Popularity of e-readers increases

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The Pew Internet and American Life project reports that the number of U.S. adults with an e-book reader doubled from 6% to 12% between November 2010 and May 2011 (the report also notes that tablet ownership is growing much more slowly).  We wonder how much that figure might increase with the introduction of four new Amazon Kindle devices yesterday, including the Kindle Fire tablet.  

In a true sign of the times, IKEA is introducing a new, deeper version of its popular  “BILLY” bookcase  and offers glass doors for its bookshelves to cater to those customers who use these products to display more trinkets and fewer books. 

See also:

• Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy? (there's a great video on how to set up a Nook to borrow books from your local public library)
• The transformation of the book industry: Disappearing ink
• E-readers and magazines: It's still good to have gatekeepers
• eBook Sales Up 167% in June
• Booktrack Create Soundtracks for eBooks
• Textbook Developer Adds YouTube Videos to E-Books
• As Textbook Formats Multiply, New Services Help Students Compare Options
• Amazon Working on a Netflix for Books

Music in the "cloud"

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On Monday, we mentioned that Apple plans to lauch its iCloud service this fall.  Best Buy has recently expanded its UK based "cloud" based music service to the US which will compete with Apple's service.  Cloud-based music services such as Best Buy's Music Cloud, Amazon's Cloud Player and Apple's iCloud allow users to buy and store digital music content in the "cloud" eliminating the need for users to download music to their music players; users can then stream content on the web or via an app on their mobile phone or tablet.

No fruitcakes or pajamas! Create a universal online wishlist to let everyone know what you really want!

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While you are busy shopping for great gifts for your loved ones, hopefully they are picking great gifts for you!  But if you want to help them out, set up an online wishlist (or registry) and share its link with your friends and family.   You can create wishlists on your favorite retailer's website including items on that site but with a universal online wishlist like the ones you can create on sites like Amazon.com, Kaboodle.com, Wishlistr.com and WishPot.com you can include items from anywhere on the web.  There are many sites offering wishlist services and each one works a bit differently with some offering features like a browser add-on button so you can add to your wishlist directly from another website or making your wishlist searchable.  We hope you get exactly what you want!

See also:

• Creating a wishlist on Amazon.com (you can also create a wishlist for a non-profit)
• Kaboodle Tour
• VIDEO: Add, edit and delete wishlist items on Wishlistr.com
• VIDEO: How to create a wishlist on WishPot.com
• Bing Integrates Facebook to Create Social Shopping Lists
• Tools for creating holiday-shopping lists

Just for fun:

TIP: How to publish your writing as an e-book

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Some novelists, poets, researchers and other writers are choosing to digitally self-publish their works as electronic books or  "e-books."  With the popularity of devices such as Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Apple’s iPad, and other e-readers and tablet PC’s, sales of e-books are increasing making this a great alternative to publishing via an established publishing company.  And if you are eco-conscious, some argue that e-books and readers may have a smaller carbon footprint that traditional print books.

Some key things to remember if you are publishing an e-book:

• Take time to edit your work, just as an editor at a publishing company would do.
• Format your e-book file properly before uploading to your e-book vendor for a clean, professional look.  Also, you may have to create different formats (HTML, Word document, PDF, ePub) of your e-book if you use multiple vendors - do research to find out the best format for each vendor.
  • For Microsoft Word files, be sure to remove any headers, footers and page numbers in your file.  Then create a Table of Contents for your file, preferably one that is "clickable" and will take readers directly to a desired section of your e-book.
  • Word documents are not edit-proof and can be transferred to other computers so we recommend that you convert files created in Word to PDF format before issuing as an e-book.  Try Abode's free PDF converter (limit of 5 files) or download a free printer driver such as PDF995 that allows you to print your documents as PDF files.
    • If using Word to publish for the Microsoft Reader format, follow the layout guide, download here and the conversion guide, download here.  You can encrypt your Microsoft Reader e-book file to protect your copyright.
• The quality and capabilities of e-readers varies widely so keep graphics and font styling simple to ensure that all readers can view your content as intended.

Amazon has a great video tutorial on how to publish to Kindle.

The CreativePenn.com offers tips on publishing for the iPad, here.

Check out ABC News’ coverage of authors who have self-published e-books.

 See also:

• Barnes & Noble's PubIt self-publishing platform goes live
• 6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book  - Blurb.com is mentioned as one of the sites that allow you to upload posts from your blog and publish them as a book.
• How Writers Can Turn Their Archives into eBooks
• The Reinvention of Print, One App at a Time
• Friday Project releases e-book ahead of print 
• 200 Bloggers, 200 Books, 56 Publishers And One Hour - On Nov 10, at 1p.m., 200 bloggers will simultaneously publish reviews of 200 books printed on eco-friendly paper to raise consumer awareness about considering the environment when making book purchases.  Participation this year has doubled from 2009.