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Why Printed Books Have An Amazing Future
April 17, 2013

The future of print is a bright one, as my new book, Fully Booked - Ink on Paper: Design and Concepts for New Publications (Gestalten, $60), attempts to prove.

It's a showcase of innovative physical book designs from around the world co-edited by Robert Klanten, Matthias Hübner and myself. Below is an edited version of my introduction, a message from a parallel universe similar yet a little different to our own. -- Andrew Losowsky, Senior Books Editor, The Huffington Post

NOOK® Introduces NOOK Press™: Innovative New Publishing Platform for Authors
April 10, 2013

NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced the launch of NOOK Press, a new and innovative self-publishing platform offering authors a fast, easy and free way to write, edit, collaborate and publish the highest quality eBooks and directly distribute them to millions of avid readers. By removing the technology barrier from self-publishing and offering easy-to-use tools for writing, editing and publishing eBooks, NOOK Press makes it even easier for authors to focus on writing and reaching new readers. To get started today, visit www.nookpress.com.

Google mines Frommer's Travel for social data, then sells the name back
April 10, 2013

Today, it appears that Google, despite selling the Frommer's name, has retained the brand's social data and is integrating it with what is now called Zagat Travel. “Google is keeping all of the followers that Frommer’s accrued on Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest.” PaidContent writes. “These thousands—or more likely millions—of accounts are valuable because they represent a huge collection of serious travel enthusiasts.”

The move became known when Google changed the name of the Twitter handle @FrommersTravel to @ZagatTravel today…

Book review: Former Kindle exec on Kindle flaws, Nook strengths and Google's future in ebooks
April 9, 2013

Jason Merkoski was a founding member of the Amazon team that launched the Kindle. He no longer works at Amazon, and in a new ebook, Burning the Page: The Ebook Revolution and the Future of Reading (Sourcebooks, ebook $9.99) he discusses how the Kindle came to be, the features it (and other e-ink readers) lack, and what he imagines the future of digital reading will look like.

Merkoski ran technology departments for a number of companies and headed e-commerce initiatives at Motorola before joining Amazon as a technology manager in 2005.

Night Shade Books' would-be owners on their controversial deal: "We're the good guys"
April 8, 2013

Night Shade Books has published some of the coolest books of the past several years, but it's also run into financial difficulties. Now Night Shade is trying to sell out to two other entities, in a deal that authors and agents have criticized. We talked to the prospective buyers, and they explained their side of things.

"We're the good guys," insists Jarred Weisfeld with Start Publishing. "We're the ones who are coming in and trying to save something."

In our half-hour phone interview with Weisfeld and his partner in this buyout, Tony Lyons with Skyhorse Publishing, that theme came up several

Free Library of Philadelphia Announces Virtual Free Library at Suburban Station
April 2, 2013

We’re so excited to announce the launch of the Virtual Free Library at Suburban Station, an awesome undertaking made possible by the Free Library and our partners at Dunkin’ Donuts, SEPTA, and Titan. The Virtual Library—believed to be the nation’s first in a train station—is featured on more than 70 advertising boards throughout Suburban Station and is home to a selection of classic and bestselling ebooks, as well as podcasts from our ever-popular Author Events Series. More than 50 titles are available for download via QR code right to commuters’ mobile devices.

Six alternatives to Goodreads
April 2, 2013

When Amazon announced the purchase of Goodreads, many readers were skeptical about the future of the social reading site. Goodreads allowed users to add reviews and keep track of the books they read and interact with others on the site.

Some readers are concerned with how the site might change and are looking for an alternative.

Here are a couple of sites that you might consider:

This year's 'Fifty Shades of Grey'? How you could follow Wool author Hugh Howey's success in the ebook market
March 30, 2013

Wool is not Fifty Shades Of Grey,’ says Hugh Howey, an American self-published ebook author who’s being described by excited critics as the next EL James.

‘But I would gladly take her sales.’

The sleeper success of Wool, Howey’s series of bleak sci-fi novellas (it’s now been published in over 30 countries, while director Ridley Scott has bought the film rights) mirrors the remarkable rise of James’s series of erotic novels.

First released as an ebook before flowering into a publishing phenomenon, Fifty Shades Of Grey has sold more than 5.3 million copies…

Are You Being Too Nice at Work?
March 29, 2013

As I read Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," I nodded so hard that I worried my neck would sprain. I noticed after a while that the highlight function on my Kindle was turning every page fully yellow. The takeaway? Succeeding in business—whether that business is a blog, the PTA, or being COO of Facebook—is hard, and nobody can do everything right. But you can try, and you can remain a human being while doing it. My own mom was a classic '70s feminist…

Suddenly, the Bookstores Are Crowded With Bullies
March 26, 2013

Publishing houses are flooding the market with titles that tackle bullying. The books are aimed at all age groups — from “Bully,” a picture book for elementary-grade students, to the “The Bully Book,” for middle school children, about an average kid who suddenly becomes everyone’s favorite victim, to “Sticks and Stones” by Emily Bazelon, a recent release for adults that includes both stories and analysis. According to World Cat, the number of English-language books tagged with the key word “bullying” in 2012 was 1,891, an increase of 500 in a decade.