FREE eBOOK! and a Popular One by the Look…The Variant Effect!
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Affordable eBooks, Free Author Releases, Free eBooks, Kindle, Kobo eReader, Uncategorized, eBook Readers, eBooks, eReaders, iPad, nook 
Okay. This G. Wells Taylor’s been a favorite of mine for a while, first with his free Wildclown novel and now this. He’s been online forever (inked a deal to distribute all his titles with Smashwords) and always trying the angles. Looks like he’s finished The Variant Effect Serial started last October, and now he’s releasing all the parts in one FREE eBook.
Here’s most of the release…
“All SEVEN installments of THE VARIANT EFFECT are NOW available in ONE FREE multi-format eBook download at SkinEaters.com and other locations.
Plus, THE VARIANT EFFECT PAPERBACK is available for order at SkinEaters.com.”
So, check it out here. (I hear it’s a wicked horror/scifi blend.)
A Writer Looks at the eBook Revolution
admin Affordable eBooks, Kindle, Kobo eReader, Publishers, eBook Readers, eBook Stores, eBooks, eReaders, iPad, nook Gigaom.com has a post by author Simon Wood on the writer’s view of digital publishing. I’d have to say I’m in complete agreement with Wood and can only see an upside for the content creator and reader.
eBooks are here to stay, but so are their paper progenitors–albeit the paperback might be relegated to a print-on-demand version (it was happening anyway) and the hard cover may evolve into high-quality, collectible works of art.
It should be a win-win scenario for writers and readers.
Que ProReader Missing in Action?
admin Affordable eBooks, Free eBooks, Kindle, Kobo eReader, eBook Readers, eBook Stores, eReaders, iPad, nook eWeek has a post that suggests the long-awaited Plastic Logic Que ProReader may be held back from release once again. (Actually, it’s taking so long to launch that pre-orders are starting to cancel out.)
I agree with the article and think that this is a response to a brand new marketplace, the arrival of the multifunction iPad and recent price wars between E Ink readers Kindle, nook, Kobo eReader and soon Sony.
Que is a beautiful machine, and I know there is a place for its larger format E Ink display and sleek executive lines. I just hope its formidable price tag ($600 range) doesn’t make it obsolete and ahead of its time.
eBook Revolution the New Normal?
admin Affordable eBooks, Free Author Releases, Free eBooks, Kindle, Kobo eReader, Publishers, eBook Readers, eBook Software, eBook Stores, eBooks, eReaders, iPad, nook Rafi Mohammed, Ph.D. of The Huffington Post has declared eBooks the official future of digital publishing. Read his article here to judge for yourself if his reasoning is sound.
It’s been a whirlwind year, and the recent developments are very promising, but do you think it’s too early to declare a win for eBooks? I’m still waiting for the eBook Reader priced $99 or less. Then we won’t be in Kansas anymore, yah?
Barnes and Noble eBook Market Share Rises
Authorlink News is carrying a story touting Barnes and Noble’s new CEO William Lynch as the main reason B&N is making huge gains in the eBook Market. I’ve got to agree, whoever is calling the shots is sure making up for ground the company lost after briefly shutting down its eBook Store in 2008. Since re-opening, it’s been one innovation after another as the Internet and Bricks and Mortar eBook retailer has charged back into the eBook Revolution. While its share in eBook sales increased by nearly 20% it still remains a distant second to the market dominator Amazon.com.
Still, that kind of thinking brings competition to a marketplace that needs it to lower the price of eBooks and the machines that read them.
Dark Valentine Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 1 - NOW AVAILABLE!
Volume 1, Issue 1 of Dark Valentine Magazine, a new on-line quarterly devoted to dark fiction, is now available for free download at DarkValentine.net
The joint venture of Katherine Tomlinson (publisher), Joy Sillesen (Editor/Design Director); and Joanne Renaud (art director), the collaboration was born when the three women met while working on John Donald Carlucci’s online and print pulp magazine, Astonishing Adventures.
“There are a lot of online magazines and sites devoted to pulp crime fiction,” publisher Katherine Tomlinson said, “but with Dark Valentine we wanted to branch into other genres as well.
“I am thrilled with the support we’ve received from the online writing community and delighted with the quality and variety of stories in this first issue,” she added. “There are many talented writers whose fiction fits our vision and we hope to hear from them all.”
Contributors to the first issue include Agatha nominee mystery novelist Elizabeth Zelvin, romance novelists Stephanie Dray and Christine Pope, and UK horror novelist Peter Mark May. There is flash fiction from Sandra Seamans, Carol Kilgore, Cormac Brown and Blue Jackson among the 19 stories, which range from paranormal noir to pulp fiction to sci fi.
The first issue’s cover is by DV’s art director Joanne Renaud, who took her inspiration from Stephanie Dray’s story of love gone wrong, “The Threshing Floor.” Renaud assembled her staff of artists from all over the globe—Greece (Eleni Trigatzi), Thailand (Rina Ez), the UK (Jennifer Caro), and Poland (Pamela Jaworska)—as well as different states in the U.S. (Kat Laurange, Molly Brewer, Michael Lauritano, Larry Nadolsky, Laura Neubert, Jane Burson, and Sarah Winifred Searle.
“It was exciting working with all the great artists who contributed to the first issue of Dark Valentine,” Renaud said, “and seeing the various artistic interpretations of all the wonderful dark stories that were submitted.”
Submissions are now open for Dark Valentine Magazine’s Autumn issue. For information, see the website (designed by the talented Sarah Vaughn) at: http://darkvalentine.net/index.php/submission-guidelines/
The magazine is a paying market—“We’re all freelancers ourselves,” says publisher Tomlinson, “so it was important that we pay our contributors, even if only a token amount”—and plans are in the works for a print anthology built around an as-yet-unannounced theme.
The summer premiere issue of Dark Valentine is available now at the Dark Valentine website and will be archived.
Contact:
publisher@darkvalentine.net
Independent Authors and the eBook Revolution
Here’s a link to an excellent article at the Wall Street Journal that investigates the impact of the eBook Revolution on independent authors, publishers and the traditional publishing industry. The accessibility of digital publishing has allowed the vast army of independent authors to circumvent the traditional “member’s only” mindset and publish their work directly for consumption through various online publishing platforms. An action that is quickly leaving the traditional publishing world in the cold.
I get a kick out of a quote in the article where author and lecturer Seth Godin predicts a two-tier eBook market defined by titles that are ”branded/highquality” and “cheap/good enough.” It’s nice to have the power to judge, but the gist of the article seems lost on Godin. The whole idea is digital publishing platforms can provide an even playing field that will invalidate old market controls of the kind he suggests. The readers will decide what they want to read in the way they always have. Sure there are market forces (tricks) like advertising, perceived scarcity and limited selection but one look at the crumbling publishing industry will show you how sustainable that approach was.
Readers, like always, will take the time to browse for titles that capture their imaginations. The primary difference now is they’ll have selection never experienced before linked to authors that might have been left to obscurity by the publishing juggernauts of old.
Readers will decide what is high-quality whether it bears a brand (and accompanying high cost) or not.
eText Books Arrive for California Schools…
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin has a post updating last year’s story about California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Digital Textbook Initiative and the state’s cash-strapped school districts’ efforts to find ways to utilize the 30 standards-aligned textbooks now available for high school classrooms.
Schwarzenegger should be applauded for his hi-tech maneuvering. At $105 for an English printed textbook and $65 for math it’s easy to see the long-term savings in going digital. The tough part will be crossing the hardware divide that some lower-income students might face, but the article indicates the use of identical print outs (PDF’s) should provide all of their students access to the information.
The State of eBook Sales
The New York Times’ writer Bob Tedeschi’s article in Personal Tech: “E-Reader Applications for Today, and Beyond” describes the current state of buying eBooks and makes some predictions about the future for the eBook Revolution. As we’ve been saying since the start, one of the main things holding mainstream adoption back is the publisher and distributor insistence on content and product control based on DRM or tethered eBook formats.
Their product tampering and limitation on use make the buying public justifiably leery about diving into the revolution. It also explains why free eBooks are doing so well. People want to be able to read their eBooks when and where they want.
This, while the market is reporting ‘explosive’ figures. It’s just a matter of time before some smart publishers realize their own policies are slowing sales and they’ll take the chains off the EPUB format.
Publishing Strategy for Indie Authors
Jorgen sent us a link to a story by MediaShift’s Carla King detailing a publishing approach for independent authors eager to take advantage of the opportunities presented by advances in digital publishing. The article focuses on industry leading digital publishing platforms Smashwords.com and Scribd.com.
Well worth the read, King offers a publishing strategy that uses the best of these game-changing companies. This is a win-win scenario for writers and readers.
