Amazon announced their updated line of third-generation Kindle Fire tablets early Wednesday, continuing to expand the basic specs, content features and other extras. Now called Kindle Fire HDX, they promise an “exclusive new display” that “goes beyond HD” with “exceptional pixel density.” The 7-inch model starts at $229 and will ship October 18 (the 4G version, at $329, ships November 14) ; the larger 8.9-inch model — “startlingly light at 13.2 ounces, 34 percent lighter than the previous generation” — ships starting November 7, and starts at $379 (the 4G version ships on December 10.) Feature and service additions include […]
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Goodreads Creates Controversy
Goodreads has attracted considerable attention — and controversy — for recent moves to limit readers and authors attacking each other on their site. In simplest form, Goodreads is getting stricter about removing reviews that “primarily…talk about author behavior” in a negative way. One of the primary objections from members was that the site acted unilaterally, without any prior notification, in removing reviews that were judged as violating the site’s guidelines from member pages. In their most recent note, Goodreads claimed that their actions so far were limited to only 21 members so far. At the same time, they have realized: […]
Simon & Schuster Offers eBooks to Schools
Simon & Schuster announced a pilot program to distribute a selection of popular books in school environments for K-12 classroom use. The titles are usable for one year from purchase, and are limited to use by one student at a time. The pilot collection includes such titles as CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin, HATCHET by Gary Paulsen, OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon Draper, FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, works from the Folger Shakespeare Library, and FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway. S&S is working with four school distributors […]
Bigger and Broader, Digital Book World 2014
The big fifth annual Digital Book World Conference has officially opened for registration, convening at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City January 13 – 15, 2014. DBW now stands alone as largest book publishing conference focused on the digital transition worldwide. Back with a broader view than ever, DBW 2014 will expand to incorporate new tracks on change management; marketing and discover; new business models, startups and technology; and academic and scholarly publishing; while continuing to examine digital change in children’s publishing as part of the partnership with Publishers Launch Conferences. DBW 2014 will feature more executives and thought-leaders […]
Briefs: On Aiken, Black, and More
The Authors Guild announced that longtime executive director Paul Aiken, 54, was diagnosed with early-stage ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Aiken is currently in remission of symptoms due to steroid therapy, and promises to start posting his medical records for those who are interested in this treatment regimen. “He admits he has no way of knowing whether his remission will continue or whether he has some odd strain of ALS, so his treatment might not apply to others. He’s hoping to use the blog to help find out.” Authors Guild president Scott Turow says,”It’s business as usual at the Authors Guild. […]
eBook Sales Fall Three Months In A Row As Overall Trade Declines Continue
The AAP issued a belated double batch of sales statistics for May and June from their approximately 1,200 reporting publishers, along with sub-totals for the first half of the year. Just as remarkable sales for The Hunger Games and then Fifty Shades lifted results in 2012, the absence of monster hits since then continues to weigh on industry-wide stats. The two big numerical trends continued: After flattening last fall, overall trade sales have declined for 8 consecutive months. And ebook sales, which had been growing — albeit slowly — have now declined for 3 straight months. May trade sales of $525 […]