Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Over the weekend, over 1 million iPhones were sold and lines are still forming outside Apple stores to obtain the latest innovation from Apple. The software update allowed for the existing half million phones to add third party applications. Since Friday, over 10 million applications have been downloaded from the AppStore. 8% of the Applications are ebook related.

Scoff if you must, but the iPhone might be the next publishing frontier. With the help of JS Wolf and the iPhone Bookshelf developer, Zac Bedell, I have created an iPhone Bookshelf available for any iPhone/iTouch user who has purchased the Bookshelf app. The fiction on the Dear Author Bookshelf is free fiction from various authors.

I’d like to host the free fiction of any romance author along with extended excerpts of works for those who don’t have free fiction. If you have an iPhone or iTouch with the new 2.0 software and have purchased Bookshelf, clicking this link will add the Dear Author Bookshelf to your choices on the iPhone.

If you are interested in contributing fiction …

You may not have heard, but Friday saw the release of the newest iPhone. It’s a 3G phone that sold for $199 (8 GB) and $299 (16 GB). Also released on Friday was the newest firmware for the iPhones and iTouches which made available third party applications for the first time*.

Two of the third party applications were for ebook reading on the iPhone. I’ll review them both here. The eReader application is made available through Fictionwise and Bookshelf is coded and designed by an individual by the name Zac Bedell. My favorite is definitely Zac’s Bookshelf and while it costs money ($9.99), it is definitely worth the price.
EREADER APP
We’ll start with the eReader application. eReader is the software program that reads Secure PDB files. These Secure files are wrapped in a DRM that is unlocked by your name and credit card associated with your account at either Fictionwise.com or eReader.com. I believe that eReader.com is the only place you can currently purchase eReader books.

There is no way to add eReader books or any other previously purchased books NOT in ereader form to the iPhone using the eReader …