Author Archives: Glinda Harrison

Just the facts…

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I just listened to an interesting podcast of the Kojo Nnadami Show on E-Books: Chosing a reading device and a bookseller.

While there were some interesting points to the broadcast, as an ebook aficionado, I found it a little disturbing that people considered experts in the field could be totally unaware of certain facts about the ebook industry.

Among the misstated facts:

  • Amazon deleted 1984 off customers’ Kindles last year. In fact, it was 2009.
  • It is unusual for someone to own more than one ereader.
  • Typos and scanning errors are no longer a problem with ebooks.
  • It seems that there is also some confusion about the program Calibre and its capabilities. Calibre can convert one ebook format to another; it does not strip DRM from ebooks. There are third-party plug-ins for the program, however, which are rumored to do that.

The broadcast does make some valid points about the ownership issues surrounding ebooks.

May 4, 2012 is International Day Against DRM

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 May 4th is International Day Against DRM. The day is intended to protest crippling Digital Rights Management solutions which prohibit people from freely accessing and sharing files that they have legally purchased.

While most music files are now available DRM free, it is still a huge problem in the ebook world. Publishers, are, however, beginning to take notice. Tor Books recently announced that their titles are going to be offered DRM free.

There are a number of small presses that offer their titles DRM free. Please leave a comment with the name and website of small presses that offer freely accessible files.

Learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/dayagainstdrm.

DOJ files suit against Apple, Big Five

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As has been hinted at for weeks, the Department of Justice has filed a civil suit against Apple and the so-called “Big Five” publishers: Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster.  Random House did not initially sign on to the ageny model, so it is not a part of the U.S. lawsuit. The DOJ has alleged collusion and price-fixing over the agency pricing model. Here’s a link to the DOJ filing. The level of detail in the filing is amazing and very muh at odds with rumors that the DOJ “had no evidence of any wrongdoing.”

According to this article from Bloomberg, Hachette, Simon & Shuster, and Harper Collins are rumored to have settled with the DOJ. The article further states that Penguin intends to fight.

In Macmillan’s response, CEO John Sargent says that they will fight the suit.

Penguin says users can’t sue

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Paid Content is announcing that Kindle and NOOK users must accept arbitration instead of suing them in the pending class action lawsuits over ebook pricing. Penguin is using the rationale that users agreed to this in Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s terms of service for the ereader devices.
 
I am not a lawyer, but I don’t think the argument holds water. When the publishers put the agency model into effect, Amazon became their agent, not the other way around. Amazon even collected sales tax based on the publisher. It doesn’t make sense that the publisher can’t turn around and hide behind Amazon on this one.

Is it Midnight at the Well of Souls?

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Any Jack L. Chalker fans out there?

A chance conversation overheard on Twitter today referencing sentient plant life started me thinking about the Well World series and the Czill species. It also led me to a very strange description in this alien wiki that sure doesn’t jive with my recollection of the books. Time for a re-read.

That thought, of course,  led me to search to see any of these incredible books were available as ebooks. And to my surprise, they are! Baen Books has them available, and at reasonable prices, starting with Midnight at the Well of Souls…

Have you ever read this incredible science-fiction series?

March 4-10, 2012 is Read an E-Book Week

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March 4th through the 10th is Read an E-Book week! The yearly event is designed to promote and educate the public about e-books. You can learn more at the event’s official website. The site talks about the event’s history and gives updates on trends, contests and e-book news.

New this year, Canada has designated March as Read an E-Book Month.Not, if we could only get the US to go along…. But, for those of us who love ereading, this is a great excuse to celebrate and promote e-books all month long! Check back for more news….

I need help with a questionnaire

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I would like to put together a directory of digital and digital friendly presses for the eBook Evangelist blog. I would also like to feature a publisher once a month for a more in-depth look.

I am currently putting together a questionnaire. Some of the questions are obvious (like niche, genre, territory, etc.). But I am also interested in things like why you formed your own press or knowing what unique point of view your company brings to the table.

So, what I would like to know is what questions would *you* like to be asked? And would you be interested in participating in the directory or an interview? Please let me know in the comments.

News Bits and Bytes for February 9, 2012

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Lots of news happening today:

Reports are saying that E-ink revenues are down for the month of January. A lot. However, downloads of digital media jumped in 2011. 

A big shake-up in the library lending world today. Penguin is terminating their agreement with Overdrive to supply library books. With Harper Collins still only offering libraries the crippleware 26 loan contract for books, Random House is essentially the only Big Six supplier of library books. If you pay attention to the subtext in the article about the meeting between publishers and the American Library Association, this should not come as too much of a surprise, unfortunately.

If you have been following the reaction to Amazon’s foray into the publishing world, the responses are still coming in. Today, Indie Commerce joins Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and Indigo in boycotting Amazon titles. Interestingly, this article from Paid Content says they’re not – well not exactly, that is.

Mike Shatzkin has a very thoughtful take on the Amazon vs Barnes & Noble saga that I highly recommend reading!

And finally, from  Evo Terra (Podiobooks) and Jeff Moriarty’s “It Isn’t Rocket Surgery” broadcast, a rather extreme point of view on the quality of self-published ebooks on Amazon.com. Here’s the video: