Many thanks to Jorgen for the link to a FutureBook story that updates us on eBook pricing and reports on how much tech-savvy consumers are willing to pay.
Mar 05
FREE SPRING ISSUE OF DARK VALENTINE MAGAZINE IS HERE
Download the FREE issue here or click the cover.
Featuring fifteen stories filled with dark desires, selfish needs and compelling urges, the spring issue of Dark Valentine caps the magazine’s first year of publication with contributors from as far away as Poland.
“It’s been a fantastic year for the magazine,†says publisher Katherine Tomlinson. “We have been thrilled with the quality of the stories coming our way. In fact, a piece of flash fiction from our inaugural issue, Carol Kilgore’s “Blues in the Night,†has been short-listed for a Derringer Award, competing against stories from long-established print magazines like Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.â€
Tomlinson praises editor/design director Joy Sillesen for giving the publication its unique look. “Joy does double duty every issue. In addition to being a terrific editor, she has an artist’s eye for layout and is the queen of fonts. From the very first issue, her work made the magazine memorable.â€
As always, each of the stories is accompanied by original artwork commissioned just for that piece. “Our art director, Joanne Renaud, has collected a terrific group of artists whose styles vary from the other-worldly richness of Kitamu Latham-Sampier’s illustration for ‘Swamp’ to the noir-ish black and white stylings of Walter Conley,†Tomlinson continues. As with the stories, the art was gathered from all over the world, with artists from the UK, Greece, Poland, and Australia as well as North America.
“Yes,†Tomlinson adds. “We are after total domination of all genres of dark fiction.â€
Dark Valentine is a quarterly magazine dedicated to dark fiction from every genre.
Coming in June—Dark Valentine Magazine’s anniversary issue which will be available in pdf, electronic formats, and print.
“If you like what you saw last year,†Tomlinson says, “you’re going to love what you see this year.â€
Find the Spring issue of Dark Valentine at: http://darkvalentine.net/index.php/2011/03/rites-of-spring/
Contact: publisher@darkvalentine.net
Mar 04
Librarians Challenge HarperCollins eBook Loan Life
Galleycat offers some video of librarians challenging HarperCollins recent decision to allow libraries a maximum of only 26 eBook loans before HarperCollins titles have to be re-purchased. This is based on HarperCollins estimate that 26 represents the number of times a print book can be loaned before it is worn out. We talked about it here.
As you can see from the video, 26 is rather a low number. It is clear from the video that while print library books do wear out they last much, much longer than the quoted 26 loans. If only HarperCollins had not been greedy, and picked a number like 50. I think people might have swallowed that.
Mar 03
EU Officials Raid Publishers
Thanks Jorgen for a link to a post at eBookMagazine regarding European Union Officials raiding several publishers because “the Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and other restrictive business practices.”
These raids follow news of the UK Office of Fair Trading’s investigating the agency pricing model. Under the model, publishers set the price and force retailers to accept a set commission on the sale, thereby fixing the price at all retailers.
Mar 02
Apple iPad 2 Launches – Thinner, lighter, faster…
AppleInsider has the details of the new iPad2 announced today by none other than Steve Jobs at a special press event in San Francisco. The tablet market is expecting a hundred-plus new competitors over the next 18 months, so it’s little surprise that Apple has already upgraded their industry leading full-color, multi-function tablet device.
iPad2 is slated to ship mid-March.
Mar 01
Indie Author Makes Millions in the Kindle Store
Digitaltrends has an encouraging story for authors and readers that should send publishing industry executives (and agents) scrambling back to the drawing board. Contrary to what they’ve been trying to get us to believe, the eBook Revolution has changed things and the old business model cannot be grafted or forced onto digital publishing.
Apparently, Indie novelist Amanda Hocking is making millions of dollars by publishing her eBooks directly to Amazon’s Kindle Store for .99 to $2.99 each.
According to the traditional publishers, this can’t be happening. An eBook’s success depends entirely on signing with a medium or large, well-connected publishing firm. Right? Well, not right, according to Amanda Hocking.
It just goes to show you that the democratization of publishing via the eBook Revolution is ongoing, and readers can be trusted to pick a winner if given the chance.
Feb 28
Rupert Murdoch = Draconian Overlord of Publishing…
Ok. Maybe I overstated the case, but the publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch’s empire has declared war on public libraries. A Harper Collins eBook can be loaned out by a library only 26 times! TWENTY-SIX! Murdoch says that number is based on a several factors “including the average lifespan of a print book, and wear and tear on circulating copies.” Come on!
This attack on the public purse in the days of tight municipal budgets is a form of eBook Piracy that would shame the most active eBook Pirate. Read the story entitled: “The benign piracy of libraries vs Harper Collins” at Mobylives.
Feb 27
More on the Apple Apps changes.
Many thanks to Jorgen for sending along a link to a FutureBook story that continues with the discussion that has developed since Apple changed its requirements for iPad Apps that allow consumers to purchase through a third party.
The new rules are Apps must allow an either/or button so consumers can buy through the third party or directly through iTunes. Sounds simple, but it comes down to a 30% commission on the sale that might be a deal breaker.
Feb 26
French Publishers Pass on Adobe DRM
Jorgen dropped off a link to a TeleRead story about 100 French publishers deciding to pass on the Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM) that many publishers have adopted to control the sale and distribution of eBooks. (It also regulates the options of consumers who buy the eBooks legally.)
Worth the read. (The Google translation of the French worked for me.)
Feb 25
E Ink: History and possible future.
ITBusiness.ca has an interesting post called “E Ink pushing boundaries of display technology” that chronicles some of the history of E Ink and speculates on its future. Well worth the read.
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