Month: June 2011

Latest Edition of Flipboard with New Features

There’s a universe of beautiful, interesting content available via Flipboard, which just released a new edition, 1.5. Tap the ever-present red ribbon in the top right and the new Content Guide slides out, where you can search for any person, topic or blog you’re interested in, or simply browse recommended sections arranged by category. Tap Social to connect to Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Instagram, Flickr and now LinkedIn (more on that in a bit), and transform your feeds from those networks into a magazine. Find a source you like, and save it to your Favorites for quick access later.

NEW FEATURES
The No. 1 request heard from the Flipboard community was the ability to save more content. So now, whenever you’re flipping through a section that you love, you can… [read the FLIPBOARD BLOG]

Using E-Books to Sell More Print Versions

Brick and mortar bookstoresHow do you help brick-and-mortar stores sell books? Throw in an e-book.

That is the idea of one publisher, Algonquin, which began a promotion in 300 Barnes & Noble stores this month that gives a discounted e-book to customers who buy an Algonquin trade paperback. The publisher has planned a similar effort for October, giving customers who buy a hardcover copy of “When She Woke,” by Hillary Jordan, the digital version of the book free.

“We spend a lot of time lately trying to figure out how to sell books in this new world order,” said… [READ THE FULL STORY AT NY TIMES]

Politico and Random House Partner on Ebook Venture

Politico, an accelerant to the news cycle like wind is to brushfire, is taking on the one realm of political news that it has not yet sped up: book publishing.

The all-things-politics Web site is teaming up with Random House to publish four e-books about the 2012 presidential campaign, the first of which is scheduled to go on sale sometime before Christmas. Each will be in the 20,000- to 30,000-word range and written by… [READ THE FULL STORY]

First Digital-Only Textbook for K-12

McGraw-Hill’s new format, CINCH, is a cloud-based curriculum for K-12 math and 7-12 science. It makes all course materials, which include ebooks, presentations, assessments and animation clips, available from any device with a browser. Students in a class can also participate in Facebook-like conversations that stay with the text. “We’re trying to meet students and teachers where they’re at digitally,” Stansell says.

McGraw-Hill will also be launching a… [READ THE FULL STORY]

E-Reader Adoption Crushing Tablets

E-reader ownership among U.S. adults has surged in the last six months, doubling from 6% to 12%, according to a survey released today by the Pew Research Center. That remarkable rate of adoption surpasses even tablets, which are owned by just 8% of adults 18 and older.

That’s great news for Amazon and Barnes & Noble, whose e-readers, the Kindle and Nook, are flying off shelves (e-shelves, rather). But it might also come as a surprise to consumers inundated with ads for the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and Motorola Xoom that e-readers are outpacing tablets. [read the full story]

Romance Novels Heating Up e-Books

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Angela James, 35. Eight years ago, she was an occupational therapist who sated her appetite for paranormal romances by reading e-books; now she’s the executive editor of Carina Press, the pioneering digital-first novel imprint at Harlequin, the grandmother of romance publishing.

Launched in June 2010, Carina is an experiment — not just in e-books, but in business strategies that just might dictate the future of the publishing industry. At a time of rapidly rising digital-book sales and steadily declining print sales — and when romance is the fastest-growing e-book segment — other publishers may want to take note. [read full story from Fast Company]

Children’s ebooks coming to Windows Phone

Microsoft and TouchyBooks will see more than 300 ebooks coming to Windows Phone, and then Android and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Over 150 children’s ebooks have already been released on the Windows Marketplace, with the same number again to follow before the end of June – 20 a day, according to the press release.

As you would expect from an ‘app book’, the pages are interactive, providing your children with lots of colour, words to read and learn and even background music and animations. Among the list there are plenty of recognisable classics, including Cinderella, Snow White and… [read the full story]

Mystery Writers association to Accept Independent Publishers

The Mystery Writers of America made a major change to its membership guidelines today, opening the membership door to eBook and print-on-demand publishers.

Here is a brief summary of the changes: “The publishing business is experiencing massive changes and if MWA is to remain relevant, we have to change, too.  That’s why we’ve… [read the full details]

3 to 1 e-books Outselling Physical Books at B&N

Barnes & Noble on Tuesday said it sold three times as many digital books through its website compared to physical books during the fourth fiscal quarter.

The growth in e-book sales comes as the company reported a rise in digital sales through its website and a decline in sales through its physical bookstores during the fourth quarter. In February, B&N said it was selling two times more e-books than physical books. Physical books still… [read the full article]

Google now offer eBooks Affiliate Program

Google has launched an affiliate program for its eBooks service, offering to pay commissions to Web publishers who promote titles on their sites and send buyers to Google’s online bookstore.

“Starting today, we invite all interested site owners to apply to join the expanded Google eBooks affiliate program. Participating sites gain new revenue streams by giving their book-reading audiences an easy way to buy Google eBooks,” wrote Pratip Banerji, product manager at the Google Books team.

[read the full article here]