News

Support your local library but don’t worry, they are doing OK thanks to Millennials

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I love librarians and each one I have met has been a fierce treasure. So even though we are now in a digital era, the smart libraries have been keeping up making changes to continue to have an important space in communities.  When I am traveling and need to do some work, I will hang out in a public library. They have free wifi, lots of tables and quiet places, and available plugs to keep your tools charged! Ben Franklin would be proud!

Check out the article at The Christian Science Monitor for more info – https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/0814/Libraries-obsolete-No-way-say-Millennials

Independent Bookstore Day

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This Saturday is Independent Bookstore day!

 

Support your local independent bookstore by popping in. Any bookstore that is part of the celebrations will have cool stuff and even if your local independent bookstore isn’t taking part it is always good to support local merchants.

 

Learn more at http://www.indiebookstoreday.com/

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In The News – The Best Fonts for Ebook Readers, According to Book and Typeface Designers

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Did you know that you can customize the fonts in your eBook readers? It can really make a big difference in reducing eye fatigue and providing a more enjoyable reading experience. Lifehacker‘s Patrick Allan shares which are the best fonts to use.

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The Best Fonts for Ebook Readers, According to Book and Typeface Designers

Patrick Allan

Beautiful young woman with tablet in parkPicking the right font for your Kindle or Nook can enhance your reading experience. Some fonts are easy on the eyes, some have a ton of personality, and some tell stories of their own. Here are some fonts the experts suggest for your devices.

Mark Wilson at Fast Company asked several book and typeface designers what fonts give the most authentic book experience. Anna Thompson, a book designer at Penguin Random House, and Robert Slimbach, the principal type designer at Adobe Systems, both suggest Baskerville. It’s easy to read, fatigues the eyes less over long sessions, and it looks classy. Baskerville may not work well for some devices, however, like a smartphone. Because of that, type designer Tobias Frere-Jones suggests a lower contrast, thicker, serifed font like Georgia. It renders clearly on all screen sizes, but still has enough personality to make it feel like you’re reading an actual book.

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In The News – How To Write Better Without Becoming A Better Writer

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Good writing also means being a good author. Check out the HuffPo post on how taking care of himself, made Matt Hearnden a better writer.

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How To Write Better Without Becoming A Better Writer

Updated Jun 29, 2016

Health concept
Health concept

Matt Hearnden Human being who writes

(this story first appeared here: The Writing Cooperative)

Andre Iguodala, the 2015 NBA Finals MVP, likes to sleep.

It didn’t always used to be that way though. He used to have terrible sleeping habits. He used to stay up until 4am, watching the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and only then would he fall into a restless sleep for just a few hours. Then he’d sleep for a few more hours before playing a game in the evening. This was considered a “supplement” to the few hours he’d sleep at night.

Unsurprisingly, he’d end up exhausted during the game. More exhausted than a professional athlete should be.

It was only when he decided that enough was enough – the thing that happens before every big change in our lives – that he sought out a sleep therapist.

It worked. Iguodala experienced a 29% improvement in points per minute, and a 37% decrease in turnovers per game when he slept for 8 hours. Meaning 8 hours in row – not some split of a few hours here and a few hours there.

Another quick stat: players shoot 9.2% better from the 3 point line when they get 10 hours of sleep. For context: a player shooting 35% from the three-point line is an average three-point shooter. A player shooting 44% from the three-point line is an elite three-point shooter. More context: for this NBA season, shooting 44% would’ve made you the 5th most accurate three-point shooter in the NBA. Shooting 35% would’ve made you the 90th most accurate.

More sleep is the difference between average and elite.

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In The News – Why Good Storytellers Are Happier in Life and in Love

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Good news fellow authors and storytellers, apparently we are awesome! Or at least happier in life and love. The Wall Street Journal says so!

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Why Good Storytellers Are Happier in Life and in Love

Studies find the way people tell their own stories has an outsize effect on their life satisfaction

By Elizabeth Bernstein
Updated July 4, 2016

Happy artistIn William Shakespeare’s time, the word “conversation” meant two things—verbal discourse, and sex.

That’s how intimate the most well-known poet and playwright in the English language viewed the act of talking with another person.

Since the dawn of language, people have shared stories with others to entertain, persuade, make sense of what happened to them and bond. Research shows that the way people construct their individual stories has a large impact on their physical and mental health. People who frame their personal narratives in a positive way have more life satisfaction.

They also may be more attractive. New research, published this month in the journal Personal Relationships, shows that women find men who are good storytellers more appealing. The article consists of three studies in which male and female participants were shown a picture of someone of the opposite sex and given an indication of whether that person was a proficient storyteller. In the first study, 71 men and 84 women were told that the person whose picture they were looking at was either a “good,” “moderate” or “poor” storyteller. In the second study, 32 men and 50 women were given a short story supposedly written by the person in the picture; half the stories were concise and compelling, and half rambled and used dull language. In the third study, 60 men and 81 women were told whether the person in the picture was a good storyteller and were asked to rate their social status and ability to be a good leader in addition to their attractiveness.

In The News – Indie Authors to Finally See their Books on B&N Shelves

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

This should be filed under about effing time, if it works out. I have been rooting for B&N to become competitive with Amazon and Apple. The more choices authors and readers have, the better. But B&N continually steps on their own feet.  There are quality based caveats on an indie author having their titles in the store,  which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But will B&N manage to make good this time? Head on over to Good eReader for the full story.

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Indie Authors to Finally See their Books on B&N Shelves

June 28, 2016 By Mercy Pilkington

barnes_nobleAbout three years ago, then-VP, Digital Content and GM of Barnes and Noble’s Nook Press division Theresa Horner sat down with GoodEReader at the Frankfurt Book Fair to discuss the state of the company, namely its self-publishing option and its ebook self-publishing platform. She posed the question as to what it would take to effectively compete with Amazon. Our response–which was not at all tongue in cheek–was for the retailer to stop banning indie authors’ books from brick-and-mortar stores. If Nook Press had developed a viable print-on-demand option and then told authors there was even a possibility of seeing their titles in their local bookstore on the condition that they pulled their books from Amazon’s exclusive KDP Select program, authors would have jumped at the chance.

Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass and Theresa Horner is no longer with the company. The concept of opening the doors–and the shelves–to great self-published titles fell by the wayside.

Since that time, B&N has announced two print-on-demand options, both of which fell far short of meeting indie authors’ and small press publishers’ needs. One was to simply allow the upload and creation of print editions for what basically amounted to collectors’ editions and gift giving. The books were not listed for sale through B&N, and there was a significant upfront charge to produce them–unlike CreateSpace, just to name one example, that charges nothing to produce a print book then takes a portion of the sales price after it distributes the book to Amazon. Even though the Nook Press print option also included the choice to create a hardcover edition, there was no help in selling the print titles.

Read the full post on Good eReader

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In The News – Play Books v3.9 adds smarter search suggestions, badges for series with new content, and more

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Hey did you know that there are other platforms out there besides Amazon and Apple? I know, I know, I kid, I kid. But we talk about those two so much with B&N occasionally thrown in that it is nice to remember that Google actually has game in this race. So here are some updates on Play Book from Android Police. Anyone have any luck with getting their titles on Google Books?

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Play Books v3.9 adds smarter search suggestions, badges for series with new content, and more [APK Download + Teardown]

googleplayby Cody Toombs, Jul 18, 2016

It has been a couple of months since Play Books has been in the news, but there’s a new update rolling out and it brings a couple of new features. Version 3.9 gives search a little more help with more thorough suggestions and adds a badge to series when new content hits the store. Those two things along with some other general bug fixes and improvements are certainly nice, but there are also a couple of things to talk about in a teardown. Keep reading for details or skip straight to the bottom for a download link.

What’s New

Official Changelog:

  • Search suggest support
  • Badge series when there is new content available
  • Stability and performance enhancements
  • Accessibility improvements
  • Search suggest support

Read the full post on Android Police

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In The News – Scientists discover the antidote to writer’s block

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Writer’s Block, the bane of every writer. Here comes science to the rescue! If you have ever suffered from this affliction, read on at the Freelancer’s Union Blog to find out which type of blocker you are and how to solve the problem!

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Scientists discover the antidote to writer’s block

by Laura Brockett Murphy Jul 15, 2016

Ah, writer’s block. It befalls the best of us. Sometimes it can be as mild as fifteen minutes of banging your head against the desk, but it can also be so severe that it takes years off your writing life – or brings it to a close altogether. Writer’s block engenders feelings of impotence, which creates a kind of cyclical reinforcement.

Luckily, psychologists have spent some time trying to figure out what happens when a writer stops writing. In her article for The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova covers research on writer’s block and remedies for the problem.

In the 1970’s and ‘80’s Yale University psychologists Jerome Singer and Michael Barrios recruited a diverse group of writers – some of whom were blocked and some of whom were fine. The psychologists found that all of the blocked writers were unhappy – and each unhappy in her own way.

The researchers were able to distill the blocked writers into 4 distinct types:

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In The News – The World’s Oldest Working Library Will Soon Open Its Doors to the Public

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University is the worlds oldest continuing working library and soon it will be available for everyone. Road trip? If I only had the money! Smithsonian.com has the details.

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The World’s Oldest Working Library Will Soon Open Its Doors to the Public

Seriously who want to come!
Seriously who want to come!

By Danny Lewis

smithsonian.com

After renovations wrap up in September, the library at Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University will debut an exhibition section for non-scholars

When the library at Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University was first built in the 9th century, it was one of the world’s great centers for learning. Scholars from around the world traveled to Fez to visit the library and peruse its books, and today it is the oldest continually operating library in the world, Selina Cheng reports for Quartz. But soon students and researchers won’t be the only ones with access to the storied library. The architect in charge of a lengthy restoration project to the library, Aziza Chaouni, confirmed to Smithsonian.com that after renovations wrap in September, the library will be debuting a wing for the general public’s use for the first time in history.
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Read the full post on Smithsonian.com

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In The News – 50 Best Covers

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Don’t you always like to peek and see what other people are doing? At the Design Observer Group they have their 2015 cover winners. I have to admit that my favorite is “Between You & Me Confessions of a Comma Queen” because it is clever, has great design, but also really conveys what the story is about. Which is your favorite?

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covers

Read the full post on Design Observer Group

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In The News – Amazon Lowers the Boom on Discount eBook Sites

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

In a disturbing bit of news, it seems that Amazon has shut down the accounts of a few eBook sites and individual authors without warning or explanation. Some speculate that is because those sites are in competition with the new Goodreads features, others that this was part of a crackdown on link mining. Nate Hoffelder at the Digital Reader tells us what he knows about the situation.

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Amazon Lowers the Boom on Discount eBook Sites

15 June, 2016

by Nate Hoffelder

Here is a cute kitten to help you feel better.
Here is a cute kitten to help you feel better.

When Amazon-owned Goodreads launched its discount ebook service last month, I wondered whether Amazon would find reasons to prune back its competition.

The first to lose its affiliate status with Amazon was Fussy Librarian, which went under the axe the week before Goodreads announced. At the time it looked like that was an isolated incident, but now it has been followed by two more sites, Pixel of Ink and eReaderIQ.

Fussy Librarian continues to operate, but the fate of the other sites is less certain.

Pixel of Ink announced today that they have shut down. They didn’t give a specific reason, but did say that “due to changes in the eBook world and in our life, it is time for us to move on, and Pixel of Ink must now end”.

I’m still following up with PoI, so I can’t tell you the specific reason for its closure, but I do know that it wasn’t the only casualty. eReaderIQ has made a similar, albeit more detailed announcement today. They’ve posted a notice on their homepage to the effect that:

 

Read the full post on Digital Reader

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In The News – Indie Authors Are Responsible for the US eBook Decline

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

According to , indie eBook authors are responsible for the decline of readership. There are a good share of spammy books and just plain bad books and the bar to become an eBook author is very low, however I happen to disagree. To me there are so many distractions out there, that it is difficult to find time. Which is why my to view list and my to read pile are both huge. Read the article at GoodEReader and let me know what you think in the comments below.

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Indie Authors Are Responsible for the US eBook Decline

By Michael Kozlowski

How I feel every time I look at my to read stack.
How I feel when I see how big my to read stack is.

Over the course of the last two years the modern bookstore has been undergoing a resurgence in sales. The publishing industry have all reported that e-book revenue is down between 2-6% year on year and 12% across the board. The funny thing is, publishers  for the most part are making more money, primarily due to higher e-book prices, but most are seeing a modest increase in print sales.

Why are bookstore chains like Barnes and Noble enjoying a robust increase in book sales? I think the main reason is because they only stock physical books by new authors that the publisher is really hyping and perennial bestsellers by recognizable authors. Simply put, it is far easier to discover a great book in a bookstore, than try and find one online. So why are digital sales truly down? The answer is too many e-books being self-published by indie authors.

Independent and self-published authors release more books on a monthly basis than the trade houses do. This creates an influx of new titles that fall by the wayside and pollute the search engine results,  so it is almost impossible to casually browse and find something good.  E-Books are immortal, so they never go out of print. Like cobwebs constructed of stainless steel, they will forever occupy the virtual shelves of e-book retailers. Every month there are more and more books for readers to choose from and there are now fewer eyeballs split across more books, this is the real reason why e-book sales are down across the board.

Not only do self-published authors write legitimate books that nobody reads, but some are doing some very shady things. One enterprising software engineer posted 800,000 Kindle titles that were written by an algorithm and there is a growing trend of authors taking advantage of Kindle Unlimited to redirect people from the first page of the e-book to the end, so they instantly make the full amount of the monthly pool of funds.

Read the full post on GoodEReader

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In The News – A brief look at how we read books today

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

A breakdown of American reader habits brought to you by the Staff at The Week.

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A brief look at how we read books today

The Week Staff

E-books were supposed to spell the end of print, but Americans’ reading habits have taken a different turn. Here’s everything you need to know.

Stack Of Books Flying From Computer Shows Online LearningDo most Americans still read books?

Seven out of 10 American adults, or 72 percent, have read a book in the past year — in whole or in part, and in any format — according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey. That’s a steep decline from 1978, when 92 percent of Americans made that same claim, according to Gallup, although book-reading percentages have remained level since 2012. Women and young adults tend to be the biggest bookworms, the Pew survey found. The average woman read 14 books over the past 12 months, while men averaged nine books. Among young adults — ages 18 to 29 — fully 80 percent read a book in the past year, compared with 71 percent of adults ages 30 to 49, 68 percent of those 50 to 64, and 69 percent of those 65 and older.

How are people consuming their books?

Read the full post on The Week

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In The News – ‘People are hungry for real bookstores’: Judy Blume on why US indie booksellers are thriving

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

I am not allowed in a book store by myself. It is a deal I made with my husband, because I can’t be trusted. The problem is that once you get into a book store, it is a very enticing place. So no matter who I take with me, we end up with too many books for my budget’s happiness. Even with my husband! interviews the Judy Blume,  in this Guardian article that also explains part of reasons behind my addiction.

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‘People are hungry for real bookstores’: Judy Blume on why US indie booksellers are thriving

At 78, the multimillion-selling author has begun a new career, opening her own bookshop – and joining a business sector that’s flourishing again in the US

May 20 2016

This is the face I make when I am told the bookstore is closing and I have to go home...
This is the face I make when I am told the bookstore is closing and I have to go home…

She might be a beloved and bestselling author of classic children’s books from Forever to Blubber, but Judy Blume says she wakes up every day “and I look to the sky, and I say, ‘whoever’s up there, I thank you for not having to write today’.”

Blume doesn’t have to write because, at 78, she has embarked on a new career: she’s an independent bookseller. Together with her husband, George Cooper, she has opened a small, nonprofit bookshop in Key West, Florida, where she’s working almost every day. And she’s loving it. She had planned “to take a gap year” after she finished writing and promoting her last novel, In the Unlikely Event. “I was going to relax and read and have this whole time with no pressure. And then bingo – the chance comes along to open a bookshop, and there you go. I guess I like that in my life … To learn something new like this, at 78, makes it all the more exciting.”

Read the full post on The Guardian

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In The News: Author Sues Publisher For Portraying eBook Licenses As ‘Sales’ To Pay Out Fewer Royalties

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In The News – Articles Of Interest For Authors

Say it isn’t so! A publisher using tactics to get more money out of authors? Color me shocked. Ok, snarky time is over. But this is an interesting read that will get you re-reading any publishing contract you sign. Techdirt has the full scoop.

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Author Sues Publisher For Portraying eBook Licenses As ‘Sales’ To Pay Out Fewer Royalties

from the whatever’s-the-most-profitable-terminology… dept

Justice is blind so she can't see that Benjamin you put in her scales
Justice is blind so she can’t see that Benjamin you put in her scales

If you’re a consumer, that piece of digital wordsmithery you purchased probably isn’t worth the paper it isn’t printed on. Like most digital media available for “purchase,” ebooks are often “sold” as licenses that allow the publisher to control use of the product indefinitely, whether through DRM or by simply attaching EULAs no one will ever read to every download.

This works out great for publishers, who can make irrational, unilateral decisions to pull their catalogs from platforms as a “bargaining tool,” leaving purchasers without access to their purchased goods. But publishers (including music publishers like UMG) only use the term “license” when it’s most advantageous for them. When it comes to paying authors, the terminology suddenly changes. Now it’s a “sale,” with all the disadvantages for authors that entails.

“Sales” is a historical term, meant to reference physical sales and the additional costs (printing, packaging, shipping) built into the process. Licenses — and the ebooks attached to them — have none of these costs, hence the higher payout rate. But, according to a recently-filed lawsuit, Simon and Schuster is treating ebooks like physical sales in order to pay authors lower royalties.

Lloyd Jassin of CopyLaw points out why this is worth litigating:

The distinction is significant, because the royalty rate for sales is much lower than the rate for the license of rights. If categorized as a license the author receives 50% of net receipts, rather than 25% of net typically paid to authors for the “sale” of an eBook.

Jassin also points out that after Eminem’s win over UMG on the sale/license issue (dealing with digital album/track sales), most publishers rewrote their contracts to make the screwing explicit.

In the wake of the Eminem decision, most publishers amended their contracts, so the sale or license of an “eBook” is unambiguously treated as a sale. The lawsuit, therefore, challenges the publisher’s interpretation of their legacy or backlist contracts.   

Read the full post on Techdirt

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