Thursday News: A Stark in the Streets and a Wilding in the Sheets

Thursday News: A Stark in the Streets and a Wilding in the Sheets

Delete This When You’re Done: Snapchat and the Power of Deletion – This New Yorker article by Matt Buchanan on the future of privacy is thought provoking. With things like Google Glasses and Memoto that take videos and photos constantly of all your interactions (without the express permission of those whom you are recording), privacy(…)

Wednesday News: B&N Rebrands PubIt! and Water Is Wet

Wednesday News: B&N Rebrands PubIt! and Water Is Wet

NAA’s New Revenue Report: Been Down So Long Looks Like Up to Publishers – This report on news consumption is pretty interesting although not exactly fiction book publishing related. Pay walls are becoming increasingly more popular because they are profitable. “Revenue from digital/print circulation rose nearly five fold (499%) from 2011.” But only 11% of(…)

Tuesday News: Scott Turow given platform at NYT to get his hate on and Amazon insider writes ebook about Amazon

Tuesday News: Scott Turow given platform at NYT to get his hate on and Amazon insider writes ebook about Amazon

One on One: Jason Merkoski and the View of E-Books From the Inside – I didn’t really find this interview all that illuminating and it didn’t pique my interest in reading the book Jason Merkoski is publishing through Sourcebooks about his experience at Amazon. I suspect anything interesting is prohibited by some employment non disclosure(…)

Monday News: Rise of shared accounts; Letter fossils; Indie Earnings

Monday News: Rise of shared accounts; Letter fossils; Indie Earnings

Grafisches Labor Andreas Scheiger: Letter Fossils – Austrian artist Andreas Scheiger creates letter fossils for a project titled “Evolution of Type” by taking a flat letter, plasticine, and chicken bones. The end result is artistic and geeky all at the same time. Andreas Scheiger Streaming Sites and the Rise of Shared Accounts – This article(…)

Friday News: Guardian reviews Does Spelling Matter; Michael Cairns suggest Content Cashier; Walmart slightly discounts the iPad Mini

Friday News: Guardian reviews Does Spelling Matter; Michael Cairns suggest Content Cashier; Walmart slightly discounts the iPad Mini

Apple iPad mini, Black – Walmart is selling the first generation mini iPads at the cut rate price of $299. They are usually $329 so it’s some kind of savings. This may signal retailers getting ready for new stock. Rumors are that the iPad Mini 2 will have a Retina screen. Walmart.com Does Spelling Matter?(…)

Thursday News: Author Royalty Suit Against Harlequin Dismissed; Petition to change return rules on Amazon

Thursday News: Author Royalty Suit Against Harlequin Dismissed; Petition to change return rules on Amazon

Class Action Complaint Against Harlequin Enterprises Dismissed – Late Tuesday night, the class action complaint against Harlequin for failing to pay appropriate royalties was toss out. The suit was initially filed back in June of 2012. I blogged about it then.   Whether Harlequin Authors will win is another question. Piercing claims are notoriously difficult. I’ve(…)

Wednesday News: Blackberry 10 oversharing problem; GPS monitors easily foiled; Sperm as one of America’s hottest exports

BlackBerry 10 tells your friends when you’re watching porn – Do you have one of the new Blackberry devices? Blackberry wanted to be social so by default the videos you watch and the music you listen to is automatically shared with your friends. Pay a quick visit to the BBM settings screen by swiping down(…)

Tuesday News: NY federal judge rules first sale applies only to material goods

Tuesday News: NY federal judge rules first sale applies only to material goods

Arizona bill looks to add e-book readers to library privacy law – “A bill is going through the state legislature to add e-books to the current library privacy law, according to the Associated Press. The current state law already prohibits the disclosure of library records without a court order. This bill would protect readers of(…)

Monday News: Ebook sales increase margin; LibraryThing tries to step up as a GR replacement; Community investments in reader loyalty

E-book Sales Bolster Publishers’ Bottom Lines – While the adoption of ebooks isn’t providing a one to one replacement of the loss of physical book sales, PW reports that none of the Big 5 publishers had a margin of less than 9% in 2012. Higher sales of ebooks was creating a higher margin. You’ll want(…)

Friday News: Amazon Buys Goodreads

Friday News: Amazon Buys Goodreads

Amazon Buys Goodreads – I broke my arm yesterday patting myself on the back so typing is a little challenging right now. At the beginning of 2012, I predicted that Amazon would buy Goodreads. My boldest prediction is that Amazon will purchase Goodreads for the community and its recommendation engine. Yes, I knew that they(…)

Thursday News: Apple spoof; Message Board is shut down; Jane Goodall’s book full of plagiarism

Thursday News: Apple spoof; Message Board is shut down; Jane Goodall’s book full of plagiarism

This is a very funny spoof of the Apple commercials along with all kinds of great uses of mobile/computer related terms like docking, sharing, wireless.  I’ll take a tall glass please.   Georgia Court Censorship Order Threatens Message Boards Everywhere – A Georgia trial court judge signed a restraining order against a message board forum(…)

Wednesday News:  RH lifted to record year by 50 Shades; Publishers and libraries still at odds; UK based tutoring company corrects graffiti

Wednesday News: RH lifted to record year by 50 Shades; Publishers and libraries still at odds; UK based tutoring company corrects graffiti

From my Inbox: It’s Forever’s 10th anniversary, and in celebration we’re giving two lucky fans a chance to win free registration to attend the RT BookLovers Convention!  ($474 value*)  Enter for a chance to win a ‘Readers’ registration to this year’s convention May 1 – 5, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center,(…)

Tuesday News: B&N still fighting with Simon & Schuster; DeBeer’s mind control over society; and authors caught in the middle

Tuesday News: B&N still fighting with Simon & Schuster; DeBeer’s mind control over society; and authors caught in the middle

Barnes & Noble-Simon & Schuster Dispute Said to Hurt Sales – Back in January, PW reported that Simon & Schuster and Barnes & Noble were having a disagreement over terms. Melville House noted in February that S&S books were still being stocked at low levels suggesting that the disagreement had not ended. In March,  it(…)

Monday News: Come see me and Julie James in Naperville IL

Monday News: Come see me and Julie James in Naperville IL

I’m interviewing author Julie James at the Lady Jane’s Salon in Naperville IL, in conjunction with her new release “Love Irresistibly” which I did love.  I’m not sure what questions I’ll be asking her (so if you have any ideas, let me know).  But we would love to have you attend. It is as Le(…)

Friday News: Google giveth and it taketh away; Also, woman love science as much as news media likes to say the words Mommy Porn

Google quietly pulls plug on Frommer’s print travel guidebooks – Google launched a new product called Keep earlier. It’s supposed to be a competitor to the popular free web and app program called Evernote. Evernote is like a trapperkeeper (everyone who went to school in the 80s will get this reference) or a post it(…)