I am reading Cat Spark’s The Bride Price at the moment, just go and buy the collection NOW, don’t wait for my review. I am about 75% through and every story has been brilliant.
It’s only $5.99
And while you are there pick up The Girl With No Hands and other tales, Midnight and Moonshine, Dead Red Heart, The Year of Ancient Ghosts and Heliotrope.
This release from the Booki.sh Blog:
22 MARCH 2013
Ebook sales via Booki.sh to end on June 30
Today, we let our retail and publishing partners know that we’ll be ending ebook sales via the Booki.sh platform on June 30 this year. We have been privileged to work with Australia’s best independent booksellers as we all fought for a place in what is a difficult market, and we did not come easily to the decision to end our retail operations. We thank the proprietors and staff of Readings, Fullers, Avid Reader, Mary Ryan’s, Imprints, Books for Cooks and Gleebooks for their willingness to be part of this project, and for their input and guidance along the way.
Customers who’ve purchased ebooks from our retail partners will continue to have access to those titles and to their Booki.sh libraries, and we’re very proud to see the browser-based reading technology that started with Booki.sh grow into an integral part of OverDrive’s library, school and retail platforms.
— Virginia Murdoch
I have never been a fan of the Booki.sh system for purchases. But it’s sad to see an Australian product disappear. The technology lives on in the Overdrive Read technology that anyone who’s signed up to an Australian ebook library ecosystem powered by Overdrive, will be familiar with.
And I think its really the right sort of environment for library lending. Call me old fashioned, but I felt that if I was paying full price for a book then I owned the file/container it came in. For that reason I only ever used Booki.sh to view book files I uploaded or free content.
It will be interesting to see what solution the independents go with now.
The crew at Booktopia have come up with a solution that allows them to build their own catalogue of eBooks and still enable you to access any Google eBook purchases you made.
Here’s their letter:
Dear Sean,
As a customer who has bought eBooks from Booktopia in the past we want to let you know of changes to the Booktopia eBook offering from January 28th, 2013.
The main messages for you are that from January 28th, 2013:
- You CAN continue to read all Google eBooks you bought from Booktopia before this date
- You CAN continue to buy and read eBooks from Booktopia and keep and read your Booktopia eBooks in your Booktopia account library
- You CAN download the NEW BOOKTOPIA READER APP for both Apple and Android devices to read on your phone or tablet
- You CAN read both Google AND non-Google eBooks you purchased from Booktopia on the App
- Google will no longer be supplying eBooks to retailers worldwide, so we launched a new eBook range AND the Booktopia Reader App for you to use instead of Google Play
Some details...
We are building up a new, exciting eBook range for Booktopia customers. Also, to increase our independence from Google's eBooks, we have launched the free Booktopia Reader app for both iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) devices, and Android - specifically customised for Booktopia customers; you can use your Booktopia login to access your Booktopia eBook library and read all the eBooks that you have bought from us, (Google or otherwise) without having to create a Google account to download and use Google Play. You can also download your eBooks to your eBook device as per normal , via Adobe Digital Editions, but using your Booktopia username and password for authentication; again without needing a Google account.
So on January 28th, we are turning off the Google eBook collection for sale on our website and continuing with the replacement providers who don't require you to create any extra accounts and can be read on your Apple or Android device with the Booktopia Reader, or on your dedicated eReader device.
We hope that you continue to enjoy your eBook experience with Booktopia and continue to look for great bargains and excellent customer service from the Booktopia team.
Buy an eBook, download our free Booktopia Reader app and tell us what you think.
Is there a downside?
The only downside is that because you HAD to use Google Play to read Google eBooks on your iOS or Android device, and Google Play doesn't read eBooks that are not from Google, you therefore will not be able to use Google Play to read any eBooks you buy from Booktopia after this date (because the eBooks are not from Google).
HOWEVER, you can download the Booktopia Reader onto your iOS or Android device and read both your Google eBooks and your new eBooks you purchase from Booktopia. That's why we built the app specifically for Booktopia customers - so you can access your whole library - both previous Google eBooks and new eBooks - at the same time in the same place.
If you have an eReader device, you can still read your old AND new eBooks; as usual you will need to have the Adobe login that you downloaded your old eBooks with in order to read them (because of the account that is attached to every eBook at the time you first downloaded it). However all old and new eBooks will appear in your library, and you can use your Booktopia username and password to read your new eBooks.You do not need your Google login anymore. Adobe Digital Editions prompts you for which ID you need when you download an eBook - your old Adobe ID or your Booktopia ID. As time goes on and you read more eBooks, you will only need to use the one Booktopia ID and not worry about anything else.
A bit of background...
A day before Easter 2012, Google announced that it was going to cease distributing eBooks through all retailers worldwide on January 31, 2013. This came as a surprise to us as you can well imagine, as Booktopia was arguably the most successful eBook reseller for Google worldwide.
We took the announcement in our stride (as we do!) and immediately put plans in place to replace Google as an eBook supplier on our site while continuing to offer a great eBook product to the Australian market with the level of service we are famous for. We announced to our customers the news from Google, and set about sourcing alternative eBook providers, which we integrated and launched quietly just before Christmas 2012. So on Monday we are turning off just the Google eBooks as they won't be able to supply.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us through your Message Centre in your Booktopia account or contact our Customer Service team.
Thanks and Happy Reading!
Steven Traurig
CIO and Co-FounderBooktopia Pty Ltd
The Authors and Social Media series from 2011
I might have ago at trying to edit them somehow but am not sure if you can get an epub editor once you have the outputted epub file ie the epub is the end result, the editing done in the compilation stage.
That’s all well and good, but its a bit of a shotgun approach. I asked the developer of eBook Glue if it was possible to provide a way of selecting specific types of posts and it is.
As it currently stands Ebook Glue takes your RSS feed and simply compiles an ebook(.mobi or .epub) file from the 25 most recent posts. My RSS feed is below:
http://bookonaut.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
I simply take this url and plug it into the field at Ebook Glue (note you don’t have to sign up but I have as it saves my feeds).
Creating eBooks from specific labels
Now let’s say I want to give you (and me) the option of downloading just my book reviews. I would need to modify the feed to search for the Book Review label
http://bookonaut.blogspot.com.au/feeds/posts/default/-/Book%20Reviews
Note: the %20 seems to indicate a space in the label, for single word labels it’s not necessary.
It will still only generate a file of up to 25 posts but it’s an improvement.
Capturing Multiple Search Labels
Lets say that I want to refine it even further though and search for multiple labels. Say I want to be able to download all the Book Reviews that I have written for Margo Lanagan.
http://bookonaut.blogspot.com.au/feeds/posts/default/-/Book%20Reviews/margo%20lanagan
You’ll see above that all you need to do is separate the search terms with a /
Usefulness?
The developer has only been offering the service for 2 weeks, and plans to build upon it as it evolves and I presume he gets feedback from users. I’d like to be able to create eBooks of all my reviews (somewhere in the vicinity of 70 post per year) and perhaps make ebooks of particular post series i.e. might have been handy for some of my work to be in ebook form for last year’s Ditmars.
So what do other bloggers think?
Did you enjoy this review? Would you like to read more? You can subscribe to the blog through a reader,by Email or Follow me on twitter.
I was listening to Podmentum, the podcast of the Momentum publishing crew in this episode they discus enhanced books and Joel Naoum’s article here, which was formed from a speech he’d given earlier on Digital publishing.
And it’s got me thinking. I agree with much of what Joel says.My argument is basically this: the colourful and exciting part of digital publishing innovation is – for the most part – not something that readers actually want.
Pushing the boundaries of what a book is – whether it’s by blurring the lines between different kinds of media or questioning the linear nature of traditional narrative – is not something that people are looking to book publishers to provide.
Too much of what we call innovation is basically turning our content into a showroom for device manufacturers – and we do it to the detriment of more important and more useful innovation at the back end of the publishing business.
I think what is required is what works for the reader, how publishers/booksellers can support the reader and to really question the need to become embroiled in the IT cycle of upgrades every 6 months.
My Kobo Vox has died after 11 months ( a topic for another post) and although I will get a replacement I am sorely tempted to get a more basic ereader, with a longer battery life and usage, something dedicated purely to reading.
In the Podmentum cast they talked about the Game of Thrones enhanced ebook which has apparently has a drop down map that you can reference at certain points in the story which shows you the location of the characters at at that time, character bios that pop up when you highlight a name( handy when you are reading GOT) but the problem is that these features are inconsistent i.e. not appearing everywhere in the book (IIRC, I listened to the cast a month ago).
All well and good but you also have to determine if your device can support the features, what the enhancements are (publishers seem to be absolutely shit at advertising the features).
Are the enhancements worth the development cost?
I have seen little evidence outside of self publishing gurus like Joe Konrath, of taking advantage of the virtually unlimited space that ebooks offer the written word. I haven’t yet seen additional extras in the form of collaboration notes between authors, or deleted “scenes”, or concept artwork penned by the author, or interviews. Including novellas or short stories exclusive to ebooks for example seems an obvious extra selling point to me.
I think there is value in concentrating on the lowest common denominator, assuming the reader has an entry level device and then giving them extra value that they can access.
Sure nearly everyone has a smartphone but embed a book with multimedia bells and whistles and that $5 ebook comes with extra charges in the form of telecom fees.
DRM is another issue, it’s still a pain in the ass for those with disabilities for example (i.e. Text to speech software generally requires that the source has no DRM), or for anyone who doesn’t want to break the law and remove it.
So in summing up my thoughts and making some sense (hopefully) I would like to see:
These are the things that I think publishers can work or collaborate with others on. Some of these things Momentum are doing and I think they are on the right track.
I just received my complimentary Aurealis 56 for subscribing early to a yearly subscription for 2013. The 33% off cover price deal for a yearly sub is still ongoing but the bonus offer of Issue 56 has ended.
This isn’t a review, I have only read the Paul Haines story, but I feel that this issue is really good value for money - featuring two Aurealis Award winners.
So if you’ve ummed and ahhed about whether to shell out $3 bucks to support the Australian short fiction community then give up one cup of coffee this week and pick it up.
A reminder too, that Aurealis are determined to raise subscriber numbers so that they can offer pro rates and be considered as a pro-market for authors seeking publication credits.
A word from Dirk Strasser in his editorial:
On a lighter note, the big news for next year is that we are setting up a new subscription system, so you will once again be able to subscribe to Aurealis. You will now be able to purchase a 2013 subscription of 10 issues (Aurealis #57–#66) for $19.99. This is a 33% saving on the cost of buying each issue singly. How can you possibly resist subscribing?
We’ve also launched our campaign to be officially recognised as a professional market by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). We’ve calculated that if we can get 1000 subscribers by the end of 2013, we will be able to increase our payment for short stories to a minimum of 5 cents a word. This will mean Aurealis has met all the conditions to be viewed as a professional market by the SFWA. If it can achieve this, Aurealis will be the only Australian fiction magazine with this status. See our website for more details.
You can purchase Aurealis 56 here. If you want to subscribe for the year you will need to go here.
So hopefully things will settle down and I will regain some blogging mojo.
But you were here for the Twelfth Planet Press News.
Well, Narelle M Harris’ Showtime released in paperback form some time ago and reviewed by yours truly here is now available in epub and mobi format.
See here Showtime (epub), Showtime (mobi)
In other Twelfth Planet News Thoraiya Dyer’s forthcoming Twelve Planets book title has been announced – Asymmetry. Go Thoriaya!
I received an email from The Book Depository this morning informing me of their decision to cease selling and supporting commercial ebooks.
We are contacting you in relation to your eBook purchase BDG-950-2683314940 for Die Trying which was purchased on 25/09/2010.
The Book Depository has come to the decision to cease selling eBooks, as we feel that the customer experience we were able to offer was not as good as it should have been. This is partially driven by complexity in format and the number of differing devices, which we found often led to customer frustration. We will instead focus on adding more new books to our, already 8 million strong, title selection.
We have spotted that you still have 2 download(s) remaining. Each eBook purchased will have 3 downloads allotted.
If you wish to use the remaining downloads, we ask that you do so by the 30th June 2012. It will not be possible to download purchased eBooks from the Book Depository sites after this date.
……
It’s these sort of decisions that reinforce to me the need to be able to store and backup files in a number of formats ( imagine their service wasn’t one that allowed you to store your own copies). Nothing is forever, and companies change direction all the time.
It’s why I applaud publishers that have decided to remove DRM. That long overdue (and largely redundant) decision allows me to move and convert file formats with relative ease. In the end only I can be relied upon to look after and store the books that I own, just like my paper book library.
I am a big fan of Comixology and their guided view app for comics. They would have a couple of hundred dollars from me in comics if I wasn’t wary of the fact that at a moments notice I could lose access to some or all of the comics I have purchased from them, so tightly wrapped in DRM is their selection.
So…
Does not having access to an ebook file to archive yourself worry you? Am I just old fashioned? Where do you think ebooks might go? Subscription based services? Do you buy the excuse that TBD gives above?
I have been keenly awaiting the release of Jason’s novella with Steven Saville since Jason mentioned it ages ago and I fell in love with the cover.
The Viral series of which Anomaly is book two, has been under an exclusivity agreement with B&N, meaning that I couldn’t purchase it. Thankfully its out now on Amazon.
The copy:
A journalist stumbles across a deadly secret. Aid doctors find themselves on the new warfront, where the truth is fluid, and life is cheap. A company man has to make a brutal decision that could affect millions.
Welcome to Viral, a series of political thrillers set all over the globe. The CIA is up to no good, subverting humanitarian aid programs to further its own ends. Five writers explore this theme from different angles, and it’s foot-to-the-floor action.
“
Thrillers are one of the hottest properties on the Kindle, or so I have been informed by my wholly unscientific reading of such things on the internets. So it should do well.
Bravo Jason oh and Steven.
Fortunately those of us with ereaders (especially the non–kindle variety) you can purchase the ebook for $2.99.
Just go here and search for When we have wings. While you’re at it check out your other fave authors.
I checked a week ago and the selection of books available for Sean Williams has increased since then.
I have no idea how long it will remain at this price. The sequel is currently retailing around the $12 mark.
This was my first purchase using Google ebooks, and it went very smoothly. You do need to click on a link to download the file as the system defaults to the Google ebook browser.
I would also be interested in knowing international readers can access the book through the above link?
For $9.99 you can get Tender Morsels + the short story Singing my sister down.
For a review of Tender Morsels go here.
For those of you (like me) who don’t like reading on your laptop and like having the digital file you can purchase and download Tender Morsels without the bonus story for $12.99**
*You will need to have a device that is internet capable to access the Booki.sh service that these stores use like an iPad,iPhone or Android tablet.
**Price at time of posting.
Google Books is now operating in Australia, teaming up with independents like Booktopia below.
Haven’t really had time to do a comprehensive search of content but it looks encouraging.
On amazon it’s not available as an ebook (Gasp!) but its available as an ebook from Booktopia/Google for $12.99 which let’s face it is pretty bloody good for three books.
Edit: also available on Kobo for the same price.
My final check for speculative fiction was Marianne de Pierres. Booktopia/Google has nine of her books. The Sentients of Orion, The Parrish Plessis series and her two YA novels Burn Bright and Angel Arias.
I also tried looking for Jennifer Mills’ Diamond Anchor and Gone which I know to exist in ebook form - no luck.
So at this point in time it looks like it’s a bit patchy but it’s early days yet.
One of my favourite thriller writers is Barry Eisler, he is infinitely better in my opinion than Lustbader, Clancy, Cussler or Childs. Fast paced gritty action that is about as psychologically real as it can get, especially when it comes to the description of combat. Did I mention he's a New York Times' best seller as well. Which is what makes news of his decision to self publish a short story quite significant.
. The file includes teaser chapters from his next book and to make things a little more interesting Larison, an anti hero in Inside Out, is gay. So Eisler appears to be pushing more than one boundary in this experiment.For Larison, a man off the grid and on the run, the sleepy northern California town of Arcata, gateway to the state's fabled Lost Coast, seems like a perfect place to disappear for a while. But Arcata isn't nearly as sleepy as it seems, and when three locals decide Larison would make a perfect target for their twisted sport, Larison exacts a lifetime of vengeance in one explosive evening.How is it working out?
Warning: this story is intended for mature audiences, and contains depictions of sexual activity, though perhaps not in the way you're expecting.
