Amazon's Stores, John Locke's Simon and Schuster Deal: Hints of the Future of Publishing?

Seems there are rumors that Amazon.com will be opening brick and mortar stores.  Exactly what the inventory would be sold there is the big question; eBookNewswer wonders about a place you would enter just to see what was available, but you wouldn't take the book home with you -- you'd order it.

Interesting, isn't it?  There's all those empty Border's stores ready to go, after all....

Meanwhile, John Locke has entered into a deal with Simon & Schuster where he has his indie book Wish List being sold as a mass market paperback by the publishing house - but Locke is shown as the publisher.  

Which apparently means that the publishing house has made a deal for its distribution channels and marketing abilities with traditional publication deal thrown in for the mass market paperbacks.  Telemachus Press will still be responsible for the actual printing of the ebooks, as they have been doing for John Locke for years now. (For more info, check out the comment from Claudia at Telemachus Press, below.)

So, we have Amazon moving into physical stores and one of the biggest indie authors making deals with a traditional publishing house - for distribution.

Looks to me that these are hints that the publishing industry is growing and changing, but that ways are being found to keep our beloved print books and the sanctuary that is the local book store alive and kicking while the boom of indie publishing is allowed to bloom.

At least I hope so.

Reading Great Writers – James Lee Burke for Setting

I’ve just finished James Lee Burke’s Feast Day of Fools.  It’s not a short read and it’s a violence one (no surprise, right?) but here’s the thing: you can learn so much from this guy.

I’m re-reading it now, marking things up, because he’s just so darn good at describing things.  Like the bleak horizons down on the Texas border with Mexico.  The colors, the sounds, you get the idea. 

There’s one scene, where a sociopath has taken his victim (I’m trying to avoid a spoiler here) out to his personal killing field and as the evildoer parks his “gas guzzler” and exits the car to walk back and open the truck where his victim has been tossed … well.  Not much word count, and I can still hear those boots moving, the sound of the truck opening, the barren surroundings, the breathing of the bound man.  Creeps me out. 

I’m not using his vocabulary. 

You need to read it for yourself.  Feast Day of Fools.

Amazingly good stuff. 

Dictionary.com: Great Site Offering Oodles of Info

Dictionary.com is one of my favorite sites, and not just for the ease of an online dictionary.  The site itself is fun and informative - and it's a great place to get that writer brain in gear after you've checked the email and made the coffee (along with crossword puzzles).

For example, today's Dictionary.com has a quiz asking me to name the protagonists of several famous novels.  Cool.

Tabs at the top take me to a nice Thesaurus and a really fun feature for word lovers, WordDynamo.  Admittedly, I may love WordDynamo because ... well ... I'm really good at it.  Considering I can't dance well at all and the only time I sing in tune is in the car or the shower, where of course I am GREAT, being a wizard at WordDynamo feels pretty darn good.

Okay.  Enough.  Back to work for me.  You?  You might want to check out Dictionary.com.

Kindle EBooks Available for Checkout at Public Library: How I Checked Out Kindle Ebooks from San Antonio Public Library: Easy and Fun

Kindle ebooks can be checked out from your local library via Overdrive, if your library is connected with Overdrive - and if you have an active membership with your local library, of course.

Benefits?

Well, I checked out a book to read late at night last week, long after the library was closed and because I wanted to read something other than what was on my Reading Stack of print books.

Here's what I did:

1. I went to my local library's home page.

2. I surfed through the databases to electronic resources.

3. I got to this page, which is my library's page within the Overdrive site: http://sanantonio.lib.overdrive.com/2A285962-18C3-49B1-BCE0-76938835FEBD/10/417/en/Error.htm?ErrorType=130

4. I signed into Overdrive using my local library user name and password.

5. I surfed through the e-stacks, looking for available books (they'll give you all the books in your topic (mine was mysteries) even though some are already checked out and all you can do is place a hold on them).

6. I chose the book I wanted to read.  (I was surprised at the selection, and it appears to be growing each month - if I'm reading my monthly library newsletter right.)

7. I went to Amazon.com, chose Manage My Kindle, and went through the steps there to make sure the book was downloaded onto my Kindle (I had a WiFi issue that was quickly resolved).

There. Easy Peasy.

I'm Honored to Be Accepted as a Book Reviewer for Library Journal

As of October 2011, I am a book reviewer for Library Journal.  I've been vetted and approved by Library Journal and I've signed the official contract, too.  Which means, yes, I believe that I will receive a free print book as part of the reviewing process.  And, no, that doesn't mean that I will automatically give a favorable, thumbs up review in exchange for the freebie.  Who does that?

As for Library Journal itself, below is brief description of the publication from the publisher's web site.  I'm quite proud to be contributing here, and thought I would share this with you, Dear Reader.

 From Media Source, Inc.:

Founded in 1876, Library Journal is one of the oldest and most respected publications covering the library field. Over 100,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries read LJ. In its twenty annual issues, Library Journal reviews nearly 7,000 books, and provides coverage of technology, management, policy, and other professional concerns.

Kindle Format 8 Announced by Amazon - the Debut of KF8 and What it Means To You

Ebook publishing just got some big news: Amazon is changing the way it does things to allow for more graphic and image friendly e-books with its new Kindle Format 8.  If you are publishing for Kindle, does that mean a major re-do headache?  Apparently not. 

Right now, Format 8 will be introduced on Amazon Fire and as time passes, it will also be placed upon other Kindle products ... "the latest generation" of Kindle devices, according to the Amazon FAQ page. 

What happens to my Kindle - the one I bought a year ago?  I'm not sure right now.  

What about my Mobi files?  According to Amazon, all "currently supported content" will be okay, no need to panic about changing your stuff over to the new KF8.  However, Amazon is going to be giving instructions on how to do just that in its Kindle Publishing Guidelines (tho that's not online just yet). 

For more scoop, check out the Kindle Forums as well as TechCrunch (who points out that with KF8, Amazon products can be read on an iPad); and Webmonkey (who discusses the possibility that KF8 will allow ebooks to be placed on the web itself, since KF8's incorporattion of HTML5 essentially allows for ebooks to be built in the same way as a web page).

Kindle Daily Deal - I Check It Everyday but Do I Buy? Not So Much.

The Kindle Daily Deal is cool ... every day, Amazon offers a book at a rock-bottom price, if you're willing to read it on a Kindle.  Amazon tries to juggle the offerings, give everyone something they like. 

Maybe that's what is happening.  I'm checking the Kindle Daily Deal every morning.  But I'm not tempted to buy very often. 

I think I have purchased two Daily Deals so far - one was a biography of Bonhoeffer, the other I can't remember right now.  So I'm wondering what this means.

Is it because I'm not interested in buy most of what they are offering at the Daily Deal?  Or, is it because I'm only interested in buying certain things as an ebook because, after all, I'm really only buying a license and not the book itself?  Maybe a little of both.

Still, Kindle Daily Deal remains a fun thing to check every morning, before I do my daily crossword.  Maybe you'll like it too, if you haven't checked it out already, Dear Reader. 

books, ebooks, amazon, kindle

Librarians Fighting Back Against Big Budget Cuts

When I was very young, shortly after my father died, I remember my mother instituting a Friday night ritual.  She would pick me up after school, and we would go to the local branch of the public library.  I could check out as many books as I wanted! She would, too.  We would each roam the stacks, selecting carefully.  We might sit in the big chairs, too, and read awhile.  Afterwards, we would go Out To Eat.  Usually, to a small Mom and Pop Chinese Food Place that I still remember as being so exotic with its red and gold dragons and silk kimono wall hangings.  I could drink hot tea out of a little ceramic bowl, and I could bring one book into the restaurant with me.  Such a decision.

That little branch library was such a special place for me.  I was 7 years old, in a new city and a new school and with a mother who wasn't dealing all that well at all with the loss of her husband.  Books.  Books are one thing.  They are friends, sometimes lifelong companions.  Teachers, too.  But libraries.  Libraries are sanctuaries, treasure caves, shrines.  Libraries are important.  Important at all times, but especially these days.

I follow the news about budget cuts to public libraries with dread and fear and that small girl in me is afraid for her library.  For the libraries beloved by other folk, in other parts of the country.  What will happen?  Consider this: in Texas this summer, funding to state libraries was cut by 88% (yes, eighty-eight percent; that's no typo). 

So, it's very nice to learn about Librarians Fighting Back -- like those this week up in Chicago, where they not only signed a petition against budget cuts, but they also had a "Story Time" down at City Hall, where the librarians read books to the kids, right there on the threshold of the Mayor's Office.  Cool stuff.

books libraries economy

Revenge on ABC TV: Tracking How It Rehashes Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo

After reading the script from the TV pilot, offered as a promo by ABC TV on Amazon long before the TV series Revenge began, I already caught that the writers were rehashing one of my favorites: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

I'm not the only one who thinks so:  HitFlix agrees (and isn't impressed), and a blurb at E!Online calls Revenge "a modern reimagining" of the Dumas novel.

Over at Shnugi.com, they are monitoring Revenge as it plays out every Wednesday, tracking how the show follows along with the Count.  It's fun; check it out at their post, Characters from ABC’s Revenge compared to the Count of Monte Cristo.  In fact, knowing the Dumas' novel may help make Revenge a better show for those of us that know the book than for those who haven't read it.  (Or I suppose, seen one of the gazillion movie versions of it.)

I agree with Shnugi:  Emily Thorne is the revenge-seeking Count of Monte Cristo; however, now she's a girl, Amanda Clarke aka Emily.  That's not hard.  After that, it's still early -- and very fun to try and figure out how they're going to cram all that good stuff from the book into this miniseries.  Like how Edmond Dantes sought his own revenge, but here you have the victim of betrayal dead and his daughter planning vengeance.  (Sure, the book is better.)

For instance, is Shnugi right: is Emily Thorne going to be Benedetto?  Hmmmm.......

Meanwhile, if you want to read the book upon which Revenge is based, you can read the Count of Monte Cristo right now, for free.  It's available at Amazon, for example, as a freebie (there's lots more freebies and great deals there, by the way: check out my post over on my simplicity blog on that score, "Amazon's Top 100 Free EBooks - There are Some Great Bargains Here.")

National Novel Writing Month Begins on November 1, 2011: Will You Participate?

In less than 30 days, it will once again be National Novel Writing Month ("NaNoWriMo").  For all the official information, check out the homepage where things are provided like FAQs, Forums, Breaking News, etc. 

What's it all about?  Writing 50,000 words in 30 days time.  As a fiction novel.  Or, I suppose a non-fiction novel works just as well: the key is to get a novel done, first draft, start to finish within the time frame of November 1st to November 30th. 

You're not alone.  People all over the place take up the NaNoWriMo gauntlet each year.  There are local groups that get together to write at coffee shops, for example, supporting each other in getting that word count. 

In addition to the help provided at the official web site, there's also a Facebook page for National Novel Writing Month as well as a Twitter feed that's begun already as "sprints" during October, to prepare participants for the November word marathon.  Interested? Check it out at @NaNoWordSprints.

I haven't decided if I will participate this year.  Mulling it over. 

books, writing, nanowritmo