"BooksForABuck.com is an independent e-publisher that provides a commercial outlet to e-authors in Romance, Science Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, and General Fiction. All of our novels sell for $1. Our current royalty rate is 50%. We are looking for excellent novels of greater than 50,000 words." - Author's page on the BooksForABuck.com site.

The TeleRead take: Could this be the future of e-publishing as competition grows? Based on a very cursory look, I hate the four-year-old site's primitive layout with a clashing mix of blue, red and yellow in the graphics. As a piece of virtual Americana, however, BooksForABuck.com offers promise--as shown by the cover and two sample chapters of Tornado Bait. I wish the publisher, Rob Preece, much luck. So many e-books from established publishers do cost too much. The challenge is to provide an inexpensive alternative with sufficient polish and to drive sufficient traffic to the site. Is there the equivalent of the Fiction Bitch for small e-press sites? With better aesthetics and more discipline and enough incoming links, perhaps this one will eventually be a winner.

Detail: Rob Preece holds a Ph.D. in economics. It will be interesting to see how--from that perspective--the site works out in the end. The present business model mixes revenue from the $1 books and advertising. Might Preece do better with $1.50 books, a professional Web designer, and fewer ads to distract the visitor?
posted by David Rothman at 3:31 AM | permanent link

Techdirt makes a convincing case against the Syracuse columnist who challenged Wikipedia's usefulness while a Slashdot item does raise some questions far more thoughtfully than the newspaper columnist. My take on this is similar to Techdirt's--that Wikipedia is useful now but likely to get still better with more quality control in place, including perhaps the particpation of professional librarians. Wikipedia is also the topic of a Washington Post column, far more thoughtful than the ones in Syracuse.
posted by David Rothman at 4:42 PM | permanent link

From Tom Peters and the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center:

September is shaping up to be another great month of online book discussions. This Saturday there will be three different online discussions. Beginning at 10:00 Central Daylight Time on Saturday morning there will be a discussion of two children's books which, like all good children's books, should be read and discussed by adults: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and Little House on the Prairie. Beginning at 3:00 CDT on Saturday afternoon there will be a discussion of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Beginning at 7:00 CDT on Saturday evening there will be a discussion of Huck Finn which, along with the Great Gatsby, often comes up in conversations about the great American novel.

On Tuesday evening, September 21 beginning at 7:00 Centrall Daylight Time there will an online discussion of My Antonia. Graduate students at the Willa Cather Project at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln will participate in the discussion. Prof. Susan Rosowki, originally scheduled to take part, has had to cancel for health reasons.

Click here for more information about these events and links to the texts and the online meeting room.
posted by David Rothman at 7:54 AM | permanent link

Some programs of the forthcoming Audio Book Expo on Oct. 29 will be Webcast. Details from the organizers:

Key-note speakers include: Tom Peters of TAP Information Systems, Steve Potash, CEO of Overdrive, Inc., Jenny Levine, "the Shifted Librarian", Metropolitan Library System, and Judy Dixon from NLS. Other speakers include Jane Chamberlain, Adult Services Manager at Bloomington Public Library, Sharon Ruda, Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service, and Diana Sussman of Southern Illinois Talking Book Center. There will also be time for exhibits and ideas!
posted by David Rothman at 11:57 PM | permanent link

When the BBC opened up its archives to the public for free, some Netfolks rejoiced. But now look. The government has approached Time Warner and other conglomerates in its efforts to sell off some important BBC assets related to publishing and commercial sales. That's not the same as selling off the archives; I'm simply speculating. But could the cash-hungry government next think about the archives as a disposable asset? I wouldn't be surprised, based on other information. Perhaps some of our UK readers can fill us in with some background. Are we all wet about this or is the sale of the archives a real possibility in time? (Via The Scotsman.)

An existing UK outrage: Book lending in Scotland has declined 30 percent, according to the Sunday Herald. The cause? More money spent on computers, less on books. I rather doubt that e-book technology would account for that much of the decline in the lending of p-books. Luckily those figures do not apply to the States. (Via LISNews.)
posted by David Rothman at 11:18 PM | permanent link

DRM haters will nod on reading M$ for Choice? - Er, Not So Much, in Copyfight. A Microsoft site told iPOD users how they could burn a CD in an open format like MP3 and bypass proprietary DRM to play MSN Music offerings on their iPODs. No can do, said more powerful Softies--perhaps under pressure from the music biz. End of story. iPOD tip removed. Why, just why, isn't Ralph Nader speaking out against DMCA and DRM outrages--considering all the tens of millions of music downloaders?

Conventional Wisdom is wrong. I refuse to buy the explanation that copyright is too minor for even brief comments on the massive copyright giveaways and forthcoming giveaways like INDUCE-style legislation. The DMCA and the other Hollywood-bought laws are invisible to the average American only because Nader and the other politicians have wimped out on copyright matters--while the clueless media snooze on. Could Nader be angling for Hollywood donations? I'd expect wimpouts from "mainstream" pols, but one is inexcusable from the legendary consumer advocate, who remains a hero of mine simply because of the magnitude of past accomplishments. Where's the old courage? And remember, the iPOD/Microsoft issue is small time compared to the billions that the DMCA may cost consumers because fat-cat manufacturers are using it to threaten third-party vendors of maintenance, replacement parts and other products and services.

An OpenReader angle: The OpenReader Consortium, of which I'm a cofounder, is anti-piracy but gung ho on consumers' ability to move e-books and other content from machine to machine, regardless of brand and operating system. This is why we find the Windowscentric Microsoft Reader to be particularly nefarious. Reader reflects the same greed that caused Microsoft to snuff out the too-helpful tip for iPOD owners.

Related: Hatch's HitList #41 - iPodder, from The Importance of...--telling how INDUCE-type laws coud snuff out technology that lets your iPOD capture RSS-linked audios while you sleep.

posted by David Rothman at 3:16 AM | permanent link

From Jørgen Dybdahl in PocketPC Watch:

C-Net has an interesting article discussing the difference between "giving students access to cutting-edge technology and making them marketing guinea pigs, some critics warn." The article also mentions the iPods Duke University gave to their students. Personally, I think they should have given the students a PDA with Wi-Fi as this would have been a better introduction to modern technology. PDA's are perfect for reading ebooks and PowerPoint slides. The article does not mention PDA's at all!
posted by David Rothman at 2:59 AM | permanent link

Can e-books help save the Tablet PC--hardly the biggest successful story for Microsoft at the moment? Tablet sales are a speck of those for conventional laptops. In part that is because of the overDRMed software that dominates e-bookdom in this pre-OpenReader era. Too bad: the TPC's form factor would certainly seem enticing.

Meanwhile, if you do want to buy a Tablet PC, you might take a look at Using a Tablet PC to Read, a still-relevant 2003 article that eBook Culture just dug up from the Microsoft Web site.

"Still-relevant," by the way, is a plus for the article but a negative for the industry. Not that much has changed in e-book software from the majors except that Mobipocket has gained ground at the expense of other formats, including, I'm confident, the less option-filled Microsoft Reader. The article hasn't one syllable about Mobipocket.
posted by David Rothman at 1:54 AM | permanent link

Isn't it time to remove the hardware-content link? Just why should your ownership of Brand X or Brand Y machine determine which books you can read? Why should your favorite novelist be readable only on machines with operating systems you hate? Jon Noring and I and the other founders of the OpenReader Consortium particularly dislike the way Microsoft Reader requires Windows and locks out users of other operating systems.

With a true cross-platform philosophy in mind, we are appealing to Palm and Mac developers to pass on their suggestions and otherwise aid in making OpenReader content available to all as soon as possible. Because of limited resources, we are starting out with the Windows and Linux platforms. However, we want to encourage Palm and Mac folks to create products--either direct readers or conversion software. Whether you're running a PC, a $50 used Palm, a $75 Zire 21 from PalmOne, or a Mac deskop with a 20-inch LCD monitor, we would like you to be at home with our durable open format.

On the bright side, Mac OS X and perhaps the latest operating system for Palms should be less of a challenge to our particular developers.

Coping with an aging OS

The older Palm handhelds are underpowered and run an antiquated OS, so most likely the solution will be an instant push-button conversion on their owners' PCs rather than an entire new reader. Meanwhile, however, even the owners of the old Palms will have--on their desktops used for the original downloads from libraries or bookstores--the durable format available when they want to upgrade their machines. That could happen sooner than they'd wish, given the fondness of handheld makers for charging $40 for replacement batteries for $120 machines.

Our hi-fi format, featuring such gems as advanced CSS, SVG graphics and MathML, won't display on the old handhelds but will on the newest models. And even the older machines will show basic format amenities like bold, italics, and underline. Simply put our goal is to be considerate toward owners of older machines while not choking off future innovation. You can always provide for special accommodations for "low fidelity" without having to give up hi-fi--while the reverse is definitely not true. You can't make hi-fi out of Edison-era sound recordings.

An invitation to Mac and Palm developers

For more details, see our new page devoted to Mac and Palm issues. And if you're a Mac or Palm developer or know of somone who would appreciate what we're up to, then email Jon immediately and cc me.

Meanwhile thanks to Richard and Brad for their interest in OpenReader--and their OS-related suggestions!
posted by David Rothman at 1:47 PM | permanent link

Earlier I noted that Skype's net.telehony used P2P technology. It's a great example of the technology that can happen if Washington somehow ignores the less clueful of the lobbyists for Hollywood and the telecoms. No telling what technologies might suffer if INDUCE-style legislation passes.

Oh, the Washington bozos can talk about protective loopholes, but don't you believe them. Do you really think that 'crats and Hill people have the requisite knowledge and imagination to avoid accidental hits? Washington is on its way to becoming Enemy Number One of venture capitalists. Forget all this talk about tax cuts for business in general or tech in particular. All the cuts in creation won't encourage investments in businesses regarded as too risky because of Hollywood-bought laws.

Meanwhile a piece in today's New York Times is must reading for both current and potential users of Skype. It serves as a reminder of the applications that in the future may never be born and commercializied--because Hollywood outbid the tech industry for votes on the Hill.
posted by David Rothman at 5:00 AM | permanent link