Author Topic: The E-Book Files  (Read 169793 times)

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
The E-Book Files
« on: July 13, 2008, 11:42:20 am »
I bought a Kindle a few months ago and I have to say, I love this little gadget. For those who aren't familiar, the Kindle is an ebook reader put out by amazon.com. You can read more about it here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FI73MA

One great thing about the Kindle is that it has me reading again, reading like I used to in the old days. I take it with me everywhere and when I have a spare second, I flip it on. Whether I am reading the New York Times (I have a daily subscription) or a book, it's right there, in my hand. It's great.

I decided to start this thread to share some of the good stuff I have been reading. Louise has a Kindle, too, so hopefully she'll share some of her favorites. And if others have great ebooks to recommend, please join in!



Now, while I have a Kindle and that is how I have been reading, there are other readers out there. People also read ebooks on their PDAs, Smartphones and other portable devices. The new 3G iPhone will has a reader available. So, if you are interested in these books, you are not limited to a Kindle.

And if you don't own any of these devices, you can read on your PC. Many of these books are available in PDF format (for which you need Acrobat Reader; it's free: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html?promoid=BUIGO)

Another option is to get books in Mobipocket format; to read those, you need the Mobipocket reader for your PC (also free: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/ProductDetailsReader.asp)

I know alot of readers on this board are used to LiveJournal stories, so ebooks really aren't any different. So, please join in with your recommendations and reviews. I look forward to a lively discussion!

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2008, 11:53:09 am »
First up, The Erotic Etudes Opus VI by E. L. van Hine



Synopsis:

Robert Schumann, the Romantic composer, was a vibrant and complex man. Schumann's public biography was carefully cleansed by his wife, his survivors, and his friends, but his own letters and diaries give indication of a series of passionate affairs with both sexes that sparked the creative outpouring of music that defined his artistic life. It is from these sources that author E. L. van Hine has imagined an erotic and inspired story of a remarkable, talented man.

The Erotic Etudes Opus VI recreates many of Schumann's intimate relationships in a series of 18 interlocking stories that span 40 years of his life, beginning in 1834 when he was at the center of both controversy and publicity in Leipzig, Germany. Arranged thematically and told in the first person, The Erotic Etudes Opus VI parallels the 18 section piano work, 'The Symphonic Etudes,' which was published in 1837 and dedicated to one of Schumann's intimate friends. Compelling and immensely readable.

Review:

I love this book--I love it so much I started a publishing imprint to turn it into an ebook! It is very romantic and heart-breakingly sad. The book had a wonderful review here:

http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/review-the-erotic-etudes-opus-vi-by-el-hine/

which probably is more eloquent than I can be.

To buy:

The Kindle version is at amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019R0YK4

At Mobipocket you can find it here: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=83150

Enjoy!
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2008, 12:03:10 pm »
My next offering, also published by Bristlecone Pine Press:

L. A. Heat by P. A. Brown



Synopsis: In L.A. Heat, a serial killer is on the loose in Los Angeles and he's targeting gay men. LAPD Detective David Laine--himself gay but deeply closeted--is assigned to the case with his homophobic partner, Martinez Diego. The nature of the crimes and the brutalization of the victims bring disturbing emotions to the surface for David. Laine and his partner have a suspect: Christopher Bellamere--an openly gay California "golden boy" who crossed paths with two of the victims before their deaths. But when cop and suspect meet, an immediate attraction complicates the case and David Laine's very private life. As David works to find the killer--and Chris works to clear his name--they both seek to understand the complex feelings that are growing between them. Fast-paced and intricately plotted, L.A. Heat, author P.A. Brown's debut novel, will have you on the edge of your seat right until the last page is turned.

Review: This is a great book for the summer. Fast-paced and easy to read, I was flipping the pages as fast as I could read. I actually figured out who the killer was (unusual for me, I never figure out mysteries!) but there was an unusual twist that took me by surprise. This is one of those books that left me wanting to know more about the main characters--and I can report that the author is hard at work on a sequel.

Another review:

http://sharrow.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/la-heat-by-pa-brown/#comment-258

To buy:

From amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CC8Q7Y

From Mobipocket: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=89507
« Last Edit: July 13, 2008, 05:50:09 pm by MaineWriter »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2008, 12:10:38 pm »
Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon

http://www.fictionwise.com/mindwise/books/big_Lanyon-AEMysteries.jpg

Synopsis: Relationships can be murder. Bookseller and mystery author Adrien English is looking for love in all the wrong places--and, according to hot and handsome LAPD detective Jake Riordan, it's liable to get him killed.

Review: This is two books in one: Fatal Shadows and A Dangerous Thing. More fun summer reading...entertaining and fast. Adrien is a very likable guy; the book is written from his POV. He's a bit of a sleuth and working to solve the mystery of who killed his friend while Det. Riordan is doing the same. There isn't too much romance in the first book...that comes along in book no. 2...which I'll be honest, had me panting for more!

To buy:

Fictionwise: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook67894.htm
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline BelAir

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,401
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2008, 09:01:15 pm »
Leslie, I am so glad you started this thread!  Much easier for me to keep track of things here than trying to keep up with a zillion little pieces of paper where I scribble your recommendations.

PS - I also loved The Erotic Etudes!
"— a thirst for life, for love, and for truth..."

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2008, 07:00:19 am »
Thanks, Bel!

I got my Kindle around the time of the raid of the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) ranch in in Texas. That news event got me started on reading FLDS memoirs and I buzzed through three in a row:

Escape by Laura Palmer
Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer
Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall (with Lisa Pulitzer)

They each had a unique twist. By reading all three, I did have a good sense of the FLDS and what is going on on the ranch!

Irene Spencer (Shattered Dreams) was married--or "placed" to use their terminology--in 1953. Her story covers the period from 1953-1980. In the last part of the book, she was trying to leave the cult and her husband when he was killed in an auto accident. Her husband and his brothers sounded like a bunch of dreadful guys. I wish she had written more about the brothers but I decided at the end that she probably didn't know much--that was the whole strategy. Keep the women in the dark.

Laura Palmer (Escape) was married to Merril Jessop in 1986. He's the man who is running the YFZ ranch at present. She escaped from the cult with her children in 2003. Her "claim to fame" is to be the first woman who successfully sued for custody of her children. Most women who manage to get away from the FLDS are forced to leave their children behind.

Lissa Wall (Stolen Innocence) was "placed" with her husband when she was 14. She also managed to escape just recently. She brought a suit against Warren Jeffs (the "prophet") as an accomplice to rape and that's the reason he is now in jail. Her former husband is going to be tried on rape charges soon.

All in all, an interesting group of books. They are all available in print and Kindle versions at Amazon.
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2008, 07:06:07 am »
After all the Mormon stuff, I needed something light....LOL

All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, DC by Craig Seymour

This is one of those books that has a really great title to catch your attention. The book was good--not great--but very easy and fast reading. The author became a journalist and there was a long tedious section about how he interviewed a bunch of famous rock stars. I felt like I was supposed to be impressed that he had met Janet Jackson. Okay, so...

The strip club part was interesting although I would have liked a little more background and history. He skimmed over that. The clubs are all gone now; they were torn down when they built the new baseball field (for the Senators).

I'd give this 2.5 stars (out of 4).

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2008, 03:11:21 pm »
Leslie, I am so glad you started this thread!  Much easier for me to keep track of things here than trying to keep up with a zillion little pieces of paper where I scribble your recommendations.

PS - I also loved The Erotic Etudes!

oooh! a positive review!  Can I talk you into writing an Amazon.com review?  I only have a few reviews there and there are no recent ones. I would love to have a new review!

http://www.amazon.com/Erotic-Etudes-E-L-van-Hine/dp/1411652746/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216321600&sr=8-1
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2008, 04:34:31 pm »
And if you write one, Bel, can you post it on the Kindle page, too? In the amazon catalog, the two entries (print and ebook) don't connect to each other.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Erotic-%C3%89tudes-Opus-VI/dp/B0019R0YK4

Thanks in advance,

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2008, 08:23:15 am »
from Time Magazine:

Wednesday, Jul. 09, 2008
Amazon Kindle Sales on the Rise?
By Josh Quittner

Is the Kindle starting to catch fire with consumers? From the Department of Inscrutable Data Points comes word that e-book sales for Amazon's Kindle — its digital reading device-have doubled during the past two months. Kind of, sort of, maybe.

According to a source at Amazon, "on a title-by-title basis, of the 130,000 titles available on Kindle and in physical form, Kindle sales now make up over 12% of sales for those titles." Amazon is notoriously tight lipped about sales data, and the new line of business that the Kindle represents for the online retail powerhouse has been especially frustrating for analysts and media to parse. At a technology trade conference in May, CEO Jeff Bezos said that Kindle sales accounted for 6% of book titles sold for the Kindle and in print. So Amazon appears to be selling more e-books.

Since we're dealing with percentages rather than unit sales, it's impossible to say whether we're talking about a ton of books, or a modest number. But it's fairly certain that, given the enormous number of new books that Amazon sells, and the fact that many if not most are also simultaneously released as Kindle e-books, we're talking about a good sign for Amazon.

A couple of things could explain the uptick. The Kindle quickly sold out shortly after it was unveiled on Amazon at the end of 2007. However, the company recently cranked up supply to meet demand, and cut the price at the end of May from $399 to $359. Some analysts estimate Kindle sales at around 55,000 a month. At the same time, the Kindle is quirkier than your average gadget, and consumers are learning how to use it. It's possible that as Kindle owners warm up to the gadget — and as the library of titles rapidly grows — they increase the rate of their purchases. We now return you to more scrutable data points...


    * Find this article at:
    * http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1821451,00.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2008, 08:26:05 am »
from the Associated Press:

July 17, 2008
AP Exclusive: A digital Albom through Kindle
By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

Mitch Albom has a new book out — well, not really a book, but a commencement speech in book form. And not in traditional book form, but as an e-book, published exclusively through Amazon.com's Kindle reader.

"Commencement Speech To His Nephew's Graduating Class: May 30, 2008, Nice France" went on sale Thursday for 99 cents. It won't be a money maker for Albom — proceeds are being donated to a Detroit-based charity for the homeless — but it does offer a test for the digital device that has created a great debate about the future of books and great speculation over how much the Kindle is part of that future.

Amazon.com has declined to offer specific numbers for the Kindle, a vacuum eagerly filled by industry insiders and the media, which has estimated sales as anywhere from a very modest 10,000 to a more encouraging 100,000-plus.

E-books are unquestionably growing although public sightings of the Kindle remain rare enough that one blog, Silicon Alley Insider, announced last month, "Imagine our delight when we got on the subway, sat down, and saw a person reading an Amazon Kindle — right in front of us! — for the first time since it launched last November."

Albom's speech could be a way to measure the Kindle connection. He is a brand-name author whose million sellers include "Tuesdays With Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." The text of his speech, less than 4,000 words, is brief for a traditional book, but ideal for a quick read on a portable device.

"We thought doing it through the Kindle would be an exciting way to bring readers to Mitch and to his work," Albom's agent, David Black, told The Associated Press, adding that there were no immediate plans to expand the speech and release it on paper.

Albom, whose speech was delivered at The International School Of Nice, said in a statement Thursday: "The immediacy of the Internet and what Amazon is doing with Kindle is interesting to me, as it is to many authors."

Laura Porco, the Kindle's director of publisher management, said Thursday that Amazon.com has been talking with publishers about bringing readers content that isn't available in book form and expects more releases similar to the Albom speech.

Porco reiterated Amazon.com's claim — a surprise to some publishers — that Kindle downloads from early June through early July made up 12 percent of total sales for the more than 100,000 books available both through the e-book reader and in traditional form. In early June, at the annual booksellers convention, Amazon.com head Jeff Bezos said Kindle sales were 6 percent of the market for books in both formats.

Porco declined to offer sales figures for any individual title. Asked if she had seen many Kindle users, she said that she had been "stopped by more than a few people" who saw her with the Kindle and told her that "they knew somebody with that."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DIGITAL_ALBOM?SITE=TXDAM&TEMPLATE=ENTERTAINMENT_GL.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2008, 11:19:53 am »
Because I was curious, I downloaded the Mitch Albom speech. It was a fairly typical commencement address with a few funny lines. I wonder how many will sell...it should give some idea of the number of Kindles out there "in the wild."

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline NavyVet

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 317
  • Harm/Tony - My fav rare pair
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2008, 10:54:09 am »
I've been thinking about getting a Kindle, since I do 90-something % of my reading on-line.
I had read about them a while back on Amazon and thought it would be cheaper and quicker than ordering paperbacks and easier than lugging laptop around to read fiction.  Price for the unit is a little daunting though.
I've ordered a few novels published by torquerepress and enjoyed them a lot, but 10, 12 dollars is getting up there for a paperback.
Always on the lookout for recs in m/m romance and erotica!   ;)
NavyVet
"Brokeback Mountain:  Where slash is canon!"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #13 on: July 19, 2008, 11:15:24 am »
NavyVet,

I have to say, I love my Kindle more than any gadget I have bought in recent memory. When I bought it, I balked at little at the cost but believe me, it has paid for itself ten times over. I am reading more than I have read in years--which I enjoy. I feel like I found my love of reading again.

As for prices of books: there are plenty of free books out there, as well as plenty of stuff for less that $10. The Adrien English stories--which are great--were all around $5, I believe.

I can't tell you how many people on the Kindle forum have said, "I love this thing! I only which I had bought it sooner!"

Go for it, I say!

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2008, 11:28:33 am »
From Time Magazine...NB: his comment about how he figured out how to "extend" the battery life is sort of lame. If he had done 5 minutes of reading the Kindle manual, or visiting any of the Kindle forums, he would have known the key to long life is turning the Whispernet off except when downloading content. I keep mine off 99% of the time.



Thursday, Jul. 17, 2008
Warming to the Kindle
By Josh Quittner

Like so many gadget geeks, I am fickle. I fall in love--a sucker for sharp curves that gleam--get bored, then quickly move on to the next new thing.

The Kindle was different. I disliked almost everything about Amazon's handheld digital reader from the moment I saw it. But eight months into our relationship, I've found its hidden charms. My antipathy has flowered into something. Could it be a pure and lasting gadget love?

At first, I hated that the control buttons made it too easy to inadvertently page forward, backward or--if you hit the Back button--somewhere else entirely. I didn't like that it displayed black type on a gray background. (You can't beat black type on a white page.) The battery stank. When I'd put the Kindle in sleep mode and leave it for a few days, it was usually dead on my rearrival. Soon I consigned it to the Quittner Closet Where Old Gadgets Go to Die.

Then one day a few months ago, a friend e-mailed me a manuscript of his first book. It's torture plowing through 350 pages on a computer, and I was too cheap to print it out. So on a lark, I forwarded the document to Amazon, which converts such things into Kindle-book format for free; minutes later, I had a lovely version on the device. And since I like to get something for nothing, I downloaded from other sites a dozen great, free novels, ranging from James Joyce's Ulysses to Cory Doctorow's recent sci-fi novel, Little Brother. The giveaways motivated me to meet the Kindle halfway by figuring out how it wanted to be used rather than how I had expected to use it.

An Amazon exec told me last week that Kindle-ized books now account for 12% of all books sold in digital and print versions on the mega-site. That's up 100% in two months. The company won't say how many electronic readers have been sold, so it's hard to tell how many people out there have learned to live with the device's imperfections. I did so first by eschewing sleep mode in favor of switching it off because booting the device only takes a few seconds anyway. Then I turned off the wireless connection, powering up the free high-speed service only when book-buying. Those two changes gave me nearly endless battery life. I also developed a technique--holding the device gingerly by its edges--to outwit the awkward control buttons. I even came to accept the black text on a gray background: the Kindle turns out to be easier to read in brilliant sunshine than a paperback.

Like Beauty, I found myself carried away by the quiet virtues of the Beast: how the Kindle feels encased in creamy leather, the way the gadget helps me power through a book superfast and how it lets me take my library on a plane.

Best of all is books on demand--delivered in seconds to the kitchen table on Sunday as I read the weekly book reviews. How great is that? With Amazon charging $9.99 a title, often a third the price of a new hardcover, the $359 device pays for itself after you buy about 25 books.

I know that over time, Amazon will fix all the little--insignificant, really--things that initially annoyed me about the Kindle. And when it does? My gadget romance will no doubt be re-Kindled.

LOVE HATE Corner braces hold the device O.K. but look like they were made in a head shop

LOVE The carrying case's creamy leather and suede rival the feel of a well-made book

LOVE Despite the gray background, the screen is easy to read, even in bright sun

LOVE The lengthy page-forward bar works a little too well. It's easy to lose your place

LOVE The cursor is a "smart" navigator that knows what options you need at any given time


    * Find this article at:
    * http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1823955,00.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #15 on: July 21, 2008, 06:39:36 pm »
Okay! Here's a chance to win a free Kindle and you, too, can join the ereader revolution.

http://www.authorisland.com/index.php?Itemid=510&id=6&option=com_content&task=blogsection

Go to the middle of the page. You need to answer a bunch of questions but apparently all the answers are on the various authors websites. I just went and found the answers to two questions (to get you all started)...

2. Irish Thoroughbred by Nora Roberts
44. Ben

Finding the answers to those questions took less than a minute so you should be able to answer all of them in under an hour. What a great prize!

Good luck, everyone!

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #16 on: July 23, 2008, 02:52:22 pm »
I just finished another Josh Lanyon book, "I Spy Something Bloody." I think this might be my favorite of all the ones I have read so far. Very evocative and he really sets the mood.

More info and purchase details here:

http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=728

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #17 on: July 23, 2008, 07:39:23 pm »
I will second Leslie's vote on 'I Spy Something Bloody.'  It is a marvelous tale of both intrigue and romance.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #18 on: July 31, 2008, 06:53:09 pm »
From the Conde Nast Traveler:

July 31, 2008
The Amazon Kindle: The Best Travel Gadget Since the Neck Pillow

by Tom Loftus

I have to admit that praising an e-Book reader in the middle of iPhone Summer seems so 2005, but I'm starting to lust after my wife's Amazon Kindle. She's in the publishing business and someone at her company--bless him or her--decided that money (and trees) could be saved by loading manuscripts onto the Amazon Kindle. Adios clutter.

On a lark I took a look at the screen. Whoa! The words read so clear. I would later learn that the print came courtesy of E Ink, electronic paper that...well never mind. Look it up. Guaranteed many of you will be reading from some form of E Ink or similar technology in the very near future.

I spent more time with the Kindle. I actually curled up with it, playing with font sizes, creating bookmarks, running word searches, and using the built-in dictionary. I did the kind of stuff I couldn't do with a dead tree.

But here's the thing that makes the Amazon Kindle the most important piece of travel technology since the inflatable neck pillow. Say you're on the road and you suddenly realize that you must have--must have!--Oprah's new book. All you need to do is turn on the Kindle and connect to the store. (The connection is through Sprint's EV-DO network. It's free.) You'll have to pay for the book, but it will be cheaper than the dead-tree version. Or, if you wish, you can download sample chapters for free.

There are some drawbacks to the Kindle's portability. Right now, the wireless download is limited to the U.S. So if you're heading outside the U.S., it makes sense to just pack your Kindle with reading material beforehand. Amazon says that the Kindle can store 200 books. One more drawback: You probably wouldn't want to take this $350+ device to the beach. You don't want sand to get in the works, and besides, placing a Kindle on your head to block out the sun is both ineffectual and rather silly. Stick with dead trees for that. 

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/80days/2008/07/the-amazon-kind.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #19 on: July 31, 2008, 07:04:56 pm »
from the Atlantic, by James Fallows:

I'll try not to become a nerd-bore on this topic too, but: Kindle

23 Jul 2008 05:44 pm
Had resisted buying one because I knew that the spiffy wireless-delivery service wouldn't work outside the US, and anyway I didn't have time for yet another gadget.

I eventually spent enough time to learn (duh!) that I could use it wherever I was in the world, with or without wireless delivery. You just download the e-book files to your computer, over the plain old internet, and then transfer them to Kindle with USB cable.  So as part of the provisioning run on this quick trip to the U.S. I ordered one and received it yesterday.

First impressions are all of the "beating expectations" variety. Screen nicer to read than I expected. Navigation takes about one minute to learn. Instant-gratification feature more satisfying than expected. You think: I'd like to read that book! A minute later, it's literally in your hands. On my last provisioning run, I wanted to get Joseph O'Neill's celebrated and then-new novel Netherland. But it wasn't in any of the book stores that I passed by, and I didn't have time for "legacy" Amazon shipments. Now I have it, for about $10 versus about  $25.

Unexpected and potentially important practical aspect: I'm always getting very long book or article manuscripts to read, usually in .DOC or .PDF files. I don't want to use the paper to print them out, so generally I have to be at a computer to deal with. But I can email them as attachments to a Kindle.com address; then for 10 cents a document, they're resent to my own Kindle in a form I can read and annotate when not at a computer. Have already used this system to queue up a couple of book-length manuscripts I'm supposed to read while on the road in the next week or so.

We'll see how this wears -- in particular how this replicates the intangible satisfactions of reading an actual book. I like holding and reading real books. We'll see how likable these virtual books are on longer exposure.

Main drawback I foresee right now: my wife being distinctly unamused if on our next trip together or next evening at home I end up starting at yet another digital device. This may have to remain a private vice.

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/ill_try_not_to_become_a_geekbo.php
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #20 on: July 31, 2008, 07:06:34 pm »
more from James:

Newbie Kindle reactions (cont)

27 Jul 2008 07:26 am

1) Whole different way of thinking about buying books:

Sitting on the airplane at Newark airport Friday afternoon, getting ready for the 13-hour flight to Beijing. People are still trudging aboard, still OK to talk on the phone, chatting with a friend who mentions a great new book he's sure I'll want to read. While talking with him, I take out the Kindle that I got three days earlier, search the Kindle online store, find and buy the book, have it delivered to the Kindle to read during the flight -- all within about two minutes total. Huge reduction in the gap between "thought that a book might be interesting" and "paying money for that book." Works only for books in the Kindle catalogue, of course.  Implications not so good for book stores but positive for the overall industry of selling ideas  / thoughts / writing, I would think.

2)  And about not buying books:

Giant supply of books for free download, in Kindle and other eBook formats, here and here, among other sites. They're mainly out-of-copyright classics, from Ulysses to War and Peace to Huckleberry Finn to Persuasion to Looking Backward to The Oregon Trail to Anne of Green Gables to the Complete Works of Shakespeare (and many by PG Wodehouse). Plus a few new ones. Small donations solicited here. In most cases you download to your computer and transfer to Kindle via USB cable, which is extremely easy.

3) And about the process of reading:

Spent six or seven hours of the flight reading on the Kindle. Perfectly pleasant and legible. Only one inconvenience relative to " real" books -- harder to flip ahead or back several pages at a time. (You scroll page by page, or else go to the table of contents.) And a kind of mental-picture adjustment: it's easier to insert bookmarks or placeholders, or seach for a specific word in the text; harder to have a remembered visual image of a certain passage as it fits on a certain place on a page. Not good for books where pictures, illustrations, maps, production quality matter a lot. Very, very good for reading Word .DOC files or .PDFs that I would otherwise have to read on the computer.

My theory: television didn't eliminate radio, telephones didn't eliminate personal conversations, eBooks won't eliminate real books. People always find more ways to communicate, and this will be another way. Very good for some kinds of information, not so much for others. A welcome new addition to the mix. 

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/newbie_kindle_reactions_cont.php
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #21 on: August 08, 2008, 09:49:01 am »
From Princeton University:


Princeton University Press joins the Kindle age with ‘The Subprime Solution.’

By Adam Grybowski
Posted: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 11:53 AM EDT

ON Aug. 15 Princeton University Press will release, two weeks ahead of its print publication, its first Kindle e-book, Robert Shiller’s The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It (Princeton University Press, 2008). The Kindle is Amazon’s e-book reader, released with fanfare last November.

   The subprime mortgage crisis that is currently dragging the U.S. economy into a possible recession will certainly inspire economists to spill a lot of ink debating its cause and possible solutions. With the Kindle, readers can experience Mr. Shiller’s take on it — no ink, paper or binding necessary.

   Amazon spent three years developing the Kindle. The wireless device uses an electronic-paper display technology that may provide the closest experience to reading on real paper yet developed. It weighs 10.3 ounces and holds more than 200 titles, including newspapers, magazines and blogs, as well as access to Wikipedia and a dictionary. Users don’t have to locate a hotspot to buy and download media. The Kindle’s wireless connectivity uses the same network technology of advanced cell phones, not WiFi.

   ”Personally, I think this is the best we’ve seen, for an e-book reader,” says Priscilla Treadwell, electronic publications marketing manager for PU Press. “It’s a lot easier to use, the text is more eye-friendly, you can put 200 books on it, and you can download books in your living room.”

   Back in the early 2000s, when the e-book market was beginning to develop, PU Press “decided to test the waters,” Ms. Treadwell says. They digitized about 300 titles and made them available for sale in the early e-book formats for Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Palm handheld devices. Despite the introduction of the Sony Reader Digital Book, which was supposed to be an evolutionary step for the industry, e-books have failed to dent the market for traditionally printed books.

   Amazon promotes the Kindle as a revolutionary product for the reading public, and PU Press is responding.
   ”We’re taking a big step back into this, now that the market has matured and it’s a lot clearer what’s likely to be successful,” Ms. Treadwell says. “University presses are seeing it as an important market to be in. More and more people expect information to be available online or in digital format.”

   The Subprime Solution will be followed by From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role (Princeton University Press, 1999) by Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International. Mr. Zakaria’s latest book, The Post-American World (W. W. Norton, 2008), which examines the rise of China and India, has been a best seller since its May release.

   After that, Princeton University Press is planning to release about 400 backlist titles for digital distribution. And beginning in the fall, frontlist titles will regularly receive digital releases alongside the traditional print format.

   About a year ago, PU Press began working on a contract to distribute its books electronically with Amazon. As for choosing Mr. Shiller’s new book as its first Kindle release, “It was a bit serendipitous,” Ms. Treadwell says. “It’s a timely topic, as we all know, and I like the fact that the title says ‘solution,’ and not ‘disaster.’”

   In The Subprime Solution, Mr. Shiller, a Yale economics professor, examines the origins of the subprime crisis and outlines a response to solve it. He is also the author of Irrational Exuberance (Princeton University Press, 2000), a New York Times best seller that sold nearly 100,000 copies. In that book Mr. Shiller predicted the stock market crash that happened just one month after its publication.

   Though the majority of books PU Press publishes are specialized or academic, it is introducing e-books to consumers before focusing on the university demographic. A device like the Kindle that can hold so much information seems ideal for students, who are required to read so much material at once. PU Press is developing ways to deliver textbooks on different, nontraditional platforms, and the Kindle will likely be one of them.

   Not all books are available electronically. “You can’t assume any book on Amazon will be available in a digital version,” Ms. Treadwell says. First, they have to acquire rights, and that can be tricky when dealing with the likes of university presses that publish a great variety of art books. While a press may have the rights for the print edition, which is standard, they may not have the rights for the digital edition. The language of contract agreements may be catching up to a new modern publishing reality, but problems with rights for backlisted titles will likely persist.

The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It by Robert Shiller will be released in electronic format Aug. 15. It will be available in print Sept. 1; (609) 258-3897; www.press.princeton.edu; For information about the Kindle, visit www.amazon.com
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #22 on: August 14, 2008, 07:40:40 am »
From the New York Times:

 August 12, 2008,  3:38 pm
The Lessons From the Kindle’s Success

By Saul Hansell

It seems that Amazon.com’s Kindle is not the flop that many predicted when the e-book reader debuted last year. Citibank’s Mark Mahaney has just doubled his forecast of Kindle sales for the year to 380,000. He figures that Amazon’s sales of Kindle hardware and software will hit $1 billion by 2010.

Amazon hasn’t confirmed these numbers, but the e-commerce giant has said that of the 150,000 titles it now sells for the Kindle as well as in paper, more than 10 percent of the sales are in Kindle format.

Anecdotally, I know several people who are absolutely gaga for the Kindle. They happen to be exactly the sort of people for whom Amazon said it had designed the device: heavy readers who want an easy way to carry several books around with them. These Kindle fans are also delighted by how easy it is to shop for and download books onto the device using Amazon’s wireless store.

I think there are a few lessons from this. First you can’t underestimate the miracle that happens when you make something really easy for people. Easy means fast, better than the old way and with very few annoying disappointments and delays. The Kindle device is a better way to carry lots of books (at least for some). Shopping is easy, with very few steps. And Amazon’s relationship with publishers has created a very broad library of Kindle books. Sure, there are lots of books you can’t buy for it, but the disappointment factor is low.

The second lesson is, to quote a cliché, it takes all kinds. Steve Jobs dismissed the e-book market because “people don’t read anymore.” That may be true broadly, but there could well be a $1 billion business for Amazon serving the tiny share of people who read a lot.

It will be interesting to see what lessons Amazon takes from this. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, can be proud that he identified an audience and created an innovative product that served it. But will he feel victim to the temptation to believe that the Kindle is the only right answer and refuse to offer e-books for other devices?

I think that when it comes to the size and shape of devices, we are moving into an era where there will be many more choices that will increasingly be based on personal taste. People choose writing pads of all sorts, from big yellow legal pads to those little bound notebooks with graph paper. In the same way, we are going to have very personal choices about what sort of connected computer we want to use for communicating, reading, working and so on.

For some, the Kindle may be the ideal shape for reading books. The E-Ink screen has great battery life and can be read outside.

For others — me, for example — software to read Kindle books on an iPhone would be great. (I’ve become quite fond of reading news on my iPhone. The screen is the width of a column of type, I can hold it in one hand, and I like moving through a page by scrolling the touch screen with my thumb. The battery life, however, is worse than awful.)

Others may want to read books on laptops, BlackBerries, Chumbys and who knows what else. It would be a mistake to assume everyone wants to read the same way.
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #23 on: August 14, 2008, 07:46:39 am »
And this week's ebook recommendation: Society's Child by Janis Ian. This is a wonderful autobiography from the woman most of us probably remember as the singer/songwriter of Society's Child and At Seventeen. She's done alot of other stuff, too, and had quite the life over the past forty years. The book is entertaining, well-written and I flew right through it.

At the other end of the spectrum: Sandals and Sodomy by a variety of authors. It caught my eye because one of the stories was by Connie Bailey, who many here might remember as a very prolific fanfic author. I was curious if it was the same Connie and I am sure it is. Anyway, of the six stories, I enjoyed (in this order): Greeks Bearing Gifts, The Vow, and After the Games (this is Connie's story). Undefeated Love was dull; Hadrian fell into the "porn without plot" category, and I couldn't even finish Troy Cycle. So, if anyone is looking for a little Greek smut, check this out. LOL.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #24 on: September 16, 2008, 05:41:27 am »
I am traveling, so I have had a chance to do a bit more reading on the plane and so on...

First up, Soul by Tobsha Learner. Overall a good book but unfortunately, it fell down at the end. I almost felt like the author got tired of writing it, or had written herself into enough of a corner that she could figure out how to get out. Still, I enjoyed it. There is a gay romance in the story but I don't think the author could bring herself to write a sex scene (although she did fine with the het sex!).

This is a link to the paperback, it is also available in e-book format:

http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Tobsha-Learner/dp/076532010X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221557479&sr=8-2

Then I read Razor Burn by Scott & Scott (the Romentics). This is another easy read, very fast, sort of silly and improbable in parts but it kept me entertained. There are sections where they desperately could have used an editor but at least it is not full of typos! Again, this is the amazon link but it is available as an ebook:

http://www.amazon.com/Razor-Burn-Romentics-Novel-Novels/dp/1594570345/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221557724&sr=8-2

Now I am reading Speak Its Name a series of three short novellas by Charlie Cochrane, Lee Rowan and Erastes. I have finished the first two and am looking forward to the third. The review by Elsa Rolle from Italy (on amazon) sums up my feelings nicely:

http://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-No-111-Speak-Name/dp/B001BXWM7E/ref=ed_oe_k

Enjoy, everyone!

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #25 on: September 16, 2008, 05:44:26 am »
I am really excited to announce the publication of L. A. Mischief, sequel to L. A. Heat.




If you have already read L. A. Heat by author P. A. Brown, you have met David Eric Laine and Christopher Bellamere. If not, get ready to make their acquaintance in L. A. Mischief, a fast-paced novella that details the early months of their relationship. David a LAPD Homicide Detective is stubborn, proud, and barely out of the closet. As the story opens, he is struggling to find the balance between his intense feelings for Chris, the urges of his newly liberated libido, and the demands of a job where bodies pop up on an all too regular basis. Chris blonde, smart, out and proud faces his own set of challenges, including helping his best friend cope with his ongoing grief after the brutal murder of his lover. Life events conspire to bring David and Chris together while at the same time keeping them apart will they be able to push their way through and find a common ground for happiness and their shared love?

It received a 5 star review at Amazon! Yahoo!

Links to purchase the ebook can be found here:

http://www.bcpinepress.com/htdocs/whatsnew.html

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #26 on: September 16, 2008, 05:47:06 am »
And more exciting news...A Love Born From Steel

http://www.bcpinepress.com/htdocs/upcomingreleases.html

First sneak peak at the cover at the Bristlecone Pine Press website!

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #27 on: September 17, 2008, 04:04:45 pm »
If anyone was thinking about reading Fatal Encryption but wasn't really sure, maybe this will help you make up your mind. Check it out!

http://kindlereader.blogspot.com/2008/09/kindle-book-du-jour-fatal-encryption-by.html

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #28 on: September 28, 2008, 08:56:38 am »
This week's recommendation: Death of a Pirate King by Josh Lanyon. This is Josh's fourth Adrien English story and I think it is his best. I read the whole thing while flying home on the plane from Germany. It is great!

http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=767

It is also available as a paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Pirate-King-Josh-Lanyon/dp/1934531316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222606535&sr=8-1

Enjoy!

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #29 on: October 11, 2008, 08:55:54 am »
Some interesting statistics...

http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/story/story.bsp?sid=176055&var=story
Book Business
AAP Releases August Sales Figures


Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of August increased 0.6 percent to $1.5 billion, compared to August 2007. Calendar year-to-date sales were down 1.4 percent.

Categories posting an increase in August included:

•E-books sales jumped up by 82.9 percent for the month ($4.3 million), and the category also posted a 52-percent increase for the year.

•The children’s/young-adult paperback category increased 18.4 percent in August with sales totaling $69.4 million, reflecting an increase of 14.1 percent for the year.

•The adult-hardcover category increased 9.2 percent in August with sales of $100.9 million; year-to-date sales decreased 3.6 percent.

•Sales in the professional and scholarly category increased three percent in August ($99.8 million), but decreased one percent for the year.

•Adult-paperback sales increased 1.8 percent for the month ($147.4 million) and increased by 9.5 percent for the year.

•Higher-education publishing sales increased by 0.6 percent for the month ($826.0 million) and increased 3.2 percent for the year.

Categories posting a decrease in August included:

•Sales of university-press hardcover books dropped 17.8 percent in August with sales of $6.4 million; sales decreased by 6.4 percent for the year.

•The net elementary/high school basal and supplemental K-12 category posted a decrease of 16.6 percent in August with sales of $741.5 million; the category decreased 1.7 percent for the year.

•University-press paperback sales also posted a decrease of 13.9 percent for the month, with sales totaling $9.8 million; sales were down 7.6 percent for the year.

•Religious books decreased 10.8 percent for the month with sales totaling $61.1 million; sales were down by 7.7 percent for the year.

•The children’s/young-adult hardcover category decreased 9.3 percent for the month with sales of $96.4 million; sales for year-to-date dropped 35.5 percent.

•Audiobook sales posted a 6.9-percent decrease in August, with sales totaling $11.9 million; sales for the year decreased 26.8 percent.

•The adult mass-market category decreased 4.5 percent for August with sales totaling $70.1 million; sales increased 2.1 percent year-to-date.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2008, 08:29:58 am by Maine That One Writer »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #30 on: October 13, 2008, 03:56:03 pm »
from the International Herald Tribune:

Campaign articles from Newsweek become e-books for Amazon Kindle
By Richard Pérez-Peña
Monday, October 13, 2008

It would seem to be a magazine's dream in these straitened times: Take something you have already published and sold, repackage it and distribute it without all that expense of paper, ink and trucks, and then sell it again.

This week, Newsweek will publish four books, one about each of the major presidential and vice presidential candidates — Senators John McCain, Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, and Governor Sarah Palin — books that will not appear in print but will be available only as e-books from Amazon.com for download to Amazon's Kindle device.

The books will contain versions of articles that Newsweek, owned by The Washington Post Company, has already published during the campaign. Turning this kind of collection into books is an old idea; what is new is to do it with such minimal production and distribution costs that even the most limited sales could be profitable.

Amazon says this is probably the first such venture by a publication, but it is not likely to be the last.

"We think it's a very interesting model that could broaden," said Ian Freed, an Amazon vice president in charge of the Kindle reading device. "This could start to change the way at least some books are published."

The books, at $9.99, will go on sale Wednesday and can be ordered starting Monday.

Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek, approached Amazon with the idea about a month ago. The use of material published over the course of the campaign points to another advantage of digital books: a fast turnaround time.

"Every magazine editor thinks their stuff should be in an anthology, but that's hard to do economically," Meacham said. "Here's a way of doing it more quickly and with virtually no overhead. This is competing in the digital space with our traditional strengths, and that's been hard to do."

News magazines, like newspapers, have struggled financially, with circulation and advertising in decline. The economic downturn has cut deeply into advertising, while the magazines are forced to compete with many sources of information available instantly, and usually free, on the Internet.

The Kindle, introduced in November, costs $359. Amazon offers 180,000 books for wireless download, along with more than 40 newspapers and magazines.

The potential audience may be voracious, but it remains relatively small — Amazon will not say how many Kindles it has sold. Industry analysts have estimated that the figure is in the low hundreds of thousands.

But the experiment is appealing "because anyone who owns a Kindle is someone we want as a reader," Meacham said. "We're putting it in front of committed readers."

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=16893552
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #31 on: October 14, 2008, 12:07:48 pm »
Leslie, this information is very interesting...keep it coming!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #32 on: October 14, 2008, 12:58:18 pm »
Thank you, Lee! I will!

From Entertainment Weekly, an A review for the Kindle!


Digital Commentary
Reading with Kindle
Can the Kindle sway a book geek? -- A look at whether Amazon's gadget is a worthy replacement for the morning paper


By Rick Tetzeli

Looking forward to a two-month stretch of several long business trips and a vacation, I decided to sacrifice myself for the good of our new tech section and tackle a ridiculous challenge: Could I live for that whole time with just a Kindle, Amazon's electronic-book reader? No books, newspapers, or magazines (save EW, of course!)? The answer seemed obvious: No. I'm a book geek, I've read The New York Times every morning since I was 12, and I make my bones editing a magazine.

Two months later, I have to admit that the Kindle is a pleasure, the best tech gadget I've laid my hands on since the iPod. It's so good that I've found myself humming a dismal version of an R.E.M. tune: It's the end of all print as we know it, and I feel fine. Actually, I wouldn't take things that far. But any device that forces you to start thinking about what a world without books, magazines, and newspapers would actually look like — What will we put on the shelves? Will the magazine racks of the world become (oh, God) kindling? Will my daughter Tal scooter to school down Manhattan streets emptied of newsstands? — must be pretty damn good.

The Kindle is still rare enough that it begs looks and questions in a New York City subway car. So for the uninitiated, let me quickly explain: The Kindle is a white plastic device, measuring 7.5'' x 5.3'' x 0.7'', with a large e-paper screen and a pretty useless keyboard, simple ''next'' and ''previous page'' buttons, and a scroll wheel for navigation. You can download books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs through Amazon's wireless network. The Kindle lets you adjust text size, take notes, click on links within blogs, connect to the Internet, and find definitions via the New Oxford American Dictionary.

That's the catalog blurb, more or less. The real definition is this: Reading on a Kindle is just as good as reading a physical book — but with extra benefits.

I began my two months with a test I knew the Kindle would fail: Could I possibly fall as deep into a great book on the Kindle as I can with a regular book? To find out, I ordered titles from two of my favorite authors, Richard Price (Lush Life) and Andre Dubus III (The Garden of Last Days). While the Kindle's light weight was initially disconcerting, I soon found myself clicking through the novels just as automatically as I once turned pages. On a laptop, the quality of the text and the glare of the screen distract from longer reads. The words on the Kindle, however, somehow have the textured feel of a new hardcover.

That said, the Kindle can't replace books just yet. The Kindle store, your primary source for downloads, is no better stocked with fiction than an average airport bookstore. The prices are good, and you can occasionally nab a cheap, surprising find (the complete poems of John Keats for $3.19!). But there's no guarantee you'll find your favorite best-sellers — and good luck trying to find older titles: I found just 19 of the 50 volumes on EW's list of the top books published since 1983.

The biggest surprise I encountered was in reading some of the newspapers and magazines you can subscribe to (sadly, not EW yet). I now enjoy the Kindle edition of the Times more than the real thing. Yes, I miss the photographs, but honestly (sorry, photo editors!), I don't miss them that much. Since you navigate by clicking through article headlines and blurbs, reading the Times, Newsweek, or Fortune is like reading a blog, only without the headache of a computer screen. I find myself reading more full-length articles, both mainstream features and off-point surprises, than I ever did with the print versions — the experience is totally different; instead of scanning a newspaper spread or busy magazine pages, your eye is focused only on the list of articles, making it easier to find stories you're interested in. And finally, the prices are great: My brother-in-law Mark, who lives in Massachusetts, glommed onto my Kindle during vacation, and loved it so much that he figured out the following ploy (in order to convince his wife that he should buy it): He saw the Kindle for $395, found a promotion that cut $100 off the price, then got a Kindle subscription to The New York Times ($168/year) and dumped their home subscription ($697/year). Satiating tech lust has never been so cost-effective!

Actually, thinking of the Kindle as a tech device is all wrong — for one thing, it's terrible with blogs, since it does a poor, slow job of linking to the Internet from them. The Kindle is really just the next step in reading. For now, it's a great way to travel with books and newspapers and magazines, and the best example yet of how the worlds of deep reading and digital innovation have begun to happily collide. The next logical step is already under way: Amazon is rumored to be working with many colleges across the country to test a college edition of the Kindle. In this future, when Tal scooters to school, she won't be swerving around under the weight of a heavy sackful of books on her back. A

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20232376,00.html
« Last Edit: October 28, 2008, 08:27:48 am by Maine That One Writer »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #33 on: October 14, 2008, 01:10:59 pm »
Amazon has Kindle giveaways every week or so, so of course I take advantage!

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

Tess is a former physician and lives here in Maine, so I keep up on her writing career. I've read several of her other books so when I saw this was free, I snapped it up. It's a murder mystery. Unfortunately, it's a little bit more gruesome than some of her other books and this distracted me from enjoying the story. There were also a few loose ends that I didn't feel were very well tied up. Overall--okay, but not great. B-

Pefecting Amanda
by Bonnie Dee

A case of pretend mistaken identity which turns into trouble for the three main characters: Spencer, Travis, and the eponymous Amanda. The description sounded silly but I actually enjoyed this book a whole lot more than I expected! The writing was good -- not great -- but this isn't meant to be great literature. There were a few hot (het) sex scenes. For escapist entertainment, this fills the bill quite nicely. B+

Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin by Sue Katz

I knew from the title this wouldn't be a sympathetic view of the vice presidential candidate, but I really didn't expect such a hatchet job. How about a tad more objectivity, Ms. Katz? I got about halfway though and gave up in disgust -- and I am not a Palin fan. F

The Surgeon and Perfecting Amanda are available in Kindle versions as well as print. Search at Amazon.com for links. Thanks But No Thanks -- Kindle only. But trust me, you don't want to read it.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #34 on: October 14, 2008, 01:34:34 pm »
For the holiday weekend, I treated myself to a purchased book and I am glad I did!

Captain's Surrender by Alex Beecroft

Anchors aweigh as the Royal Navy sets sail in 1780 (or so). This is a great story with lively naval battles, a wonderful (gay) romance and some absolutely beautiful writing. If you want real hot m/m action, this might disappoint but if you like romance with some heart wrenching drama -- Captain's Surrender will keep you entertained. One advantage of the Kindle version -- I did not have to look at the awful cover (and believe you me, that's not what I pictured Josh and Peter looking like!). There are a few inconsistencies but nothing dreadful. All in all, a solid A- for this book. It is a worthwhile read.

Available in print and Kindle. Links for both are at Amazon.com.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #35 on: October 15, 2008, 08:35:38 am »
News from the Frankfurt Book Fair (the world's largest) which opens today:

Digital future looms over book publishers
2008/10/15

AS CARPENTERS put the finishing touches to displays at the Frankfurt Book Fair yesterday, the spectre of the digital future worried many executives attending the world’s biggest annual book-publishing gathering.

Whether it is school textbooks or philosophical tracts, moves are afoot everywhere to convert books from bulky paper into ever-so-tiny computer memory.

Only gift books, lofty literature and children’s picture books seem immune to the trend.

When the fair opens for business today , many publishers may stop for a moment to marvel, or to shudder, at the stands displaying the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

These are devices weighing about 250g which exploit so-called e-paper to display books with minimal battery use. After US launches, both products are being introduced in Europe now.

A survey released this week by the organisers of the October 15 to 19 fair found 60 percent of publishers who answered a questionnaire neither use e- readers themselves nor download the e- books which can be read on the devices or on computers.

The survey was not a scientific one, since it was mailed to 35000 people and only 1000 voluntarily replied.

But the views expressed generally reflect what publishing-industry magazines and online forums have been reporting: that e-book sales are growing steadily and bookshops will have a tough time surviving when most books are only a download away.

The poll asked which book industry players would still exist half a century from now, and 25 percent forecast that bookstores would largely disappear, with online distribution of paper books by firms such as Amazon taking over.

Of those polled, 21 percent predicted literary agents would disappear as publishers learn to find authors online.

But only 14 percent thought publishers themselves would vanish.

After all, somebody will always be needed to package up book content and sell it, whether by download or on paper.

The survey was notable for a wide disparity in views, with 12 percent of publishers convinced the new e-readers will prove a short-lived flash in the pan, just like earlier e-readers that never caught on because their batteries ran flat so quickly. In fact, 30 percent of those surveyed were convinced that sales of digital content would never exceed those of paper books, whereas 40percent predicted this would happen within the next 10 years.

More than half took comfort in the forecast that Internet users may surrender a little of their culture of wanting to obtain everything free, with online users more willing five years from now to pay for quality digital content.

The survey was carried out among subscribers to the Frankfurt Book Fair’s online mailing list.

Juergen Boos, the director of the book fair, which will have 7373 exhibitors, said: “This annual questionnaire gives us a way to get a picture of the trends and changes in the sector.

“Some of the results are remarkable, such as the prediction that China will lead the world in the digital future.”

Currently, the United States is the market that is most advanced in digitalisation, believed 51 percent of respondents, while 15 percent viewed Japan as the current leader.

But only 29 percent thought the United States would still be in the lead five years from now, whereas 28 percent thought China would soar ahead as the world’s heavyweight in e-book publishing.

Technical topics to be discussed at industry meetings this week during the book fair have a strong bearing on the issue of making money out of digital books. — Sapa-DPA

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=259759
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #36 on: October 15, 2008, 08:46:11 am »
More news...

Search for chapter and verse on e-prices

By Danuta Kean

Published: October 14 2008 21:33 | Last updated: October 14 2008 21:33

Want to know how to silence a book publisher? Ask him about his pricing strategy for electronic books. It is a subject guaranteed to send a shiver down the spine of an industry suffering from a deep-discounting retail culture that is subsidised by fat margins exacted from publishers. It is also a subject that will come under scrutiny today when publishers meet in Frankfurt for the annual book fair, the biggest in the world.

The successful launch of the Sony Reader (pictured) and Amazon Kindle has focused minds on how much consumers should pay for e-books. According to David Roth-Ey, director of digital business development at HarperCollins in the UK, being last in the digital market has advantages: “Books are late to the game of digitisation and so we can look at the way that music, film and television have faced these challenges more or less successfully.”

Top of the list of lessons learned from rival media is to resist pressure to give away a bigger slice of the pie to retailers and artists. Though publishers in North America and Europe refuse to speak on the record about the discount levels they are giving e-booksellers, privately they admit that they are being asked to match the 57 per cent and above given on physical books to the biggest players in the market – Amazon in the US and Waterstone’s in the UK. This will then fund price cuts of up to 50 per cent on the cover price.

Publishers are not against discounts to consumers, particularly if they will kick-start the nascent e-book market. Price cuts have an important role in winning over customers. “We avidly follow consumer blogs and are convinced that a discount off the physical book price is necessary to grow the market and address consumers’ expectations,” says Maja Thomas, senior vice-president of digital and audio publishing at the Hachette Book Group.

The problem is how cheap the books should be. “Consumers realise that e-books don’t incur the usual printing, shipping and return charges,” she says, “but don’t understand that the overhead, conversion costs, marketing and higher than usual royalties all represent new and different costs for digital publishing.”

Genevieve Shore, global digital director at Penguin (owned by Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times), agrees that consumer perceptions are a problem. “Ninety-nine per cent of our overheads remain unchanged,” she says. “In fact we are adding overheads, because we are having to digitise content and set up a completely new supply chain. That all costs.”

Publishers such as Ms Shore believe the music industry fundamentally undermined its credibility in price negotiations by allowing misconceptions about cheaper delivery to mushroom in the minds of consumers and artists.

In reality, publishers’ influence over retail prices is constrained, says Sara Lloyd, head of digital at Macmillan Publishers in the UK. “Pricing strategies are currently tied to the prevailing print price in the majority of cases because the publisher doesn’t control pricing, only the recommended retail price,” she says.

E-book publishers want to keep the conventional profit split between retailer and publisher. In the UK, retailers receive £4 ($7, €5) on a paperback that sells for £6.99, while the remaining £2.99 is divided between the publisher, which pays for paper production, distribution, editorial and marketing, and the author, who gets 7.5 per cent.

Authors and their literary agents are pushing for as much as a 25 per cent royalty, which they feel reflects the lower cost of delivery per unit. However, publishers argue that higher royalties will preclude the necessary investment in digitisation.

Publishers are also caught up in retailers’ desire to be the bookselling equivalent of Apple’s iTunes, Ms Lloyd adds. “Because there is a race to become the retailer to carve out the bigger slice of the e-book market, this is a particular pressure which retailers push back onto publishers in the form of discount.”

For books the magic number – the equivalent of iTunes’ charge of 99 cents a track – is tied to the price of the print product. Publishers want to use pricing more creatively as part of their marketing strategies for e-books. “We want to test things,” Mr Roth-Ey says.

He uses the example of an Ian McEwan first edition, which could be sold with the e-book, so the first edition is kept pristine by the purchaser, while the content is read electronically.

However, publishers are adamant that they will not allow Sony or Amazon to promote their respective electronic readers with free pre-loaded bestsellers.

In this, says Fritz Foy, senior vice-president of strategic technology at Macmillan US, publishers have learned from mistakes made elsewhere. “We have looked at businesses that have suffered a real loss from digitisation,” he explains.

He cites the software and educational markets. “In both, content was used to sell devices and was given away free in bundles. It gave the perception that content was worthless.” The 100 books given away with the Sony Reader are all out-of-copyright classics.

Though the market for e-books remains small – scant figures are available, but in the US e-book sales in the first six months of 2008 were estimated to be £10m – publishers report a steady increase in the second half of the year on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to the launch of the Sony Reader.

And it seems that the good news from the bestseller lists is that price may be less important than the blogs imply, says Ms Shore. “Our experience in the US is that bestsellers are bestsellers, and the bestseller list for Kindle, the Sony Reader and online sites mirror The New York Times bestseller list very closely.

“If e-books were price sensitive then e-book bestseller lists would be full of $3 e-books, but the e-books that sell the most are the same price as the physical edition, because they are the ones that people want to read.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/900b3132-9a0a-11dd-960e-000077b07658.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #37 on: October 16, 2008, 01:15:48 pm »
More from the Frankfurt Book Fair:

No UK Kindle launch before Xmas

16.10.08 Sarah Butler

Amazon will not launch its Kindle e-book reader in the UK until after Christmas as it attempts to sign up Wi-Fi partners around Europe, it has been revealed.

Rumours that Amazon.com was poised to launch the device in Europe—with the Frankfurt Book Fair the launch venue—have been circulating. However, fair-goers hoping for an early sighting of the popular device will be disappointed.

In an interview with The Bookseller, Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon in the UK, said it was not yet clear when the Kindle would launch in the country. He said it was likely to be some time next year, given the complexity of signing up the many partners needed to support Europe-wide Wi-Fi access. “The Kindle is based on wireless technology. If you need agreement with carriers in the US, there is one carrier. In Europe it is a minefield as there are so many operators. If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday in Spain, unless we have signed deals in Spain it is not going to work on that beach,” he said.

The Kindle, which enables the download of books wirelessly from the internet, uses a free wireless service called whispernet provided by the Sprint EVDO network. The device has become popular in the US, and is expected to sell around 380,000 units this year. Sony launched its e-reader in the UK in an exclusive deal with Waterstone’s last month.

However, McBride was sanguine about the competition. He said the e-book market remained small and he was not concerned about losing first-mover advantage. “This is us building long-term business growth routes in the UK and it is not that important for us to enter a green field,” he said.

At a seminar held in Frankfurt yesterday Amazon.com promoted the Kindle device to international publishers, saying they could use it to get their books to US users. When asked about a European version, the e-tailer declined to comment on the “speculation”.

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/69174-page.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Win a Kindle!
« Reply #38 on: October 16, 2008, 01:33:57 pm »
Do you want a Kindle? Here's your chance to win one!

Name Joseph Devon's Latest Book and Win an E-Book Reader

Write six words; win a Kindle. It's that simple.

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 15, 2008 -- JosephDevon.com has started a contest on its website where readers will get to submit possible titles for "The Matthew and Epp Stories." The winner will get to choose between an Amazon Kindle or a Sony Reader. The first two runners up will receive signed copies of the book. Please go to www.josephdevon.com/contest for contest rules and submission forms.

About JosephDevon.com

JosephDevon.com is a blog started by author Joseph Devon with the simple goal of providing the best stories possible to his readers with as much convenience possible. Joseph Devon is best known for the writing project "26 Stories in 52 Weeks" in which Mr. Devon wrote and published a new short story every two weeks for an entire year.

###
« Last Edit: October 28, 2008, 09:40:45 am by Maine That One Writer »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Another Kindle Giveaway!
« Reply #39 on: October 16, 2008, 04:45:16 pm »
For this one, you don't even have to read the book! Just fill out the form...

http://www.itworld.com/free-stuff

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Kindle and Oprah
« Reply #40 on: October 23, 2008, 01:51:45 pm »
Rumor has it that tomorrow on Oprah, Oprah is going to announce that the Kindle is her newest favorite gadget. Speculation is rampant that everyone on the audience will get a free Kindle -- those lucky folks! They gave away Kindles on The View a few months ago and many of those showed up on eBay in the following weeks. So, eBay shoppers who desire a Kindle at a bargain-basement price...this may be your chance!

http://www.amazon.com/ref=br_ss_null

Watch the teaser video....you can see a Kindle in the first second.

Leslie
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #41 on: October 24, 2008, 11:14:28 am »
It's official. The Kindle is Oprah's new favorite gadget!

http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081024_tows_kindle

If you've been thinking about buying one, she's offering an awesome deal: buy one before November 1st and get $50 off the price ($309). Excellent! Use the coupon code OPRAHWINFREY at checkout.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files: A Free Book!
« Reply #42 on: October 24, 2008, 02:09:28 pm »
Periodically, Amazon offers free books for the Kindle, but this is the first time I've seen an article from the author about why the book is free! BTW, I downloaded this book and started reading it. It's good so far but I'm just a few chapters in ... You don't have to have a Kindle. You can download it and read on your computer. The link is in the article.

October 24, 2008

M.J. Rose

Why Is My Book Free?

For the next ten days anyone who wants one can download a free copy of my last novel, The Reincarnationist. http://www.mjrose.com/books/reincarnationist_free.asp  But why is my book free? It's a question everyone has been asking me.

Well, it's not because I'm independently wealthy or because I think The Reincarnationist is worthless.

My book is free because my husband always asks me to bring home cookies from Sant Ambrose whenever I go into New York City. It's because I wear one of the L'Oeuvre Noire perfumes by Kilian. And it's because we both use L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel. And what all those things have in common is at one point in my life as a consumer - or his - we sampled them.

When I was the creative director of Rosenfeld, Sirowitz and Lawson, a NYC ad agency we introduced a new Charles of The Ritz fragrance to the tune of 40 million dollars in TV commercials and print ads. You'd think that was enough to launch it, right? It wasn't. We still made sure that every woman who stopped at every perfume counter in the country got a lovely little pink bottle of the stuff to take home and wear for a week or so. And when we introduced a new breakfast sandwich at McDonald's we gave out coupons to lunchtime customers so they could come back the next morning and eat for free.

It's because trying something for free is the best way of discovering it. And free doesn't mean sampling a quarter of a cookie - it means the whole cookie. It doesn't mean someone spraying my wrist with perfume - it means them putting a small bottle of the fragrance in my shopping bag. It means spending a weekend in a hotel and taking two showers using the same soap. It doesn't mean reading the first five pages of my book online - it means reading my whole book for free as a way of discovering me as an author.

As consumers we are faced with hundreds of choices - and when it comes to books thousands of choices.

So how do you choose?

I was a reader before I was a writer - one of those kids who walked home from school with a book up to my face, about to fall in the proverbial pothole because I couldn't see where I was going. And now I'm one of those people whose books are triple shelved and who can't go anywhere without carrying two titles - one that I'm reading and one back up.

And so as a reader I'm suffering along with every other reader by a wealth of books (over 1000 novels are published every month) but not a wealth of wallet and so every time I walk into a bookstore or go to a bookstore online I'm confronted with more titles that I want to read than I have money to buy.

Books on their own aren't insanely expensive compared to other things; three large cappuccinos cost more than a paperback and two and a half gallons of gas cost more than a paperback. But these days we are all watching our dollars and I find that faced with so many books to buy, I wind up with choice fatigue and all too often end up buying the safe bet - the book by the author I've read before who I'm sure will offer a satisfying read and passing over new books by authors I haven't heard of even if they look interesting because I can't buy everything and I can't afford to make many mistakes.

But if you buy books this way you're bound to miss out on a lot of exciting discoveries.

Back in 1999 and 2000 a few of us... a very few of us... Douglas Clegg, Seth Godin and I... offered free electronic copies of our books in an effort to reach an audience we otherwise wouldn't have reached and to test out a new marketing concept for books. Despite the industry screaming we were crazy, it worked. We each wound up selling many more copies of the books that we gave away than anyone expected and for each of us the experiment was a success. Back then many thought it an audacious move and even though we proved free books led to increased books sales it's been hard for me to convince any of my publishers to try it again. Until now. I guess it's an idea whose time has come, or I've gotten more persuasive, or the VP I asked at my publishing house recently got a nice sample of a new moisturizer at the department store and understood the idea ... but whatever the reason, I'm thrilled.

For the next ten days The Reincarnationist is free to anyone who wants to download it from Amazon's Kindle Store or from my website. Why? So readers like me can take a chance on... well... me.

M.J. Rose is the author of The Reincarnationist that has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, raves from People, Entertainment Weekly, The Chicago Sun Times, The Providence Journal and more. She's also the creator of AuthorBuzz.com - the first marketing service for authors and she's one of the founding members of International Thriller Writers. Her next novel, The Memorist, will be released on November 1st.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rose/why-is-my-book-free_b_136374.html?view=print
« Last Edit: October 28, 2008, 08:25:09 am by Maine That One Writer »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #43 on: November 24, 2008, 09:13:34 am »
Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I posted!

I have two wonderful books to recommend: Ransom and its sequel Winds of Change, both by Lee Rowan.

Ransom takes place in 1799. Captain Smith of the Calypso and his two lieutenants, David Archer and William Marshall, are taken hostage by pirates. Here's the description from Amazon:

It's 1796 and not only is love between men taboo, it is punishable by death. Lt. David Archer is an officer in His Majesty's Navy and a gentleman of Regency Society. He is also hopelessly in love with his shipmate, Lt. William Marshall. David is certain that his feelings, if expressed, would be met with revulsion. Afraid of losing the strong friendship that he has forged with William, he vows to never speak of or act on his desire, promising himself to take the secret to his grave.

Although William is young, his innate talent has allowed him to quickly rise above his humble background and gain a reputation as a promising officer. The Royal Navy is his world, and in that world there is no room for anything as frivolous as romance.

Then, in a twist of fate, the two men are abducted by a ruthless pirate who finds pleasure in toying with his captives. Thrown together in close quarters and wondering if they will survive, they're are faced with some difficult choices. William struggles with his growing feelings for David and, try as he might to dismiss them, he can't. When David makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect the man he loves, the reason for it is clear and the passion that the men have denied for so long is realized for the first time. Before the lovers can have any sort of life together, they must first escape. After that, they face an even greater challenge-is their love strong enough to survive a clandestine life under the ever-present threat of the Navy's implacable Articles of War?



I loved this book! I was excited to discover the sequel, Winds of Change, which I might love even more. It starts in 1801. William and David are still serving under Captain Smith on the Calypso, but he receives a new assignment and they are all forced into a bit of espionage. This story focused more on the romance and less on the action than Ransom, but I like romance so that was fine with me. William and David are maturing and as men, must grapple with the depth of their feelings but also the understanding that their forbidden love could result in both of them being hung.

Very touching--I shed more than a few tears over this one!

Both books are available at Amazon in Kindle and print editions. You can also order them directly from the publisher, Linden Bay Romance.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #44 on: December 03, 2008, 10:40:06 am »
Check it out...I'm in the news!

From msnbc.com

E-readers' high prices may hinder adoption
Amazon's Kindle, Sony's 'Reader' gain ground as devices for word lovers

By Suzanne Choney
updated 9:05 a.m. ET, Wed., Dec. 3, 2008

Tech holiday gift checklist: LCD TV — maybe. New BlackBerry or iPhone — possible. E-reader — are you kidding?

No, not kidding. While they're unlikely to be high on many shoppers’ lists, Sony’s recent e-reader, the PRS-700, and Amazon’s Kindle, out for more than a year, are starting to generate interest. Whether they’ll generate sales remains to be seen.

Their relatively high prices — $399.99 for the Sony and $359 for the Kindle — won’t help either one in a season of frugality. But for those who are voracious book readers, travelers or students, the devices’ costs could be outweighed by the their ability to lighten the schlep load and save money on book-buying.

New York Times’ best-selling hardcover books generally cost $9.99 for the Kindle, and $11.99 at Sony’s eBook Store. Both prices are significantly lower than print versions of books.

Easier on the eyes

Both Sony’s Reader Digital Book, as it’s called, and the Kindle use a technology called E Ink. It helps digital pages look real, and is easier on the eyes for longer periods of reading.

“All of us can read short PDFs and e-mail on our BlackBerrys and our computers,” said Brennan Mullin, Sony Electronics vice president of audio. “But when you’re reading a novel or reading research materials and sitting for one or two hours, the experience on those devices is not great, the battery life is limited, and it’s hard on your eyes.”

Those are some of the reasons devices like smartphones, iPods and portable game players may not be the best options for reading books, although they certainly can be used for that.

“Cell phone screens are undeniably getting larger, and may emerge as a better fit for shorter-form content in the near future, such as magazine features blogs,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group market research firm.

“The Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle have certainly made progress. But, there’s going to be a limited market for a dedicated device that reads books simply because a relatively small percentage of the U.S. population are avid enough readers to justify purchases of such a device, even as prices come down, which they will continue to do.”

For e-readers to become “a mass-market item,” prices will need to drop, and they’ll “need to be embraced by the education market” to succeed, he believes.

Some of that is starting to happen. Sony says books can now be downloaded to its readers from some public libraries around the country. And, this fall, the company donated 100 of its readers to Penn State University’s libraries to see how students use the device for research projects, as well as for classroom and leisure reading.

Differences between Sony, Amazon


Amazon, which constantly releases statistics on everything from on who’s buying what and when — down to the hour — has not publicly shared information about Kindle sales.

The company recently noted that Kindle is sold out, “due to heavy customer demand,” and said orders placed now will not be delivered until after Christmas Eve.

Research firm iSuppli said earlier this year that the Kindle has "proven there is a viable market for eBooks with shipments expected to reach 1 million units in 2008."

“It's possible that Amazon's Kindle could do for eBooks what Apple's iPod did for MP3 players,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli, said in a report.

Sony’s first digital reader was released in Japan, then in the United States in 2006. The company has another reader, the PRS-550, which retails for $299.

One of the main differences between it and the newer model, the PRS-700, is that the PRS-700 uses a touchscreen and readers can highlight, annotate and search for words in books.

The biggest difference between Sony’s readers and the Kindle is how books get onto the devices.

The Kindle uses a wireless connection over Sprint’s phone data network to deliver books to the device, so it can be done from just about anywhere in the country, except from Montana and Alaska. No computer is necessary, and there is no extra charge for the connection.

Sony’s readers download books to a PC. The Sony Reader comes with a USB cable, which is connected to the PC to transfer books to the device.

Both the Sony and Kindle readers are fairly lightweight, between 10 to 11 ounces, and have 6-inch display screens, adjustable font sizes and long-lasting batteries of a week or more (less time with the Kindle if you use the wireless connection frequently).

One of the Kindle's draws is that customers can get discounts on suscriptions for newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Newsweek and Time.

So far, Amazon has more than 190,000 books for the Kindle; Sony’s eBook Store has 57,000, with more than 100,000 expected by the end of the year, said a spokeswoman. She added that Reader users can also buy and download books from “lots of places,” both free and paid, including Manybooks.net, Gutenberg.com and Fictionwise.com.

Book publishers ramp up

Publishers are ramping up the number of digital books in their collections. Random House, with more than 8,000 electronic books, said recently it plans to increase its digital holdings to nearly 15,000 volumes.

“More people are doing things on screens every day, and I don’t see valid arguments why trade books or consumer books would be fundamentally excepted from that trend,” said Matt Schatz of Random House Technology Services.

“My sense is that most of the time when people buy a book, ultimately it’s to read the text, to learn something new, to fall in love with a character, to be transported to a different time and place.” There’s no reason that can’t happen on a screen, especially with display technology improving, he said.

“There are lots of reasons print books will remain, such as coffee table books or books with beautiful images or pictures. And clearly, there are also people who like having books on their shelves. They like the warmth it brings to a room, or what the books say about them.”

Books, both electronic and printed, will continue to thrive, “just as there’s a healthy population still buying CDs for music,” along with digital music files, Schatz said.

Sony and Amazon’s products are the two leading digital readers available in the United States. In Europe, iRex Technologies, a Philips Electronics company spin-off, has the iLiad Book Edition, a digital reader that is being sold by Borders in the United Kingdom.

Sony’s e-readers are sold at Borders stores in the United States, as well as at Sony retail stores and various chains. Because travelers are an obvious market for e-readers, Sony will place representatives, with e-readers in hand, at Grand Central Station in the weeks ahead to promote their devices.

The company is pushing its “see it before you buy” advantage that the Kindle does not have quite as handily.

'See a Kindle in Your City'

Amazon has a "See A Kindle in Your City" program, where those who want to see the device can link up with Kindle owners in their areas. And, Kindle owners are quite passionate about the device.

“In November, I read eight books, three short stories and my almost-daily New York Times,” using the Kindle, said Leslie H. Nicoll, a nurse from Portland, Maine.

“That is probably more books than I read in all of 2007. I love the Kindle because it has gotten me reading like I did in the ‘old’ days — when my eyes were better and my wrists didn't get tired from holding a book.”

Nicoll, who is also the editor of two professional nursing journals and an e-book publisher, answers questions from other Kindle owners at “Kindle Discussions” area of Amazon.com. She also wrote “The Amazon Kindle FAQ” e-book ($1.59), sold through Amazon.

Kindle users can get discounted subscriptions on various publications, including The New York Times, a big draw for Nicoll.

“My New York Times subscription costs $168 a year vs. paying $665 a year for a paper subscription here in Maine,” she said. “That’s a huge savings.”


URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27955831/
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #45 on: December 03, 2008, 11:14:36 am »
Awesome, Leslie!! Wow, we have a Kindle celeb in our midst!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #46 on: December 03, 2008, 01:19:02 pm »
Two in one day! From CNN.com....

A year later, Amazon's Kindle finds a niche

    * Story Highlights
    * Amazon.com's electronic Kindle reader celebrates its first birthday
    * Device holds about 200 digital books and can reduce bookshelf clutter
    * Sales have been steady, but the device so far remains mostly a tech novelty
    * Oprah Winfrey has praised it, but J.K. Rowling vows no e-versions of "Harry Potter"

By Zach Pontz
CNN

(CNN) -- It has the curves of a Lamborghini, looks like something an astronaut might take into space and weighs only 10.3 ounces.

Amazon.com's electronic Kindle reader -- a device meant to remove the paper from the page and make reading both more convenient and eco-friendly -- is celebrating its first birthday.

Released in November 2007, the Kindle has sold more than a quarter million units. Its texts account for 10 percent of Amazon's book sales despite the fact that 200,000 titles -- a tiny fraction of the books offered on the site -- are available in digital form.

While exact sales figures are hard to come by, recent estimates have put the Kindle's sales on par with other high-profile mobile devices in their first year. Amazon.com says that the Kindle is currently sold out due to heavy demand.

So what has spurred its success? After all, electronic books have been around, in small numbers, for about a decade. Even Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO, has admitted that the book is "elegantly suited to its purpose. It's hard to improve on."

One thing that's helped the Kindle is marketing. Where other readers failed to connect with consumers, the Kindle has excelled. The media-savvy Bezos has hardly been publicity shy, gaining his electronic toy a level of exposure most CEOs couldn't begin to fathom.

"You can't discount the prominence of having Amazon behind this," says Paul Reynolds, technology editor at Consumer Reports. "Jeff Bezos is respected for what he's done with Amazon, and if he feels this is a future product in media, people are willing to trust him."

Second, the gadget has been heralded by Oprah Winfrey, whose influence in the publishing world is immense. It's also been embraced by some prominent writers, including Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and best-selling thriller author James Patterson.

Third, with more and more consumers accustomed to reading text on their cell phones and BlackBerrys, the world finally may be ready for an electronic version of a book.

"I checked it out on Amazon and thought it was an intriguing idea, a great way to have a lot of books that don't take up a lot of space," says Emily Branch of Florida, who was moved to buy a Kindle after seeing the hosts of "The View" chatting about it.

"I figured if I didn't like it I could return it within 30 days," Branch says. "There wasn't a chance of that happening once I got it in my hands though."

One clutter-killing Kindle can hold about 200 books. And while other e-readers such as Sony's Reader must connect through a USB port to upload content, the Kindle is a wireless device, thanks to Whispernet, which is powered by Sprint's high-speed data network.

"I think the Whispernet is what sets the Kindle apart from all the other e-readers on the market," says Leslie Nicoll of Portland, Maine, who co-authored "The Amazon Kindle F.A.Q." book after her tech-loving teenage daughter urged her to get a Kindle.

Like Branch, Nicoll says she likes the Kindle's low-impact effect on her bookshelves. "I don't have to worry about giving it to someone else, reselling it on Amazon or finding a place to store it in my house," she says. "For the enjoyment and convenience, it has given me in the past seven months, I consider that it has paid for itself already."


Readers can visit Amazon's online store and upload a new book right to their Kindle. Subscribers also can have electronic versions of The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines delivered automatically to their Kindles in time for reading with their morning cup of coffee.

"The large and tightly interacting collection of Kindle features, that go far beyond those of any other previous e-Book attempt, will cause the Kindle to be the first e-Book to succeed," wrote one reviewer on an Amazon discussion board.

But not everything in Kindle world is roses and gumdrops. There's a difference between modest early success and making a centuries-old print format obsolete. The Kindle sells for $359, a steep price for the average reader in the current economic climate.

"I'm not going to pay $360 for that. I can get books for free," says Nikki Johnson, a college student in Atlanta, Georgia, speaking for traditionalists who are wary of giving up their bound paper volumes.

"There's nothing like reading a nice paperback," she says. "There's nothing like holding or carrying a book, having that tangible quality and it being more than just a piece of data."

So in an unforgiving economy and in a stubbornly old-fashioned medium, will the Kindle ever expand from a tech novelty to a mainstream accessory? It might be too soon to tell.

Blockbuster writers such as J.K. Rowling, author of the "Harry Potter" series, have said they'll never allow their books to appear on the market in electronic form. Yet future, better versions of e-readers may seduce younger consumers who grew up on PSPs and iPhones.

A next-generation model of the Kindle is due in 2009. Early reports indicate the new device will be thinner and will have fixed some current design bugs, such as poorly placed buttons that cause readers to turn pages accidentally.

"I think it's certainly a ways away from hitting the mainstream ... because of the price and the experience a reader gets from long-form reading," says Reynolds of Consumer Reports. "Whether these ... are successful, stand-alone devices remains to be seen. From what I've seen and heard, I think the technology is here to stay."

All AboutSony Reader • Amazon Kindle • Books
 
 
 
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/03/kindle.electronic.reader/index.html
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Kelda

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,703
  • Zorbing....
    • Keldas Facebook Page!
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #47 on: December 04, 2008, 02:44:53 pm »
Oooh! well done leslie!!
http://www.idbrass.com

Please use the following links when shopping online -It will help us raise money without costing you a penny.

http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/idb

http://idb.easysearch.org.uk/

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #48 on: December 04, 2008, 05:52:37 pm »
I was wondering if I could put the Kindle by me while I am driving and have it read to me aloud. If it will do that, I'm getting one tomorrow!!

"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #49 on: December 04, 2008, 08:37:13 pm »
I was wondering if I could put the Kindle by me while I am driving and have it read to me aloud. If it will do that, I'm getting one tomorrow!!



Unfortunately, no, it does not read to you. But it will play audio books from audible.com

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #50 on: December 15, 2008, 09:48:19 am »
Did I mention Frost Fair by Erastes? It's very good. I even wrote a review which can be found here:

http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/review-frost-fair-by-erastes/
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #51 on: December 15, 2008, 03:31:38 pm »
It sounds very interesting Leslie.

I agree with you remark about the cover. Talk about a mismatch.  ???

I'm thinking of buying the e-book, but I maybe I should read the other stories on my mobipocket first. I need a reading holiday!

'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #52 on: December 15, 2008, 03:59:17 pm »
It's a very good story. I recommend it.

How are you doing with Chris & David, by the way?

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #53 on: December 15, 2008, 04:13:27 pm »
It's a very good story. I recommend it.

How are you doing with Chris & David, by the way?

L

David and Chris, I really loved those stories. Are there any more?
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #54 on: December 15, 2008, 04:39:50 pm »
David and Chris, I really loved those stories. Are there any more?

Yes, she has two more books coming out. Not quite sure of the schedule for publication, though. I'll post here when they are published.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #55 on: December 21, 2008, 09:36:53 pm »
I just read right through Friday night and Saturday an ebook that I had a sample of and had to order immediately.

The Black Tower, by Louis Bayard

http://www.amazon.com/The-Black-Tower/dp/B001E70RPQ/ref=ed_oe_k

this is not a gay romance whatever, however it is remarkable in that it has some of the best-drawn male characters I have read in a story in recent years.  And a very intriguing mystery surrounding the fate of the Dauphin, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who was imprisoned in the Temple after the execution of the Bourbon monarchs.  Told from the point of view of a young medical student, Hector Carpentier, who is unwittingly dragged into a police investigation by the flamboyant and fabled police chief Vidocq, Bayard brings a sordid and terrible chapter of French history into stark reality.  I am now busily ordering Bayard's other novels which I'll link here when I'm done with them.  If you like mysteries and very vivid character portrayals, this is the author for you!
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #56 on: December 26, 2008, 12:35:19 pm »
Anyone here get a Kindle or Sony ereader for Christmas? Inquiring minds want to know!

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #57 on: December 26, 2008, 04:34:11 pm »
No, I am still making do with just my ipod. The Black Tower sounds really good. I am finishing up Fete, by Daniel McVay, which Offline Chuck gave me to read. He is a voracious reader and has already given me three books to read. Fete is a fun book about the resort village of Beech Grove, in the California desert, where just about every other person seems to be gay.

I also received Bad Dirt from Annie Proulx from my family. This is her second collection of stories of Wyoming, Close Range being the first (it finishes up with Brokeback Mountain). However, I think I'll exchange it for Fine Just the Way it Is, her third collection of Wyoming stories, which I haven't read yet.

"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #58 on: December 26, 2008, 05:41:20 pm »
I have spent this week reading more of Louis Bayard.  The Black Tower was his third mystery story.  The first is "Mr. Timothy",set in 1860 London, featuring the now-grown Tiny Tim from "A Christmas Carol."  A very unusual and excellently done story - I liked this almost as much as "The Black Tower."  The second book I read was "The Pale Blue Eye", set in 1830's New York, at West Point, where a retired New York police constable is called in as a private consultant to a gruesome murder of a West Point cadet, and enlists the aid of Private Fourth Classman Edgar Allen Poe.  Of the three, this one was the least satisfying, but the portrayals of the male characters, as expected, were uniformly fascinating.

Interestingly enough, he is openly gay, partnered, with a son, and his previous novels were gay romantic comedies that have positive reviews, at least as far as Amazon is concerned.  Unfortunately, the gay romances do not appear to be in print or available by ebook. I'm still debating about whether to buy them as used paperbacks.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #59 on: December 28, 2008, 08:40:25 am »
Anyone here get a Kindle or Sony ereader for Christmas? Inquiring minds want to know!

L

 :'(


I got a perfume called 'J'adore' by Dior. So at least I can sit by the computer reading the Mobipocket books you gave me and smell nice.  :)

'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #60 on: January 18, 2009, 10:25:08 am »
Here's a book everyone should buy and read!

I Do, an anthology of short stories in support of marriage equality.



Do you support the right of any human being to marry the person they love? The right to say 'I Do' to a life of commitment and sharing with the that one special person? We do. We hope that marriage will soon be a dream that everyone can share. That's why the following authors of LGBT fiction have donated stories to this anthology, in aid of Lambda Legal Fund's fight for marriage equality: Tracey Pennington, Alex Beecroft, Charlie Cochrane, Clare London, Storm Grant, Lisabet Sarai, Sharon Maria Bidwell, Jeanne Barrack, Marquesate, Z.A Maxfield, P.A Brown, Allison Wonderland, Erastes, Zoe Nichols and Cassidy Ryan, Emma Collingwood, Mallory Path, Jerry L. Wheeler, Moondancer Drake, Fiona Glass, Lee Rowan. All profits from the sale of this anthology will be donated to the Lambda Legal Defense to fight Prop 8 in support of marriage equality for all.

Available in multiple ebook formats as well as print. Links to purchase are at the publisher's website:

http://www.mlrpress.com/ShowBook.php?book=IDO21001

L
« Last Edit: January 18, 2009, 12:19:21 pm by MaineWriter »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #61 on: February 09, 2009, 03:07:23 pm »
The New Kindle has arrived. No word on whether it will be available in europe.  :-\

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/technology/personaltech/10kindle.html?_r=1&hp

Amazon in Big Push for New Kindle Model

By BRAD STONE and MOTOKO RICH

Escalating its efforts to dominate the fledgling industry for electronic books, Amazon.com introduced on Monday a new version of its electronic book reader, called Kindle 2.

Amazon said the upgraded device had seven times the memory as the original version, allowed faster page-turns and had a crisper, though still black-and-white, display. The Kindle 2 also features a new design with round keys and a short, joysticklike controller — a departure from the previous version’s design, which some buyers had criticized as awkward. The new device will ship on Feb. 24. Amazon did not change the price for the device, which remains $359.

Though the improvements to the Kindle are only incremental, Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, defined some ambitious goals for the device. “Our vision is every book ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds,” he said at a news conference in New York.

Amazon introduced several new features for the Kindle. A new text-to-speech function allows readers to switch between reading words on the device and having the words read to them by a computerized voice. That technology was provided by Nuance, a speech-recognition company based in Burlington, Mass.

Amazon is also allowing Kindle owners to transfer texts between their Kindle and other mobile devices. Amazon said it was working on making digital texts available for other gadgets (like mobile phones), though it did not specify which ones.

One competitive threat Amazon is facing in its effort to dominate the world of e-books is Google, which has scanned in some seven million books, many of them out of print. Google has also struck deals with publishers and authors to split the proceeds from the online sales of those texts.

Google recently said it would soon begin selling these books for reading on mobile devices like the Apple iPhone and phones running Google’s Android operating system.

Implicitly addressing the threat posed by Google, Mr. Bezos said that Amazon knew better than other companies what book-buyers wanted and stressed Amazon’s digital catalog of 230,000 newer books and best sellers.

“We have tens of millions of customers who buy books from us every day and we know what they want to read,” he said. “And we are making sure to prioritize those items.”

Markus Dohle, chief executive of Random House, the world’s largest publisher of consumer books and a unit of Bertelsmann of Germany, said the company was working with Amazon and other e-book makers to digitize its so-called backlist of older titles. When asked in an interview after the news conference if he was concerned about the effects of Amazon’s dominance in the e-book market, Mr. Dohle paused and laughed.

“It is not up to us to talk about Amazon’s competition,” he said. “I don’t think that any kind of defensive business strategy will succeed. We want to grow our business in all channels and one of the fastest-growing customers is Amazon in all areas.”

“We see the Kindle and we see e-books as a real opportunity because we think that it will not cannibalize the physical part of the business and it will also generate and create new readers of books,” Mr. Dohle said.
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #62 on: February 11, 2009, 08:52:11 am »
Yes, Fabienne, I was really hoping they would announce that the new Kindle had international capability. To me, that seemed like an important upgrade. I know they are working on making deals with the European wireless carriers...hopefully, soon.

Of course, I have the kindle2 on order. LOL. It is due to arrive on 2/25. I am excited! For the moment, I am keeping my old one. I can't bear to part with it. It's been to Europe!

This week's ebook recommendation:



It is very good. Also available in print.

This is a multi-faceted novel which brilliantly joins the nomenclature of romantic and historical fiction. I would recommend this novel to lovers of music, lovers of history, and just plain lovers. --Knowbetter.com

Juliet Waldron brings Konstanze and her wayward genius of a spouse to vivid life. She avoids the pitfall of the biographical novelist by refusing to make either of them the villain, and her insights into character are extraordinary. --Liz Burton, The Blue Iris Journal

Mozart's Wife is a story of love, jealousy, grief and most importantly--forgiveness. ...Fastpaced; Ms. Waldron has exquisite, flowing prose. .. a must read... --Kim Murphy, Sime-Gen

Waldron's writing is humorous, erotic, and fluid. Her beautiful use of words reveals the delicate, volatile intimacy inherent in marriage. In the antagonist, Waldron characterizes a woman's quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) struggle to remain the dutiful wife while also protecting her children and herself from her husband's self-destructive behavior. Mozart's Wife is a consuming piece that reminds us that all humans, regardless of talent or skill, are within the boundaries of fault and outside the lines of perfection. I highly recommend this wonderful book. --Melissa Levine.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #63 on: March 06, 2009, 10:06:07 am »
This is exciting news. They have released a Kindle app for the iPhone/iTouch. I downloaded it and it worked great.

You can read more about it in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue-email.html?em

Here's a good, comprehensive review from CNET:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10187912-1.html?tag=mncol;txt

And a good article from the Chicago Sun Times:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1461776,ihnatko-kindle-apple-amazon-itunes-books-030409.article

So...all of you who have been hesitating to buy a Kindle...now you can read Kindle books on your iPhone/iTouch! Yippee!!

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #64 on: March 06, 2009, 10:20:00 am »
I read the article in the New York Times. I wonder if it's comfortable reading on an iPhone? The Kindle reads well, it really feels like reading a book, but the screen on an iPhone is much smaller.

I got myself a new mobile phone last week (my old one had finally died on me, well, it was 7 years old. LOL) and I can surf the internet on it. But the screen is so small, I find myself squinting at the small print.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2009, 02:29:15 pm by belbbmfan »
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #65 on: March 06, 2009, 10:27:31 am »
I read the article in the New York Times. I wonder if it's comfortable reading on an iPhone? The Kindle reads well, I really feels like reading a book, but the screen on an iPhone is much smaller.


The screen and reading on the iPhone is better than I expected. I wouldn't want to read a whole book, but for a quick few pages when you are standing in line, it works very well.

I wonder -- the iPhone/iTouch is for sale outside of the US, right? So, can people outside of the US start acquiring Kindle content for their iPhone? Is this the first step towards an international Kindle?

L

PS -- someone opened up the K2 and posted pictures. It has a slot for an SD or GSM card. People say the latter would be needed for WhisperNet to work in Europe. So maybe an international K is really on the horizon?
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Penthesilea

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,745
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #66 on: March 06, 2009, 11:29:58 am »
There's still no Kindle in sight for Europe.
However, the competitive product, Sony E Reader, will be available in Europe from next week on! Release date is March 11th.

Just by the looks I'd prefer the Kindle over the Sony product. But hey, if they can't get their a$$es around to release it in Europe, the competitor will make the deals.

To the left is the Kindle, to the right the Sony E Reader:

       


I wonder -- the iPhone/iTouch is for sale outside of the US, right? So, can people outside of the US start acquiring Kindle content for their iPhone? Is this the first step towards an international Kindle?


I've read on Wikipedia, that the Kindle application for iphone is only available in the US, just like the Kindle itself.

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #67 on: March 07, 2009, 10:11:54 pm »
Thanks for the pictures, Chrissi! Here's the new Kindle 2. This is mine, all dolled up in a snazzy skin:



And my original K1, also in a new skin:



L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Penthesilea

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,745
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #68 on: March 08, 2009, 12:36:22 pm »
Thanks for the pictures, Chrissi! Here's the new Kindle 2. This is mine, all dolled up in a snazzy skin:



And my original K1, also in a new skin:



L


Wow! Snazzy inded! 8) 8) 8)
I love the designs. I guess it's adhesive labels you put on the Kindle yourself. I would already fail with putting it properly on the surface without air bubbles and correctly around the buttons; I'm not very handy with such stuff.

And I like the keyboard on K2 better than on K1. Great addition to your household Leslie!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #69 on: March 08, 2009, 12:45:52 pm »
Thanks for the pictures, Chrissi! Here's the new Kindle 2. This is mine, all dolled up in a snazzy skin:





*is impressed*

Wow, nice one Leslie. Good choice of author too.  :)
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #70 on: March 08, 2009, 12:51:56 pm »

Wow! Snazzy inded! 8) 8) 8)
I love the designs. I guess it's adhesive labels you put on the Kindle yourself. I would already fail with putting it properly on the surface without air bubbles and correctly around the buttons; I'm not very handy with such stuff.

And I like the keyboard on K2 better than on K1. Great addition to your household Leslie!

Actually, I am usually not good at this stuff, either, but these skins, from DecalGirl, are really nice and really easy to apply. www.decalgirl.com You can get them for a zillion items -- I've skinned my 2 Kindles and iPhone. They give a bit of pizzazz.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Penthesilea

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,745
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #71 on: March 08, 2009, 12:53:03 pm »
I just checked ebay Germany for the Kindle. They sell the K2 for 499Euros there! That's 631$!
 :o :o

The original prize is 359$ (=283€). That's almost twice the price. And you can't even properly use it because the wireless network is ONLY available in the US.

From the pics I saw that the K2 is much more flat then the K1, only as thick as a pencil:







Damn, this IS a fine device. Not that I would buy it (yet), even if I could. Knowing myself I would rather invest the money in another trip, lol.

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #72 on: March 08, 2009, 12:53:21 pm »
*is impressed*

Wow, nice one Leslie. Good choice of author too.  :)

Actually, I am not reading Jane Austen -- that's just a screensaver! LOL. I am deep into a WWII history book. I have an idea for a story I want to write and I am doing some research.



L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #73 on: March 08, 2009, 12:55:49 pm »

From the pics I saw that the K2 is much more flat then the K1, only as thick as a pencil:

Damn, this IS a fine device. Not that I would buy it (yet), even if I could. Knowing myself I would rather invest the money in another trip, lol.

That's it, thick as a pencil. And it hold 1500 books. It really is amazing!

Saving money for a trip is good, but having a Kindle for a trip is good, too -- to make sure you always have something handy to read.  ;)

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #74 on: March 08, 2009, 01:49:59 pm »
The new one almost looks too delicate. Like it could snap in two without much trouble. Does it feel that way, Leslie?



Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #75 on: March 10, 2009, 04:03:40 pm »
The new one almost looks too delicate. Like it could snap in two without much trouble. Does it feel that way, Leslie?




No, it's pretty sturdy. Of course, I treat both my Kindles with a fair amount of care as they are expensive electronic devices. But the new one is metal and plastic and seems pretty tough.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #76 on: March 13, 2009, 12:09:10 pm »
An interesting take on book pricing:

 http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/publisher-lets-customers-pay-what-they-want-latest-title-404414_1.html
Book Business
Publisher Lets Customers Pay What They Want for Latest Title


San Diego-based Code Publishing is allowing customers to choose the price they would like to pay for either the paperback or the electronic version of its latest book, "Everyone Agrees," by J.S.B. Morse. Customers must pay a minimum of $4.95 for the paperback; no minimum payment is required for the e-book. Both versions are available at www.Nezgo.com/ea

"We think the book is a monumental product and just want people to read it, so we lowered all the obstacles we could think of that are keeping readers from it, most notably the price," says Jenny Langley, director of marketing for the self-help and philosophy book publisher, noting that the average price readers have paid for the book is just under $9.

The "pay-what-you-choose" model is not without precedent: The rock band Radiohead released its 2007 album "In Rainbows" in a similar fashion online; and Paste, an independently published music magazine, allowed readers to name their price for subscriptions.
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #77 on: March 13, 2009, 12:10:54 pm »
This has been Read an Ebook Week -- it ends tomorrow. But you still have 24 hours to download some great, free books that are out there. I blogged about it here and included some links:

http://www.kindleboards.com/blog/2009/03/read-an-ebook-week-march-8-14-2009/
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #78 on: March 13, 2009, 12:11:59 pm »
This book is being made into a movie, directed by Ang Lee. The book itself is finally out in a Kindle edition. Yeah!

Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #79 on: April 07, 2009, 09:29:31 am »
A few more recommendations:



This is a sweet romance that takes place in New York after World War I. Nice characterizations and some really snappy dialog. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I think this book has been mentioned before...a cowboy romance with a twist:



It's a very sweet story. It's aimed at the young adult market so not as sophisticated as some of the stuff I read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I finally finished:



Historical fiction, set in France in 1815. Great descriptions and a good mystery, with lots of twists and turns.
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #80 on: April 11, 2009, 10:39:53 am »
I stumbled upon this on Thursday on the gay & lesbian "hot new releases" list. Curious about it, I went to Speak Its Name and found a five star review. Since I trust this reviewer, I didn't even bother with the sample, just bought the book. And am I glad I did! It is a terrific book, one of the best I have read in a long time. Louise says it's the best gay historical she has ever read, which is saying a lot since we've both read plenty. I'm not sure it's the best, for me, but it is definitely on my Top Ten list.




In a nutshell, it is the story of Paul Harris, and brothers Patrick and Mick Morgan, all returned home from WWI and trying to resume their lives in England. All were wounded, both physically and emotionally. Their families, friends, and lovers try to help them with putting the pieces together, not entirely successfully, because unless you've been in the trenches of France, no one really knows what the soldiers went through.

Highly recommended.

Here's the review on Speak Its Name: http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2007/08/18/review-the-boy-i-love-by-marion-husband/

Next on my list is the sequel, which takes place after WWII.

Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #81 on: April 24, 2009, 06:45:04 am »
I wrote a review of Paper Moon, if anyone is interested.

http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/review-paper-moon-by-marion-husband/

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #82 on: April 25, 2009, 08:18:10 am »
Transgressions by Erastes is a terrific book, so terrific that I took the time to write a review at Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/dnzrx2

Here's a link to buy the book:



Please note that even though this is "the E-Book Files" this book is available in paperback, too. Because it is a mainstream publisher, you will likely find it in your local bookstore. Here it is at my local Borders:



The other book in the picture, False Colors, is next on my reading list.

Does anyone read this thread, or am I just talking to myself?

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #83 on: April 25, 2009, 03:46:47 pm »

In a nutshell, it is the story of Paul Harris, and brothers Patrick and Mick Morgan, all returned home from WWI and trying to resume their lives in England. All were wounded, both physically and emotionally. Their families, friends, and lovers try to help them with putting the pieces together, not entirely successfully, because unless you've been in the trenches of France, no one really knows what the soldiers went through.



Leslie, this book reminds me of the movie A Month In The Country.

I found this Washington Post review:
In the summer of 1919, war-weary veteran Tom Birkin (Colin Firth) comes to the sleepy village of Oxgodby to uncover a medieval church mural that is believed to be hidden under thick coats of plaster. In the process of restoring the painting, "Christ and the Judgment," the shellshocked Birkin himself is restored. As the painter surely intended, the mural remains miraculous even after a thousand years, its images joining with the narrative to tell Birkin's story.

The search for truth is both high and low; the digging both internal and external; the revelations as plentiful as the enigmas. Birkin becomes intrigued not only with the mural but with the painter, finding clues to his identity in the paint. Coincidentally, another veteran, John Moon (Kenneth Branagh), is digging into the past in a field nearby. Though hired to find the remains of a church forebear, the archeologist is actually engaged in his own pursuits, both metaphoric and personal.

A very British relationship develops between the two, with lots of tea and simile. Theirs is a quiet fellowship of shared smokes and questions never asked in this dense and inconclusive story. Adapted from a novel by J.L. Carr, it includes a host of characters as allusive as the apple the vicar's wife (Natasha Richardson) gives Birkin. The two are obviously attracted, but the relationship remains pure, despite the temptations.


'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #84 on: April 26, 2009, 07:39:39 am »
Oh, that sounds interesting, Fabienne. I wonder if he book is any good?

I am off to a rip-roaring start with False Colors. So far it is great!

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #85 on: April 26, 2009, 11:24:41 am »
Does anyone read this thread, or am I just talking to myself?

I'm here, Leslie! I read your Amazon review, too. Very nice!

I think we have somewhat different taste in books, but that's OK. I'm interested in anyone's reading experiences, and it's fun to see a genre I'm not normally drawn to, through the eyes of someone who is passionate about it. And I detected some BBM-style analysis in your review, which of course makes me happy.



Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #86 on: April 28, 2009, 09:44:56 am »
I'm here, Leslie! I read your Amazon review, too. Very nice!

I think we have somewhat different taste in books, but that's OK. I'm interested in anyone's reading experiences, and it's fun to see a genre I'm not normally drawn to, through the eyes of someone who is passionate about it. And I detected some BBM-style analysis in your review, which of course makes me happy.


Thank you, Katherine! It's good to know I am not just posting into the ether.  ;)

I will admit, BBM got me started on the mansex m/m books. Fanfic got me started and it was a good jumping off point, but I have come to realize that I do like original stories much more. At the height of the BBM fanfic flood, there would be stories that people were raving about and I couldn't read two pages -- probably because they weren't original enough for me. Now, I realize I wrote fanfic myself so what does that say about me? I actually think of that of the training ground to try to launch me to writing some original fiction.

Back to book recommendations...when I finish False Colors, I'll probably dive into this (need a hit of non-fic every now and then). It's getting very good reviews.



Katherine, maybe this is more your taste?

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #87 on: April 28, 2009, 10:41:44 am »
Yup, it's a bit closer. In recent years, I've tended to read mostly nonfiction. I like memoir, essays, and books with a sociological aspect, like Malcolm Gladwell's stuff. Lately I also seem to have a lot of "useful" books on my pile.

I hadn't heard of A Terrible Splendor, but I just checked the Amazon page and I see you're right about the reviews! I'll look forward to hearing your opinion.


Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #88 on: May 18, 2009, 12:18:51 pm »
Leslie, I came across this blog post about the pros and cons of Kindle and thought you might find it interesting.

http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/145.Six_things_I_like_and_don_t_like_about_my_new_Kindle




Six things I like and don't like about my new Kindle
posted by Otis on April, 16


I got a Kindle 2 when they came out, and wanted to share my thoughts about it, after having used it for a few weeks.

Things I like:

1. The feel of it. It's very slim and has a nice form factor.

2. Having all my books with me. Somehow I'm comforted knowing that all my favorite books are always with me. I immediately went and downloaded all my favorite out of copyright books and uploaded all my programming ebooks.

3. Being able to preview the first four chapters of any book. Huge!

4. Kindle makes it easy to upload any ebook from your existing digital library. Certain files like .txt and .mobi can be copied from your computer, or pdf's can be emailed to a custom email address. Only problem is if you have hundreds of files, emailing them one at a time doesn't scale, plus there is a 10 cent charge per book.

5. Search. Sony ereader didn't have it and it was a major flaw. Come across the name of a character and can't remember who they are? Now it's easy to find exactly when they were introduced...

6. Clips - Kindle lets me take clips of documents as I read - very cool. Now we just need a way to easily get those off the Kindle and onto my Goodreads Status Updates. I'm hoping that will be possible?


Things I don't like:

1. The Kindle is electronic and expensive, so I can't take it to the beach or the pool and leave it on a towel while I jump in the water. Plus, having to turn it off while taking off or landing in an airport really chafe's me.

2. Trying to nickel and dime me for reading blogs. Why do I have to pay $1.99 to read my favorite blogs when I can get them for free anywhere else? I found a way around this by using Kindle's browser to navigate to the mobile version of Google Reader, and presto - now I can read hundreds of blogs for free. But why Kindle is trying to make money on free content, I don't know...

3. I have hundreds of books I've purchased in my bookshelf. I'd love to put those on my Kindle and read them there - but I'm sure Amazon won't give me the ebooks for books I've bought. So the net result is it doesn't look like I'll be using my Kindle much...

4. The price of most ebooks is too high! What publishers don't want you to know is that it takes less than a dollar to print a book. The rest of a books price is intellectual property, plus overhead from shipping and distribution middlemen. All that stuff should be removed from the ebook price. Even then, digital content is a different beast, and publishers need to experiment with the right price point - not just assume that what works offline will work online.

5. The joystick navigation. The Kindle uses this little joystick that you have to click up and down in order to navigate the Kindle Store or the web. The problem is that its clunky, slow, and prone to accidental clicks. Examples of devices that do the same thing but 10x better: ipod's wheel, blackberry's ball, and last but not least the scroll wheel on a mouse. It's funny too that after using an iPhone I kept wanting to touch the Kindle to make it work. Now I'd guess that e-ink and touchscreens probably don't go (?), but that joystick does need to go...

6. This list would be remiss if I didn't mention DRM. I just paid for a book on Kindle and now I can't read it on my PC if I want? I can't put it on my phone or open it up in my Adobe Reader? Consumers lose with DRM and will avoid it at all costs, including cracking the DRM and sharing the files for free. The Music industry learned that one the hard way, and is now going DRM-free. Want to know why? Listen to Cory Doctorow's talk about DRM from Tools of Change. Consumers will pay for digital content - but only if two criteria are met: it's easy to buy, and they feel like they truly own it after they buy it.


Bottom line? It isn't perfect, but I'm loving it.

ps. If want some free ebooks, this page lists some great options: http://ireaderreview.com/2008/01/19/free-books-for-the-amazon-kindle/. My favorite source is Feedbooks, since they make a great Kindle format of each book. And as of last month all Feedbooks books are now available on Goodreads!


Note: some of these points are argued in the comments section.


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #89 on: May 18, 2009, 12:51:11 pm »
Thanks Katherine. Interesting comments. Some of the cons I have heard over and over again and I don't necessarily agree, especially about the pricing of ebooks and the idea of getting ebooks free because you already purchased the print version. The example I like to use for that...have you ever owned a record? Did they give you the cassette, 8-track, CD free when each of those technologies came out? Oh well.

As for what I am reading right now:



I still haven't had a chance to get to A Terrible Splendor. Life has been hectic, to say the least.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #90 on: May 18, 2009, 01:29:07 pm »
What is this book about?


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #91 on: May 30, 2009, 12:06:45 pm »
What is this book about?


Here's the synopsis from booklist. It's good but I find I need to read it in small doses, interspersed with some other stuff.

Braestrup was an accidental chaplain. Her husband, Drew, a Maine state trooper, died in a car accident at a time when he was considering a second career as an ordained minister. After her shock subsided, Braestrup decided to follow in his footsteps and became a chaplain for the Maine Warden Service, which sets up search-and-rescue missions throughout the state. Practical, unsentimental, straightforward, she is the kind of person who considers a book entitled Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies? a romantic gift (Drew's to her on her thirty-first birthday). She, not the mortician, bathed and dressed Drew's body. She witnessed its cremation. And, rather anomalously, she, a middle-aged mother of four, works mostly with young men. Her own remarkable story encompasses those of the men and women who work alongside her, incorporating many touching anecdotes, none more moving than that of the state police detective, a breast-feeding mother whose last name is Love, who arrests a sexual predator for a young woman's murder. A poignant, funny book by a sympathetic, likable, immensely appealing figure.
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #92 on: May 30, 2009, 12:14:41 pm »
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #93 on: June 01, 2009, 10:36:49 am »
Watch out on planes, Leslie!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/books/01bea.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

June 1, 2009
Book Fair Buzz Is Not Contained Between 2 Covers
By MOTOKO RICH

The book publishing industry is notorious for jumping on bandwagons: witness the flood of “Da Vinci Code” knockoffs that clogged tables at the front of bookstores a few years ago, and the stream of novels featuring vampires that are crowding bestseller lists now.

So it should be no surprise that at BookExpo America, the publishing industry’s annual trade convention that ended Sunday in New York, publishers seemed to be putting their own stamps on the increasingly frenzied conversation about electronic books that has hijacked the business.

There were the panels: “Giving It Away: When Free eBooks Make Sense and When They Don’t,” “Red Hot Readers: Market Adoption of Mobile eReading Devices” and “Jumping Off a Cliff: How Publishers Can Succeed Online Where Others Failed.” Tina Brown, rasping with a bad case of laryngitis, kick-started a discussion with the chief executives of four New York publishing houses by asking if they were shocked when Amazon.com began charging $9.99 for e-books — “that paltry, pitiful sum.”

Interead, a British company that introduced its new Cool-er electronic reader the first day of the Expo, sponsored a booth at which two blond women in tankinis handed out nonalcoholic margaritas and more potent piña coladas to a steady stream of conventiongoers who stopped by to watch demonstrations of the new devices. HarperCollins decided mostly to forgo the traditional giveaways of advance paperback editions of forthcoming books, and instead gave out gift cards redeemable for electronic galleys of titles like Neil Gaiman’s “Odd and the Frost Giants” and Mary Karr’s “Lit.”

So far e-books represent 1 to 3 percent of total book sales. But they make up the fastest growing part of the industry, and publishers, authors and booksellers have no idea just how big they will become and how they might affect profits and reading habits in the future.

Inevitably there was a backlash. At a panel of authors speaking mainly to independent booksellers, Sherman Alexie, the National Book Award-winning author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” said he refused to allow his novels to be made available in digital form. He called the expensive reading devices “elitist” and declared that when he saw a woman sitting on the plane with a Kindle on his flight to New York, “I wanted to hit her.”


Anxiety over digital publishing was heightened by the recession that has dampened book sales, and belt tightening was in evidence throughout the convention. Attendance at the event, which gathers publishers, booksellers, authors, agents, consultants and, increasingly, technology companies, was down by 14 percent from the last time the convention was held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York two years ago.

Robert Sindelar, managing partner of Third Place Books, an independent bookstore in Lake Forest Park, Wash., a suburb of Seattle, said that this year he brought only three people to the convention, as opposed to five in previous years. He said sales were down nearly 5 percent in the first four months of the year, following a 9.5 percent decline in 2008.

Still, he said he would never consider giving the BookExpo a miss altogether. “It is good for us to come to remind them as they are seeing those 10 Kindles on the subway on the way to work what value we feel we bring to the industry,” Mr. Sindelar said.

It was a bit more difficult for booksellers to find some publishers at the convention this year as several of them had decided not to build their customary large booths on the exhibition hall floor. Some small presses had no visible presence at all, while venerable publishers including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Macmillan, the company that owns Farrar Straus & Giroux and St. Martin’s Press, holed up in bunkerlike rooms in the bowels of the convention center, far from the fray of the exhibition floor.

Random House, the world’s largest consumer publisher, provoked endless chatter about its decision to take a vastly reduced space on the exhibition floor with room for just four autograph signing stands, moving all its meeting space into a windowless room downstairs.

But as rival publishers carped that Random House was missing the opportunity to make serendipitous connections with booksellers walking the exhibition floor, a schedule of book signings by authors like Lorrie Moore and Tracy Kidder attracted crowds. Even though Pat Conroy canceled an appearance because of his health, hundreds of people waited in line for an hour to pick up an advance copy of his latest novel, “South of Broad.”

Whether all those people were actually going to help sell the book was another question. One of the first three women in line for “South of Broad,” an elementary school librarian from Pennsylvania, confessed she was just grabbing a free copy for herself.

Some publishers wondered how much value they were getting from the show. It has been a perennial question for a long time but one made more urgent by changing economic times. “Frankly, standing out there it’s like Groundhog Day,” said David Shanks, chief executive of Penguin Group USA. “It seems like one B.E.A. after another every year, and you all sort of run into each other.”

Rick Joyce, marketing director of Perseus Books, said that “in a weird way, these conventions were like the Internet before the Internet” in that they enabled networking. The challenge, Mr. Joyce said, was to figure out how BookExpo “could do something that the industry needs rather than continuing to do something that is better done on the Internet.”

For Perseus, the answer was a stunt: over 48 hours, the company produced “Book: The Sequel,” a collection of first sentences to imagined sequels of famous books submitted online by readers around the world. Editors, designers, production staff and publicists worked in a corner of Perseus’s booth wearing baseball jerseys emblazoned with the book’s logo. On Saturday the publisher distributed 13 editions, including paperbacks, e-books, audio and even Braille versions.

But for many attendees the Expo remained much the same as always: a chance to schmooze and reconnect with contacts throughout the industry, even if some of the parties were more subdued than in years past.

And booksellers, a reliably starry-eyed lot, still craved interaction with authors. At a party given by Hachette Book Group on the roof of the Hotel Gansevoort in the meatpacking district, Mary Yockey, a buyer at Anderson’s Bookshops in Naperville, Ill., said she was thrilled to meet Julie Powell, author of “Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.” That book has been made into a movie, to be released in August, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Ms. Powell also has a new book, “Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession,” coming out later this year.

“I’m going to read the first book again,” Ms. Yockey said. “We sold tons of them.” And she hopes to do it again for the new one.


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #94 on: July 14, 2009, 07:27:34 am »
I realized I haven't updated this list in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading! June was a stressful month for me (my father is very sick) so some things, like posting here, fell by the wayside.

Anyway, I read this in a day or so. Very sweet, very light, a fun romantic comedy:



This was very good. It will make you want to visit China and have Sam Liang cook for you. Too bad Sam is a fictional character!



Josh Lanyon's new book is a fun and fast read (unfortunately, I don't have a cover image available):

Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes & Moriarity, Book 1

I loved this one too. Young adult, so a very fast read (I read it in about five hours). It's about Bobby Framingham, who is a high school senior, star quarterback on the football team and gay. A very well-written "coming of age" story.



L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #95 on: July 14, 2009, 09:26:40 am »
This was very good. It will make you want to visit China and have Sam Liang cook for you. Too bad Sam is a fictional character!

I already want to visit China and have Sam Liang cook for me, and I haven't even read the book!

Thanks for the update, Leslie. I'm sorry to hear about your father.

If you're interested in nonfiction, I've been reading "Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life" by Winifred Gallagher and can highly recommend it. It's about attention in all its many forms, and how ultimately our lives are made up of the things we pay attention to.



Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #96 on: July 14, 2009, 11:21:46 am »
Thanks for the update, Leslie. I'm sorry to hear about your father.

Me, too.  :(
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #97 on: July 14, 2009, 04:21:42 pm »
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. As for my dad -- he's in long-term care, won't be coming home, and the prognosis is poor. We are just taking things one day at a time.

I had a bittersweet father's day. About two years ago, I discovered a website where a man was posting letters from his grandfather who had served in WWI. He was posting the letters in "real-time," ie, he'd post them on the date when they were written, 90 years later. Sometimes several weeks or months would go by before he'd post an update, and as the whole experience was going on, I didn't know if Harry would live.

The website became a bit of a worldwide phenomenon and the man (it was Harry's grandson, Bill) was interviewed in a variety of places, including the BBC. After all this hoopla, he was offered a contract to put the whole thing together as a book. I ordered it ages ago (publication kept getting delayed) intending to give it to my dad. It finally arrived and now, my father is not in any shape to read anything or even look at the pictures. Oh well, I am glad to have it and to have the whole story put together in one place.

Here's the book:



It's for sale at Amazon. And here's a link to the website:

http://wwar1.blogspot.com/
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline oilgun

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 3,564
Big Brother: Amazon Remotely Deletes 1984 From Kindles
« Reply #98 on: July 17, 2009, 08:40:32 pm »
So Orwellian!  This really creeped me out for some reason:

Big Brother: Amazon Remotely Deletes 1984 From Kindles

Ever bought a book from Barnes and Noble, then turned around to find it missing from your bookshelf and replaced with a voucher? Bizarre though it may seem, that’s exactly what’s happened to hundreds of owners of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm books, with Amazon remotely deleting copies on user’s Kindles and crediting their accounts.

While this might be understandable if the copies were distributed illegally, the cause here appears to be a publisher which decided it simply didn’t want to offer a Kindle edition any more. Amazon’s response, as posted in the forums:

The Kindle edition books Animal Farm by George Orwell. Published by MobileReference (mobi) & Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by George Orwell. Published by MobileReference (mobi) were removed from the Kindle store and are no longer available for purchase. When this occured, your purchases were automatically refunded. You can still locate the books in the Kindle store, but each has a status of not yet available. Although a rarity, publishers can decide to pull their content from the Kindle store

All of which underscores the fact that “buying” a book in the digital realm isn’t the same as “ownership” in the real world. As David Pogue at the NYTimes explains: “apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by this author from people’s Kindles and credited their accounts for the price.”

Or as one of Pogue’s readers describes it, “it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table.”


source: http://mashable.com/2009/07/17/amazon-kindle-1984/


(My apologies if this doesn't belong here)

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #99 on: July 24, 2009, 06:31:43 pm »
Actually, it was determined that the copies were illegal uploads.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #100 on: July 24, 2009, 06:32:00 pm »
This just came through on a mailing list I am on. I have never read anything by E. Lynn Harris. Has anyone else? He seems to have lots of good reviews on Amazon.



With great sadness, I report that New York Times bestselling author E. Lynn Harris passed away on Thursday, July 23, while on tour for his eleventh novel.

I don't know many details yet, but it's believed it was a heart attack. I've spoken with Lisa Moore of Redbone Press and Don Weise of Alyson, both of whom knew him well, and we're all just stunned.

I worked with Lynn for over ten years as his editor and came to be his personal friend as well, so this loss strikes very close for me. Lynn had a very big heart, which he revealed in his storytelling and in his interaction with his audience. Attending a Lynn Harris reading was a family affair, and there were always flowers, tears, and loads of laughter. His novels often changed his reader's lives, and he truly was grateful for his ability to help people. I will miss him, his laughter and his big heart.


Sincerely,

Charles Flowers
Lambda Literary Foundation

A Random House executive has confirmed to The BV Newswire that best-selling author E. Lynn Harris has died.

Harris was 54. He was currently on a book tour of the West Coast promoting his 11th novel Basketball Jones, which involved an NBA player and his gay lover.

According to Essence.com, the celebrated author's personal assistant confirmed that his health had declined but would not provide any details as to what caused his death.

A cheerleading sponsor/coach for Arkansas and a passionate Razorbacks fan, Harris' books dealt with black, gay culture.

Most recently, the Detroit native served as a visiting professor for the English department at the University of Arkansas.

The former IBM executive just celebrated his 54th birthday on June 20.

Since bursting on the scene in the early 1990s with his seminal tome Invisible Life, Harris steadily wrote page-turner after page-turner. And his biggest fan base were women. With more than four million books in print, he originated as a self-published author -- setting the blueprint for independent authors getting picked up by major book publishers.

"I think I've been a success because I write about things I'm passionate about and have something to say," he told BlackVoices.com last year. "I think people relate to me because they know I relate to them."

A longtime author for Random House, his titles include Just As I Am, And This Too Shall Pass, Abide With Me, and his 2004 memoir 'What Becomes of The Brokenhearted.'




L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #101 on: July 25, 2009, 06:43:32 pm »
Offline Chuck says he's read several of his books and it's a pity we're losing one of the good authors.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #102 on: August 12, 2009, 07:39:22 am »
Hi everyone,

I just wanted to bring your attention to a little project I am involved in. Helping to promote a really great book and a good cause: supporting marriage equality here in Maine.



Here's a description:

Joel Harfner and Luke Townsend, lovers for two years, have just bought their first home together in Scarborough, Maine. In a moment of domestic impetuosity, Joel proposes to Luke, who says yes. Then, to Joel’s surprise, Luke says he wants a wedding with “all the bells and whistles.” Joel, who never expected to be married, suddenly finds himself in the midst of planning a full-scale destination event to be held in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Why Massachusetts? As Joel says, "We can't get married in Maine -- yet -- but we are ever hopeful." Taming Groomzilla tells the story of how Joel and Luke navigate the tribulations of the six months from “Will you marry me?” to “I do.” And while they do seal their union, complete with a kiss, there is more than one twist and turn in store to complicate their journey and keep the reader hilariously entertained. A portion of the profits from the sale of this book will be donated to Maine Freedom to Marry and EqualityMaine, organizations that are fighting to keep same-sex marriage legal in Maine.

The book is for sale at All Romance eBooks in a variety of formats (epub, prc, HTML, PDF) that will work on a variety of devices, including a computer (PDF with Acrobat Reader). So, be entertained for a few hours with a very sweet, funny story and at the same time contribute a few dollars to a really good cause. Here's a link: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-taminggroomzilla-80920-145.html. It will also be for sale in the Amazon Kindle store later today, but the prc file from All Romance will also work on a Kindle.

Thanks for your support. Send me a PM if you have any questions. (PS, I am going to be cross-posting this a few other places on the board. Please help me get the word out.)
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #103 on: August 12, 2009, 09:24:42 am »
A worthy cause, certainly, one thing I would fight for.  But why aren't you including in your blurb the fact that you wrote and are publishing the book yourself?
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline NavyVet

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 317
  • Harm/Tony - My fav rare pair
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #104 on: August 25, 2009, 11:42:28 pm »
I still haven't broken down and bought an eBook reader yet, but I know I want one.  Been doing lots of research and I just don't know which one.
I'm leaning towards the EZ Reader Pocket Pro.  It's so new that I can't find any reviews about it.  Anyone heard of it?
It seems to have all the features I want and they're taking pre-orders at $199.00.

I keep thinking that if I wait, eReaders will continue to come down in price.  Hmmm...  :-\

NV
NavyVet
"Brokeback Mountain:  Where slash is canon!"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #105 on: August 26, 2009, 12:50:18 am »
I still haven't broken down and bought an eBook reader yet, but I know I want one.  Been doing lots of research and I just don't know which one.
I'm leaning towards the EZ Reader Pocket Pro.  It's so new that I can't find any reviews about it.  Anyone heard of it?
It seems to have all the features I want and they're taking pre-orders at $199.00.

I keep thinking that if I wait, eReaders will continue to come down in price.  Hmmm...  :-\

NV


I am not familiar with that one, myself. Amazon has two versions of the Kindle: the Kindle 2 ($299) and the DX ($489). Both have Whispernet for wireless delivery of books. Sony is revamping its line of ereaders and will have a very basic model at $199 and they just announced a wireless ereader with a 7" screen that will debut in December. They are partnering with AT&T for the wireless (Amazon Kindle uses Sprint).

I have had one Kindle or another since April 2008 and have been very happy with all of them. This new Sony might offer some serious competition, however.

There is also a COOL*ER reader that came out in the summer. No wireless and the reviews I have read have been pretty mediocre. Frankly, I think the wireless delivery of books is a key feature.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,161
  • Bork bork bork
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #106 on: October 11, 2009, 06:16:42 pm »
I'm the happy owner of a Sony e-reader since this summer.

I have nothing to compare with, but I'm very satisfied with it!!

It's easy to transfer e-books or word files from your computer onto it,
and it's very easy to handle it.

It can store 160 books ( :o), and if you need more you can insert a memory card.
You can also put pictures and music on it.

Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #107 on: October 14, 2009, 09:12:16 am »
The Amazon Kindle 2 dropped in price to $259. Plus, Amazon has announced an international Kindle ($279). It will work in many countries in Europe, including Belgium and Germany (Fabienne and Chrissi, are you taking note of this?) but unfortunately, not in Canada at the present moment.

Details here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015T963C/ref=sv_kinc_0

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline NavyVet

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 317
  • Harm/Tony - My fav rare pair
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #108 on: October 14, 2009, 09:25:58 am »
I did it!  I finally ordered an electronic book Reader.  It's the EZ Reader Pocket Pro by Astak for $199.  It's shipping this week, so I should have it in time for my trip to Georgia and South Carolina later this month.
I will report back with my impressions once I've worked with it.  The main reason I chose this one is that it is not proprietary, unlike others; it accepts a wide range of formats.  I want to be able to upload my fiction files from my laptop into something more compact and portable for reading on the go.  Most of my files are in either pdf, doc, rtf, or html formats.  It will fit in my purse and IIRC, it will play mp3s and also read the text outloud.
I can't wait!  I've begun to buy e-books from websites such as All Romance as I prefer to collect downloads as opposed to paperbacks.
And of course, I'll be able to re-read all my favorite Brokeback, NCIS, etc. fanfics!
 :)
NavyVet
"Brokeback Mountain:  Where slash is canon!"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #109 on: October 14, 2009, 09:31:25 am »
I did it!  I finally ordered an electronic book Reader.  It's the EZ Reader Pocket Pro by Astak for $199.  It's shipping this week, so I should have it in time for my trip to Georgia and South Carolina later this month.
I will report back with my impressions once I've worked with it.  The main reason I chose this one is that it is not proprietary, unlike others; it accepts a wide range of formats.  I want to be able to upload my fiction files from my laptop into something more compact and portable for reading on the go.  Most of my files are in either pdf, doc, rtf, or html formats.  It will fit in my purse and IIRC, it will play mp3s and also read the text outloud.
I can't wait!  I've begun to buy e-books from websites such as All Romance as I prefer to collect downloads as opposed to paperbacks.
And of course, I'll be able to re-read all my favorite Brokeback, NCIS, etc. fanfics!
 :)


Congratulations, NavyVet! Report back and let us know how you like it when it arrives.

Taming Groomzilla is for sale at All Romance. Why don't you buy a copy for your trip? A funny light read and it is raising money for a good cause!

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-taminggroomzilla-80920-150.html

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #110 on: October 14, 2009, 02:32:21 pm »
The Amazon Kindle 2 dropped in price to $259. Plus, Amazon has announced an international Kindle ($279). It will work in many countries in Europe, including Belgium and Germany (Fabienne and Chrissi, are you taking note of this?) but unfortunately, not in Canada at the present moment.

Details here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015T963C/ref=sv_kinc_0

L

Well, what can I say?

Ever since you introduced me to your kindle over a year ago, I've wanted one. And seeing it again in september only made me want one more. *inserts green smiley*  ;D
I thought if I wait long enough, a kindle will be available in Europe...someday.

But in the end, I gave up and ordered a Sony e-reader, pocket version. I thought Amazon was dragging its heels and the international kindle would never happen. I even had to get my reader in the UK via ebay, because the sony reader is not even available here in this 'poky little place' called Belgium.

And two days after I ordered it......


amazon decided to launch the kindle worldwide. AAAArrrrgggghhhhh


Ah, well. My reader arrived a couple of days ago and I'm having lots of fun with it. It's really easy to use. And now, with the help of a small lamp, I can read during my sleepless nights without waking my husband.

I've reread the LA stories by PA Brown you gave me Leslie. Great stories! It was fun spending two days with David en Chriss.

'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,161
  • Bork bork bork
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #111 on: October 14, 2009, 02:42:28 pm »
While I was considering whether to buy an e-reader or not, I never even once considered a Kindle. Even if they had been available in Europe at the time.

With a Kindle you're totally dependent on Amazon, you can only read books sold by them.
If you want to transfer e g a Word file (BBMfic!), you have to mail it to Amazon, and they charge you for transferring it to your Kindle.

I'm very happy with my Sony e-reader, it's easy to use, and I can transfer anything I like onto it.

Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline belbbmfan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,354
  • A love that will never grow old
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #112 on: October 14, 2009, 03:10:48 pm »
I was very impressed with the kindle when Leslie showed it to me. Especially the wireless feature. You can even read newspapers (The New York Times) on it.

But you're right about the Sony reader being more 'open'. It was one of the things that finally made me decide to get one. I have transferred a few of my favorite fics to my reader. It's all very easy to do but I thought that maybe I should enlarge the letter type in my original word document. I thought the letters on the reader were quite small, even after using the enlarge button.

Do you have any experience with this? What font do you use in your word docs?
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,161
  • Bork bork bork
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #113 on: October 14, 2009, 03:26:52 pm »
I've enlarged some fics to font size 14, I think that works quite well

And, I was told to save the Word file as an RTF instead of .doc.
Don't know why really, it's supposed to be more stable or something.


I couldn't get them to ship the reader outside UK either, so an English brokie friend
was nice enough to order and pay it for me, and when it arrived to him, it was just a few
days before my trip to the US and Canada, so we decided he send it to me there, cos I wanted it as
quick as possible!!! 

 ;D :laugh:

Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline NavyVet

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 317
  • Harm/Tony - My fav rare pair
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #114 on: October 14, 2009, 03:44:54 pm »
Congratulations, NavyVet! Report back and let us know how you like it when it arrives.

Taming Groomzilla is for sale at All Romance. Why don't you buy a copy for your trip? A funny light read and it is raising money for a good cause!

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-taminggroomzilla-80920-150.html

L

I have placed it on my wish list there - it sounds like a winner!
 8)
NavyVet
"Brokeback Mountain:  Where slash is canon!"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #115 on: October 14, 2009, 04:20:35 pm »
While I was considering whether to buy an e-reader or not, I never even once considered a Kindle. Even if they had been available in Europe at the time.

With a Kindle you're totally dependent on Amazon, you can only read books sold by them.

That's not correct. You can get books from many sources, both paid and free. I've been buying quite a few books from All Romance lately. They can send the books to your Kindle (if you want) or just download the file and transfer with the USB cable. Sites like Feedbooks have free books which also work on the Kindle.

Quote
If you want to transfer e g a Word file (BBMfic!), you have to mail it to Amazon, and they charge you for transferring it to your Kindle.

They charge 15 cents for that. But you can also convert a Word doc to a .txt file and just transfer to the Kindle with the USB cable. You can also convert the Word doc with free software such as Mobipocket creator.

Quote
I'm very happy with my Sony e-reader, it's easy to use, and I can transfer anything I like onto it.

That's great -- I'm glad you like it.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #116 on: October 14, 2009, 04:23:59 pm »

I've reread the LA stories by PA Brown you gave me Leslie. Great stories! It was fun spending two days with David en Chriss.



Yes, they are great to spend some time with!

Here's one of my most favorite books of the year....

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-falsecolors-79237-145.html

Will that format work on your Sony?

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #117 on: October 14, 2009, 04:24:23 pm »
I have placed it on my wish list there - it sounds like a winner!
 8)

I hope you enjoy it!
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,161
  • Bork bork bork
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #118 on: October 14, 2009, 04:58:37 pm »
That's not correct. You can get books from many sources, both paid and free. I've been buying quite a few books from All Romance lately. They can send the books to your Kindle (if you want) or just download the file and transfer with the USB cable. Sites like Feedbooks have free books which also work on the Kindle.

They charge 15 cents for that. But you can also convert a Word doc to a .txt file and just transfer to the Kindle with the USB cable. You can also convert the Word doc with free software such as Mobipocket creator.

That's great -- I'm glad you like it.

L

I didn't know there were other ways to transfer to a Kindle than through Amazon.
So I've been misinformed..... :-\

That's why I was so negative to the Kindle, I thought it made you dependent on Amazon.

Thanks for enlightening me!

Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #119 on: October 14, 2009, 06:23:15 pm »
I didn't know there were other ways to transfer to a Kindle than through Amazon.
So I've been misinformed..... :-\

That's why I was so negative to the Kindle, I thought it made you dependent on Amazon.

Unfortunately, you are not the only person who had that misperception...

Quote
Thanks for enlightening me!

My pleasure!
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #120 on: October 16, 2009, 12:04:51 am »
For anyone who is new to the e-book platform and who has been interested in the Greenlea Tales, I have *pdf and mobi versions of all of them, just let me know which if any you want.  I haven't got them in final "published' form but the drafts as they appear on Livejournal are all there, from volume 1 of Taking Chances through Agents of the Law.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline NavyVet

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 317
  • Harm/Tony - My fav rare pair
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #121 on: October 25, 2009, 09:56:30 pm »
I'm back from my mini-vacation - it was a nice trip.
My Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro arrived via FedX on Saturday, 2 days before I left.  I was so surprised that it was delivered on a Saturday!
It came with a lovely leather case, USB cable and AC adapter, ear buds, manual, wrist strap, and an SD card with 300 free books on it. Wow!
After charging it and reading the manual, I transferred some stories and mp3 music files from my laptop via the USB.  No problem there.
I took it with me on my trip and used it every chance I got.  It wasn't too hard to figure out how to navigate. 
It displayed my pdf, doc, and rtf files really well.  It has 3 settings to adjust size of the text.  The fiction I'm currently reading is in html and even on the largest zoom, the print is kind of small, but I'm managing.  The mp3s played fine though the earbuds.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded.  Haven't figured out yet if it's possible to listen to music and read at the same time.  Have to play with it some more.
I love the way that when you turn it off and come back later, it pulls up the page you left off on.  It's very comfortable and light to hold in one hand.
Comes in 6 colors - I got the purple one!
For anyone who needs the text to speech feature, this is not the e-reader for you.  The pronunciation is SO bad that it is impossible to understand - comes out as total gibberish.  So, that feature is useless - the only real negative I've found, so far.  I will see how long the battery lasts between charges.
Overall I really like my EZ Reader.  It supports so many formats and I keep all my files on my laptop's hard drive anyway, so I don't feel a need for wireless downloading.  Check it out here:  http://www.theezreader.com/html/index.htm
 :)


 
NavyVet
"Brokeback Mountain:  Where slash is canon!"

Offline NavyVet

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 317
  • Harm/Tony - My fav rare pair
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #122 on: October 25, 2009, 10:12:43 pm »
For anyone who is new to the e-book platform and who has been interested in the Greenlea Tales, I have *pdf and mobi versions of all of them, just let me know which if any you want.  I haven't got them in final "published' form but the drafts as they appear on Livejournal are all there, from volume 1 of Taking Chances through Agents of the Law.

Louise, I would LOVE a pdf version of the Greenlea Tales.  I really would like to read the entire series when I get a chance.
You are made of awesome!
 :-*
NavyVet
"Brokeback Mountain:  Where slash is canon!"

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #123 on: October 26, 2009, 01:01:51 am »
Louise, I would LOVE a pdf version of the Greenlea Tales.  I really would like to read the entire series when I get a chance.
You are made of awesome!
 :-*

If you send me a PM with the address to send to - you can get the current draft levels of all of them, and more if you like! I have other novels I have written as well.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #124 on: January 22, 2010, 07:57:05 pm »
On my way home from work today, I had my first sighting of an Amazon Kindle.  ;D

Somebody was using one to read on the subway, and I was close enough that I could see the logo on the device, so it really was a Kindle.  ;D

I could immediately see the attraction of it for travel, or reading in bed, because of its slimness and lack of bulk. I'm not sure I'd be happy reading on that gray screen, though.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline robin

  • Sr. Ranch Hand
  • ***
  • Posts: 107
Re: The E-Book Files
« Reply #125 on: January 30, 2010, 07:48:06 am »
I bought a Kindle a few months ago and I have to say, I love this little gadget. For those who aren't familiar, the Kindle is an ebook reader put out by amazon.com. You can read more about it here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FI73MA

One great thing about the Kindle is that it has me reading again, reading like I used to in the old days. I take it with me everywhere and when I have a spare second, I flip it on. Whether I am reading the New York Times (I have a daily subscription) or a book, it's right there, in my hand. It's great.

I decided to start this thread to share some of the good stuff I have been reading. Louise has a Kindle, too, so hopefully she'll share some of her favorites. And if others have great ebooks to recommend, please join in!



Now, while I have a Kindle and that is how I have been reading, there are other readers out there. People also read ebooks on their PDAs, Smartphones and other portable devices. The new 3G iPhone will has a reader available. So, if you are interested in these books, you are not limited to a Kindle.

And if you don't own any of these devices, you can read on your PC. Many of these books are available in PDF format (for which you need Acrobat Reader; it's free: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html?promoid=BUIGO)

Another option is to get books in Mobipocket format; to read those, you need the Mobipocket reader for your PC (also free: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/ProductDetailsReader.asp)

I know alot of readers on this board are used to LiveJournal stories, so ebooks really aren't any different. So, please join in with your recommendations and reviews. I look forward to a lively discussion!

Leslie

I do love my Kindle! VERY convenient, I take mine everywhere. I still miss the feel of a book in my hands, the sensual feel of the pages, the scent of old paper; but it is so light and easy to transport. I highly recommend it to all my friends that read. It is particularly pleasant to have when dining alone. When I travel, which is too often these days, I find that dining alone encourages 'sympathetic' strangers to attempt to rescue me from my solitude. Pulling out my Kindle and immersing myself in a good book helps me maintain my temper.