16 Gmail Hacks Every Writer Can Use

The new year is traditionally a time for self-improvement. Some join gyms, others launch new projects, but I like to get introspective. I think the new year is a great time to reconsider how we can use Gmail to get more done. Gmail is possibly the most widely used email service, but are you getting the most out of it? The following Gmail hacks will...

4h

A Dell Warranty is Worth the Paper It Isn’t Printed On

A word of advice: If your Dell device has problems in the return window, take it back. If you have trouble after that, you are better off pitching it in the sea then asking Dell for help. I am currently in Dell hell. I have a broken laptop which Dell has refused to repair, refused to replace, and refused to refund. Instead, Dell has lied to me, given...

4d

Morning Coffee – 1 March 2021

Here are a few stories to read this morning. David Gaughran looks at ebook pricing strategies. No one knows who owns the rights to Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan character. Daring Fireball brings our attention to Sendy, a new mailing list service. BookRiot looks at why interactive ebooks never took off. Vanessa Willoughby asks why “The Time Traveler’s...

6d

Morning Coffee – 22 February 2021

Here are a few stories to read this Monday morning. Turkish garbage collectors started a library using books rescued from the trash.  You’re not the only one struggling to read or write new books during the pandemic.  Why one developer still uses RSS.  Earlier this month Amazon mailed ad pitches to authors, and put pen names on the address part...

2w

E-ink is Now Selling a 31″ Color ePaper Screen for $2,300

Color E-ink screens are expensive, and that is doubly true as the dimensions increase. There’s less of a demand for large screens, which means smaller production runs, and consequently higher costs. But those larger screens are available, if you have the funds. I just learned that E-ink is now selling a 31.2″ Kaleido screen unit for $2,300. (You can...

2w

BookFeed.io Lets You Stay on Top of Your Favorite Author’s New Releases

I just found something cool I want to share with you. Lukas Mathis has developed a tool that you can keep track of new releases by authors you like. It’s called BookFeed.io, and what it does is: Bookfeed.io is a simple tool that allows you to specify a list of authors, and generates an RSS feed with each author’s most recently released book. I made...

3w

Kindle Unlimited Funding Pool Rose in January 2021 as the Per-Page Rate Drops

Kindle Unlimited saw a huge jump in usage during the first month of the year. The funding pool grew by $2 million compared to December 2020. The new total is $36 million, or about $7.8 million more than January 2020. At the same time, the per-page rate fell by about three hundredth of a cent. Here are the per-page rates for the past three years. ...

3w

Pocketbook InkPad Color Has a New Kaleido E-ink Screen, Costs $330

The new color ereader I told you about last week now has an official model name. It’s now known as the Pocketbook InkPad Color, and according to what I was told by Pocketbook it has a new Kaleido screen with a different color filter pattern which allowed the better contrast and color saturation. The new device also has software tweaks that give it...

3w

Monday Morning Coffee – 15 February 2021

Here are surprising lack of stories to read this Monday morning. Lauren Oyler penned a paean to the semicolon.  RBMedia is expanding into Spain and Spanish-language audiobooks.  BTW, it looks like Amazon is about to launch in Poland. (The source is in Polish, yes.) P.S. Later today the Florida Writers Association is going to announce they are...

3w

Bigme S3 Sports a 7.8″ Color E-ink Screen, Costs $544

The Pocketbook 740 will be a great color ereader, but it does have one small quirk that some won’t like: It runs a version of Linux. If you want an ereader that runs Android and has a color E-ink screen, you should look at the Bigme S3. This ereader has a 7.8″ Kaleido E-ink screen with frontlight and capacitive touchscreen. It runs Android 8.1 on...

4w