Great looking stories

Check out how the book Tree of Codes was made. Visual Editions worked with Die Keure in Belgium to produce the book, after they were turned down by every other printer they approached – with claims of "this book can't be made."

A cheaper Kindle

"We're working hard to make sure that anyone who wants a Kindle can afford one," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a prepared statement, reports CNN Money. The result of those efforts is a new ad-laden Kindle that will sell for $114, which is $25 less than its current ad-free counterpart. The ads will appear on the screensaver and at the bottom of the home screen. An interesting twist is that Amazon plans to mix together advertisements from launch sponsors including Buick, Olay and Visa with daily-deal style discount coupons (like their own $10 for $20 deal featured on Living Social in the past). Is the $25 difference really enough to offset the "annoyance factor" of the ads? I think it might be. There's a chance, judging by the success rate of the Living Social offer, that people will welcome them. According to The NY Times ads have been in physical books for a while, and in one 1972 study, while readers claimed to dislike the idea of advertising in books, after actual exposure their negative feelings declined while brand awareness climbed. At any rate, I'm glad Amazon stayed away from in-text ads, as those would be more disruptive and intrusive-- but if we look at how written content has been supported online, it may not far behind. Perhaps a $89 Kindle is on the way.....

From an album into a book

Christophe Gowans, a graphic designer who lives in London, imagined albums as book covers-- a pretty cool idea! His collection includes everything from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Michael Jackson as something you might find in a library or a book store. For example, check out Arcade Fire's The Suburbs pictured to the left-- looks like an old school book of the month. You can view the well-thumbed covers here.

Share your notes

Readum from Travis Alber on Vimeo.

Times are a changin! But not really-- remember the way you used to seek out a copy of the required book for your college class with the most comments and highlighting already done in it, by another (presumably smart) student? Well it's something we're all still doing-- taking notes as we digest what we read, and trying to connect with other folks' opinions. Now there's an easier (digital) way to annotate and share parts of books-- Readum integrates Google books and Facebook, allowing you to select passages and comment on them-- both within the book and on your social wall/group. Could allow for some lively banter, pre-book club meeting. Pretty cool!

Party's on Twitter!

Hey ya'll! This morning I found an amazing list of book industry folks on Twitter and thought I'd share with you-- so you can get involved in the conversation!

Sections you might be most interested in:
Book Publisher Company Accounts
Book Publisher Individual Accounts
Literary Agents Accounts

There are 355 comments under the list, so it's worth trolling through there for additional influential folks-- like my good friends @juliabaxter @mjrose @mitzpa and @liternista.

Using a tool like Twiangulate to see shared friends/followers is extremely effective as well.

Poetry: spread the word

Writer, Greg Pincus, wants to spread poetry from online to the classroom. So far he's raise $1,940 towards his $5,000 goal. If Poetry: Spread the Word is funded, over the course of the next year (roughly May, 2011 through April, 2012), he will put 100 original poems up on his blog and out into the world for free and do 40 school visits (via Skype or, if it works out, in person) at no cost to the schools. He'll also create a collection that will celebrate and document the visits and the poetry--and you could get it! What are you waiting for, check out his Kickstarter project and pledge now!

When it comes to self-publishing

Over the weekend Derek Murphy, author of Jesus Potter Harry Christ, wrote a detailed post discussing ways to promote a self-published book. He's got a plan and he's willing to share! He recommends:
1.) Getting reviews
2.) Getting your kindle page set up
3.) Advertising with Blogads to spread the word (now you know why it's a great plan:))
4.) Choosing a peak time (i.e. when do people give a darn about the topic you wrote about?)
So far, only one other author has weighed in. What would you add to the recipe for success?