Tuesday Midday Links: DPLA Moves Forward; 3M Launches Digital Lending Platform (Plus lots of deals)
News
At West Coast Meeting, Digital Public Library of America Begins to Take Shape – “The [DPLA] steering committee is charting a path that would deliver something more like a distributed network of digital library collections, rather than a single centralized repository. DPLA would start by aggregating descriptive metadata about existing collections that would be slowly built up around the country. DPLA would provide a central place for search and discovery and a set of tools and APIs that would enable users to work with materials from both DPLA’s network and from non-participant sites, both commercial and not-for-profit. Palfrey described DPLA’s goals as fivefold: an open source code base; metadata; content delivery; tools and services; and community.” Publishers Weekly
3M launches library e-book and e-reader program | TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics – “Is there room in the library e-book field for a competitor to Overdrive? Wired reports that tape and media manufacturer 3M thinks so, and is launching a library e-book lending initiative called the 3M Cloud Library with 40 publishers (including Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, and Wiley) and over 100,000 titles. (Last year we covered 3M’s investment in the txtr e-book company and its plans to create a library program.)” Teleread
Support the Settlement in the Price Fixing Lawsuit – There are some agents and others who are asking for people to write in and voice opposition to the settlement in the price fixing lawsuit. I created a website with a contact form where readers can voice their support (or opposition):
Digital readers are also subjected to paying the same cost for digital books or sometimes even increased costs despite having far fewer rights. We can’t lend the book to a family member or friend. We can’t transfer a book from one device to another. We can’t resell the book. Our own copyright rights as a reader are totally ignored under the ebook model and having to pay increased prices as a result of an improper conspiracy by the publishers is outrageous.”
Bricks-and-Mortar News: Majority Shareholder of Books-A-Million Makes Offer to Acquire Rest of Company | Digital Book World – “Clyde B. Anderson announced on April 28, 2012, that the Anderson family has made a non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding publicly-held shares of the common stock of Books-A-Million, Inc. (NASDAQ: BAMM) (the “Company”). Mr. Anderson is the Executive Chairman of the Company and Mr. Anderson and other members of the Anderson family currently directly or indirectly control shares of stock representing, in the aggregate, approximately 53 percent of the common stock of the Company.” Digital Book World
Deals
NOOK® Special Offer – Save $20 on NOOK, Plus Get a Free NOOK Gift Bag with Free Shipping! (Nook Color is $149 and Nook Simple Touch is $79)
- The Billionaire’s Curse with Bonus Material by Richard Newsome * $0.00 * A | BN | K | S
- Kick with Bonus Material by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman * $0.00 * A | BN | K | S
- Reckless With a Bonus Excerpt (Ty Hauck) by Andrew Gross * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Snow Melts in Spring by Deborah Vogts * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Seeds of Summer (Seasons of the Tallgrass) by Deborah Vogts * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Warrior’s Heart by Donna Fleisher * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Valiant Hope by Donna Fleisher * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Wounded Healer (Homeland Heroes) by Donna Fleisher * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Standing Strong by Donna Fleisher * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Starcrossed with Bonus Material by Josephine Angelini * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- You Are Next by Katia Lief * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- A Talent for Sin by Lavinia Kent * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Just Desserts (Bed-And-Breakfast Mysteries) by Mary Daheim $0.99 by Mary Daheim * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Return to Me by Robin Lee Hatcher * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Courting Claudia by Robyn DeHart * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- A Study in Scandal by Robyn DeHart * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Deliciously Wicked by Robyn DeHart * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Her Gentleman Thief (Regency Short Story) by Robyn DeHart * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Tempted at Every Turn by Robyn DeHart * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Kill the Competition by Stephanie Bond * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Twelve Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas (short stories) by Stuart MacBride * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Risky Business by Suzanne Macpherson * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Hysterical Blondeness by Suzanne Macpherson * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- The Forever Summer by Suzanne Macpherson * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Switched, Bothered and Bewildered by Suzanne Macpherson * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- She Woke Up Married by Suzanne Macpherson * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- The Witch Doctor’s Wife with Bonus Material (Amanda Brown) by Tamar Myers * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Die for Me with Bonus Material by Amy Plum * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Sabriel with Bonus Material by Garth Nix * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Night of the Living Deb (Debutante Dropout) by Susan McBride * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Hot Mama (Bigtime superhero series, Book 2) by Jennifer Estep * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
- First Frost (Mythos Academy) by Jennifer Estep * 0.99? * A | BN | K | S
- Thread of Death by Jennifer Estep * 1.99? * A | BN | K | S
- Karma Girl (Bigtime superhero series, Book 1) by Jennifer Estep * 2.99? * A | BN | K | S
- Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Final Appeal (Rosato & Associates) by Lisa Scottoline * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Sex and the Single Vampire by Katie MacAlister * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Better Off Wed (Annabelle Archer) by Laura Durham * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- To Love and To Perish (Annabelle Archer Mysteries) by Laura Durham * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Too Pretty to Die (Debutante Dropout) by Susan McBride * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
Hmmm, a lot to choose from. The Katia Lief book, no; woman in jeopardy, won’t go there. Stuart MacBride, for whom I have much love, no; only 16 pages long.
And then there’s Sabriel by Garth Nix, with bonus materials! What a fabulous book, one of the best girl-as-her-own-hero stories available. For yourself, any teenage girls you know, this one is an absolute keeper. Jane, the audio book, read by Tim Curry, is brilliant as well.
@Darlynne: That is great to know both about the audio and the girl as her own hero story. I’ll buy it and keep it for the kid. Sorry about the Stuart book. Didn’t realize it was a … promo piece? rather than a real story.
Now, wait, don’t take down the Stuart MacBride link! Amazon says it’s 16 pages, B&N says it’s 192. A reviewer complained that it’s only 98. I’ll be happy with something in between (he is such a great crime writer) and gladly fork over the .99 to find out.
Lynne Connolly’s fantabulously awesome YORKSHIRE, book 1 of her Richard and Rose series, is free on everywhere…
via @samhainpub:
Lazy that I am, I’ve given serious thought to submitting it for Saturday Recs. It’s *that* awesome.
Sent my email in regards to the settlement. Thanks for the info and sample letter.
I wish we would get a BAM here. The Borders building is just sitting empty.
Re: petition. Thanks, Jane. I emailed from the site (I admit that I pretty much used the proposed text you posted).
M.
I bought Sh*t My Dad Says because that twitter feed has been known to make me laugh hard enough to pee. I have a weakness for deft usage of the f word and Halpern’s Dad is a true master. Tickles my funny bone.
Thank you for the link to the settlement email and for the text which I pretty much copied except I had to omit the first paragraph since $100 is my limit every month but I’m the weakest link.
I could wish the Lawsuit Support announcement was headlined separately from the other Tuesday links since I think a lot of interested readers and supporters might miss it here in this mix.
Seconding Darlynne’s rec for Sabriel. I loved that book when I first read it, and I think I might have to buy it again just to have it in digital form.
@Jane: The BN link for A Talent for Sin by Lavinia Kent says $6.99 for Nook. It is on sale for Kindle.
@Kim: I’d give it a day or so. These are prices set by the publisher and so should be reduced everywhere. It’s .99 at Sony.
@Darlynne and @Faye:
Thanks for rec’s for Sabriel – got it for my uber-picky 12-year-old, who *refuses* to read anything I suggest, so I have to figure out some way to sneak it into her TBR.
@JoanneL: I meant to earlier, but, you know–shiny!–with the new book links. I’ve added my voice in support. Maybe something good will happen for a change.
@Jane I sent a message on the DOJ settlement using your link and website. Thanks for setting it up. I also included the following as an introduction to what you wrote:
Thanks for the site, Jane. I just wrote and sent my opinion in support of the agreement.
Thank you so much, Jane, for setting up that website. I sent in my letter, which ended up being pretty similar to your sample. I also posted the link to my Facebook so all my ereading friends there can see it. Perhaps the page itself could get share buttons?
@Kim and @Jane: The Lavinia Kent title is probably in the process of going OFF sale. It was discounted for much of April.
@ms bookjunkie: That would be great, especially as the last one of the series comes out this year, according to the author.
Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it out.