It’s not released to the public yet, but longform epublisher The Atavist is putting the final touches on a free version of its conversion tool, which will enable authors to publish to a variety of platforms at once without being tied to any one company’s overly restrictive fine print. (Yes, that’s a jab at iBooks [...]
DIY
How to put custom screensaver images on a Kindle 4 (nontouch)
The new Kindle 4—the one without touchscreen capability—doesn’t run the Kindle 3 screensaver hack, so even if you pay Amazon the extra $30 to disable the ads you’re stuck with some generic default images. If this is driving you crazy, take heart. A Kindle 4 owner named kubbur has graciously begun documenting how he’s managed [...]
How to convert the entire Skyrim canon into a single ebook
If you’ve ever spent any time in the game Skyrim—or its predecessors Oblivion or Morrowind—you’ve probably noticed how insanely detailed the legends, histories, and religious traditions can be, and not just for a game but for any sort of fantasy entertainment. What makes this detailed world-building even more striking, from a game level, is that [...]
Man rigs special Kindle controls for sister with cerebral palsy
I was going to write up a short post* about this, but I’m running out of time today and Nate at The Digital Reader just posted about it, too, so I’ll point you there instead. (His is also the only other post I can find that bothered to link to the actual source material.) It’s [...]
How to make a Kindle case from an old book
I hadn’t intended to cut up the used book I bought online. But it turned out to be exactly the right size to house my Kindle, and it wasn’t in great shape to begin with, and my whole philosophy about digital publishing is that the physical container is not eternal and shouldn’t be treated with [...]
Change the font on your Kindle without hacking it
I finally updated my installation of Calibre the other day and started playing around with the plugin manager under Preferences, and I found out that the Kindle Collections Manager plugin has a secret power: it can let you add a new font to your Kindle without requiring any sort of hack or jailbreak. If you [...]
Create personalized Kindle, Nook and iPad cases at MyEdge
Although no official announcement has yet been made (that I’m aware of), M-Edge has opened its custom cover store. The service lets you create custom covers for your Kindle or Nook ($40) or iPad ($50) using your own images as well as supplied design elements. If you’re not the creative type, M-Edge is offering a [...]
Here’s another hand-made hardcover case for the Kindle
I know I just posted a link to 50 assorted ideas for covering your Kindle, but this one from someone named Ebony is worth the extra attention. His approach definitely requires patience and an eye for detail — you have carefully cut out each page individually, then glue them all together and smooth out the [...]
Want to make your own ereader cover? Here are 50 ideas to get you started
The blog ebookcases.org has put together a fairly exhaustive list of DIY cases, covers, wraps and sleeves for your Kindle. (But really for any of the current major ereaders.) If you’re feeling up to a little hot glue and scissors action this weekend, you could probably find an idea worth exploring on the list. My [...]
How to replace the battery on your Kindle 3
It’s likely that your Kindle’s battery will last as long as you own the Kindle, unless you happen to be one of those frugal types who hangs on to a device for a lot longer than the average consumer. But if your battery does go kaput (edit: and you don’t have any warranty protection), you [...]
ReBindIt turns discarded hardcovers into unique Kindle cases
If you’ve ever wanted to somehow merge your Kindle with the familiar world of traditional books, or you just want to house it in something really unique, you should know about ReBindIt, a small online business that launched in April and makes one-of-a-kind Kindle 2 cases out of old hardcovers. Pop your Kindle 2 into [...]
Writers, readers, publishers, and the desire to know everything at once
I like infoporn. I love to pore over traffic charts for websites, or look at survey numbers from opinion polls, or sit back and marvel at a really good graph, which is infoporn’s centerfold. One area where the data-crunching promise of personal computing has delivered is in capturing, assembling, and displaying this kind of labor-intensive [...]
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