As a flurry of excitement mounts about the ebook, the iBookstore and various claims about ebook sales (Naturally, as part of BNC’s staff, I second Nic Boshart’s skepticism and also say “Show me the numbers!”), publishers are spending a lot of time and energy wondering what the ultimate ebook should look like.
Evernote to the Fore
“Build products people lust after”
This is the advice given by the founders of Atlassian during the Atlassian Starter Day conference and it spurred me to write about Evernote (with a dash of Safari 5).
I have had Evernote on my laptop for a while but since I have been using my iphone more recently I’ve really become enamoured with Evernote.
App vs. EPUB: Which Is Best for Your Book?
These statements probably sound familiar:
“I need to digitize my entire backlist! I’m converting everything to ePub. Find that book from 1973, cut the spine, scan it…”
“I’ll only make apps—no ePub for my books. Apps, apps, apps: I love apps.”
I hate both of these statements. They lead publishers who maybe aren’t so tech-savvy to believe that it has to be one or the other, or, even worse, that they have to digitize their books no matter what. But, why ?
IDPF Digital Book 2010: A Short Recap
Earlier this week (a lifetime at Laguardia ago) I attended the IDPF’s Digital Book 2010 at BEA in New York. The show was very well attended (700’ish in attendance) with a great international representation and a large number of Canadians in attendance. It was nice to see some success stories and hear where things are heading with regards to epub and IDPF. Parts of the conference felt a little ‘sales-y’, but there was enough implementation and technical information to keep me, and I think many others, interested. Here are a few of my takeaways…
The Reader
Post-BookCamp Brain Explosion
This past weekend, the second-ever BookCamp Toronto brought together publishing types of all sorts for a day of discussion, discovery, and drinking (the latter starting as early as 10:30 am, in Michael Tamblyn’s now-legendary Kobo Q&A/ summer wine tasting). The BookCamp “unconference” model is an intriguing contrast to the usual progression of talks/presentations/limited discussion time.
Why I Went to BookCamp Instead of Sleeping In
This was my second year attending BookCamp Toronto. I admit to having high expectations for this unconference ever since last year when I came away feeling ignited! Sadly I didn’t get the same fire started for me this time around. I’m not saying that BookCamp did not provide great discussion but that little extra something was missing. I think what it came down to was that I am exhausted!
iPad: Ten Days In
I’ll make my confessions right off the start:
* I have too many Apple products already. This might make me a ‘fanboy’, but in my defense I’m not solely an Apple user.
* I bought my iPad on the “grey-market” and I’m in Canada so there are some limitations with apps and such (I know there are ways around the iTunes market restrictions…shock).
* I love it!
