We’ll it’s that time of year again. EBook week is on it’s way. With that we’ve decided to give our site a major upgrade. Last year we had over 2000 downloads in just a matter of a few days, and it almost broke our site. We’ll this year we’re coming in prepared.
We’ve moved the site to a much larger/faster VPS (bigger server = faster site, for those who’re less tech-savvy), our site has a new look, but for the moment that creates a minor problem. Please bear with us as we get the site working properly again.
At the moment, some links just aren’t linking, some ads just aren’t ading (is that even a word), our new poll system isn’t yet polling – and in general our site feels a little broken
Not to worry though – we’re on it, we’re working to fix it, and when we’re done – this year’s eBook week events at eBookGuru.org promise to be the biggest ever!
So I was sitting here looking for bedroom furniture and I decided to make a post here at the same time.
When I research this type of stuff I always tend to look online, for a couple of reasons. First living in a rural area I can’t find anything close to home, and second the selection is always better when I shop online. At any rate I found a great site with exactly the bedroom set I wanted, but unfortunately the site is in Ireland.
It isn’t that I would have any problems ordering from a site in Ireland, but I imagine the shipping from there to Canada would be horrendous. So, if any of our readers from Ireland is making the trip to Canada (for the Olympics maybe), if you can figure out how to fit some bedroomfurniture in your luggage let me know.
What does bedroom furniture have to do with eBooks?
Well nothing really, but as I was sitting here browsing for a wooden bedroom set, I realized that for the first time in close to four months I had sat at the PC and I didn’t have 2 dozen writing projects to complete. In other words, I actually have time. So, WOW!
With extra time on my hands – one thing I’ve been neglecting is this site. In March we managed to sign up close to 2000 people for eBook week, and at that time I was posting eBook reviews on a regular basis.
Being entirely too busy over the past couple of months though, I haven’t been available enough to make any decent updates.Of course I’ve been reading, and I’ve likely read 2 dozens great eBooks in the past couple of months, but with a lack of time I haven’t share those views with you.
At any rate, it’s obviously time to get some updates on this site.
Expect some great eBook reviews to come over the next few weeks. I realize there haven’t been enough updates here, and oddly enough all it took me to realize I actually had time to keep up again was a little time looking for bedroom furniture (my mind works in weird ways, I know).
Oh yes, and for our Irish readers – if you think you can fit an entire bedroom set on the boat/plane ride over, I’d be eternally grateful. I can’t find the same furniture here (apparently living in rural Canada has its downside). If you don’t think the airline will allow you to ship a wooden bed as a piece of luggage – that’s okay too – just be sure to come back for some great eBook reviews.
It was just over two months ago when I published a post (The Future of eBooks) that included a chart from Forrester Research Inc. showing the growth drivers for eReaders. It predicted a $199 price point at sometime around mid 2010 to 2011.
The new Cool-er reader (Price Matters…) came out in mid July, right around the same time that Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 by $60, and I stated that I really didn’t expect to see an eReader break the $200 mark before the end of the year.
Well Sony has done it. There have been lots of articles about this but best one so far is this post by Canada’s own Globe & Mail. The ‘Pocket Edition’ of the Sony eReader will be retailing for $199 at the end of August. The Pocket Edition is smaller and a little limited compared to current eReaders. At 5 inches (vs the 6 inch Sony readers , the Cooler, & the Kindle 2), it can’t play music and can ‘only’ hold 350 books but the sub-$200 price point
“breaks an important psychological barrier”
In an ironic twist, the article includes a quote from Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst at Forrester Research.
“This is something that is affordable for the holiday season, and I think that you’ll see sales of e-readers outpacing current forecasts”
The current forecast has sales of eReaders doubling this year to 2 million, up from 1 million in 2008.
Sony is also announcing a higher-end eReader, the Touch Edition (note: Sony seems to finally be catching on that names are a lot catchier and easier to remember than model numbers – the Pocket Edition replaces the PRS-50 and the Touch Edition replaces the PRS-700). This model will retain the same 6 inch size and touch screen abilities, losing the built-in light that seemed to cause more trouble than it was worth.
Another major milestone for the new Sony eReaders is their compatibility with both PC’s and Mac’s.
Neither of these readers has the same wireless access that sets the Kindle apart but given the recent furor over Amazon’s bungled book recall, this isn’t such a bad thing. Certainly for those of us outside the US this isn’t a limitation as Amazon’s Whispernet is limited to US states, with the exception of Montana and Alaska. Even in covered states, it has been reported that coverage is often close to non-existent outside of major urban centers.
Sony is apparently working on a wireless eReader but won’t say when it will be available. Hopefully it will be soon as a new eReader from iRex is entering the marketplace. The 8.1 inch eReader with wireless 3G capabilities and a touch screen is slated for fall 2009 and is rumored to be able to connect with a large on-line eBook store.
The eBook market is also progressing with the recent launch of Barnes & Nobles eBook eReader software and eBook store (An Embarrassment of Riches).
The eBook market will change in ways that we can’t foresee but for the moment the future for eBooks is here.
I monitor a variety of RSS feeds and I am always on the lookout for news on eBooks and eReaders. This week there seems to be an embarrassment of riches in terms of the number of articles available.
Adding insult to injury to the beleaguered Kindle is a damning article in the New Yorker. The article has some harsh criticism for the device and Amazon’s proprietary format, although to be fair some of the criticism is specific to eInk devices, notably the lack of color and back-lighting. Overall the author does seem positive about eBooks but seems to prefer the Sony eReader for eInk and the Apple iPhone / iPod Touch where color, illustrations, and back-lighting are important.
is quickly becoming an e-book industry standard as support from publishers and tech giants such as Adobe Systems Inc., Sony Corp. and Google Inc. continues to grow.
In sharp contrast to Amazons proprietary DRM restricted AZW format, EPUB is an open, non-proprietary, XML based format, in which DRM is optional.
The industry has gone into two camps: Amazon and everyone else … You have Amazon and they’ve got their proprietary, closed standard, DRM, one-source-for-everything (approach) and you’ve got the rest of the world trying to agree on an open standard for which you can have multiple book stores.
blow Amazon and other e-book makers out of the water…
The success of iTunes for music and iPhone applications indicates that there is market potential for eBooks by making eBooks just as easy to download. It goes further to speculate about à-la-carte ordering books, something that already possible through the Shortcovers program from Canada’s very own Indigo Books.
The one thing that none of these articles dispute is that there is a future for eBooks. What this future looks like, how we will be reading eBooks, and what format the eBooks will be available in, are all very good questions. Personally having seen what DRM has done to the music industry, not to mention how Amazon bungled it’s recent recall of illegally published Kindle books, I’m hoping for the success of an open format like EPUB and as many readers as possible.
Amazon sparked an outcry in the blogosphere late last week when it deleted two books from people’s Kindles. Ironically the eBooks in question were George Orwell’s “1984″ and “Animal Farm”, prompting headlines like
Amazon recalled the ebooks because the publisher lacked the rights. As an author, I can appreciate the steps that Amazon took to remedy the problem even if I don’t agree with their methods. No doubt about it, Amazon made a mistake, not in what they did, but in how they went about it. Working for a public relations firm, I’ve gained new appreciation for the value of proper communications, something that Amazon would do well to heed. It also raises disturbing issues regarding ownership and censorship. If Amazon can delete the books in question, there is nothing to say that they can’t replace existing books with ‘edited’ versions. Sounds very ‘Big Brother’ to me.
However, this points to a problem inherent in self-publishing. Where are the checks and balances? Amazon states that the eBooks
… were added to our catalog using our self-service platform by a third-party who did not have the rights to the books…
How does something like that happen in the first place, especially given the titles in question? Surely this should have raised some red flags for someone somewhere? If this had been a traditional publisher, there would have been more steps involved before it was published but even that is no guarantee.
When I was accepted for publication, I provided the publisher with the copyright certificate for my novel but it wasn’t a requirement. The main difference is that there is a relationship inherent in this arrangement so my certifying in the contract that I own the work free and clear is probably sufficient. This relationship doesn’t exist in the self-publishing world. Also the process of editing makes it difficult to obtain a copyright before the contract has been signed. This doesn’t hold true for self-publishing.
The rise of eBooks and blogs has made it easier than ever for people to make their voice heard. It has also made it easier than ever for other people to steal someone else’s work. Perhaps it’s time for companies in the business of self-publishing to reevaluate the requirement for copyright.
A Kindle in Every Backpack. This is the title of a proposal by the Democratic Leadership Council that argues that the government should provide students with Kindles. The proposal argues that this could improve education quality and save money.
It’s an intriguing concept but according the proposal traditional textbooks cost $109 per student, rising to $115 per student in 2016. Currently the Kindle 2 costs significantly more than that for the hardware alone, not to mention the cost of the content. The Kindle DX, which is better suited for use as a textbook replacement, costs almost $200 more than the Kindle 2. Admittedly if a Kindle was provided to every student this would result in lower costs but it’s hard to see the economic benefits.
The proposal states that the costs of eTextbook materials would be about $200 initially and then drop to $80 by 2012. Looking at the proposal here and now however, the comparison is an outlay of $499 ($299 for the Kindle, $200 for the eTextbooks) vs. an existing cost of $109 for a difference of $390. It gets even worse if you propose using the Kindle DX, rising to a difference of $580. That’s anywhere from 3½ to over 5 times more costly per student. Or to put it another way for the same cost as equipping a student with a Kindle, you could equip another 3 – 5 students with traditional textbooks.
Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a great idea. I just think that it’s perhaps a little ahead of its time. eBooks are still a nascent market and we really don’t know where the market is going to end up.
Reports of cracked or frozen Kindle screens don’t inspire a lot of confidence in the proposal either. Even investing in the cover for the Kindle doesn’t seem to help, as a recent class action lawsuit against Amazon (see Update below) attests. Given the high cost of ownership, most Kindle owners are very protective of the devices yet they are still having problems. Somehow I can’t see a group of school students, for whom the device would be essentially free, being more careful.
Flexible screens like the Readius could be the answer to this problem but the recent bankruptcy of Polymer Vision, the company behind the Readius, means that it will probably be a long wait before this technology becomes mainstream.
Given that plans are already underway to make the Kindle DX available to University students, it would seem prudent to wait for the results of this pilot program. The pilot program will
…evaluate the impact of the device on the learning experience, determine if faculty delivered the information in new ways, and determine if students approach their reading and assignments differently.
As much as I would love to see kids with Kindles, I think there are too many unknowns. Advances in technology and lower production costs could change the landscape for eBook readers dramatically as more people start to use them. After all, look how long cell phones have been around and how much they’ve changed today as they morph into smartphones. Perhaps the eTextbook reader of the future will be a touch Netbook. To me this makes more sense for students, who would likely use the device for more than just reading. Given that Netbooks are comparable in terms of cost to a a Kindle DX, it’s hard to argue for a single function device, as good as it is.
Still, the very fact that this was proposed is a good indication of the strength of the eBook market. Regardless of how we end up reading eBooks in the future, it seems pretty clear that eBooks and eTextbooks are the future of reading.
But it isn’t everything. Often usability trumps price. Most Linux based operating systems are free but witness the paucity of Linux desktops compared to Windows and Mac Systems. As of May 2009 Windows commands 88% of the market share for operating systems.
The same applies to eBook readers. The Cool-er eBook reader from Coolreader was the brainchild of Niel Jones who created the Cool-er when he tried to buy an out-of-stock Sony eReader. He immediately saw the market potential of eBooks and decided to capitalize on it.
While I applaud the effort to bring down the price of eBook readers, it only works if you are getting value for your money. While the $249 price of the Cool-er is less than the $299 price of the Kindle, the value isn’t quite as alluring as it was less than a week ago when the Kindle was $359. When you factor in the cost of books that you can use on the Cool-er and other intangibles such as user experience, the Cool-er isn’t really that much of a bargain. In fact Wired magazine states in a product review of the Cool-er that
The up front fee for the Kindle or Sony Reader is greater yes, but they more than make up for it in robust content, extra features, and superior hardware.
One thing is for certain – we are getting closer to the sub $200 price point that I referred to in an earlier post where sales of eReaders will start to really take off. In fact I expect that this will likely occur earlier than the mid 2010 to 2011 timeframe predicted by Forrester Research. In less than a year and half, the price of the Kindle has dropped by 25% or $100 from it’s original starting price of $399. While I would be pleasantly surprised to see an eBook reader reach this price point before the end of 2009, I really don’t see it happening. If it does, then I would certainly caution potential purchasers to heed that ancient Latin saying caveat emptor or buyer beware.
Since we posted the original review of 1000 Questions for Couples by Michael Webb, our site has been getting a lot of traffic from people seeking out information on the book. With that, we wanted to take a closer look at the book itself and run an eBook feature. Since it’s obviously information people are looking for – we’re always glad to help.
As we said in the review, 1000 Questions for Couples, takes an in depth look at questions couples (both new couples and old) should ask to get to know one another better. The book comes highly recommended by us. Of course, given that Michael Webb is both a T.V. personality and a best selling author, we never expected any less.
Since people seem to be actively seeking out this particular book though, we thought we’d take a closer look.
1000 Questions for Couples – Topic List
The questions in the book are divided into 22 different categories. Each topic focuses on one area of relationships, personality, likes, dislikes, etc. The topics of the questions in Michael’s latest book include:
Personality, Feelings & Emotion
Favorites
Pets
Attractions
Health, Food & Well Being
Vacations
Morals, Convictions and Beliefs
Religion & Spiritual Matters
Car & Driver
Past & Future
Holidays & Celebrations
Home & Home Life
Hobbies & Entertainment
Love, Romance & Date Nights
Friends & Family
Communication
Career and Education
Money
Relationships – Past & Present
Children & Child Rearing
Wedding & Honeymoon
Sex
Each section includes questions that would be excellent for both new couples and those who have been together for a while. The questions don’t focus on just the simple stuff, they include many deep and meaningful questions that will help you to get to know your partner better. If you look closely at most couples they don’t know each other well, beyond the superficial topics and ideas, and 1000 Questions for Couples will help to overcome that problem.
1000 Questions for Couple – Excerpt
To give you a better idea of what the book includes, here is a short excerpt from the first section, and a few sample questions from that same section.
Personality, Feelings & Emotions
This is by far the largest collection of questions, and rightly so. Your personality is the heart and core of who you are. You might be able to change your viewpoints on religion, sex and politics, but how you react to tragedies and triumphs will rarely be different from year to year. Answers to these questions will give you insight into your partner and will fill you with a deeper understanding of who they are.
What things about me remind you of anyone from your past, either past sweethearts or good friends?
What do you think are my talents? Do you think you have any of the same talents?
How many physical fights have you been in? Do you usually start them? Why do you fight?
Has anyone very dear to you died? How did you handle it?
Do you tend to analyze your decisions before you talk about them or do ideas and thoughts blurt out without much forethought?
If you want to learn more about my thoughts on this particular book, you can read the original review by clicking here. For those who’ve been looking for that next great book to read together, I do suggest you visit the 1000 Questions for Couples site and pick up your own copy. The book itself comes with an 8-week money-back guarantee so it’s a no-risk purchase.
My wife and I have been enjoying this book together, and we’ve been married for 10 years so it really is a great read (and a lot of fun) for couples both pre-marital couples and those who’ve been together for a while.
For newcomers to our site: Be sure to subscribe our RSS feed (also available by email at the top of this site). When I contacted Michael to get his permission to post this feature, he asked me to review a couple of his other books. For those who enjoy 1000 Questions for Couples,you won’t want to miss the reviews that we have coming up later this month!
Free Site Signup Review – Update June 07th, 2009 – After working with FSS for close to a year now, I decided this post needed to be revamped a little. If you watch the new video posted below, it gives a much better idea of the potential of this system. In one year, with one site (and you get 28 money-making sites when you signup with these guys) we have brought in close to $50,000 in income. Not bad with one of the 28 sites you get for an $8.95 signup fee!
If you like easy money, then please read this whole post, and be sure to watch the video. This is a real opportunity from a real company that I am working with right now!
I just wanted to post to let everyone know that our site will be featured in the training videos for FreeSiteSignup.com. I wanted to let everyone know for two reasons.
First – we’re being featured on a high-traffic site and that’s awesome!
Second - I have been working the the company who runs FreeSitesignup.com, to create some training videos on how to create ad campaigns, and also on how to build traffic for free (hence the reason our site is being featured). With the work I have done with them, I have seen first-hand the money making potential of signing up with this site, and today I am sharing that with you (I like to help others make money).
Okay, so the basic premise of freesitesignup.com is that you sign-up, you pay your sign-up fee (there is a free package, but you want the upgrade and I’ll get to why in a moment), and then you post a professionally researched and written review page to your site. You then use various methods to drive traffic to that page, and you earn a commission every time someone buys one of the products that the page recommends. It’s actually much easier than it sounds. They give you step-by-step videos that teach you how to accomplish everything.
With the work I have done with them – in 2 weeks time, with one page and one AdWords campaign, they have made some serious money. Instead of saying anything else, just watch this video; this one is about 7 videos into the AdWords training video series,and it shows how much the campaign has made over two weeks and talks about the potential of this one campaign.
Update June 07th, 2009. After working with Free Site Signup for close to a year now, I have created another video that shows the profit potential of their system. You can watch it by pressing play below:
Click Here to View a Larger Version of the Video
I am highly recommending that anyone interested in making some extra cash get in on this one. The training videos walk you through all of the steps you need to take to make money within just a few days, and yes this is for real!
This one is a fairly new opportunity, and I do suggest getting in now instead of later. Get Started with Free Site Signup by Clicking Here
As a Side Note: Aside from the work I have been doing for them, I am not in any way affiliated with free site sign-up. They have not paid me to advertise their site (it’s just an excellent opportunity so I wanted to share). All names, trademarks, etc are copyright of freesitesignup.com and their parent company Top Tier Solutions.
For those who subscibed to our mailing list for eBook week, they have already recieved the download links for the books we have for free. If you didn’t subscribe ahead of time you can do so now. The first email you get when you suscbribe will be the download links. The mailing list and the downloads will close on March 14th, so be sure to get your books while you still can!
In case you missed the announcment, you can click here to read about the books we have for you (you can also suscribe from that page).
Be sure to take some time to visit our partner sites for this event. Champage Books was kind enough to supply us with books to give to you, and you’ll want to check out the eBook week site for even more free books.
Also I thought I should add:
After the chat event with Champagne’s authors last week I recieved a few emails from people who wanted to attend but missed it. Just to let those people know, there will be monthly chats on Champagne’s site. The next one is on March 22 and they always start at 9pm EST.
Started by Trevas Walker and a group of friends in 2008 - eBookGuru.org has quickly grown into one of the largest sites dedicated to eBooks. Read our about page for more, but be sure to bookmark our site and come back for the Free eBooks during eBook Week!
