(1) “Price of devices,” (2) “price of e-books,” (3) “Smartphones,” (4) “Apple’s rumored tablet computer,” (5) popular authors’ ambiguity over e-books, (6) digital rights complexities, (7) standards issues and (8) librarians’ fears about their jobs.

So, gang, what’s your take? I myself don’t think in terms of either one kind of e-gizmo or another—or even P vs. E. For a long time, there’ll be many choices, even in the latter area. Cellphones aren’t going to kill the Kindle, or vice versa.

Related: eWeek piece arguing against e-readers and other single-use devices.

And the equivalent for e-books? Maybe diagnostic software for your hard drive or solid-state storage?

Also of interest to bibliophiles—or at least typography buffs: Mistakes in typography grate the purists, in the New York Times. Would you believe, the Titanic movie showed Helvetica numbers on pressure gauges even though Helvetica didn’t exist until 1957, more than four decades after the disaster.

Speaking of print: With New Presses, Daily News Is Betting on World of Print, in the Times.

To learn more about Scandals, you can check out an elaborate Web site about the novel and the history behind it, such as a powerful, respected Senator’s hidden investment in a CIA-occupied high-rise, as well as a deadly building collapse. The Washington City Paper recommended Scandals and made nice Chandler and Hammett comparisons, and the book has drawn some preliminary Hollywood interest. But the daily press—possibly because I have a small publisher, and possibly because Scandals mocks the media—has yet to publish a single review. This is a great opportunity for stores to experiment with a media bypass, then hone the technique for other titles.

Scandals’ most likely readers: People in the D.C. area, Jewish readers, progressive activists and others, suspense and thriller readers, those interested in historical fiction and people everywhere who are simply interested in the causes of corruption in Washington.

Daily Beast Editor Tina Brown asked esteemed author Philip Roth, in this Vimeo video, about the future of the novel.

Basically, Roth says, the novel is screwed.  Not even the Kindle can save the novel, because it has to compete against all those screens: first the movie screen, the TV screen, and now the computer screen.  Now all three of those are out there, and the book just doesn’t measure up.

Roth predicts that in 25 years the novel will have a "cultic" following, perhaps slightly larger than the group of people who now read Latin poetry.  What do you think, TeleReaders?  Is he right?  Or will the novel carry on as it has these last centuries?

It does occur to me that as recently as a century or two ago, the reading public for a novel was perhaps at what Roth might call a cultic level.  Then came the Golden Age of Reading, from perhaps the late 1800s through, say, the 1930s.  Now novel-reading is in an inevitable decline, soon to return to being the pastime of a small group of hobbyists?
But perhaps Roth is speaking only of the literary novel, which already could be said to have largely a cultic following, big prizes and splashy headlines aside.  People line up for Dan Brown’s pulp, but how many will read Roth’s latest offering, The Humbling? And he is among the biggest names among contemporary literary novelists.  What hope, then, for those as-yet unknown writers?

Have a look at the video, and then have your say in our comment area.

When will the Federal Trade Commission, the bureaucracy housed in the building to the left, crack down on that—in a truly meaningful way?

Just why isn’t the Amazon site full of big, conspicuous reminders mandated by the FTC?

So you can bet I was more than a little baffled when the FTC announced hefty fines for bloggers who didn’t play by a newly announced set of rules about free products (PDF alert), including review copies of books. Bottom line: You’d better disclose if you review a book and keep a copy, even an e-book that cost the author virtually $0 to email you. Isn’t this a little inconsistent, given the FTC’s laxity on DRM at Amazon.com and elsewhere, despite a recent hearing?

Book costs are small compared to reviewing time

Interestingly, the cost of a typical book tends to be small compared to the time spent reviewing it properly. Maybe the FTC could include an exemption for a review of greater than a certain length, with suitable documentation showing time devoted to it.

I’m all in favor of reasonable disclosure rules, but read Ed Champion’s interview with Richard Cleland of the FTC and see if the agency isn’t going too far. Also see Galley Cat here and here and here and here, as well as Slate. The odd thing is that the rules are aimed at bloggers while sparing the mainstream media, which is interesting, given the number of MSM folks who received free Kindles from Amazon. What’s more, we know how much we can depend on the MSM to review first novels and e-books, right? Don’t you love how the feds are encouraging E?

In fairness to the FTC, the $11K fines are really aimed more at advertisers than bloggers, and first offenders won’t have to pay a nickel. Just the same, I’m appalled by the singling out of bloggers. Perhaps the MSM will be next—and deservedly so, if they don’t speak out against this craziness.

Meanwhile here’s an excerpt from Champion’s post on Cleland:

Cleland insisted that when a publisher sends a book to a blogger, there is the expectation of a good review. I informed him that this was not always the case and observed that some bloggers often receive 20 to 50 books a week. In such cases, the publisher hopes for a review, good or bad. Cleland didn’t see it that way.

“If a blogger received enough books,” said Cleland, “he could open up a used bookstore.”

Disclosure: Yep, I’ll still corrupt reviewers with free review copies in E or P of The Solomon Scandals for them to praise or pan.

Territorial rights are important to preserve. They allow countries to develop their own economically sustainable publishing industries and to reflect the specific dynamics of each market. The profits from country-specific international editions help sustain the infrastucture needed for local book publishing that is important both economically and culturally. Local pricing, and the ability to profit from locally generated sales and marketing initiatives are also important parts of this.

Language/translation rights can be a useful alternative to achieve this but only if you have a unique language. If, for instance, you’re a small English language market like New Zealand, it’s no barrier. The only way to have a chance of developing a local market is to have territorial rights.

It’s too easy to be swamped by large foreign players with their massive scale economies so that the local industry has no chance to get effectively established. It’s especially irksome when those overseas sites evade local sales taxes, too, giving a further opportunity to stymie a local industry.

We’re trying to grow a sustainable industry here in New Zealand and the last thing we need to see is the rapid arrival of large US sites taking the publishing profits from international bestsellers out of this small market through global rights deals. If this happens, we’ll be relegated to a tiny, weak cottage industry. Give us a break.

Library humor webcomic “Unshelved” today offers some gentle ribbing of e-book enthusiasts. (Click for the punchline.)

Just another reason it is doubtful e-books will ever replace paper books, the same way paperbacks have never replaced hardcovers.

But, as the punchline shows, there’s no reason they can’t continue to exist side by side.

Without hesitation, he said, “Green Apple Books.” 

So I went there.  It’s just what you’d expect: the slightly standoffish clerks, the vast selection of Buddhist-themed tomes, the glowing Sherman Alexie recommendations.

I surrendered to that wonderful vertigo every avid reader experiences when there are too many good books to count, not enough time, and not enough money.  I walked out exhilarated with two bulging bags of used paperbacks.

So I was intrigued to see that Green Apple is mounting an anti-Kindle campaign via YouTube. 

Their point, evidently, is that a Kindle will get you nowhere in a used bookstore.  Fair enough, and amusingly presented.  (Irony #1: Green Apple using electronic technology to refute the value of e-books.  Irony #2  the Kindle transforming hipster Left Coasters into the fuddy-duddy conservatives of the book world.)

Of course, Green Apple doesn’t mention that the Kindle and other e-readers have the potential to make places such as Green Apple obsolete, the recent brouhaha surrounding Amazon’s 1984-like silent zapping of 1984 notwithstanding.

E-readers have all kinds of issues to work out before that ever happens, needless to say.  But traditional bookstores can’t just void their existence with dollops of meta-snarkasm.  I, for one, hope that Green Apple and others like it find a way to adapt and survive.  But they’re going to have to do it in a world of e-readers.  I don’t know that trading on their hipster appeal is going to be enough to keep them afloat.

The videos here are Parts One and Two a planned series of ten. Stayed tuned to Green Apple’s YouTube channel and their blog for updates.

Related: Earlier post on the Green Apple YouTube series.

Editor’s note: Actually I’ve written before on how wonderful indie bookstores like Green Apple might make the transition to E and POD, while still selling P books to those who wanted them. – DR

Detail: Polyphonic’s founder is Brian Message, who manages the Radiohead rock band (photo)—itself an experimenter.

The TeleRead take: So would this biz model work for some writes  and books (both e-books and the paper variety), and if so, what kinds? Best criteria to be used? Granted, e-books cost less to produce than p-books. But certain expenses, such as good editing, won’t decline. Plus, e-books, too, need promo—which can be pricey.

Hits me directly in the pocketbook. My novel, The Solomon Scandals, has been on sale there in trade paperback.

I’m not sure what the solution is. Perhaps  libraries and independent bookstores could get together to do locally originated POD books that could also appear in E. The most successful titles could be farmed out to conventional publishers. Far from a total solution! But perhaps part of one?

Related: Espresso Book Machines: ‘Lurch’ winning friends at Northshire Bookstore—what’s next?

Bill Smith is behind some Star Wars guides selling nearly half a million copies total. Jeremy Blachman delighted reviewers at USA Today and elsewhere with his satire of the legal world. Elizabeth Neff Walker has written 30 novels, one of which is about “weight, sex and fidelity.” Keith Melton’s urban fantasy novel is about a vampire who’d rather feed off the Mafiosi. Heather S. Ingemar delves into demonic worlds.

Those six writers are among the TeleRead community members answering a notice headlined TeleRead’s free promote-your-book arrangements. Seize the day, no? Mind you, this is just a sample. Sorry I couldn’t include everyone up front.

And now the promos…

In alphabetical order by last name, here is how people wrote up their books, or at least some of them. If you wanted your book promo to be in this post, but didn’t get a chance to e-mail us or think your note went astray, just add a comment. Don’t be shy. The idea here is to be self-promoting.

To keep up the pace of the blog and reduce loading time, we will farm out most of the post to “inside”—the parts under this paragraph—but for the next few hours, we’ll try to keep everything on our home page.

Jeremy Blachman, author of Anonymous Lawyer

This is “a satire about life at a powerful, deeply wicked corporate law firm, from the perspective of an attorney who’s writing a secret weblog exposing his firm’s inner workings to the world. The book developed from an anonymous blog.

“I started writing while a law student at Harvard, posing as a law firm partner ranting about the evils of life at his firm. The blog seemed to tap into what a lot of lawyers and law students were feeling about the industry, went viral, and I was revealed as the author in a profile in The New York Times… thus leading to an agent and the book deal with Holt to turn the blog into a novel.

“USA Today called the book ‘wickedly amusing’ and the Rocky Mountain News named it one of its best books of 2006.

“I created a parody law firm site that gives a sense of what it’s all about (and has a few podcasts and other fun stuff). Makes a good gift for an aspiring lawyer… unless you actually want them to become one.”

Mark Coggins, author of Vulture Capital

“When venture capitalist Ted Valmont is belatedly informed that the Chief Scientist of NeuroStimix—a biotech firm in which he has invested—is missing, it’s not just business, it’s personal.

“Not only is the scientist an old school chum, but his disappearance jeopardizes the development of NeuroStimix’s most important product: a device intended to aid spinal cord injury victims. Since Valmont’s twin brother, Tim, was paralyzed in a college diving accident, finding the scientist and getting him back into harness is of the utmost importance to both brothers.

“Valmont engages August Riordan to assist in the search and the men soon discover that the disappearance is part of a larger conspiracy to use NeuroStimix technology for perverse applications. Terrorism. Prostitution. Slave labor. These are just the beginning.

And when a beautiful, mysterious young woman comes onto the scene, it’s
impossible to say whether the technology will provide the ultimate
means to save them all or be the catalyst for tortuous, self-inflicted
deaths…

“More information and details are here. On sale now for under $2 for Kindle and Scribd.”

Aaron DeMott, author of Meski, a book in progress

“So I’m not published yet, but I’m about 90 percent done with a rough draft of a science-fiction story that I’m going to get published, one way or another.

“In the book, the Goddard is on a routine mission to take Guardian Tomed Nor to a diplomatic meeting, when it is attacked by pirates and forced to land on an uncharted planet to make repairs.

“Meanwhile…

“When a human ship lands unexpectedly in the middle of her clan’s territory, Bast is sent to investigate as part of her scout trial. After accidentally injuring her paw, she meets these new visitors and she, and her senior scout Rrrark, are invited to return with the alien humans to their home planet to open diplomatic relations. Soon they are caught up in what seems to be a pirate scheme that threatens to bring war to the galaxy with only her, Rrrark and two Guardians to prevent it.

“If this sounds interesting, you can follow my progress.”

Richard Guthrie, author of Power over Publishing:

Power over Publishing (in pre-press): "…Established media…kept prices for e-books high, engaged in technology suppression, exploited the draconian powers and provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, promoted cumbersome Digital Rights Management technology locks, and directed their media assets to promote doubt and fear in the minds of ill-formed consumers. Corporate publishing went to war with New Media.”

Heather S. Ingemar, author of Prophet’s Choice

“Lyra is a girl caught in the middle. The demon warlord, the Scourge, has lain siege to the capital city of Zaanefra with his multitude of inhuman henchmen.

“The citizens of Zaanefra are outnumbered beyond imagination, but the King and his advisor, Loremaster Arken, are convinced they’ve got a weapon to turn the tide: her.

“Lyra has the legendary gift of Sight, a thing attributed only to the powerful Prophets of old, men and women who wielded the Silver Scepter of Truth to maintain and protect balance in the land. But Lyra’s gift weakens her with every use, and she’s already lost an awful lot to this war; her family, her friends, and her home were destroyed by the Scourge on his march of conquest. Is she about to lose herself too?

“I’ve got a few other releases as well, and more information can be had on my Web site.”

Keith Melton, author of Blood Vice

"Mafia hit man. Vampire. The criminal underworld just got a whole lot darker.

"Business has never been better for hit man Karl Vance. Boston is awash in mafia blood, and Vance has a certain fondness for blood. He’s a master vampire—one of the most powerful of his kind. Having sworn to never again feed on the blood of innocents, Karl preys instead on Boston’s criminal underworld. Which makes him a valuable asset to those who deal in death.

"Maria Ricardi intends to use that asset to its full extent in order to gain power within her patriarchal crime family. Vance thinks he’s been hired to keep track of the family’s princess, but she’s got a plan to get her hands dirty and earn the respect she deserves.

"Her driving ambition draws the attention of a rival clan’s newest and most dangerous ‘consultant.’ Alejandro Delgado, Vance’s centuries-old nemesis. Delgado zeroes in on the one chink in Vance’s armor—his fondness for the headstrong Maria.

"When she becomes enslaved by Delgado’s unnatural kiss, only one thing is certain. Vance has to decide which he wants more. To settle the score—or rescue her soul."

Bill Smith, author of Star Wars guides, among other books

“Bill Smith, author of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology and numerous Star Wars Roleplaying Game products, has released the first three ebooks in his new Outlaw Galaxy series.

“Outlaw Galaxy 1: Trip and the Space Pirates is a free download, as are several Outlaw Galaxy short stories. Outlaw Galaxy 2: Fugitive Among the Stars is a $2 ebook. Outlaw Galaxy 3: Hunter’s Truth and Other Tales (short story collection) is a $1 ebook.

“The Outlaw Galaxy series are space fantasy novels of swashbuckling adventure that appeal to the young and young at heart.

“Outlaw Galaxy e-books are available in HTML format. While not without its flaws, HTML is a universal format that can be read by almost any device. HTML is also easily converted to more specialized ebook formats.

“While Bill Smith’s books through mainstream publishers have sold nearly half a millions copies, he is a firm believer in the future of indie publishing, particularly ebooks. He also likes being able to write whatever he darn well pleases without answering to a committee."

Francis Turner, a co-author of How to Market in ICT Today: Tips and Stories from Top European Companies

"What tools and techniques work in international ICT marketing now? And how much online vs. traditional marketing should we do? In this e-book, seven highly accomplished marketing experts from some of the most successful ICT companies in Europe share their insights and stories in a series of interviews conducted by Extendance.

“We found it extremely interesting, sometimes surprising and often entertaining how openly they spoke to us. Read, learn and apply this wisdom yourself."

Elizabeth Neff Walker (Neff Rotter), author of An Abundant Woman

“Six months in America should give Dr. Amanda Potter a chance to re-evaluate her life. In London her marriage of twenty-two years is unraveling, and her hospital superior is trying to sabotage her career.

“But danger awaits her in America as well. The director of her OB/GYN department is actively biased against women of abundant proportions. Alas, Amanda is packaged in a petite but Rubenesque body with a personality more forthright than tactful.

“And then there’s the recently-divorced Jack Hunter, complete with melancholy blue eyes. He offers Amanda a challenge–and forces her to take a hard look at her own perceptions of weight, sex and fidelity.”

===============

A publisher also responded. Fearing I hadn’t been sufficiently clear about the use of the word "published," which I meant in an authorial way, I grandfathered him in.

Paul Durant

"The True and Pathetic History of Desbarollda, The Waltzing Mouse". Written by Noel Langley (The Land of Green Ginger, Script for Wizard of Oz). Illustrated by Edward Ardizzone (Writer & illustrator of the "Tim" Books, illustrator of many other children’s books).

We follow the fortunes of Desbarollda, a young mouse whose family have lived in the kitchens of a Duke’s castle for generations. Desbarollda has a passion and a talent for dancing, which comes to the fore when she’s caught by the kitchen boy and the Duke’s son. Her life seems set to be one of a career on the stage, but then…

Now available in paperback editions from Amazon UK and Amazon US:

Monochrome illustrations

Colour Illustrations here and here

With the original wrap-around colour cover, and illustrations and drop capitals throughout.

TeleRead will be running a roundup of 200-word summaries, and we want you to be in it.

We’ll extend the deadline over the weekend and also include more than the ten writers originally envisioned. Email me and use TELEREAD MENTION in caps in the subject line.

I’ve already heard from one TeleRead community member—to be named, of course!—who has sold close to half a million copies through mainstream publishers. Some of his books are Star Wars-related.

Detail: Both paper books and e-books qualify.

The TeleRead take: So what’s next? A “Beliefs and causes” area for those who prefer paper books?

And will the memberships of those two Facebook areas overlap heavily with that of something else—envisioned by Andy Oram, another old friend? “An obituary notification service” for Boomers.

Look, my own feeling about media is, “However and wherever.” In this video-crazed era, readers of all stripes need to stick together.

A venerable local bookstore, the Trover Shop, at 221 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., in Washington, is or soon will be stocking The Solomon Scandals.

You can call 202-547-BOOK or fax or e-mail the store to reserve your own Scandals.

Even if you don’t live in D.C., you might order from Trover. It’s a nice way of rewarding Trover for its initiative and of thumbing your nose at Amazon, which, at least unwittingly, has done a superb job of concealing the paperback edition from shoppers.

Scandals is to newspapers what the old Network movie was to TV news—an oft-satirical mix of the authentic and the fictitious. A deadly building collapse in Northern Virginia and a Senator’s secret investment in a CIA-occupied building helped inspire Scandals.

Review-proof so far

Coincidentally or not, Scandals has been rather review-proof in an annoying way. The troublemakers at the Washington City Paper recommended Scandals (“Same dark zeal Hammett held for Frisco or Chandler had for Los Angeles”), but not one other pulped-wood publication has carried a syllable about the book even though it’s from a legitimate small press with four finalists in the 2008 ForeWord Book of the Year competition. Scandals carries endorsements from Watergate Pulitzer Prize winner James Polk and from James Fallows, author of Breaking the News, not just a former newsmagazine editor.

Why virtually no reviews? The mass media typically ignore first novels. So very possibly, the explanation could be rather prosaic. Then again, could the newspaper depression have reached the point where some editors and writers have lost their sense of humor and don’t want to be too downbeat about their profession?

Word slowly getting out anyway

I don’t know the answer—only, that news about Scandals will be slowly getting out one way or another. The Fairfax County, Virginia, library system will broadcast an interview with me in the next week or so, The Writing Show will have a Scandals segment coming up later this year, and in July I’ll be featured in a chatcast from a library-related organization called OPAL. In March, Epublishers Weekly praised Scandals for its humor and said that “all the corruption we could ever desire—artistically rendered and skillfully told—is tucked inside the pages of The Solomon Scandals.” Steve Windwalker also recced it, as “a great, very contemporary yarn” (disclosure: he’s a TeleBlog contributor, although he acted on his own without any prompting).

List price is $16.95. I don’t know if Trover will be giving a discount, but I’d hope that wouldn’t affect your buying decision. This is a wonderful way of voting against an Amazon-dominated book business. You can also order P or E editions from other stores, E and P, although Trover would be an excellent choice if you’d like to help spread buzz about Scandals among the influential.

Meanwhile apologies for the horn-blowing, but given the mainstream media’s apathy toward first novels—and perhaps other factors—I’ll resort to whatever it takes to let people know about Scandals.

Related: My comments on the need for big media., even though it can get sloppy about links. The whole works, please—the New York Times and bloggers (and librarians to do reliable archiving!).