Category Archives: commentary
One way ebook retailers might be able to get around Apple’s 30% tax
Remember Stanza? It was among the first and brightest ebook apps when the iPhone App Store started to really take off, which is why Amazon bought the developer in April ’09. Stanza’s good reviews and press coverage were well-deserved; it … Continue reading
Posted in Apple iOS, apps, business, commentary, ebooks, publishing, software
Tagged Apple iOS, azw, bluefire, commission, drm, ebooks, epub, guidelines, IAP, in app, kindle, kobo, nook, overdrive, pdb, publishers, Stanza
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Here’s how Apple’s 30% commission might affect ebook apps
Update: It seems Apple has somewhat confirmed that ebook apps are included in the new requirements. My two predicted changes below remain fairly accurate, but now you can add two more potential changes: either the apps will go away completely, … Continue reading
Posted in Apple iOS, apps, business, commentary, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Sony
Tagged Amazon, Apple iOS, bad news, ebooks, IAP, in app purchases, kindle, kobo, magazines, newspapers, nook, price gouging, prices, subscriptions
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How Kindle’s new Public Notes could change the way we read ebooks
Someone else may have already noted this, but it took me four days to realize the game-changing potential of the upcoming Public Notes feature Amazon is bringing to the Kindle. If authors and celebrities take to it the way they’ve … Continue reading
Posted in commentary, ebooks, ideas, Kindle, publishing
Tagged Amazon, annotations, authors, celebrities, ideas, kindle, marketing, public notes, twitter, updates, virtual editions
5 Comments
Why cloud-based ebooks bring out the Luddite in me
As I wrote previously, my current position on the books-in-the-cloud business model is that it’s deeply anti-consumer, because it takes away all concepts of ownership and passes the control upstream to the retailer and/or publisher. I’ve been surprised (but happy) … Continue reading
Posted in business, commentary, ebooks, online, publishing
Tagged access, cloud, consumer advocacy, consumer rights, downloads, ebooks, licensing, market, ownership
6 Comments
What Neil Gaiman likes about the Kindle, and why you should care
Hopefully you don’t need a Famous Author to validate your purchasing decisions, so I’m not posting about Neil Gaiman’s opinions on the Kindle just to make you feel better/worse about your new ereader. Instead, I thought it might provide some … Continue reading
Posted in commentary, copyright, DIY, ebooks, hardware, Kindle 3, Kobo, people
Tagged advocacy, authors, cloud storage, consumer rights, copyright, drm, ebooks, ereaders, fair use, good design, kindle, licenses, licensing, neil gaiman, publishers, usability
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Why it’s sometimes good for writers to build on each other’s work
Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon writing out my idea for how fanfic and other writers could theoretically use digital technology to bypass copyright roadblocks. What inspired me was the recent story about an unauthorized sequel to “The Catcher … Continue reading
Dehydrated books, or how to make money off of fan fiction and unauthorized sequels
Imagine that this evening I follow a friend’s link to a new Harry Potter book, one that essentially replaces “The Sorcerer’s Stone” in the canon with a Year 1 adventure that’s darker and closer in tone to the final few … Continue reading
Posted in business, commentary, copyright, DIY, ebooks, ideas, online
Tagged amateur, copyright, digital, fanfic, fans, ideas, infringement, publishing, technology, tools
6 Comments
How your next ebook loan might sap your library’s book budget
For all their good qualities, and there are almost two, publishers sometimes have really bad traits as well, and one of the worst is a hatred of public libraries. Last week, HarperCollins revealed the extent of this hate when it … Continue reading →