Buying E-books, article from wsj.com

Just read this post on wsj.com this morning about e-book sales and thought it spoke to the same thing Heather wrote about in her guest post. Particularly this part:

 “What we’re seeing now is that if a book gets a good review, it gets a faster lift on the digital side than it does on the physical side because people who have e-readers can buy and read it immediately.” (said Frank Albanese, a senior vice president at HarperCollins.)


I linked the title to the post so you could read the whole post on wsj.com

Mockingjay (A guest post)

This is a guest post by my good friend Heather! She so kindly gives us an inside look at her decision about whether or not to buy the e-book or the hardback of Mockingjay. Thanks Heather!

_____________

As you may have heard, the third book in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy (written for young adults), entitled Mockingjay, was released this morning at 12:01 a.m., to be specific.

Now, I’m in my twenties, but I gotta say that I’m beyond psyched about Mockingjay. I need to know: Will Katniss lead the resistance that seems to be forming around her? What is up with District 13 and will it be the haven to Kat & Co. that Earth always seemed to the Colonials in Battlestar Galactica? And last but certainly not least, will Katniss choose her best friend and fellow hunter, Gale, or the boy who’s loved her from afar for years? I know what I’m hoping for (Team Gale ftw!), but what’s yours?

Amid all this anticipation, I had to make a choice--run out to the local B&N after work today, pre-order from Amazon and hope it arrived on time (after all, you don’t want to risk getting spoiled!), or pre-order the e-book from Kindle on my iPhone? Just for the sake of convenience (not to mention the good price), I ordered from Amazon. But when I learned that it wouldn’t arrive until later in the week (at which time I would be out of the country on vacation), I had to go for the e-book as well. I do still want a physical copy, but I must say that the ability to start reading at 12:01 today was worth it to me. And the best part? I’ve only paid $16 for both. Nice.

How are you getting your copy (or copies) of Mockingjay?

I'm excited about books because

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez wrote a post on Digital Bookworld asking people to answer the questions, "I'm excited about books because...".


This is what I posted in response:
I’m excited about books because…they help me relax! It’s nice to be able to escape from your own worries from time to time and books are the best vehicle for this. Whether an e-book or a regular book, books are here to stay!






I hope that he gets many responses because books are here to stay and the experience of reading can only be improved with feedback--especially as we move into ebooks and all the new technology  and media that goes along with them is developed. I can't wait to see how they evolve!

Trying to Jump into e-book design!

During the day, between all the other print design I do, I am always thinking about e-book design. I know I need to incorporate it into the workflow but trying to figure out how is taking me forever and I feel so clumsy.

The resources online are endless of course! On Twitter, I've been enjoying all the #eprdctn folks and learn something every time I log in. I have been so thrilled to find @lizcastro -- loved her #eprdctn chat today with @tinahender. Liz's great tips are really helping me get some ideas about how to do e-books--through her blog and Twitter posts. Blogs are fabulous--I just saw a post on sorodesign's site (http://books.sorodesign.com) about designing apps. What a great field to break into! That put my mind in a whole new direction.

Formatting becomes even more complicated, because then of course is the question of which reader will  come out on top in the war since it affects file format so much. I haven't figured out how people decide which reader to design for--maybe it's like other things in life--You have to pick one and jump in! I am ashamed to say I haven't spent a lot of time around any of them--just heard the reviews and seen the news about what others think. I know I need to invest some time in playing around with all of them.

Which reader do you recommend? Do you design for just one of them or create several different files for different readers?

Create Space author interview on TheBookDesigner.com

I was really glad to learn some more about Create Space from a post on TheBookDesigner.com. I've been curious who the main type of author using it is and also was curious how good their services were. This was especially interesting:

"Watch out for how you spend your money. Some of the services from CreateSpace or others may be performed by low-level workers (“$10 college students”) and billed at professional rates."

The numerous mentions of how important an editor is was really reinforcing of the article I read on Digital Book  World today about the same topic.

Great post Joel!

Self-publishing blogs

Just saw this link on thebookdesigner.com:

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/05/36-great-blogs-for-self-publishers/

Looks interesting. Hoping to take a look at them soon. Wanting to learn what I can about self-publishing with all the talk that it will be "the wave of the future"--to use a term that probably dates me immensely. But it seems that with this new avenue there will be many more design opportunities.

Google and ABA

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/business/30books.html?scp=1&sq=Stores%20See%20Google%20as%20Ally%20in%20E-Book%20Market&st=Search

Just saw some interesting info through a retweet from @sarahw on Twitter about Google and ABA striking a deal. That would make sense as I was wondering how Google Editions was going to work their system given all the other readers out there. It should help those customers hesitant to cross over totally into e-books to know that bookstores are considering this option too and that they could conceivably get both at a store. 


 I think the cross-platform will really be a plus. 
This quote was probably really accurate for most e-book readers, especially ones I've met:
“I don’t think anyone who has bought an e-reader in the last several years has really intended to only buy their digital books from one provider for life,” said Tom Turvey, Google’s director of strategic partnerships, who heads the Google Editions project.






Great to learn more about what Google Editions is all about since they're still developing it. 

Facebook

So I just created a Facebook page. And I think you see it this way:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SHDesignFL/133022423387977

Just found this book design blog too

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/

Found some new blogs through Twitter

I found some new blogs to find via Twitter. They are:

http://theswivet.blogspot.com/
http://moriahjovan.com/mojo/

Interesting thoughts on publishing and writers and agents.

I found this part of a post on http://moriahjovan.com/mojo/ particularly thought-provoking because it seems like it is the way to go. I am trying to get more knowledge on ebooks and how to design for them:

3) Book designers: Stop trying to format ebooks on a print paradigm. Ebooks are not print books. They don’t serve the same function. It’s like trying to apply a print paradigm to audiobooks. Stop it. Learn how to format serviceable, good-looking ebooks and forget about Teh Fancy.

Digital Book World's Weekly Roundup 06/25/2010

I love Digital Book World! I definitely plan on posting this roundup weekly. Their topics are so timely and important in the publishing world--with all the changes going on.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2010/dbw-weekly-roundup-62510/

Book People to follow on Twitter

This is kind of old but I thought it was pretty interesting. I definitely plan to follow some of them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/09/50-best-book-people-to-fo_n_529295.html

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on Twitter! Here's the link.

http://twitter.com/SHDesignFL

I've found it's been a great way to catch up on book design and publishing news. Digital Book World and other designers I've found through it have been great resources. I've also had fun following some old friends too.

My First Post!

This is my first post. I'm excited to get started on my new adventure. I hope to post book design news and samples of my work soon. There is so much going on in the publishing and e-book world that there is not enough time to catch up. I hope to incorporate the most important and interesting news in this blog so it is all captured in one place.