRM’d ePubs and PDFs. Not only can you sideload books using “regular” Adobe ID based DRM from sellers such as Books On Board, Diesel, Kobo and Sony, but you can also sideload(…)
Feb 6 2011
Best Mobile Reading Apps
Last week I gave a round up of the reading apps for desktop systems but many of the readers use mobile devices to read and with the upcoming sale of the iPhone for Verizon and the numerous Android smartphones and tablets that are either for sale or hitting the market, mobile apps are becoming increasingly(…)
Jan 30 2011
Dear Jane: What eBook Reading Apps Should I Use on the Laptop?
Dear Jane: I was wondering if it would be possible for you to do a write up about what devices can download from each of these companies and what apps you would need to use. I know that on the Borders site they ask you to download the free Borders eBook app but I’m not(…)
Jan 23 2011
The value of ownership and ebooks
Last week we determined that ebook pricing was not based on the cost of ebooks, but rather the most that publishers thought readers would pay for ebooks in this market. What some argue is that with lower pricing there would be more purchases and thereby making up for loss of margin through volume of sales.(…)
Jan 16 2011
Why do ebooks cost so much?
Dear Jane: Hi, I was wondering if y’all might know if any of the big publishers (Putnam in particular) have some sort of ebook deal with Amazon and B&N to exclude some of the smaller ebook retailers out there? I don’t remember you mentioning anything like this in your blog before. The reason I ask(…)
Jan 9 2011
10 Tips for Your New eBook Reader
So you’ve got your new ebook reader. Now what? Here are ten tips I use with my eReaders, some lessons learned through painful experience: 1. Get a case or a screen protector. ($30 – $60) I admit I’m a clumsy person. I’ve dropped every electronic item in my possession at one point or another. I(…)
Jan 4 2011
REVIEW: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Dear Mrs. Simonson, This may be your first published book but wow, just wow. I am in love with it and want to go around telling all my friends, my coworkers, total strangers on the street, almost everyone about it. I haven’t read too many A grade books this year but the wait for another(…)
Jan 4 2011
Digital Lending: How it works and who allows it
Kindle launched digital lending this last week. Note: I had both the nook and Kindle lending terms wrong so this post has been corrected to reflect the accurate terms Kindle 14 day lending period. The recipient has 7 days to accept the borrowed book and the 14 day lending period begins upon the acceptance. You(…)
Jan 2 2011
How Do I Add Books to the iPad, iPhone, and iTouch
Adding books to the iPad, iPhone or iTouch (hereinafter collectively referred to as iThing) is done via a process called sideloading. You must use iTunes. Step 1. Connect your iThing to the computer using the USB cord. Step 2. Open iTunes. iTunes may open automatically when you connect your device depending on your settings. Step(…)
Dec 30 2010
REVIEW: The Billionaire’s Handler by Jennifer Greene
“A whopping multi-million-dollar inheritance should have been Carolina Daniels’s dream come true. Instead, the money brought nothing but vultures looking for their share of the wealth. Fortunately for her, the generous gift also came with a rescuer: sexy billionaire Maguire Cochran. Instinct told Maguire that the generous inheritance his father had given Carolina for saving(…)
Dec 28 2010
REVIEW: The Nobleman and the Spy by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon
Dear Ms. Dee and Ms. Devon: This was a December Recommended Read for me. I enjoyed the characters, I liked the plot, I liked the historical feel. Just in general this was a good solid historical romance. The year is 1866. Jonathan Reese is a spy, a former soldier who didn’t know how to re-enter(…)
Dec 28 2010
REVIEW: The Silver Locket by Margaret James
“If life is cheap, how much is love worth? It’s 1914 and young Rose Courtenay has a decision to make. Please her wealthy parents by marrying the man of their choice – or play her part in the war effort? The chance to escape proves irresistible and Rose becomes a nurse. Working in France, she(…)
Dec 26 2010
How Do I Use My New Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony, or iPad?
I spent the last week fielding questions from my family members about how to use their new devices. I thought that there might be several people out there who previously were uninterested in ereading posts that might need a refresher course. 1. How expensive are the books? Generally speaking the price of books are equal(…)
Recent Comments