Adam PalmerThere are now enough e-readers' on the market for everyone in your family tree to have a different brand. With all the hoopla surrounding the new crop of e-reader's and tablets at this year's CES, it is a breath of fresh air (and a relief) to read Knute Berger's piece at Crosscut "Will the book survive?"Berger's piece is littered with sanity and hope for the book and, as importantly, the bookshop.Here are a few nuggets:"Kindle and products like it are a boon for readers, and I don't object to them. In fact, I was pleased to learn that my...
Sherman Alexie at Big Think
Here is a 21 minute gem of an interview with Alexie at Big Think. From his literary influences to his place in both the current literary cannon and in the Native American Literature canon. From his thoughts on e-books and the printed book to readings and being a multi-genre writer and the role of drugs and alcohol in his life and writing.A must see for any Alexie fan or really anyone interested in writing, reading and the state of the book world.Here's the full transcript of the interview:Sherman Alexie: My name is Sherman Alexie and I’m the bantamweight champion of...
Is the E-Reader Price War Next?
The way the current online price war between Wal-Mart, Amazon, Sears and Target is shaping up there is a chance one of them might be paying me to read one of their featured books by Christmas.It started as a shot off the bow by Wal-Mart to wake up the populace to their online life. Pre-order the top upcoming releases for $10 and free shipping but before you could click the buy button Amazon joined the party and matched the deal. Soon after Target joined the fray. Now less than a week later the price sits at $8.98 at Walmart, $8.99...
A sign of hope in the latest "last chapter for bookshops" saga
The Kindle was released into the world today.In anticipation of the event the UK magazine Retail Week published the piece: As e-readers launch, is it the last chapter for bookshops? by George MacDonald.Surprisingly, before the yawn and the customary filing in the 'end of the bookshop is near' file the story balances itself out. It actually ponders "if the world of print will prove resilient" and offers some nuggets of sanity from Tim Waterstone, founder of the Waterstone’s, the UK's largest chain bookseller.While Waterstone admits that the e-book revolution will have an effect he also is quite convinced that books...
Book in a Day
Beginning tomorrow morning a group of writers will collaborate on writing a book about London. They will have one day to write it!The entire book will be written online using Google Documents. They're calling it the 24hrBook Project and it is being sponsored by the folks at if:book, The Society of Young Publishers and CompletelyNovel.com.When the day ends a group of editors and publishers will swarm in to get the book into shape and ready for publication.In addition to the book being available to read online Completelynovel.com will have it ready to be printed on demand beginning Monday.An interesting idea...