Jul 19 2011
Tuesday Midday Links: Scribd Launches New Reading App with Dear Author Featured
One of the things I did at RWA was meet with industry people. Okay that’s all I did but I actually got something accomplished besides doing interviews. I met with Anne Watters Westpheling from Scribd and she shared with me their new App. It’s called Float and it’s designed to bring together your social media platforms like facebook, twitter, blogs, and other reading content into one unified place.
Many publishers have signed with them to allow 20% previews of the upcoming releases and those will be available through the app as well. They asked if we wanted to be included and I agreed. There is no money exchanged and basically what it does is reformat the RSS feed of Dear Author into a more pleasing platform. It’s a really nice way to read it. If you want to comment, you’ll have to click on the DA link to come to the site itself, but because you can save posts and because of the nice way that it is formatted to work with your device, it’s probably a more pleasurable reading experience. The iOS app should be available at the end of July and the Android App is due out in October. Let me know if you enjoy it.
Here’s some photos:
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There was no bidder for Borders and thus it plans to liquidate. What’s horrible about this isn’t the closing of the stores, but the lay off of over 11,000 employees. The executives appear to be getting some severance plans but there is no word on how Borders and the bankruptcy court will help these employees gain new employment.
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Publisher’s Weekly has an article about a new company called Book Lamp which is in beta testing right now. Book Lamp is a recommendation engine that is based on the content and writing style of the author:
The Da Vinci Code, for instance, contains 18.6% Religion and Religious Institutions, 9.4% Police & Murder Investigation, 8.2% Art and Art Galleries, and 6.7% Secret Societies & Communities (among others), according to BookLamp’s engine. The program also catalogs things like denseness and length, all of which allow it to take someone’s favorite book and recommend others like it.
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Sarah from SmartBitches tweeted a fascinating Q&A John Meyer did at Berklee. As one commenter said “Even though I don’t go to Berklee and am not a music major in any way this is an amazing piece.”
It is. It’s an article I’ve bookmarked because there are so many really wonderful things to ponder in the article. Mayer talks about always trying to better oneself and putting down other artist’s works. He spoke about inspiration and allowing yourself to write bad content. This Q&A could spawn a hundred thoughtful blog posts in a dozen different fields. It truly is inspirational.
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Jul 19, 2011 @ 11:30:38
John Mayer is incredibly articulate. I absolutely agree with what he says here, on all counts. It’s my own experience and, in the case of writing songs vs. Twitter etc., why I’ve stopped blogging and have avoided Twitter. (That doesn’t mean I’m judging people who do those things, just how it works for me! I have deep admiration for those who can do it all.)
On that note, I have been breaking my own no-internet-from-9-t0-5 rule by being here, so no more excuses. :) I am off! Thanks for the post, though, and sharing that great piece.
Jul 19, 2011 @ 12:43:50
I knew a number of people employed at Circuit City, and based on that experience I suspect the Borders employees will get little to no assistance finding new jobs. It’s very unlikely they’ll be working for another bookseller, and retail is very soft right now in most parts of the country.
Jul 19, 2011 @ 13:34:15
Our local Borders is a great place. Friendly and helpful staff who are interested in what I’m reading/buying. Several local groups meet there, and the coffee corner is always busy with an interesting mix of people stopping in to use the WI-Fi. Even though I read a lot less in print these days, I love to stop by there to browse and enjoy the atmosphere. They had, until recently, the largest genre fiction selection of any store in the county, particularly science-fiction/fantasy and romance. I will miss it, as will many others, and my heart hurts for the employees who obviously enjoyed working there.
Jul 19, 2011 @ 17:33:37
RIP Borders this is one customer who will truly miss you.
Jul 19, 2011 @ 20:58:59
In bankruptcy, the liquidators will meet the minimum requirements of the employee contracts, if there is the cash to do so. In the absence of a statement in the contract, I believe the minimum legal requirement is a couple weeks’salary. Helping them find new jobs is very unlikely to be in those contracts.
Moral of the story: if your company is sinking, jump ship ASAP (unless you have a golden parachute).
Jul 21, 2011 @ 19:00:26
Borders will be missed but I think in some respects they were to blame for their own demise – charging RRP for books when KMart next door was $10 cheaper doesn’t make good business sense.