Dec 31
ReviewsofElectronics reports Amazon estimating Kindle eBook Reader sales for 2010 at 8 million!
Cnet News says there’s a hack available that will turn your B&N NookColor into a Kindle.
TrustedReviews posted that Sharp’s Galapagos eReader is on its way to America for an early 2011 release.
Electronista says eBook sales outpaced (paper) book sales at Barnes and Noble. The book giant also bragged about the Nook becoming the best selling product in B&N history.
Dec 29
If you received an eBook Reader for Christmas then the Gadgeteer will help you get started using it here. Practice on free eBooks, get a feel for your machine…
Over at PublishersWeekly we’ve got Random House reporting record eBook sales.
Tech-On claims that Sony aims to master 40% of the eBook market. (Interesting interview with Fujio Noguchi, deputy president of Digital Reading Business Division, Sony Electronics Inc.)
A Vancouver Sun report says several Kobo eBooks have been downloading every second since Christmas with hundreds of thousands of new eReaders activating every day. A record breaker.
Dec 28
There are so many eBook headlines this holiday season, I’ll just list a bunch of links. Lots of interesting developments on the eBook Revolution’s first mainstream Christmas.
ReviewsofElectronics reports that the Barnes and Noble NookColor eBook Reader has garnered Cnet Editor’s Choice Award.
Suite101.com says the Amazon Kindle outsold the popular Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.
eBookMagazine.co.uk posted on the new iFlow eBook reader for iPad launching earlier this month and making its way into the Apple iUniverse of devices.
And FocusTaiwan reports on China’s biggest eBook Reader producer Havon unveiling a eBook Store offering multi-language titles in Taiwan.
Dec 27
This Los Angeles Times feature on the future of reading starts to describe the shifting ground in the publishing world. Now that technology allows writers to bypass the old publishing paradigm and basically cut traditional publishers out of the loop, more and more established authors are seeing this as an opportunity to increase their profits and take greater control of their careers.
It’s an excellent development, but it’s also important to recognize the contribution of the many thousands of independent authors who built the groundwork for this development. Shut out of the old publishing platform, these indie pioneers were first to explore the digital publishing possibilities, and they usually did so on their own dime, with the open derision of the bricks and mortar publishing world.
Market leverage and connections will always matter, but the end result of these digital developments is a more level playing field where the reader can pick the great writers and the good, and publishers will have to scramble to remain relevant.
Maybe they’ll need agents…
Dec 25
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all our readers! I can hear the wrapping paper tearing and all those new eBook Readers and Tablets searching for an Internet connection.
Enjoy your new devices. To get started, here are a few websites that offer free eBooks.
Manybooks.net. This has become my favorite with thousands of free titles in a wide variety of trouble-free formats.
Project Gutenberg – Their mission statement: to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. Too many titles to count…
Google Books. A huge selection of free eBooks in the Internet search giant’s eBook store.
Smashwords offers a long list of free eBook titles in formats to suit your new eBook reader.
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 24
ReviewsofElectronics.com has a list of the most sought-after products this holiday season. Not many surprises but it’s worth checking out. (For the procrastinators in the crowd.)
Dec 23
WebWire posted a BooksOnBoard release with a few things eBook readers should know.
Square offers an eBook primer for the new readers on the block.
SecurityNewsDaily has an article about a new guide that outlines eBook privacy rules.
MobileComputing.co.uk delves into Amazon’s facts and figures about Kindle and eBook sales. We know it’s popular, but is it as popular as Amazon says?
TechnaBob offers a look at Toshiba’s Solar Biblio Leaf and wonders whether another eBook reader is necessary. I think we should let the market decide that.
And Seattle Pi suggests eBooks might spell doom for Bricks and Mortar bookstores.
Dec 22
PCMag reviews the highly competitive Kobo Wireless eReader. At $139, the E Ink device is sporting a sharper screen that puts it into competition with the leaders from Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes and Noble (Nook). With the mammoth Borders bookstore chain in its corner, it will be interesting to see how the Kobo performs through holiday sales.
Dec 21
UK Tech Blog, Zath.com, offers five best Christmas picks to go under the tree. Of course, the subject is open to interpretation but the group they’ve chosen are solid contenders. (I’d like to see the Kobo eReader or Barnes and Noble Nook on there too..)
