Dec 25

Happy Holidays from eBook Rumors

You’re probably all out there getting the hang of your new Kindles, Nooks, Kobos, iPads, Sony eReaders and tablets. (The list goes on…)

Well, it seems the first rite of passage is the eager exploration of the ever-expanding library of FREE eBooks. Here are some web sites where you’ll find a wide selection of FREE classics, Indie fiction, contemporary fiction and non-fiction. An excellent browse. Bookmark these pages!

Manybooks.net. This has become my favorite with thousands of free titles in a wide variety of trouble-free formats.

GetFreeeBooks.com. Just what it says.  A huge selection.

Project Gutenberg – Their mission statement: to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. Too many titles to count…

Google eBooks. A huge selection of free eBooks in the Internet search giant’s eBook store.

G. Wells Taylor has free and/or affordable titles that are receiving great reviews at GWellsTaylor.com, SkinEaters.com and via his blog.  Multiple formats available.

Jennifer L. Armstrong hosts Free Online Novels where she’s posted an impressive list of free online novels along with her own. Various formats. Huge Selection!

Author Susan Crealock has several hundred FREE eBooks available at her blog: Online Novels. We’re talking about some 500 titles in a wide selection of genres written by both traditionally published and Indie authors. Check it out.

Dec 23

E Ink beats the tablet for simple readability.

EFYTimes News offers us a post that compares the Kindle E Ink eReading experience to the Kindle Fire Tablet, and tells us why the E Ink eReading devices are here to stay. Some good reasoning here, and I agree on all fronts though I cite the readability factor as making my E Ink eReader (Kobo) the clear winner over a tablet.

After a day (and often evening) of working on various computer screens, my eyes simply burn for the cool comfort of E Ink’s paper and ink emulation.

Long live E Ink!

Dec 22

eBook Revolution news for the holidays…

Auctionbytes posted that Amazon is pitching its Kindle eReaders to the last minute shopper with a 2-day shipping deal.

Mobiledia has an update on the investigation into Apple’s pricing policies.

Forbes reports that eBooks are putting the public back in library.

And WebProNews says Google is finally offering offline support for its Google eBooks for Chrome and Chrome OS.

Dec 21

Are eBooks too cheap? Not by a long stretch…

The Huffington Post gets into the eBook pricing discussion with this feature on whether eBook prices are too cheap. In a marketplace where the big publishers routinely overprice their titles, this headline only makes sense when put into context with the .99 discount price often set by Indie authors desperate to build a following.

That .99 price is too low for writers to live off of, unless they’re cranking out one bestseller after another. (Or it would do for novellas, perhaps short stories.) It’s a writer’s choice, but selling a novel for .99 just muddies the water on eBook pricing.

To build an audience, Indie authors would do better to give novels or novellas away for FREE and sell the rest of their titles at a affordable price.

Sooner or later the discussion will shift focus away from too much and too little and settle on fair pricing. That’s what the market will bear.

Dec 20

Apple iPad3 rumored to be smaller…

The Christian Science Monitor has posted on a rumor about the Apple iPad3 thought to be slated for a 2012 release.

It’s going to be smaller (Like the Amazon Kindle Fire?) with a 7-inch screen. Apple has not confirmed the story.

Dec 19

Investigation continues into eBook price gouging.

The Guardian offers an in-depth feature on the investigation by European and American authorities into possible criminal market and price manipulation committed by Apple and 5 of the biggest publishers in the game: Hachette Livre, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Macmillan.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the eBook Revolution.

Dec 18

eReader sales up 208% in 2011

GoodeReader has posted on the eBook Revolution’s banner year where 2011 sales of E Ink reading devices topped 27.1 million sold.

That’s an explosive development after 2010’s 13 million sold.

Dec 16

B&N Nook to cross the pond.

The Bookseller reports that US book giant Barnes & Noble’s Nook eBook Reader will soon be available in the UK. Details have to be worked out so it remains to be seen whether the devices will sell through an existing UK partnership or if B&N intends to set down roots across the pond.

Dec 15

Illuminate an eBook reader’s Holidays.

Slashgear posted on Flex Lighting’s integrated light for E Ink eBook Readers. One of the charms of the E Ink eBook Reader is its near perfect reproduction of the printed page. Unlike other computer screens there is no ‘back lighting,’ so the devices need external light to read. That makes them perfect for reading by lamp, on the beach, or by other source of light.

However, when the lights are low, the devices require a source of illumination to be read. Enter the Flex Lighting Light Layer. Check out the link for pics and video.

Dec 14

eBook Revolution at “embryonic” stage

The Sun Daily has an interesting story by Oon Yeoh called “eBooks: The Slow Wave” in which a digital media analyst is quoted saying digital publishing is not in its infancy, it is at the “embryonic stage.”

I have to agree with this viewpoint. Over the last year we’ve heard bloggers and techies say things like “E Ink eReaders” are yesterday’s news, and “are people still talking about tablets?” This comes from commentators who are following the trends so closely that they do not recognize how long the wave can last, or fail to see that trends may exist beyond the leading edge.

The truth is: the majority of people out there are still either unaware of what an eBook is, or are sure they’ll “never read a book on a computer.” The eBook Revolution has only just begun.