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Penguin gives indie bookstores a boost

Isn't this thoughtful? Penguin books is helping indie bookstore by promoting their Google eBooks store. A win-win, should I say? Regardless, it's a move in the right direction.

Shelf Awareness notes that Penguin Group (USA) has been printing up in-store displays to remind shoppers that the store sells ebooks as well, then distributing them to independent bookstores: “So far, 40 have been created, and by the time the publisher is finished, some 200 stores will receive a custom easel.”

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How to use a $2 iPad app to create semi-professional ebook covers

This was an interesting find on Tele-Read. For those entrepreneurial authors on the go or interested in trying new things, this will interest you. Also, it's perfect for those who experience inspiration (artistic or not) in different quarters.

"There have been several moments these past few months where I’ve looked in amazement at what some photo and drawing apps can do on the iPad, and wondered whether they’d be good tools for book cover design. Not only has Piotr Kowalczyk at Password Incorrect wondered the same thing, but he’s actually starting to experiment with the idea.

Specifically, Kowalczyk is testing an app called Phoster, which provides 70 templates that let you combine your own artwork with pre-designed typefaces and layouts. With the right photo and some thoughtful adjustments, the resulting images can pass for clean, modern book covers that look better than 80% of the self-pubbed ebook covers out there." Read more

Via Tele-Read

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Library of Alexandria Collection now available on Espresso Book Machine Network

The Library of Alexandria and On Demand Books, the company behind the Espresso Book Machine® (EBM), today announced that 19,000 titles from the collection of the Library are now available on the
worldwide network of EBMs, and a further 150,000 Arabic titles, also from the Library, will be available soon.

Essentially an ATM for books, the patented EBM and its EspressNet® software system links to a vast network of content, enabling the instant distribution of books, on demand, at point of sale. With the push of a button, the technology prints, binds, and trims a paperback book, in any language, with a full-color cover, in minutes. It is an environmentally friendly technology since it eliminates shipping, returns, and the pulping of unwanted books. The Library of Alexandria installed one of the first early-generation EBMs and has since installed two additional EBMs.

“The Library of Alexandria is the place for the largest Arabic Digital Library worldwide.” says Dr Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria. “And availing the collection on the global network of EBMs, comes in accordance with the Library’s mission in the dissemination of knowledge to all people at all times, and in bridging the Arabic culture with the rest of the world.” He added, “EBMs and their EspressNet software system represent a cutting-edge business model for delivering all flavors of knowledge anywhere around the world. And we are keen here at the Library of Alexandria to take part in this remarkable endeavor.”

“We are delighted to offer titles from the collection of the Library of Alexandria, one of the world’s great cultural institutions,” says Dane Neller, the CEO of On Demand Books. “Our technology is ideal for distributing books across borders, since it eliminates shipping and uses encrypted digital files to produce physical books at point of need in minutes. Our technology dramatically expands access to these remarkable titles, which include many Arabic-language classics, making them available to readers and scholars around the world.”

On Demand Books was cofounded in 2003 by Jason Epstein, former Editorial Director of Random House; Dane Neller, former CEO of Dean & DeLuca; and Thor Sigvaldason, former technology consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Espresso Book Machines have been placed in bookstores, libraries, universities, and other locations in the USA, Canada, the UK, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and the Caribbean. In September 2010, On Demand Books and Xerox announced a partnership whereby Xerox will market, sell or lease, and service the Espresso Book Machine worldwide. Made in the USA, Espresso Book Machines are environmentally friendly green machines. For more information go to www.ondemandbooks.com.

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Digital book sales jumped 147% in May, for traditional publishers

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports that ebook sales rose 146.9% in May, which is even more dramatic when compared to the drops that all major adult print segments experienced. This continues the trend from April, when ebook sales rose by 157.5% while print segments declined.

I’d be curious to see sales numbers for self-published ebooks, which I don’t think are included in these monthly reports put out by the AAP. Although all I have to go on right now are anecdotes, Joe Konrath admitted that he and at least a few other self-pubbed authors saw sales of their ebooks drop in June.

Via Tele-Read

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BP Wiz Founder David Borish films for the Learning Annex [video]

Our founder, David Borish, was asked by the Learning Annex to produce a video on the 12 steps to completing a winning book proposal that will get the attention of publishers.

I'm sure whether you are a potential or seasoned author, you will find the video not only educational, but quite interesting.

Video streaming by Ustream

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You can Rent Textbooks with the Amazon Kindle

Rent textbooks from Amazon with the Kindle

Today, Amazong announced a brand spankin' new program that offers textbook rentals.

It will allow customers to save up to 80% on textbooks. Sounds good right?

Here's the deal

Pay only for the time you need: Choose a rental length between 30 and 360 days and pay only for the exact time you need a book. Extend your rental for as little as one day or convert to purchase

Rent once, read everywhere: Rent and read tens of thousands of textbooks on PC, Mac, Kindle, or your mobile device

Keep your annotations: Access your notes and highlights anytime, even after the rental expires, at kindle.amazon.com

How it works

Kindle Textbook Rental is a flexible and affordable way to read textbooks. You can rent for the minimum length, typically 30 days, and save up to 80% off the print list price. If you find you need your textbook longer, you can extend your rental by as little as 1 day as many times as you want and just pay for the added days.

• Download one of our free Kindle reading apps for your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android device, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, or Kindle – wherever you'd like to read your textbook.

• Search for your textbook in the Textbooks Store or from the search bar. If a Kindle edition is available for rent, you'll see an option in the Formats section on the textbook page. Select this option.
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A new ereader by 3M for those who can't afford real books

3M creates a new ereader for libraries

Well, not really.

According to Teleread:

"Next month, 3M’s recent investment in German ebook device company txtr will bear fruit in a pilot program in Minneapolis. The library system there will test 3M’s new cloud-based ebook library lending service using cloud-connected kiosks and custom ereader devices that users who don’t own any hardware will be able to check out.

Allowing library patrons to check out an actual e-reader does come with some security concerns. But the St. Paul libraries are comfortable with the risk."

“Our biggest focus is giving access to people who can’t afford them,” said Sheree Savage, a spokeswoman for the St. Paul libraries. With any library materials, security is always a concern, she said. But the 3M e-reader only can be used to read materials available from the library, so this reduces the chance that someone might walk off with it, she said.

What do you think?

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Would you want to "read" movies on your kindle? Amazon thinks so.

I think this would be interesting. No? I happen to be a fan of old flicks, so I immediately related it to the Silent Movie Era...but more on the techie, modern side.

This would be perfect to watch films on the go. But turning films into to comic like art-forms? I'm not so crazy about.

Here is an expert of an article written on GIGAom by Bobbie Johnson, where this dilemma and Amazon's plan to totally innovate the e-reader:

"Rumors have been flying around the industry for some time that Amazon is working on next generation versions of its Kindle that can do things like run video. Perhaps it will be a color version of the existing Kindle, with some extra bells and whistles. Perhaps it will be a tablet, produced in conjunction with Samsung. Perhaps it will be both.
However, until the release date of such a magical device is actually announced, the whole idea is little more than pie in the sky. So what do you do in the meantime if you want to kick back and watch some video on your Kindle?
Turns out it’s not impossible."

Penguin's Parent company buys Borders

Well this is fun news. Looks like Borders will be rescued...at least in Australia. TeleRead announced this today here. Of course, there's always a tiny sour note with every good one. This little deal is being investigated to make sure Penguin is monopolizing the book industry out yonder.

"While Amazon was buying up The Book Depository, Pearson Australia, the parent company of Penguin Books, was busy negotiating with REDgroup to buy Australia’s Borders and Angus & Robertson websites. Other booksellers are now calling for an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to ensure that the deal won’t give Penguin an unfair competitive advantage in the tightly controlled Australian market.

From The Canberra Times:

"The acquisition, which has been in the works for just three weeks and is due to take effect on July 28, indirectly places one of the nation’s largest book publishers in competition with its core group of existing customers, bricks and mortar bookstores." "

Continue reading here.
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'Parks and Recreation' Book Headlines NBCUniversal’s Upcoming TV-to-Book Titles

Publisher's Weekly announced some exciting news and basically the start of a new trend that will hopefully stick around. 'Parks and Recreation' will be turned into a book! I'm not exactly a huge fan of the show, simply because I rarely watch it. I'm just excited about the many doors that will open for several show I am a fan of. Image a book based on 'Seinfeld' or a novel based on 'Bored To Death' or 'Boardwalk Empire'. I mean I can go and on.

"NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group and Hyperion Books will publish Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, a book written from the perspective of Parks and Recreation character Leslie Knope (portrayed by Amy Poehler), on October 4.

Each chapter of the 240-page will explore a different aspect of the fictional town’s history and expand upon events hinted at in the series, such as the time the whole town was on fire, and the ongoing raccoon infestation. Knope, a resident of Pawnee since her childhood, provides all of the research and comical insights into this Midwestern town that fans have grown to love."

Continue reading here.

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Book industry balance continues to tilt towards the author

Book industry balance continues to tilt towards author. Image © Kitsen

This article recently appeared on Gigaom.com. I was wondering why the premise of the title made a headline. Is it really breaking news that the book industry runs on the fuel of authors? Isn't it obvious that the balance should be tilted towards authors?

Mathew Ingram writes an amazing article on this subject, that may blow your mind...or not.

"Every week, it seems there is more evidence that the balance of power in the book industry continues to tilt towards the author and away from the all-powerful publisher. One of the latest examples is John Green, who writes fiction for young adults from his home in Indianapolis, and whose latest novel has hit number one before it has even been published. Green gives credit for this phenomenon to his Twitter and YouTube followers, but the real credit should go to him for being willing to not just use social media as a promotional tool the way some do, but to actually reach out and engage with his readers and fans."

Continue reading here.

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Barnes & Noble will give you 30 free ebooks when you upgrade your ereader to a Nook

Barnes & Noble offers 30 free ebooks if you upgrade your ereader to a Nook

Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest bookseller, is inviting customers to experience what the critics and millions of customers are raving about: the company’s award-winning, bestselling line of NOOK reading devices. Beginning July 1, bring any eReader into a Barnes & Noble bookstore to compare and upgrade to a NOOK device and receive an instant NOOK Book collection — 30 free digital titles valued at $315. The limited-time NOOK upgrade program is offered with purchase of any popular NOOK device including the All-New NOOK and NOOK Color Reader’s Tablet™.

Beginning Friday, while supplies last, customers will receive a free, 2GB microSD card loaded with 30 NOOK Books – from cooking and lifestyle to classics and reference –when they show a bookseller their old device and purchase the NOOK reader that best suits them. Book lovers of all ages will love the All-New NOOK, the Simple Touch Reader™, which dozens of leading reviewers have praised as the best dedicated reading device on the market. The easy-to-use, ultra-light, portable 6-inch eReader features a simple, immersive experience with a full-touchscreen and the most-advanced E Ink® Pearl display, the longest battery life in the industry with an incredible two months on a single charge and the most social reading experience ever with NOOK Friends™ — all for just $139.

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Top 5 best selling books of all time

The Bible is the most selling book of all time, selling over 6,000,000,000. So, besides the Bible, here are the top 5 best selling books of all time.

This list put together in June of 2011, so it is pretty current. You can view the complete list of the 101 best selling books of all time on Ranker.

Here are the Top 5 Best Selling Books of all time:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, 1859 - Copies Sold: 200 million

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien - Copies Sold: 150 million

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, 1937 - Copies Sold: 100 million

Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, Hsueh-Chin Tsao - Copies Sold: 100 million

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - Copies Sold: 100 million

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Baker & Taylor + Barnes & Noble make library books available on the Nook

Baker & Taylor + Barnes & Noble team up to make library books available on the Nook

Baker & Taylor, the world’s largest distributor of physical and digital books, and Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world’s largest bookseller, announced at the American Library Association Annual Conference that the companies will partner to build awareness among NOOK customers that digital books are available for loan from local libraries, and to provide all library patrons with a seamless method for borrowing eBooks and other digital content. The highly acclaimed, bestselling line of NOOK ereaders will be featured devices on Axis 360, Baker & Taylor’s revolutionary digital media circulation and management platform.

Starting this fall, patrons at Axis 360-powered libraries will be able to check out ebooks to read on their personal NOOK devices. From Axis 360, patrons will also have a link to the Barnes & Noble online store for purchasing digital content and physical products.

Libraries, readers and NOOK customers will find Axis 360 offers several key benefits, including ease of use, intuitive search and browse and reading recommendations. Built on state-of-the-art technology, Axis 360 showcases the digital library collection on a Magic Wall and makes it quick and easy for patrons to check out the titles they want. Starting this fall, librarians and patrons at Axis 360-powered libraries will also have access to EPUB and spoken word audio titles, as well as a patron reviews module that will allow users to contribute book reviews and assign star ratings to titles to be shared within a library system or with other Axis 360 participating libraries.

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View Darwin’s personal library online

Talk about the evolution of books, history, and knowledge. Darwin would pleased to know that his entire personal library has been digitized by several notable organizations.

According to TeleRead Darwin’s personal scientific library, the majority of which is held at Cambridge University Library, has been digitized in a collaborative effort involving Cambridge, the Darwin Manuscripts Project at the American Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

The digitization project was jointly sponsored by JISC and National Endowment for the Humanities through a transatlantic digitization collaboration grant.

In total, Darwin’s library amounted to 1480 books, of which 730 contain abundant research notes in their margins. These annotated books are now in the process of being digitized. The first phase of this project has just been completed, with 330 of the most heavily annotated books launched online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library for all to read.

1860's diary uploaded online by University of Iowa

A collection of pocket-sized diaries from the 1860s has created an Internet sensation for the University of Iowa library.

The diaries are part of the library's Civil War collection employees have been working on for more than two years, digitizing pages in time for the war's 150th anniversary in April.

"The idea is to make it as accessible as possible and not have us try to decide what people should see but make the whole body of work available to people," said Greg Prickman, assistant head of Special Collections and University Archives who helped oversee the project.

Now library employees are taking the project a step further. They developed a website that allows members of the public to not only view the diaries but write transcriptions of the pages.

You can read the entire story over at press-citizen.com.

Did you know: Fiction sells more e-books

Yes indeedy. Publisher’s Weekly announced today that fiction books are leading in ebook sales.

“Fiction is the leading sales driver of e-books, and just how dominant that segment has been is clearly seen in a new market study just released by Bowker. According to "2010–2011 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics & Buying Behaviors Annual Review," fiction accounted for 61% of unit sales in 2010 and 51% of revenue, putting it far ahead of other segments. The children's segment generated 12% of unit sales in 2010, placing it second behind fiction, while nonfiction accounted for the second highest amount of e-book revenue in 2010, with the segment representing 14% of sales.”

You can read the original article here.

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Google announces ebook affiliate program

The Google Books Blog announced this news today. Another indication that ebooks aren’t going anywhere.

Retailers, bloggers, book publishers and other website owners in the U.S. can now become Google eBooks affiliates. Affiliates can link to Google eBooks on their sites for any of the hundreds of thousands of titles available for sale, earning a commission for referring sales to the Google eBookstore.

We launched the program as a limited beta in December with our first affiliate, Goodreads. Goodreads is a social reading site, who after becoming an affiliate was able to refer their avid book reading fans to the Google eBookstore. When Goodreads users buy a Google eBook, they’re gaining immediate access to their book and supporting Goodreads in the process.

Starting today, we invite all interested site owners to apply to join the expanded Google eBooks affiliate program. Participating sites gain new revenue streams by giving their book-reading audiences an easy way to buy Google eBooks.

Google eBooks affiliates become part of the Google Affiliate Network (GAN). After joining GAN, you can subscribe to the Google eBooks product feed to get links to the full set of available Google eBooks. If you want to query a more targeted set of ebooks you can use the new Google Books APIs.

For more information and to sign up to be a Google eBooks affiliate, please visit our partner Help Center here.

Self-Publishing Book Expo will return in October

Good News!

The Self-Publishing Book Expo, an annual conference for self-published authors, publishers and suppliers, returns to New York City for its third year on Saturday, October 22nd

at the Sheraton New York Hotel, 811 Seventh Avenue@53rd Street New York City

The SPBE will bring together more than 500 participants from all across the country for an informational day of panels and seminars. This year the Expo is proud to have Award-winning Publisher Dan Poynter as our Keynote Speaker.

Open to the public, the exhibit hall houses authors and companies featuring and promoting their books and services.

Visit selfpubbookexpo.com for more information.

New York Times Best Sellers Fiction/Non-Fiction round-up

Here are the latest top 5 New York Times best sellers in the fiction and non-fiction categories. If you would like to view the complete list, go here.

Combined Print and Ebook, Fiction

1 THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Penguin Group.) A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi.

2 SOMETHING BORROWED, by Emily Giffin. (St. Martin's.) A maid of honor to her charmed friend, Rachel White has always played by the rules. But that changes on her 30th birthday.

3 10TH ANNIVERSARY, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown.) Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club race to find a missing baby.

4 SUMMER SECRETS, by Barbara Freethy. (Recorded Books.) Three sailboat-racing sisters close ranks against a tenacious reporter who digs into a devastating secret from their past.

5 JUST LIKE HEAVEN, by Julia Quinn. (HarperCollins.) A Regency-era tale featuring the romantic exploits of the well-meaning but less-than-accomplished Smythe-Smith musicians.

Combined Print and Ebook, Non-Fiction

1 HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. (Thomas Nelson.) A father recounts his 3-year-old son’s encounter with Jesus and the angels during an appendectomy.

2 IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS, by Erik Larson. (Crown.) This portrait of Berlin during the rise of the Nazis centers on William E. Dodd, who became U.S. ambassador there in 1933.

3 BOSSYPANTS, by Tina Fey. (Little, Brown.) A memoir from the former Saturday Night Live star and creator of "30 Rock."

4 UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand. (Random House.) An Olympic runner’s story of survival as a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II.

5 THE GREATER JOURNEY, by David McCullough. (Simon & Schuster.) The historian explores the extensive intellectual legacy that France settled on its 19th-century American visitors.

What books will you be reading this summer? Let us know in the comments, maybe you’ll inspire others to join you!