Digital Pubbing

Exploring the ins and outs of the publishing industry

books

Turning Your Ebook Into an App

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Sometimes it makes sense for a book to be transformed into an app. Forbes wrote a piece back in 2012 about whether the future of books will be as apps. Two years later, and it doesn't seem to be true, but in some cases it could work. New tools have made it easier for authors to create their own apps. Karen Robertson, creator of the book app Treasure Kai, said in a Good … [Read more...] about Turning Your Ebook Into an App

Print Books and Bookbinding

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This post is just for fun. Even though I prefer ebooks now, print books still have a special place in my heart (I own nearly 1,000 of them). So for anyone interested in learning the art of bookbinding, you should check out the site aboutbookbinding.com. There you will find information on sewing, hand finishing, and even washing and taking care of books. If you want to try your … [Read more...] about Print Books and Bookbinding

Widbook Guest Post: Character Development is Hard and People Are Really Weird

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By Eve Jacob – Widbook blog This post was originally featured at the Widbook blog and written by Eve Jacob. Widbook is a global community for people who love to share stories. Writers can publish their work in an ebook format and readers meet content and everyone get connected! For the next two weeks Widbook will be my guest. See the last guest post, "Outlines and Notecards and … [Read more...] about Widbook Guest Post: Character Development is Hard and People Are Really Weird

The Art of Flipping (Books?)

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I'm in the process of looking to buy my first house (exciting and terrifying, I know!). One thing I've noticed is listings for houses on sale tend to use the same key phrases: spacious rooms, great light, charming, near x, y, z freeway, close to shopping, etc. However, even though on paper a house may sound perfect, in person they can be completely different. In the past few … [Read more...] about The Art of Flipping (Books?)

An Interview with Jeffrey Bennett, author of Math for Life and The Max Science Adventures series (part 2)

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Note: I've broken this interview up into two parts. This is the second part, and it focuses more on Jeffrey Bennett's children's books, and how his books were the first children's books read in space! Read part 1 about his work as a non-fiction author here. To recap, Jeffrey Bennett is a researcher, educator, author, and one of the most inspiring people I've ever heard of. … [Read more...] about An Interview with Jeffrey Bennett, author of Math for Life and The Max Science Adventures series (part 2)

An Interview with Jeffrey Bennett, author of Math for Life and The Max Science Adventures series (part 1)

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Note: I've broken this interview up into two parts. This is the first part, and it focuses more on Jeffrey Bennett's work as a non-fiction author. Click here for part two, which discusses Bennett's children's books, and how his books were the first children's books read in space! Jeffrey Bennett is a researcher, educator, author, and one of the most inspiring people I've … [Read more...] about An Interview with Jeffrey Bennett, author of Math for Life and The Max Science Adventures series (part 1)

5 Ways Gaming Can Help Indie Authors Increase Sales

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I recently wrote an article about the similarities between self-publishing and being an indie game developer (soon to be up on IndieReader--stay tuned). It's pretty cool actually, how the process of creating, marketing, and selling games is so close to the process of writing, marketing, and selling e-books (both even have a few big platforms to focus on). Anyway, this got me … [Read more...] about 5 Ways Gaming Can Help Indie Authors Increase Sales

Kindle, Kindle, Kindle: Amazon’s Latest Publishing Tools

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In the last week, Amazon has made three big announcements, all of which I think have the potential to greatly help indie authors. Kindle Countdown Deals The first, and most exciting in my opinion, is the Kindle Countdown Deals. What this means is that authors who publish e-books on Amazon have an easy way of price pulsing/discounting their books, and then advertising it. The … [Read more...] about Kindle, Kindle, Kindle: Amazon’s Latest Publishing Tools

McDonald’s, the Book Distributor

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I couldn't resist. When I heard that McDonald's planned to give away over 20 million books with their happy meals during the first two weeks of November, I knew I had to see for myself. So on the first day, I bought my first happy meal in like 20 years. To be completely honest, I was excited to get The Goat Who Ate Everything, just because it sounded like the cutest of the … [Read more...] about McDonald’s, the Book Distributor

Books in Browsers 2013

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I went to my second Books in Browsers last week (see last year's recap day 1 and recap day 2), and was not disappointed! For those who many not know, Books in Browsers is "a small summit for the new generation of internet publishing companies, focusing on developers and designers who are building and launching tools for online storytelling, expression, and art." It takes place … [Read more...] about Books in Browsers 2013

iDreamBooks, A Book Review Aggregator

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iDreamBooks is a site that aggregates reviews of books. The goal of the site is right in the tagline: Never read a crappy book again! Founded in 2012 by Rahul Simha, Vish Chapalamadugu and Mohit Aggarwal, iDreamBooks moved to San Francisco as part of 500 Startups. Patrick Lee, co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes, was an early investor, which works out since the site is like the … [Read more...] about iDreamBooks, A Book Review Aggregator

Student-Managed Book Publishers

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Student-run presses are not a new concept. Most MFA programs for creative writing publish literary journals, which MFA students work on while in school. And many universities have student-run newspapers, such as UCSB's Daily Nexus. But not many schools have student-run book publishers. A couple weeks ago, I met an author whose book had been acquired and published … [Read more...] about Student-Managed Book Publishers

Writers, Readers, Publishers: Present Tense, Future Bold #3

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Last night's meeting was actually more like the 15th meeting, but I don't often get the chance to attend anymore, so this is only my third post about the group. The speaker was Jeffrey Sussman, president of Jeffrey Sussman, Inc., a marketing public relations firm in New York City.  The email I received about the event said that "Jeffrey has represented virtually every kind … [Read more...] about Writers, Readers, Publishers: Present Tense, Future Bold #3

Immersive Storytelling

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Transmedia, apps, and other forms of immersive storytelling are getting more and more popular. For large worlds like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones, to name a few well-known examples, immersive storytelling can be a great extension or better way to connect with readers. … [Read more...] about Immersive Storytelling