iThink Thursday: iBookstore vs Amazon

This morning my newstream buzz is all the Twitter over Apple's Steve Jobs announcement of iPad yesterday. Below are the most interesting thoughts, all regarding e-book pricing and ending Amazon domination.

1. Flavorwire's 5 Ways the Applie iPad Could Change e-books...
   

   if Amazon ends up as the primary distributor and sets the prices for ebooks — well, that leaves publishers pretty scared they’ll be cut out... But — for now — it looks like the iBook store may allow publishers more say in setting the prices of ebooks. Which puts Amazon’s marketshare squarely in Apple’s sights.
   

   This is a huge concern for authors. Not predicting the future, but let's be real eventually ebooks/ibooks will begin to profit, but will authors?
   
2. Washington Post's "Think iBooks Looks Familiar? You're Not The Only One"...Was the iBook interface copied from Delicious Library. Delicious Monster Founder Will Shipley says, "yes."This story interested me most. I don't understand why there wasn't a nod to Delicious Monster like there was to Amazon.
3. Economist's Steve Jobs & the Table of Hope... The funniest title by far
4. Mashable's 4 Reason's the Kindle is Dead, 4 Reasons It's Not.
   

   "In fact, because the iPad can run any iPhone app with no modification, that means even the Kindle for iPhone() app will run on the iPad, giving iPad users instant access to Amazon’s library of Kindle-formatted books."
   

   
   

Please discuss here or on Twitter. Use hashtag #iThink.
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Photo credit Engadget

Wildcard: Yolanda Adams Points of Power

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Yolanda Adams

with

Lavaille Lavette

and the book:

Points of Power: Discover a Spirit-Filled Life of Joy and Purpose

FaithWords (January 5, 2010)

***Special thanks to Valerie M. Russo of Hachette Book Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yolanda Adams is listed among the artists who have achieved the greatest critical and commercial success in blending R&B styles with gospel music. She has released twelve albums, two of which were certified platinum, one gold, and has won over twenty awards for her music. She currently hosts The Yolanda Adams Morning Show and makes her home in Houston. You can find out more about Yolanda at

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $19.99
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (January 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446545783
ISBN-13: 978-0446545785

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

4 Question for the iBook from an Author's POV

photo credit Engadget

So iBooks again, a great reader, a great online bookstore. All in one really great app. We use the ePub format. We're very excited about this."

Just a few minutes ago Steve Jobs revealed the iBook feature in his new iPad. it has a built in ibookstore, e-reader format, you can change the font of the text. Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Hachett & McMillan already have an agreement with them. I'm sure other publishers will soon follow.

My review: So far I believe Selah would need this. Most of her school books are online. I could see her doing school reports on this. It's very light. i like the prepaid/no contract deal with AT & T for mobile. But I have a Sprint 4g hub in the house, so we're covered. Thank you Jesus.

Priced starting at $499. Awesome.

What do you think?

1. Will netbooks be a thing of the past?
2. Will thie iBook save publishing?
3. And how much will authors make from iBook downloads?

Wednesday Readup: Is it a Beautiful Day for an Apple?

photo credit BusinessWeek

Today is the day that Steve Jobs will reveal his iSlate/Apple Tablet/name in question device that has been rumored to rival all e-readers.

On CNBC yesterday  McGraw-Hill Chairman and CEO Terry McGraw:

Yeah, very exciting. Yes, they'll[Apple] make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while, and the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system, and so it will be transferable.

So what you are going to be able to do now is, we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95 percent of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now, with the tablet, you're going to open up the higher-education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.

What makes this device better than what's out and what's still being shipped out there? You'll have to wait until 10 a.m. PST today to find out.

Who will be watching today with me? My chief concern is what will this devise do for digital media? Will it save print publications, publishing? If 44% of Google Readers aren't reading past the links, does that mean we are living in a time of Informaion Overload or growing Adult Illiteracy...wachoothink? Respond here or on Twitter. Use Hashtag #applez

On an off-topic note Ron Marshall has resigned as CEO of Borders Group, Inc. Could Border's drop in holiday sales be the cause of his departure?

Today's Trailer Park Tuesday is my buddy, Nicole Seitz brilliant novel Saving Cicadas (December 2009.)

From Publisher's Weekly

This beguiling, inspirational family-first tale from Lowcountry native Seitz (A Hundred Years of Happiness) follows the revelatory and haunting journey of a single mother from South Carolina who discovers she's pregnant and needs to clear her head to plan her next step. Priscilla Lynn Macy quits her job and hits the road with her daughters, Rainey Dae, 17, who has Down syndrome, and Janie Doe, her precocious eight-year-old. Grandma Mona's in the backseat with her husband, Poppy Grayson. Janie's and Grandma Mona's perspectives on Priscilla's situation invigorate Seitz's folksy prose as Priscilla looks for Harlan Bradfield, Janie's dad, who took off one day on his motorcycle. The tribe ends up at the Macy ancestral home in Forest Pines, S.C., where Priscilla reconnects with her half-brother, Pastor Fritz Rosier, who helps her make peace with past mistakes and to decide about the future. Seitz has a gift for creating wonderful characters, especially the young girls, and while she's strident in her antiabortion stance, this tale's spooky sweet dénouement includes a magical twist about spirited little Janie that's marvelously memorable. (Dec.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DeeChat with Rhonda McKnight on First Love & Faith

I receive many emails from aspiring writers and published ones about assistance and support, particularly about finding critique partners and good writer's groups. God is very good to me, because He gave me what I believe is the best Write-or-Die chicks in the land. These ladies have prayed, championed, tough loved and pushed me to be who I am. So I am honored to chop it up with my friend Rhonda McKnight, who I have dubbed the Book Club Queen. Since Valentine's Day, American Heart Month and my birthday are just around the corner she was the perfect choice for my first author interview of the decade.

Continue reading "DeeChat with Rhonda McKnight on First Love & Faith" »

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