I no longer enjoy launching the Kobo app on my iPhone or iPad. I stopped looking forward to interacting with it a few updates ago, and now I actually avoid it. This has been building for a while. A year ago, I praised Kobo for being ahead of the curve when it came to adding [...]
ebooks
Apple gives book creators beautiful, golden handcuffs
Today Apple raised the bar on interactive textbook publishing, with the introduction of a revamped iBooks app for the iPad and a free textbook publishing app for the Mac. If you’ve got an iPad, a fairly new Mac, and a big pile o’ knowledge to share with the world, you can now create a really [...]
Today’s Bargain Book: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
In Maguire’s detailed Oz re-imagining, the Wicked Witch of the West is more than just a villain; she’s also an intelligent, headstrong opponent of Oz’s establishment class, one whose inflexible demands for justice make her a prime political target as she grows in power.
Here’s how a local bookseller tried to get my future business
In my recent counter-tirade against the emotional outbursts that booksellers are frequently guilty of when they should be discussing retail strategies, I mentioned that the last time I contacted a local bookstore to offer feedback on what I want as a customer, I was ignored. I thought it might be nice to publish that email [...]
The biggest threat to local bookstores? Crazy booksellers and their fanboys
Last week, Amazon tried to train consumers to openly treat local retail stores as showrooms for Amazon merchandise. It was a ballsy but ethically shaky move; I believe customers who participated helped Amazon steal resources and sales from competitors for very little compensation. It was, at the very least, retail dirty pool. But then—even though [...]
eReaderIQ improves Kindle deal alert service with new filters and categories
Two days ago I noticed something new in the daily email I get from eReaderIQ. Actually, I noticed a couple of new things. The first was that suddenly the books were being organized according to genre, which makes it a lot easier to skim. The second was this notice at the bottom: I clicked through [...]
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 [...]
Stanza updated! Now works on iOS 5
Clearly I was too pessimistic last week when I wrote about the death of Stanza, the ebook reader app that stopped working on Apple devices with the release of iOS 5. Earlier today an updated version of Stanza was released, and the app now works again. I take back what I wrote in that earlier [...]
Learn write more better from book teachings without money
Oh man, I really should have read these free writing guides before I tried to craft my own headline. Now I just feel stupid. Actually, I feel like an SEO rebel, because from what I hear, writing a nonsensical headline is tantamount to Google search result suicide. Oh well! Someday I’ll learn write more better! [...]
Alternatives to Stanza on iOS
Update: Forget all of this! Stanza delivered a surprise update to the Apple app store on November 10th, 2011, that restored functionality on iOS 5. But only update if you need to: this latest version breaks the app if you’re running an older iOS like 4.3 (thanks to Paula for pointing that out in the [...]
SF Gateway launches ebook store for classic sci-fi and fantasy
If you’re a hardcore sci-fi or fantasy reader, be sure to check out the newly opened SF Gateway website at http://www.sfgateway.com/. At present, there are over fifty authors represented (see full author list here), with more to come over time. That’s the good news. The bad news is that those old print-biased territorial restrictions have [...]
Today’s Bargain Book: “The Strain” by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
A financier obsessed with immortality brings a vampire to NYC, but the contagion quickly spreads beyond anyone’s control.