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TKC 198 Pastor Mark Pierce

News – CNET hosts a video “prizefight” between the Kindle Touch and the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight.  Reuters quotes a source offering details of a front-lit e Ink Kindle Touch in July and an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire by the holiday shopping season. AdAge reports that Amazon has approached at least two ad agencies with a pitch for ads or special offers on a Kindle Fire.

Tech Tips – Brett McNeil McNeill on Collections for the Kindle Touch, Tom Semple on images for the Touch, and my construction of a homemade Kindle Fire stylus to use with the 99-cent Smart Writing Tool app. It was a fun project, but afterward I ordered the real thing.

Interview (Starts at 17:48) – Mark Pierce, pastor of Church Requel in Mansfield, Ohio, met me for breakfast on May 15th at the Paul Revere Family Restaurant in Lexington, Ohio. Since he had a successful career as a financial analyst before turning to the ministry, I asked him for his take on Amazon as an investment. We then moved on to technology at his church and what he has learned in the last year sharing 1,200 e-books on one Amazon account among 12 family members using about 20 Kindles and Kindle apps. After our interview, we switched microphones, and Mark recorded a separate conversation that will appear on his Church Requel Podcast Monday, May 21st.

Content – Bible by YouVision, and the debut this week of unglue.it . Also: Inside Higher Ed’s post on unglue.it .

Thanks to Tom Atkinson and Bob Anderson for leaving the first two reviews of The Kindle Chronicles blog subscription at Amazon. If you’d like to receive blog posts directly to your Kindle, please consider a Kindle Subscription for 99 cents a month, with a 14-day free trial. And if you’ve already signed up, I’d greatly appreciate your leaving a review!

Next Week’s Guest  (Rescheduled from this week) - Paul Slack, co-founder of Splash Media and author of Social Rules, a soon-to-be-published 319-page step-by-step resource on how to use social media tools for bottom-line results.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Posted 18 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Kindle § Podcast ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , ,

An Innovation in eBooks Publishing Goes Live Today

Gluejar, Inc. describes its new Unglue.it site as ”a place for individuals and institutions to join together to liberate specific ebooks and other types of digital content by paying rights holders to relicense their works under Creative Commons licenses.” It went live today at noon EDT.

Unglue.it will run crowd-funding campaigns to raise money for specific books that are already published. If the financial goal of the rights holder is met, unglue.it will pay to “unglue” the book. This means the title will be published without Digital Rights Management (DRM) with a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license.

At today’s launch, unglue.it is starting campaigns to unglue the following five books:

Michael Laser, 6-321
Joseph Nassise, Riverwatch
Nancy Rawles, Love Like Gumbo
Budding Reader, Cat and Rat
Open Book Publishers, Oral Literature in Africa, by Ruth Finnegan.

This seems like a fantastic idea to me. Hat tip to Paul Biba of Teleread, where I spotted news of today’s announcement.

I have an email out to Eric Hellman, president of Gluejar, inviting him to be my guest on a future episode of The Kindle Chronicles. I’d like to learn more about how this innovation came about, and the early results of the first campaigns.

Posted 17 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

A Recommended Blog for eBook Ideas: Critical Margins

Kevin Eagan, a freelance writer and university lecturer living in the St. Louis area, edits and is the main author of a blog titled Critical Margins that looks like a promising source of insight and ruminations about the intersection of technology and books.  A particular focus is technology and its effects on reading.

His most recent posts considered how writing and reading have changed in the digital age. An earlier one serves as a good resource for tracking down books and articles on the topic. I’ve added the Critical Margins RSS Feed to my Google Reader and am following @CriticalMargins on Twitter, eager to hear more about an area of inquiry that has fascinated me since my first Rocket eBook.

Posted 16 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Kindle Fire Tips at a Podcasters’ Breakfast in Ohio

Pastor Mark Pierce

Kindle Fire tips were just one of the topics that Pastor Mark Pierce of Church Requel and I discussed this morning over breakfast at the Paul Revere Family Restaurant in Lexington, Ohio. You will hear more from Mark next week in The Kindle Chronicles (TKC) episode 198, because at the end of our conversation I turned on my Olympus LS-10 recorder for an official interview. Then Pastor Mark fired up his Zune to turn the tables on me, asking thoughtful questions for his Church Requel podcast episode that will air Monday, May 21st.

Darlene and I are on the road again, somewhere in northern Ohio. During my hour in the passenger’s seat I have had time to check email and work on this post to the TKC blog. So I found an e-mail from Mark that contains the following helpful links and comments about topics we talked about 169 miles ago:

  • Free month of Hulu Plus - everywhere else the free trial period is only a week or two.
  • Kinde Fire app for Hulu Plus  – it’s probably just easier to search from your Fire on the app store… but make sure you get the one for the Fire and NOT the android version.
  • Roku for your television.  If you decide to try Hulu Plus on your Fire, you will probably want to have access to Hulu Plus on your TV.  Sadly, this is not yet available using AppleTV.  If you don’t already have a smart TV, Roku is a great alternative.  There are 4 models from $50 to $90.  I’d buy it through Amazon rather than direct from Roku so you have Amazon’s warranty and money back satisfaction.
  • Catalyst Podcast - (A resource for pastors and church leadership.)
  • Build and Analyze Podcast with Marco Arment and Dan Benjamin.  Marco is the guy who came up with Instapaper.
  • Instacast Podcast Listening iPhone app – This is SOOO much better than using iTunes.  And I have confirmed that there is no Kindle Fire version.
  • Downcast app for iPhone.  This is the main competition to Instacast.  They may even be the leading podcast catching software for iPhone.  I can’t remember now why I went with Instacast, though I really like it!
  • BeyondPod Podcast Manager for Kindle Fire – BeyondPod is for Android what Instacast and Downcast are for iOS.  When I was listening on my Android Evo, this was the software I was using.  There is both a free and a paid version available for the Kindle Fire.  Definitely worth checking out if you want to use the Fire for this.  Personally, I find the iPhone to be the perfect device for podcast listening since I have it with me all the time.

When two podcasters who listen to each other’s shows get together, there is lots to talk about. Mark has recently updated his show to include comments on weekly issues in the news and personal observations related to his ministry, as well as a recording of his weekly sermon at Church Requel. It’s an original combination of content aimed at people who are not now attending church regularly, which includes me. He has also listened to The Kindle Chronicles since nearly the beginning, almost four years ago.

For my part, weekly podcasts about the Kindle have connected me with fascinating listeners from all over the world, from Ohio to Paris. It’s been an amazing journey, I realize as Darlene and I cross the border into New York state. And there is plenty of road ahead.

Posted 15 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , ,

eFiction Startup Thrives on Kindle Subscriptions

How does an up-and-coming digital literature impressario arrive for a downtown lunch?

If the destination is Mani Osteria & Bar in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the guest is Doug Lance, creator of  eFiction Magazine, you’ll see him arrive on an orange-wheeled skateboard. Doug is 22 years old and has been living on the Internet since about the age of seven. He’s also a recent graduate of Western Michigan University and was my guest for TKC 194. For our drive from Denver to Cambridge, Mass., I arranged to meet Doug for lunch yesterday en route to our hotel here in Dearborn.

I was glad to hear that his appearance on the podcast generated some new subscriptions and that Doug is pressing ahead to expand the magazine’s reach. He will soon have subscriptions available for the Nook, which will add another good slice of digital readers. You can check out his eclectic mix of crowd-curated fiction and poetry with a free two-week Kindle subscription, which will cost $1.99 a month thereafter.  I was so impressed with his project that I purchased a lifetime subscription for $100.

“You look healthy,” I told Doug as we sat down for designer pizzas at Mani’s. “I hope you are eating well and working out, so that my lifetime subscription turns out to be a good investment!” He did, in fact, look fit and lit up with his work of creating a literary magazine from scratch. Darlene took the photo of us after lunch, standing in front of the original Border’s store, now sadly closed and empty.

But as one door closes, another opens in Ann Arbor. I like to imagine looking back decades hence to memories of our lunch yesterday, to consider all that one young man with a dream and cheap transportation can accomplish in digital America.

Posted 14 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , ,

New Challenge for E-Books for Troops: Neither Rain, Nor Snow Nor — Lithium Batteries?

New United States Postal Service regulations as of May 16 will prohibit electronic devices with lithium batteries, including Kindles, from being mailed by USPS to APO addresses of U.S. military units overseas. I have not had a chance yet to discuss this with my E-Books for Troops co-founder Ken Clark, but it’s clear from reporting by Fast Company that this is a big development.

Tom Atkinson helped me pack two boxes of Kindles that we shipped from Denver a few days ago, and I have one more box of 10 new Kindles that I plan to ship to Afghanistan from Cambridge, Mass., when Darlene and I arrive there next week, just after the new regulation is scheduled to go into effect.

It may be wishful thinking, but I can’t really believe this won’t be aborted at the last minute, once reaction against the regulation is heard. It turns out that E-Books for Troops is not alone in sending devices to U.S. Troops. A nonprofit named iPads for Soldiers is doing similar work, distributing Apple’s tablet via USPS. It would be a real shame if we can’t find a way around this obstacle to continue distributing new and used Kindles to U.S. Soldiers in serving overseas.

 

Posted 11 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , ,

TKC 197 James McQuivey

News – 1) International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the Kindle Fire’s share of the worldwide tablet market tumbled from 16.8 percent in the last quarter of 2011 to just over 4 percent in Q-1 of this year. Geoff Duncan at Digital Trends analyzes the report. 2) Target boots the Kindle.

Tech Tip – Tom Semple offers these instructions on how to use the pan/zoom mode of the Kindle Touch running the latest software version, 5.1.0:

- tap and hold until the ‘+’ icon appears over the image

- tap the ‘+’ icon to zoom full screen (or 100% whichever is smaller)

- pinch/spread to zoom in further, drag to pan

- touch ‘x’ icon to exit zoom.

John McCormack notes that the Touch can be used as a gallery for images.

Kindle Tech Support helps me solve a nagging WiFi connection problem for my Kindle Fire. I had to enter the password of our home network every time I put the Fire to sleep. The solution: Restart the Kindle Fire by pressing and holding the power button on the bottom of the Kindle for 2 seconds and tapping “Shut Down.” Hold the power button for 2 seconds to turn the device back on. While the Kindle is restarting, unplug the network router for a full 15 seconds. After plugging the router back in, wait until the router has finished rebooting before attempting to connect to your Wi-Fi network again.

Interview (Starts at 12:32) – James McQuivey, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, puts Q-1 Kindle Fire sales estimates into perspective but warns that poor results in the “Moms, Dads, and Grads” second quarter would be bad news indeed for Amazon’s tablet. He welcomes the Microsoft-Barnes & Noble partnership as bracing evidence of disruption in digital media. And he predicts “a mess” for e-book pricing if the federal court approves settlement terms for three of the Big Five publishers while the other two and Apple fight the Department of Justice antitrust suit in court.

Content – Andrys Basten notes another good Android app for reading ePub files on the Kindle Fire. It’s Mantano Reader, available in a Premium version for $4.99 and a freeone. You can’t download it to your Fire from the Amazon App Store, though. From your Fire, try this link to Slideme for the download; you’ll need to set up a free Slideme account.

Pottermore reports impressive sales for Harry Potter ebooks. Laura Hazard Owen and Nate Hoffelder wonder what wizardly announcement Amazon was teasing early this week.

NOTE AFTER AUDIO WAS RECORDED: The suspense ended Thursday morning with Amazon’s announcement that it has purchased a license making all six Harry Potter books available for free borrowing at the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Bufo Calvin analyzes results of Amazon’s Thomas & Mercer mystery imprint and finds them impressive.

Next Week’s Interview Guest – Paul Slack, co-founder of Splash Media and author of Social Rules, a soon-to-be-published 319-page step-by-step resource on how to use social media tools for bottom-line results.

Links mentioned - Grieg – 100 Supreme Classical Masterpieces: Rise of the Masters for $1.99.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Posted 11 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Kindle § Podcast ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , ,

Amazon Adds Some Magic to the Kindle

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, in a Harry Potter inspired scroll communication at the Amazon web site, today announces that on June 19 all seven Harry Potter books (in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) will be added to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. The company no doubt paid a pretty penny for its exclusive license from J. K. Rowling’s Pottermore to make this possible.

“The deal is one of the many ways we continue to invest in the Kindle ecosystem on behalf of Kindle owners,” Bezos writes.

You get to borrow one book a month for free on your Kindle device (not Kindle apps) if you are a member of Amazon Prime, so this is a big addition to what’s available. The list of Kindle Owners’ Lending Library now contains more than 145,000 books, including more than 100 current and former New York Times Best Sellers.

One of my questions to James McQuivey for this week’s interview in the podcast was whether all those dress ads I’m seeing on the Amazon home page mean the company is backing away from its emphasis of books and the Kindle. James this morning emailed me a link to the press release, with this comment:

“In case you were wondering whether Amazon is no longer as interested in the book business… Seems like they’re as committed as ever.”

I agree, and I’m glad to see it. With sales for the Kindle Fire having taken a big dip in the first quarter, and who knows how the E Ink readers are selling, I like to see the depth and long time horizon evident in Amazon’s investment in what makes e-readers magical: great stuff to read.

Posted 10 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , ,

Kindle Chronicles the Blog Welcomes Our First Subscriber

Since I’ve begun adding blog posts to the weekly podcast show notes here at TheKindleChronicles.com , I decided to make the site available for Kindle subscription. The information was loaded last night, and the first thing this morning I checked to see if the site was live. It was like scampering downstairs to check under the Christmas tree. And there it was! A brand new blog subscription, available with a two-week free trial and 99 cents a month thereafter.

Our Casper friends Tom and Tish Atkinson happened to be staying here in Denver with us, to help with departure tomorrow for Cambridge. When I told Tom he could subscribe to TKC on his Kindle 2, he took the plunge and became, I’m pretty sure, the very first subscriber who isn’t me.

I hope lots of podcast listeners will join Tom as subscribers to TKC the Blog, and that you will take the time to leave reviews and rankings at the Amazon listing. As the podcast approaches its four-year anniversary, I’m excited to add a writing dimension to the work. I work pretty hard writing the scripts for each show, but I’ve always loved seeing my words dance onto a page or a screen for others to read.

My thanks to Chris and Pete Kraft and the team at Splash Media for helping me configure the site to do double duty as blog and show notes page. If you are subscribed to the original RSS feed, you will receive just audio posts each week, as before. Same for the iTunes feed. But you will now see show notes plus written posts about the Kindle and e-book related topics here. My goal is to post four times a week, in addition to the podcast. Who needs sleep?

I had an enlightening talk this morning with James McQuivey of Forrester Research for this week’s episode of the podcast. With all the reports of the Kindle sky falling, I wanted to check in with James for a dose of reality. And as always, he delivered. The plan is to have the episode done tonight, pre-loaded for Friday release. By then we’ll be on Day Two of the drive East.

Tech Note: I don’t think the Kindle can access an audio file from the posts you will see if you subscribe. But I’m going to include this link to the audio of TKC 196 as a test, to see if you can access it when your Kindle is connected to WiFi. If you have any ideas on listening to audio directly from the TKC blog on Kindle, please let me know!

 

Posted 09 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Kindle Books: Two Daily Doses of Bargains

There are so many great ways to find bargain books on Kindle books, that I get overwhelmed. The antidote to that surfeit of choices, for me, are two one-book suggestions that show up in my e-mail inbox each morning, one from Amazon and one from BookBub.

Yesterday, for example, BookBub sent me an email with a single book to consider - The Humbling by Philip Roth. I love Philip Roth, and I haven’t read this novel, published by Houghton Mifflin in 2009. The Kindle version, BookBub reports in the email, originally cost $15.85. Yesterday’s price in the alert was 85 cents. I should have bought it then, because today the price has crept up to 93 cents. Sold! I just one-clicked it to my Kindle Touch 3G.

The other more well-known daily temptation is the Kindle Daily Deal. I end up buying maybe 20 percent of the offers that Amazon emails to me this way. I passed on today’s, Heat Wave, a mystery starring NYPD homicide detective Nikki Heat, but you might like it. It’s Richard Castle’s first novel starring Ms. Heat, and it’s available for 24 hours at the sizzling price of $1.99. Even when I don’t buy the featured deal, I enjoy my daily click on the missive from Amazon.com titled “Kindle Daily Deal” followed by the day’s title.

Serendipitous discovery is often mentioned as one of the most vital things passing from the scene as bricks-and-mortar bookstores continue their inexorable decline. And I agree. There’s nothing like coming across a book at The Tattered Cover or the Harvard Book Store too good to pass up. Unfortunately, I never buy them in paper any more, since I read everything on a Kindle or other device. It’s not the same, but these two daily mini-browsings by e-mail give me a similar feel of surprise when they offer something I can’t pass up.

How are you discovering odd new books to read on your Kindle or other e-reader? Not that I need more daily temptations!

Posted 08 May 2012 † Len Edgerly § Blog § Kindle ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , ,

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