Dec 16 2011
Friday Midday Links: Amazon Sells 3 Million Kindles in 3 Weeks
In a move of smart and generous customer service, Harlequin is replacing everyone’s LIT and Mobi purchases with ePub copies. If you recall, earlier this year Harlequin announced that it was eliminating support for LIT/Mobi purchases. I had hoped that like Fictionwise, Harlequin would offer this switch out for customers and Harlequin did.
As of December 31, 2011, your purchases in the .LIT and .PRC formats will be switched over to Adobe EPUB format, wherever possible. The industry standard format for ebooks, Adobe EPUB ebooks are available for desktop and laptop computers as well as eReaders using Adobe Digital Editions.
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I saw that Carina Press has also raised royalties from 15% off the cover to 40% off the net. Source: Erotic Romance Publishers.
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I saw this link on Twitter and thought it was lovely holiday story:
At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers’ layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn’t afford, especially toys and children’s clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.
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A reader sent me this article about Debbie Macomber who attempted to quietly donate $500,000 to the Salvation Army but news of her good deeds have got out.
The millionaire author tried to make the $500,000 donation anonymously, and leaders at the Bremerton Salvation Army repeatedly refused to identify her as the donor. But Macomber ultimately confirmed her donation through her longtime publicist, Nancy Berland.
Source: Kitsap Sun
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The problem with eink readers has always been the lack of a backlight because a lot of people read in low light situations. Sony and Kindle have responded by creating covers with lights built in, but how about sheets of light pressed within the device itself? So long as it doesn’t degrade the quality of the eink screen (Sony once had a touchscreen overlay that affected the clarity of the eink but it also produced a device with lights on the side that flooded the screen).
Source: The Ebook Reader
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Amazon is notorious for not giving numbers about the sales of any of its products from Kindles to books, but it feels confident enough to release the news that for the third straight week, people have purchased over 1 million Kindle products:
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 15, 2011– (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced that Kindle devices remain the hottest products this holiday season – for the third week in a row, customers are purchasing well over 1 million Kindle devices per week, and Kindle Fire remains the #1 bestselling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 11 weeks ago. To learn more about the all-new Kindle family – the $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, $149 Kindle Touch 3G and the $199 Kindle Fire – visit www.amazon.com/kindle.
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No deals today.
Send to Kindle
Dec 16, 2011 @ 10:42:32
“Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.”
And my heart grew three sizes this day. Happy holidays to everyone. Now I’m off to go get Kleenex for usual December allergy attack – only logical explanation for tears in my eyes.
Dec 16, 2011 @ 11:17:31
Is this a deal? The Harlequin Advent Calendar is spotlighting a collection of seasonal stories as free ebook today:
http://ebooks.harlequin.com/ContentDetails.htm?ID=8D4D6394-BCF1-46A3-A58F-6685A2CE463C
And this book is free today at AllRomance:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-blackbutterfly-624866-149.html
Dec 16, 2011 @ 11:23:33
The Flex Lighting film sounds great, but, as far as I can tell, is not available for sale yet. Bummer.
Dec 16, 2011 @ 12:14:33
It’s so heartwarming to hear stories of people giving back. I’m sure the “Santa” lady has made many people’s Christmas that much nicer.
Dec 16, 2011 @ 12:34:39
Aw, I love the K-Mart story! That’s the true spirit of the holidays shining through.
Dec 16, 2011 @ 13:48:25
Got the email from Harlequin today saying they would replace my LIT copies when available. Thanks Harlequin!
I have a ton of books I purchased from Fictionwise in LIT that I can no longer download. But all I got from them is that format is no longer available, they never replaced/offered to replace the books with the ePub format for me.
Dec 16, 2011 @ 18:52:05
Thank you!!! I was about ready to cry since I bought LIT like..a bunch of times. I wish I could switch out all of my LIT ebooks but alas, that won’t be happening.
Dec 17, 2011 @ 04:03:13
I’m not sure if the increase in Kindle reader sales will actually translate into an increase in Kindle book sales. Frex, my sister just bought herself a new kindle, but authorized it to my account where I have something like 300+ books that she can read because she likes ‘porn and romance’ like I do. I bought my kid a Kindle recently too, but it’s just authorized to my account (he used to read his books on mine).
I was going to get my mum one, too, but they cranked the price of Big 6 books up by $5 overnight so she got in a big huff about Americans ripping us off like we were uneducated savages and refused to take one! Go mum! If she did get one, she would have mostly read my existing library and freebees on it. So, it’s currently 3 kindles authorized to one account, and I’ve no doubt it will be 4 once mum gets over her American Imperialism huff. I would love to know how many new Kindle sales = new Kindle accounts, and how many are just new screens on an existing account.
Dec 17, 2011 @ 04:18:58
I’m excited about the Flex Lighting. I would shell out for a new Sony if they offered that. Til then, I’m happy with my PRS-650.
Stumbling Over Chaos :: Linkity bells, linkity bells, linkity all the way…
Dec 23, 2011 @ 02:01:58
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