NetGalley Will Soon Offer Audiobook ARCs

The ARC service NetGalley has distributed ebooks for almost as long as the Kindle has been around, and soon they will also be distributing audiobooks. NetGalley announced on Twitter on Monday that, starting next week, reviewers will be able to request audiobooks from publishers. Audiobooks had been supported since last December, but only as excerpts. ...

12h

Kindle Firmware Update 5.13.1 Adds Improved Search and Navigation Features

Amazon rolled out another update for its ereaders this week. It’s currently being pushed out to the Voyage, all Oasis models, the latest Paperwhite model, and the two most recent basic Kindle models. (Older versions of the Paperwhite or the basic Kindle did not get the update.) The release notes (below) mention changes to the search function, and tweaks...

17h

Monday Morning Coffee – 6 July 2020

Here are a few stories to read this Monday morning. There’s a difference between copyright-free and royalty-free.  David Gaughran is giving away the new edition of his publishing guide. Here’s a direct link to the ebook in the Kindle Store. Here are 14 keyboard combinations that few people know about (at least 3 were new to even me!).  Hugh Stephens...

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Amazon Removes Active Content Section of the Kindle Store

I was just reading over at MobileRead that Amazon has finally removed the Active Content section of the Kindle Store. AC is the clunky name that Amazon gave to the apps that were developed to run on Kindle, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Paperwhite. At one point it included over 490 games, tools, crosswords, test prep apps, and even choose your own adventure...

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How to Embed an eBook on a Website (2020 Edition)

I was browsing through my blog’s archives this morning when I came across an old post from 2014 on embedding ebooks in a web page.  I was surprised to discover that I haven’t touched on this topic in the past six years. I build websites for authors, so you would think it would have come up. I was thinking authors would want to have a sample on their...

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Walmart Has Pulled Kobo Displays From Stores

Walmart has pulled the Kobo displays from its stores in a recent reorganization, but they still have the ereaders in stock. Earlier today I had a reason to visit my local Walmart store for the first time in a couple months. This store had a Kobo display when I was last there in early April, but today I found that they had replaced it with books. ...

6d

PSA: Go Check Your Mailerlite Account

My weekly email with blog posts did not go out this morning, and we have Mailerlite to blame for that. The mailing list provider updated their platform late last week, and apparently broke a lot of accounts. This was a major catastrophe for users, and not just a bump in the road. I haven’t had a chance to go over all the parts of my account yet, but...

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Morning Coffee – 29 June 2020

Here are a few stories to read this Monday morning. If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of -ston, -shire, and -chester, Rich Hollick has a fascinating post on the English place names. The EFF is coming to the legal defense of the IA’s pirate site, The Open Library.  (statement) Designers are distressed at reports that Waterstones is now shelving...

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Inside the Barnes & Noble Manassas Store (Post-Covid)

I read on Twitter this past week that Barnes & Noble had used the pandemic-imposed shutdown as an opportunity to reorganize or remodel their stores, so I made some time in my schedule today to stop by the store in Manassas, VA. Very little has changed in that store in the ten years or so that I’ve been visiting*. The layout has stayed essentially...

2w

Apple Names “Connecting to the iTunes Store” as the Best Book of 2020 (so Far)

As you saw earlier this week, I like to report on Best Books, lists, so when  I saw that the Apple Books twitter account had tweeted a link to their list of the best books of 2020, I knew I wanted to see it. Alas, that will not be possible. If you try to visit the list at (apple.co/BestBooksSoFar), all you will see is: The reason you see this is because...

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