April Kindle News

This really seems to be the month for Kindle and book news. First up, some exciting news about the Kindle itself:

Amazon Kindle coming to Walmart by the end of the month

and a related announcement from Amazon on the new scope of their Cloud computing (which is where all your Kindle books live, when they say they are archived): Up, Up, and Away - Cloud Computing Reaches for the Sky.

It seems that other attorneys are watching the Kindle with interest (and not just in connection with any TTS or DMCA lawsuits). All 800 attorneys and 200 Paralegals at an undisclosed BigLaw firm are to receive Kindle 2's, preloaded with the entire National Reporter Sets, US Code, CFR and Federal Register. No official word on whether they'll be able to download fiction as well (or will have to have a second, personal Kindle for that purpose), but the firm looks to pay for the Kindle's just in personnel reductions in the mail room, while getting more space to use for trial prep instead of storing musty old books.

A major announcement that Kenyon Review Acquires Random House will be sure to please Kindle fans who have been boycotting their books due to the TTS (text-to-speech) controversy. Let's hope the new guys will let Tom read to us anytime we want.

The financial crisis continues to pressure the publishing industry, this time driving a nearly two century old newspaper online: Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink. Not only will their costs be lowered, but the 140 character limitation of the new format is hoped to be responsible for getting people to read the news once again. All those paragraph or two articles, full of pesky details apparently detracted from the headlines, so only headlines will be retained. This also eliminates the personnel costs of those reporters, copy editors and fact checkers, leaving only the headline writer's as a major obstacle to a cost-free edition in the future.

Harper Studio is also making a major move to Twitter and has announced a new ebook pricing policy for twitter reviewers. Other reviewers are feeling the pressure to print only glowing reviews, as evidenced by the newly revised Mrs. Giggles review site, features lots of fluffy bunnies. Those who fail to comply or reveal secrets of the publishing trade risk being shut down, as evidenced by the takedown notice at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

In a stunning victory for an indie/self-publishing press, comes this news:

J.K. Rowling Publishes Harry Potter Ebooks on Smashwords

Best of all are the prices, almost as low as a paperback, but which let's JK pocket even more profit per book, which was the main reason she considered the move.

Another author has finally released a long awaited book, but as a series of novelletes rather than in a single tome: George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons to release later this month

Lastly, if you are tired of all your bibliophile and librarian friends complaining that your ereader (Kindle, Sony or whatever) lacks that book smell, be sure to check out the new and improved Smell of Books. Frankly, I don't see the appeal of those volatiles from the ink (like new car smell and new house smell, no doubt these cause cancer and many other illnesses that we haven't discovered yet), but at least most don't say they prefer Old Book Smell as that seems to be a blend of mold, stale tobacco and random spoiled food (at least from what you find in used bookstores and the library) or Eau de Cat. If your friends are smelling that on their books all the time, I can see why they prefer the smell of new books (but suggest they buy some flowers or step outside now and then). It seems I'm not alone in being tired of this argument, as these articles also take on the issue: Enough With The Smell of Books, Okay? and Smell of Books Fails the Sniff Test.

Well, that wraps up today's news coverage - be sure to tune back in next April Fool's Day for an update...

Free Ebook: Beekeeper's Apprentice

An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee, and named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, The Beekeeper's Apprentice: Or On the Segregation of the Queen/A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King is available as a free download (PDF only) today (April 1st) only and that's no Fool's Joke. Visit the author's site for the PDF download (the link was updated from earlier and should now work). You'll have to convert the PDF to read it on your Kindle -- it isn't available yet in the Kindle Store.

Update: I have my copy of the book. Since it's the printer's markup version of a PDF, it will be nearly impossible to convert for reading on the Kindle. There are four PDF's in total and you'd have to cut/paste every page into a document (word would work) and then convert that into a mobi formatted book (or email to your Kindle). Way too much effort, in my opinion. So, either read it on your computer (even on a Sony Reader, which supports PDF, it's going to look just as bad) or wait until they get proper ebooks released for this series. It's a shame that they didn't take the tiny bit of effort that would have been needed to at least produce a PDF ebook for their giveaway, as this would have brought them thousands of readers to get hooked on a new series, which would have increased their sales (as has happened with nearly every author that has done this in the last year at Amazon and even on their own web sites). Instead, everyone gets a hard to read (and bloated in size) series of PDF's and will probably give up before getting thru the book.

The most fun you've had in an airport, in years!

These days, going to the airport in person isn't a lot of fun, even if you are a kid - no more going all the way to the windows overlooking the runway and watching the planes take off and if you are flying, it's an all day ordeal even if it's a short, direct flight (although at least you can take your Kindle with you, to fight off boredom, especially in terminals that lack bookstores).

Amazon, however, is bringing the fun back to airports, if only virtually. Today (and today only), you can download Airport Mania: First Flight for 98 cents. There are eight airports and 84 levels to play thru -- enough to fight off boredom, even if you're stuck in a real airport at the time.

Pack your bags for a trip through the skies in Airport Mania! Travel through 8 amusing airports while you land a variety of planes, purchase upgrades, and avoid delays. Stay on your toes as some planes carry precious cargo and will need to land in a hurry, while others might need a trip to the repair shop. But, with good planning, you'll make it to the gate on time! With unique challenges, whimsical characters, and fun that will put a smile on your face, Airport Mania is one flight you can't miss!

It should provide you will hours of fun and stress relief, while working on your strategy skills. This download is for the PC, but should run on a Windows netbook or any laptop, in case you really are in an airport.

Free Ebook Coming Soon: Beekeeper's Apprentice

An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee, and named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, The Beekeeper's Apprentice: Or On the Segregation of the Queen/A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King will be available as a free download (PDF only) on April 1st and that's no joke. Visit the author's site on April 1st (don't worry, I'll remind you on Wednesday) for the full book or check now for a free sample. You'll have to convert the PDF to read it on your Kindle -- it isn't available yet in the Kindle Store.

Synopsis

Sherlock Holmes meets his match in a formidable new enemy -- and his surprising new partner.

In 1915, long since retired from his crime-fighting days, Sherlock Holmes is engaged in a reclusive study of honeybees on the Sussex Downs. Never did the Victorian detective think to meet an intellect matching his own -- until his acquaintance with Miss Mary Russell, a young twentieth-century lady whose mental acuity is equaled only by her penchant for deduction, disguises, and danger. Under Holmes's reluctant tutelage,

Russell embarks on a case involving a landowner's mysterious fever and the kidnapping of an American senator's daughter in the wilds of Wales. Then a near-fatal bomb on her doorstep -- and another on Holmes's -- sends the two sleuths on the trail of a murderer who scatters bizarre clues and seems utterly without motive. The villain's objective, however, is quite unequivocal: to end Russell and Holmes's partnership -- and then their lives.

Kindle Batteries in Stock

If you have the original Kindle and your battery is starting to give you a little less time between charges, you'll need to start thinking about getting a Replacement Battery soon. Even if your battery is fine, there are many reasons for wanting a second battery on hand, not the least of which is that last time they went out of stock, they stayed that way for several months. People who ordered last November as just now seeing shipments. But, for now, the Kindle battery is back in stock and can be ordered and shipped right away. Best of all, they only cost $20 (w/ free shipping if your total order is over $25), not the $50+ that some other devices' batteries cost (including the Kindle 2, which also has to be shipped to Amazon for battery replacement).