Темы
Разделы
Интересы
Top 20
 |
| 91 | Scott Nicholson, a prolific author with 70 books to date, has found most of his success online, selling self-published books at Amazon for the Kindle and other e-readers.
He handles the entire process himself -- from downloading stock photos at $4 to $5 a pop and making covers in Gimp, a free photo software tool, to converting the manuscripts into formats compatible for the e-readers.
"If I can do it, anyone can," says Nicholson, 49, who writes four novels a year from his home in Boone, N.C. He won't say how much he makes, but it's a "comfortable living," solely on e-book royalties. "I'm self-taught on every part of this."
Not everyone is as tech-savvy as Nicholson, and as willing to put in the extra hours. For those who would like some shortcuts, new tools are available to help authors with their conversions. Rates are relatively cheap, or free in Apple's case.
Red Staple and Folium Book Studio, both released in January, offer self-service online tools to convert your books into the ePub format, which, in turn, can be uploaded for Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, Apple's iPad and Sony's E-Reader, at varying prices. Red starts at $29.99, while Folium is $99.
That's the price for a basic book with mostly text and a cover you make yourself and upload.
What about for those who want to make an e-book that's a multimedia extravaganza?
Apple just released iBooks Author, a free software app for Apple computers that offers drag-and-drop self-publishing tools for Apple's iBooks bookstore. The app is available in Apple's App Store for Macintosh computers, where you'll need an operating system at least as current as 2009's Snow Leopard.
Even though the app is geared to textbook authors, writers of any stripe can add photos and video clips, though they must first be converted to Apple's... newsfactor.com » | | 92 | The nascent world of e-books may be about to get hit with charges about old-fashioned price-fixing. On Thursday, several reports indicated that the U.S. Justice Department has issued warnings to Apple and five major publishers that it will bring legal action against the companies for working together to raise the prices of e-books.
The reports, from Reuters news service, The Wall Street Journal and other media, cited people familiar with the story, and said that, in addition to Apple, the targets were Simon & Schuster, the Hachette Book Group, the Penguin Group, Macmillan, and HarperCollins. None of the companies commented on the reports.
'Agency Model'
The reports also said that several of the target companies have held talks with the Justice Department to discuss a possible settlement, which could lead to a major price shift downward for e-books.
The pending Justice Department action apparently centers on the "agency model" to which the publishers agreed, which established e-book prices. Apple agreed to take a 30 percent cut of the agreed-upon prices. A key driver of the arrangement was Amazon's move to sell e-books for its Kindle e-reader at discounted prices that alarmed some in the book industry.
Under agency pricing, publishers determine what prices retailers can charge. This is opposed to the more common wholesale pricing, where retailers pay a less-than-retail price and then charge whatever they prefer. Wholesale pricing for physical books is typically half the recommended retail price, but there is no obligation to sell the books at the recommended price.
Amazon, a leader in the e-book industry, had been selling many popular e-books, including best sellers, for $9.99. Reportedly, Amazon's prices were often below what they paid, in order to create a "loss-leader" that would stimulate sales of its new Kindle reader.
'Customer Pays a Little More'
Publishers made no secret about their dislike for this... newsfactor.com » | | 93 |  В конце января компания WD показала на выставке Macworld/iWorld двухдисковые внешние накопители My Book Thunderbolt Duo . Эти же изделия компания включила в свою экспозицию на проходящей в эти дни выставке CeBIT. На этот раз стала известна дата начала продаж устройств. По данным нашего корреспондента, продажи My Book Thunderbolt Duo стартуют в конце текущего месяца.
Внутри корпуса, обводы которого выдержаны в стиле других моделей семейства My Book, находится два жестких диска.
Их суммарный объем может достигать 6 ТБ.
Если такого объема окажется мало, можно включить цепочкой несколько накопителей - интерфейс Thunderbolt обеспечивает такую возможность.
Как видно на иллюстрации, устройства, связанные высокоскоростным интерфейсом, могут развить в режиме чтения скорость 647 МБ/с, в режиме записи - 414 МБ/с.
Кабель Thunderbolt в комплект поставки включен не будет. Его придется покупать отдельно, а пока это - удовольствие не из дешевых .
Источник: Собственный корреспондент iXBT #vk ixbt.com » | | 94 |  Компания Western Digital начинает поставки своей первой внешней двухдисковой системы хранения данных, поддерживающей технологию Thunderbolt – WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo. Новая модель адресована профессионалам и требовательным пользователям компьютеров Mac. Система имеет пять ключевых преимуществ: гибкость и возможность двойного резервирования; высокая эффективность и скорость передачи данных; большая емкость - 4 ТБ и it.siteua.org » | | 95 | An online reservation system for tours, adventures and attractions, Rezdy is the perfect tool for activity operators that want to get their jobs done both quickly and accurately. If you're one, by implementing Redzy on your site you'll be able to accept bookings online, and to manage anything that's connected with your customers. You'll get all their information in one place. Read more Learn more about Rezdy.com in Dataopedia.com Find out how much Rezdy.com is worth with Stimator.com killerstartups.com » | | 96 | A bendable electronic paper display. The 21st Century is about to get such a product, with LG planning a launch next month of its electronic paper display, or EPD, product.
The EPD is a 6-inch e-ink plastic screen, 0.7 mm thick, with a resolution of 1024 x 768, and it bends up to 40 degrees at the center. The company said the screen is now being mass produced, and will be available first to manufacturers in China, followed by release to companies in Europe.
'World's First Plastic EPD'
The key initial market for the screen is e-book readers. Sang Duck Yeo, an executive in LG's Mobile/OLED division, said in a statement that this product, "the world's first plastic EPD," will help boost the popularization of the e-book market.
LG said that this product is the first in a series of new kinds of displays the South Korean company is intending to release in the future, including plastic OLED and other kinds of flexible displays.
LG said that EPD provides a reading experience akin to paper, with a plastic substrate "as slim as cell phone protection film" and a flexible design. Compared to existing glass EPD, the plastic EPD is one-third slimmer and half the weight.
The company also said that e-book users have wanted a more durable display, since about 10 percent of users have accidentally damaged their screens by dropping them. But, by comparison, the plastic EPD is scratch-resistant if dropped from 4 feet, which is the average height of reading while standing.
When put through a break and scratch test that involved hitting the screen with a small urethane hammer, the screen suffered no scratches or breakage.
High-Temperature Manufacture
In addition to durability, LG said the lighter and thinner screen offered reduced eye fatigue, more efficient energy consumption and lower prices.
To manufacture the new screens,... newsfactor.com » | | 97 | Pew Internet reports that the percentage of American consumers reading e-books jumped four percentage points, to 21 percent -- driven by strong holiday sales of e-readers and media tablets -- in comparison with the organization's prior survey in mid-December.
According to Pew's latest surveys, 43 percent of U.S. respondents said they had read either an e-book or other digital content on an e-book reader, tablet, PC, or handset screen during the previous 12 months.
With respect to book consumption in any format, print books still dominate, but e-books now have a notable audience. Pew's new study shows that 28 percent of Americans age 18 and older own at least one specialized device for e-book reading -- either a tablet or an e-book reader.
"The number of adults reading e-books on any given day has jumped dramatically since 2010," noted Pew report authors Lee Rainie, Kathryn Zickuhr, Kristen Purcell, Mary Madden and Joanna Brenner.
The shift toward e-book reading on a typical day is being driven by those who are college educated, those living in higher-income households, and those ages 30-49.
A Matter of Timing
Still, Pew report author Rainie told us that age was not as significant a factor as one might expect at first blush when it comes to those who are buying and reading e-books vs. the respondents who are limiting their purchases to printed books.
"Age differences did show up a bit, though they weren't as dramatically stark as 'older readers like print, younger readers like e-books,' " Rainie said in an e-mail Thursday.
"Younger readers were somewhat more inclined to e-books and older readers were somewhat more inclined to printed books, but the breakdowns were not very large," Rainie said.
The most avid users of today's e-reading technologies are those who read more frequently and tend to buy rather... newsfactor.com » | | 98 | Federal and state officials have filed antitrust suits against Apple and five major book publishers, for allegedly conspiring to keep the prices of e-books high. The U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division said that the price fixing raised the average cost of an e-book by $2 to $3.
In announcing the federal action filed in the U.S. District Court of New York, Sharis Pozen, the acting head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, said in a statement that the agency alleges "these executives knew full well what they were doing." She added that the individuals cited took "steps to make sure the prices consumers paid for e-books were higher."
'Agency Model'
The federal suit contends that the publishers illegally worked together in the summer of 2009 to raise prices, in reaction to Amazon selling e-books at $9.99 apiece. Instead, they agreed to the "agency model," in which e-book prices were set by publishers at $12.99 to $14.99.
The agreement between Apple and the publishers, the suit said, meant that "retail price competition would cease (which all the conspirators desired), retail e-book prices would increase significantly (which the publisher defendants desired) and Apple would be guaranteed a 30% 'commission' on each e-book it sold (which Apple desired)."
Pozen noted a quote by Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, in the recent best-selling biography of him, that "the customer pays a little more" in the arrangement Apple set up with publishers, but that's what publishers "want anyway."
In addition to the federal legal action, another lawsuit was filed by 16 state attorneys general against Apple, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan and Penguin Group.
Justice said that Hachette, HarperColllins, and Simon & Schuster have already reached a settlement, in which book retailers could sell e-books at reduced prices. Hachette and HarperCollins have also agreed... newsfactor.com » | | 99 |  (Reuters) - Apple has rejected the U.S. Justice Department's allegations that it colluded with publishers over electronic book pricing, calling the charges "simply not true", the Wall Street Journal reported.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 100 | (Reuters) - Apple Inc has rejected the U.S. Justice Department's allegations that it colluded with publishers over electronic book pricing, calling the charges "simply not true."
Reuters: Internet News » | | 101 | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc wants to go to trial to defend itself against U.S. government allegations that it conspired with publishers to raise prices of electronic books, a lawyer for the Silicon Valley giant said in court on Wednesday.
Reuters: Internet News » |
|
| |
|