Happy New Years Eve (NYE) everyone. There's too much going on around here and we've had a blockbuster year! We wish all our Authors the best! Let's keep doing it! Here's a list of some of the best books of 2011 as put together by Publishers Weekly and some we liked:
The Marriage Plot
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Kobo turns 2
Happy Birthday Kobo!
$199.99Kobo Vox
They've had one heck of a ride already! From getting their humble start with Borders that was trying some last minute digital shot before going bankrupt; and to then emerge unscathed by the madness only to turn into a powerful force in it's own right. Kobo then released it's own ereader and sharpened up it's image to compete with the big dogs and form the last company in "The Big 5" (Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader & KOBO) Sure market share is still single digit, but they've got a brand new ereader called the Kobo Vox that allows access to the internet, email, music and video and with an android operating system, you can download 15,000 and growing apps. Then the strangest thing happened. The Japanese firm Rakuten came outta nowhere and bought them for $350 Million dollars and left the entire management team intact.
Go Kobo! It's your Birthday! Go Kobo! Go Kobo!
So Happy Birthday! We've enjoyed the ride! Kobo lists around 20 of our books and we are proud to work with them.
$199.99Kobo Vox
They've had one heck of a ride already! From getting their humble start with Borders that was trying some last minute digital shot before going bankrupt; and to then emerge unscathed by the madness only to turn into a powerful force in it's own right. Kobo then released it's own ereader and sharpened up it's image to compete with the big dogs and form the last company in "The Big 5" (Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader & KOBO) Sure market share is still single digit, but they've got a brand new ereader called the Kobo Vox that allows access to the internet, email, music and video and with an android operating system, you can download 15,000 and growing apps. Then the strangest thing happened. The Japanese firm Rakuten came outta nowhere and bought them for $350 Million dollars and left the entire management team intact.
Go Kobo! It's your Birthday! Go Kobo! Go Kobo!
So Happy Birthday! We've enjoyed the ride! Kobo lists around 20 of our books and we are proud to work with them.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Huge sales for Amazon Tablet ~ Kindle Fire
Consumers swiped up FOUR times as many on this Black Friday over last. Consumers bought one for themselves, one for a friend and one for a family member, typically. With prices ranging from $79 on the old fashion Kindle models with 16 shades of gray to affordability of a tablet device at $199 for the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet selling for $249 it was a consumer frenzy out there. Many big box electronic stores (Best Buy, Staples) are carrying them. Of course you could still buy the Kindle DX for $379 which has the largest screen, but still has 16 different shades of gray. The screen is sized at a totally readable 9.7", just to put it in context the new Kindle Fire screen size is 7"
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Kobo Sold for $315 Million
Kobo Books Sold for $315 Million
November 8th, 2011 by Nate Hoffelder
Kobo just announced in the past hour that they’ve been sold to Rakuten, a Japanese web retail giant, for $315 million.
Details are still scarce, but the press release is already out and it covers the basics. Rakuten will be buying out everyone, including Indigo Books, who will be getting somewhere around $160 million for their chunk of Kobo. Not much will change after the sale. It’s already been announced that Kobo will continue to operate as an independent company and keep their offices in Toronto, NYC, and their other locations.
Kobo were launched by Indigo Books, a major Canadian bookseller, in December 2009 when they spun out Shortcovers, their ebook subsidiary. The company was expanded with new capital investments from Redgroup Retail, Borders (US), and a Hong Kong based venture capitalist. Kobo also went through a second round of financing earlier this year where they picked up another 56 million dollars. Those funds are being used to fuel Kobo’s international expansion including recent forays into Germany, France, and the UK.
Kobo are often regarded as the third major ebookstore, and they are the most widely distributed. But they also have fairly shallow penetration into any one market, with US market share estimated to be around 3% to 5%.
This is good news for Kobo, Rakuten, and it could be good news for customers. Kobo are being picked up by a digital powerhouse. They are pretty much in the same position as Mobipocket were in when Amazon bought them in 2005. Amazon wanted an ebook platform and they bought the best available. Then Amazon dismembered Mobipocket, but that’s Amazon for you. Luckily for Kobo, Rakuten won’t have the opportunity to dismember the company. They probably want to get into ebook sales as quickly as possible, and that means Kobo are more likely to gain new staff, funding, and assistance from other parts of Rakuten.
Update on Rakuten: They’re being called the Japanese version of Amazon. Among other companies, they own Buy.com, UK based Play.com, and Linkshare. They also have a vast retail site at Rakuten.com, so my description that this is similar to Amazon buying Mobipocket turned out to be very accurate.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
NaNoWriMo ~ Get Writing Everyone
Get Started.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
MTA KING
Please click the link on the fourth page within the ebook that will take you to a you tube link of your favorite Hood Rat.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Octobers best selling books.
1. October Fest (The Murder-By-Month Mysteries) By Jess Lourey
2. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
3.The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan
4. The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks
5. Eyewall by H.W. "Buzz" Bernard
6. The Affair: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher)
7. The Abbey by Chris Culver
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9. The Litigators by John Grisham
10. Wired by Douglas E. Richards
2. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
3.The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan
4. The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks
5. Eyewall by H.W. "Buzz" Bernard
6. The Affair: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher)
7. The Abbey by Chris Culver
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9. The Litigators by John Grisham
10. Wired by Douglas E. Richards
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Nook tent at Adobe Max Event.
There were a ton of people excited to hear about all the possibilities with APPS on the Nook.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Kindle Fire burns the competition
Color on a 7" display
Streaming Movies
Internet
A price of $199.
Release is Nov. 15th.
Amazon promised to make a couple million of em so they don't run out of em for the holidays, but you should pre-order to make sure you get it.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Top 10 Kindle Books TODAY
Number 1. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Number 2. "Alison Wonderland" by Helen Smith
Number 3. "Blind Faith" by CJ Lions
Number 4. "The Abbey" by Chris Culver
Number 5. "The Mill River Recluse" by Darcie Chan
Number 6. "Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise" by Joyce Magnin
Number 7. "Mile 81" by Stephen King
Number 8. "Untouchable" by Scott O'Conner
Number 9. "Scared Stiff (Mattie Windson Mysteries)" by Annelise Ryan
And coming in at Number 10. "Making Sense Of People: Decoding the Mysteries of Personality" by Samuel Barondes
Good Work Everyone! Now get to work on the next ones!
Number 2. "Alison Wonderland" by Helen Smith
Number 3. "Blind Faith" by CJ Lions
Number 4. "The Abbey" by Chris Culver
Number 5. "The Mill River Recluse" by Darcie Chan
Number 6. "Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise" by Joyce Magnin
Number 7. "Mile 81" by Stephen King
Number 8. "Untouchable" by Scott O'Conner
Number 9. "Scared Stiff (Mattie Windson Mysteries)" by Annelise Ryan
And coming in at Number 10. "Making Sense Of People: Decoding the Mysteries of Personality" by Samuel Barondes
Good Work Everyone! Now get to work on the next ones!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Apple to sell 28 Million iPads in 2011?
Below is a list of dates and the amount of units sold to date, not including the weird chinese rip-offs. Remember we are looking for sales for this year. Not the whole time, but I included them all so you can see how Apple is gaining momentum.
July 2011 - 25 Million Units
March 2011 - 19 Million Units
Jan 18th, 2011 - 14.8 Million Units
Sept, 2010 - 7.5 Million Units
July, 2010 - 3.27 Million Units
May 28th, 2010 - 2 Million
May 3rd, 2010 - 1 Million units
April, 2010 - 750,000
March, 2010 - 300,000 units sold
to learn more about the weird Chinese copies go HERE
With the above figures you can see that Apple has sold around 10.2 Million Units this year thru July. You can also see momentum building and we're adding new consumers rapidly. They were selling about 6 million units every 6 months. Now they are selling 10 million units every 6 months and building speed. Go Apple!
They are also building up momentum.
July 2011 - 25 Million Units
March 2011 - 19 Million Units
Jan 18th, 2011 - 14.8 Million Units
Sept, 2010 - 7.5 Million Units
July, 2010 - 3.27 Million Units
May 28th, 2010 - 2 Million
May 3rd, 2010 - 1 Million units
April, 2010 - 750,000
March, 2010 - 300,000 units sold
to learn more about the weird Chinese copies go HERE
With the above figures you can see that Apple has sold around 10.2 Million Units this year thru July. You can also see momentum building and we're adding new consumers rapidly. They were selling about 6 million units every 6 months. Now they are selling 10 million units every 6 months and building speed. Go Apple!
They are also building up momentum.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Kindle Cloud Reader & Scribd Float & Rowlings' Pottermore brave the bleeding edge
Hello Good Stuff. Now you can download once and read anywhere. Even on your iPad. That means you don't need to go to the iBookstore to get your books anymore.
You're going to see this a lot.
You can already see Scribd, the number 1 document site, going into the cloud with their new toy: FLOAT.
Check em all out and then see JK Rowling release her Harry Potter series the same way.
What have these three things have in common?
They're all distributors now.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Olyvia Apple delivers the goods in this Pick Up Artist Classic
DON’T LET A WOMAN CONFUSE YOU OR THROW YOU OFF AGAIN! SURVIVE THE SHIT TEST!
Do you ever try to approach a woman or do something for your girlfriend or wife, and she gives you a hard time for no good reason? She makes snide comments or asks off-putting questions that make you feel like she’s putting you through a hoop?
That is called a Shit Test.
The “Shit Test” is a very real phenomenon identified and widely discussed by the Pick-Up Artist (PUA) community, a community consisting mostly of men that teaches men how to be more successful at courting, dating, and seducing women.
Most PUA’s teach that a Shit Test is a built-in psychological mechanism designed to test the man’s mettle during a pick-up attempt or courtship. What they don’t tell you is that the Shit Test continues through all stages of a relationship, only the intent of the test changes.
Intended for men who are single or in a relationship, Survival of the Shittest will do more than help you pass Shit Tests with flying colors, it will transform your understanding of women to help you attract more women and keep the one you like!
IN SURVIVAL OF THE SHITTEST YOU'LL LEARN
• The origins of the Shit Test
• Who gives Shit Tests and under what circumstances and settings
• Why women give Shit Tests
• What goes on through a woman's mind when a man approaches her
• The qualities that attract women throughout the various stages of the courtship and relationship
• Examples of Shit Tests from real-life and cinema
• How to respond effectively to a Shit Test, and what a man MUST NOT DO when encountering Shit Tests
• Why Shit Tests are crucial to a man's emotional and intellectual well-being
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
BREATHE artwork
We're working hard on a YA fiction tale of survival at the end of the world. The entire world has fallen into chaos. Adaleigh is the only daughter to the King of the New Texas Republic. Times are tough in the future, but with good leadership, luck and some planning, civilization is being pieced back together again. "Breathe" is scheduled to be released this Summer, this is the first novella in a ten book series by J. Schaffner. Priced at an affordable $2.99.
John Locke Joins the Kindle Million Club
Check him out! LETHAL BOOKS and he's pretty well known for those fabulous legs on his covers.
He just became the 8th Kindle Author to break the Million Club.
And he just wrote a book on how he did it!
The Fame and Fortune is out there for the taking!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Breathe Cover Art
We're working hard on a YA fiction tale of survival at the end of the world. The entire world has fallen into chaos. Adaleigh is the only daughter to the King of the New Texas Republic. Times are tough in the future, but with good leadership, luck and some planning, civilization is being pieced back together again. "Breathe" is scheduled to be released this Summer, this is the first novella in a ten book series by J. Schaffner. Priced at an affordable $2.99.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Pocket Book Sized Nook
What?
A Brand new Pocket sized Nook to Rival the Kindle.
Check out some of the Perks:
- Easiest to use 6” touchscreen
- Most advanced E-Ink® display—crisp text, even in bright sun
- Longest battery life—read up to 2 months on just 1 charge
- Ultra-light and thin—under 8 ounces
- Largest bookstore with more than 2 million titles—get them in seconds
- Expert recommendations & fun social features
It ships June 10th.
Cost is $139
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Things in Arizona are Heating Up for James Arthur Ray
Fellow Author and our Chief Editor Geraldine Birch is watching the James Arthur Ray manslaughter trial in Prescott, AZ with a magnifying glass and will keep you abreast of the latest updates:
Sedona: City of Refugees: Detective in James Ray Case in Tight Corner: "The lead detective that investigated the evidence at the Angel Valley spiritual retreat in Sedona emphasized after three days of cross exami..."
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
LA times festival of Books
to downtown and USC. It should be very exciting.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
New Kindle with Ads costs $114
Hello new customer base. It's a little smaller, but my wife says it's the same size as the Regular Kindle. We also saw the KINDLE DX in the store and it's a beauty. Large and in Charge.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Do you QR?
The Japanese have been using them for years. QR Codes are all the rage these days.
Anyone with a smart phone doesn't even need to punch in your web address anymore. They just take a photo of your QR code with their QR code scanner and bingo, they are taken directly to your EBOOK.
Works great with marketing Ebooks.
We're still pretty excited to be working with LAX Car Share to do some cross promotions. If you're ever in Mid Wilshire or now even WE HO, you can rent one of their cars by the hour. I think it's $7 an hour. Huh?! Wha What?!? That's right! They beat out ZipCar by a dollar. Oh Yea!
LAX CAR SHARE
Viva the Digital Age and here's a QR code.
Anyone with a smart phone doesn't even need to punch in your web address anymore. They just take a photo of your QR code with their QR code scanner and bingo, they are taken directly to your EBOOK.
Works great with marketing Ebooks.
We're still pretty excited to be working with LAX Car Share to do some cross promotions. If you're ever in Mid Wilshire or now even WE HO, you can rent one of their cars by the hour. I think it's $7 an hour. Huh?! Wha What?!? That's right! They beat out ZipCar by a dollar. Oh Yea!
LAX CAR SHARE
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Gotta Stay Busy
It seems like the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Now Portugal is going bankrupt. Wow. Let's hope Spain isn't next, then we're all in big trouble. The USA is scheduled to go into a Government shutdown starting tomorrow night at midnight. We've got all of North Africa in an uproar and not to mention the Radiation leak happening in Japan that is worse than Chernobyl but everyone is denying it.
Thank Goodness the Bronxs' missing cobra was found. That was something fun to follow. Someone started a twitter feed of the missing cobra and those new yorkers are so clever. Didn't get overdone.
Might still have the feed. @Bronxszoocobra was really funny all week.
What else? We're thinking of new and exciting ways to get the word out about eBooks. Free PDF downloads from our new site: Ebookopolis.com
Oh yea, we just bought Ebookopolis.com in case you wanted to know.
Viva the digital age, and even though the world might seem like it's falling apart, it's just rocking and rolling and this is what we should expect for the next little bit here. Crazy Weather. Crazy Revolutions and more murders in Juarez, Mexico than any other city in the world/per capita. I think 2 Mexicans died while I was writing this.
Juarez, Mexico is crazy.
So to recap: Stay inside and write that story.
Thank Goodness the Bronxs' missing cobra was found. That was something fun to follow. Someone started a twitter feed of the missing cobra and those new yorkers are so clever. Didn't get overdone.
Might still have the feed. @Bronxszoocobra was really funny all week.
What else? We're thinking of new and exciting ways to get the word out about eBooks. Free PDF downloads from our new site: Ebookopolis.com
Oh yea, we just bought Ebookopolis.com in case you wanted to know.
Viva the digital age, and even though the world might seem like it's falling apart, it's just rocking and rolling and this is what we should expect for the next little bit here. Crazy Weather. Crazy Revolutions and more murders in Juarez, Mexico than any other city in the world/per capita. I think 2 Mexicans died while I was writing this.
Juarez, Mexico is crazy.
So to recap: Stay inside and write that story.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Viva the Digital Word
Do not know where to start. We've got a string of eBooks scheduled to start pumping their way out.
Currently working on formatting content and not worrying too much about Marketing, so you might see this blog go dry for a week or so. But We'll be back.
Currently working on formatting content and not worrying too much about Marketing, so you might see this blog go dry for a week or so. But We'll be back.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Exciting February
Get Out There and find new ways of Advertising.
Nasa.gov/Glory
Think Big!
Another Great Way of advertising is writing an article about what your book is about and then add a little bit about the book in there. Tom Carsley is a great example. He's gotten his article on this great survival blog and he's created some buzz.
Digital Advertising is the best direction for Digital bound books. Project Wonderful is an advertising site every small digital business should use.
The First in a long series of DIY family books, the series "Daddy, What are you making now?" is currently available on Kindle.
Nasa.gov/Glory
Think Big!
Another Great Way of advertising is writing an article about what your book is about and then add a little bit about the book in there. Tom Carsley is a great example. He's gotten his article on this great survival blog and he's created some buzz.
Digital Advertising is the best direction for Digital bound books. Project Wonderful is an advertising site every small digital business should use.
The First in a long series of DIY family books, the series "Daddy, What are you making now?" is currently available on Kindle.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
G. Birch keeps us updated on the madness in Sedona
James Arthur Ray is about to go to trial. He stuffed one too many people in a sweat lodge and now he's on trial for murder, or is it manslaughter?!? We don't know! Find out all the juicy details on Geraldine Birchs' blog for her novel
"Sedona: City of Refugees"
There's always something interesting going on in that town. So, Yea! Check out Mrs. Birchs' Blog for up to the minute information on the James Arthur Ray trial. You can get there by clicking the word blog, in the sentence up above, or through the sidebar.
Viva the Digital Age.
"Sedona: City of Refugees"
There's always something interesting going on in that town. So, Yea! Check out Mrs. Birchs' Blog for up to the minute information on the James Arthur Ray trial. You can get there by clicking the word blog, in the sentence up above, or through the sidebar.
Viva the Digital Age.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Start a writing group
You're favorite publisher always likes to keep things fresh and has joined a writing group that meets on Tuesdays. All kinds of new authors and all kinds of new ideas will surface at this group. It's mostly a bunch of writers that use to work at the Mondrian Hotel and now they are meeting for cocktails and 5 page story reading on tuesdays in Los Feliz.
So, Start your own.
Get out there with some other authors, screen writers, poets, novelists and any other kind of writer and write stuff and share it.
I don't know what shape the writers group will take, but i've secretly dubbed it the Mondrian Writers Guild and am excited to start going.
Long Live the Digital Word!
So, Start your own.
Get out there with some other authors, screen writers, poets, novelists and any other kind of writer and write stuff and share it.
I don't know what shape the writers group will take, but i've secretly dubbed it the Mondrian Writers Guild and am excited to start going.
Long Live the Digital Word!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
It's the new year
We've got to set you up right this year. Let's break down how you can write more.
1.) Stop Sleeping so Much
2.) Buy more pens and pencils and notebooks
3.) Find some time
4.) Listen to your favorite music and let everything in your mind out onto the page. It doesn't have to make sense at first.
5.) Throw a party and tell people you're writing a book.
6.) Make an outline of how you think the story should be on a big ass piece of cardboard.
7.) CHARACTERS! CHARACTERS! The more the better and don't be afraid to use MOM but call her Janet (unless your moms' name is Janet, then use something else) Or anyone else you know really well that would be a great character.
8.) Write an episode of your favorite TV show just for practice.
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