The Curtis Agency and E-Reads are launching a piracy monitoring and takedown program through a system developed by Muso TNT, in which authors “authorize the antipiracy service to launch search engine ‘spiders’ to crawl over the Internet and detect unauthorized files.” Once files are discovered and stored in a password-protected area, authors and agents can then authorize Muso to send batch DMCA takedown notices. EReads Founders of e-card service JibJab are entering the children’s ebook market through a new personalized iPad app line for kids called JibJab Jr. A one-book-a-month subscription to the JibJab Jr. line will cost $3.99 a […]
eReaders
Silly Sony, Funny Forrester, and More Serious eNews
Last week a Dutch website appeared to have leaked the specs for Sony‘s next generation of Reader, the PRS-T1. (That landing page is long gone, but MobileRead tracked down a screenshot of the device.) Allegedly priced at 165 euros, the PRS-T1 appears to be a 6″ device with WiFi and a dual-touch eInk screen. In other words, the finest model that mid-2010 had to offer. The prospect of new gadgets always brings out a plethora of speculation, warranted or otherwise. Which is why we’ll always take Forrester Research predictions with the requisite grain of salt, especially on a device – […]
eNews: IndieBound Partners With BlueFire on eReading Software; Amazon Cracks Down On PLR eBooks; and More
The ABA announced last week that it is working with BlueFire to create a version of the company’s Reader app, which will be called the IndieBound Reader, for IndieCommerce stores selling Google eBooks. The app is scheduled to launch in the next 60 days. The Android version of the app will link back to indie bookstores, while the iOS version will not because of Apple’s rules about in-app purchases and links to outbound e-commerce stores. Users will be able to buy books using their Google ID instead of having to active an account with Adobe Digital Editions (as is the […]
Higher Ed: Free Food Trucks From Living Language; Nook-to-School Promotion; and More
This week Random House’s language learning program, Living Language, will launch its new Platinum Edition, a multi-platform solution that will allow users to engage with a variety of languages through course books and CDs, mobile apps, an online course, an online community, and individualized instruction from a native speaker e-tutor. The course will initially be offered for $179 in French, Spanish, Italian and German, with Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic editions to come. (The Platinum app is also available for separate purchase.) As part of the launch, coordinated by the ad agency Mullen (most recently responsible for a multi-million dollar campaign […]
eNews: The Knight Agency Launches Self-Publishing/Digital Publishing Initiative
On the heels of other recently announced self-publishing and digital publishing initiatives from Bookends, Dystel & Goderich and Anne McDermid Associates, The Knight Agency said on their blog that they will launch an “assisted self-publishing program” to help clients digitally publish backlist titles and select frontlist titles. They intend to charge their standard 15 percent commission for services including content editing, ISBN number assignment, cover design and consultation, and developing a marketing plan, and will “pay all upfront costs with the exception of copyediting.” The agency stresses on its blog that “we did not enter into this lightly, but felt […]
eNews: Kindle Textbook Offers; Sony Denies Exec’s Comments on New Devices
Amazon is entering another new market with Kindle Textbook Rental, making available textbooks to students at up to 80 percent off list prices for a usage period of between 30 and 360 days (paying only for the time needed, with the option to extend the rental period or buy the textbook outright.) “Tens of thousands” of textbooks from Wiley, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis are available through the program, whose announcement would seem to anticipate Amazon’s long-rumored tablet plans for the fall. Release Meanwhile, it seems as if Sony has some explaining to do in-house, as the company denied VP […]