BARNES AND NOBLE PULLS DC COMICS FROM SHELVES

Last week Amazon launched the Kindle fire and because DC comics agreed to be exclusive and not allow BN's Nook to sell DC products electronically, BN made a big decision and decided to pull all of DC books from its shelves. BN said in a statement: "Barnes & Noble works with thousands of publishers to bring customers the world's largest selection of physical and digital reading content. However, regardless of the publisher, we will not stock physical books in our stores if we are not offered the available digital format."

Wow. This is a huge decision. My question is: are they in such a great position to making this kind of move? Also, clearly the line between bookseller and publisher has been blurred beyond recognition. Also, I find this especially ridiculous since graphic novel/comic book readers mostly don't like to read on e-readers!

AAARRRRRGGGG!!!! MY UGLY DIGITAL BOOK!

People want to know why I complain about picture books going digital. I feared the worst and the worst has come true for one of my books. My book Pop looks great on the apple products but my book Balto looks TERRIBLE on the Nook. I mean it. Really, truly, awful. I want to take photos to show as an example and perhaps I can pull this off. I don't want to get caught taking photos of the device while at work though. I was told that there are two different ways that the book can be displayed on the color Nook and that the programing for my book was sent in in the ugly format. I wonder why there are two options to begin with?

So I will try to explain how it looks. The first option (the good option) is for the book to look like the book (and this is how Pop looks on the Apple products). The second option - and this is how my book Balto is displayed in an awful manner - is for the text to be removed from the art and for the book to be displayed like a novel. The art is cut up in pieces and displayed here and there--sometimes at the top of the page, sometimes on the next page, sometimes blown up X200 so that it looks super bad... and the font can be changed to anything. So basically the book is BUTCHERED in the most enormous way possible. You certainly cannot read it to a child in the manner in which it is displayed on the device. It's just a joke.

I'm sorry but these things have a LOOOONG way to go before they think they can sell picture books fairly. I'd want my money back! Grrrr.

You may not believe how bad this actually is so stay tuned for photos (if I can manage).

ANIMATION VS. THE STILL PAGE

I'm being swallowed alive by trying to animate little dogs moving their legs in the snow, which you won't notice anyway.



This brings me to a point. I was telling my fellow children's book author friend Julia Sarcone Roach what I was trying to accomplish (she actually knows how to animate stuff!) and she said she doesn't know how she feels about making animations on book trailers, etc. This is because she thinks books have their own rhythm and pacing and animating them is taking away from that. I agree with that completely... in a way. This is why I can't stand what ebooks are doing with things lately. But I feel like book trailers are different. They exist to tease the reader and get them to buy the BOOK. Not the other way around. I consider the two things very different mediums. What I'm doing is taking a page from my book and delving into that world and imagining what it would be like if it came to life -- very much like I would do if I were a kid sitting on the couch and having my parent read to me. I'd always animate the stuff in my head.

So it's my HOPE that my new little project won't be taking away from my books at all! I hope what I"m doing will make people want to run out and buy them.

What I'm doing, by the way, is animating little bits of the book and I'm putting it all together with me doing a reading of the book and I'm going to add real B&W historical footage and photography. Although, I do kind of like these simple little animated bits by themselves.

Anyone have any thoughts about this?

E BOOKS - CHANGING THE DESIGN

You might see a trend here, with the whole me posting pictures of bookshelves thing. I played with all of the Nooks last week. Or should I say Nooks. There's no "the." I don't know why. Anyway, one thing that really bothers me is that you can change the type on them--meaning you can change the font size and color and the paragraphs around so that they're really skinny and so on. I understand that making fonts really big is great for people with vision problems... but I think it just goes way too far. We book people -- illustrators, designers, etc., work really hard to make the books look nice! Within seconds this can all be destroyed. There was a giant pit in my stomach the minute I found out that the reader could do this with the devices. The reader can BUTCHER a book! Ugh.

Just one more sad thing about where things are going. Plus... you can't hang dozens of multi-colored e-books from your ceiling. Keep that in mind.

POTTERMORE

JK Rowling has a new site. Rowling goes digital.



Right now there's not much on it but come October she's promising lots of exciting stuff for her old and new readers--extras, backstories, and a chance to enter Harry's world. This is what she has to say: “It’s a great way to give something back to the fans. I still receive a huge amount of stories, drawings and ideas and the site is a great way to continue the conversation.”

Also, this site will be the only place where readers can purchase digital versions of the Harry Potter books. Rowling says that ebooks are here to stay. Lucky for her, though, that she gets to solely control how much each book costs. We other authors don't get to control percentages of each book that goes into our pocket. Perhaps that's why I'm not so rah-rah about the whole thing quite yet (among other reasons).

UNIQUE DESIGN

This is what I aim for - a whole package with each book. Sometimes it's hard to do because these things cost more, but each little thing is worth it in my mind. And once again, this is something you can't get on an e-book. I appreciate the package too much to ever say goodbye.

PERHAPS YOU'RE WONDERING...

Why I talk about e-books so much if I don't like them. Well... yes, they worry me. A lot. But also, at my job, they are in my face PLENTY. There is a "community" space for us employees to read and ALL it has been about e-readers. We are pretty much being brainwashed! Well... that's the goal anyway. So I really can't escape it. But I want this blog to be varied. So...

What I have coming up:
I have sent my author friend interview questions but she's gotten quite ill so that is on hold.

I have sent my mom (yes, my mom!) interview questions about reading and literacy. I had extreme attention problems as a youngster so I asked her how she handled that. She is also a social worker in a school system and works with disabled children and has seen teachers badly handle reading to groups. So I've asked her about that. I think it'll be a great interview! I just have to hope for another snow day so that she can get it done!

I will pester my editors to see if I can suck an interview out of them.

I have also asked my aunt, who is a librarian in D.C, if I can interview her.

To my readers: If you think you have something interesting to say and are a librarian or teacher or editor or designer or author then speak up!

B&N NOOK UNDER FIRE

B&N is being sued by Spring Design for "stealing" design features now existing in the Nook. I'd known about this for a while and had read the actual court documents via Wikileaks. But apparently the lawsuit is going forward. The judge this month said there is enough evidence to go to trial. I don't like this!!! (I have my reasons).

FROM PC WORLD NOV 2009:
"According to court documents, Spring Design first presented their design for Alex to a Barnes & Noble consultant on February 17, 2009 – five days after both sides signed a non-disclosure agreement. On March 20, Spring Design met with Ravi Gopalakrishnan, head of B&N software development, who allegedly told Spring executives that B&N wanted a product that would compete with the Kindle.

"In April and May, Spring Design met with other B&N executives, including William Lynch, president of B&N.com and Kevin Frain, B&N's CFO. Lynch and Frain were given a product demo and shown a PowerPoint presentation for an Android-based e-reader known as Alex.

"Lynch warned Spring's Albert Teng that he should not consider Amazon as a content partner, because Amazon was likely to steal Spring's unique idea without ever buying anything from Spring," according to court documents.

"Thanks for coming and showing us your innovative work," Lynch wrote in an e-mail after the meeting. "Kevin [Frain] owns these partnerships and I know he's excited to work with you. Looking forward."

In July, B&N requested a summary of Spring's product development and on October 1, B&N had a meeting with Spring's CEO to discuss possible revenue sharing for Spring's Alex device in the university textbook market."

LAW 360 SAYS:
In his Dec. 27 opinion Judge Ware said the evidence B&N and Spring submitted showed "extensive dispute" over whether prior e-reader devices had "disclosed all aspects of plaintiff's trade secrets" and that the evidence was divided on whether B&N had developed the Nook independently.

"Comparing the specific features of the Nook with [Spring's] alleged trade secrets is a fact-intensive task best left to a jury," the judge said.

In December 2009, Judge Ware denied Spring's motion for a preliminary injunction in the suit, allowing B&N to market the Nook while the lawsuit continued. At the time, the judge found that Spring had not shown sufficient likelihood of success on its merits or that an injunction would be in the public interest."

What will become of all of this? What if B&N couldn't make the Nook anymore? Would they go back to focusing on what they did prior? PRINTED BOOKS? What if what they owed was too great? Can the industry survive without this giant? I know on a personal level I cannot. Hmmm.

My own vote is that the Nook looks far better than Alex design wise. So whether features were taken or not, they definitely improved upon things. And as you know, I'm not a fan of e-readers - but if I HAD to pick one, I would pick the Nook. It looks better. I always go by looks. I would pick the iPad but it's too big/heavy to carry around and therefore doesn't work for reading purposes. It works more as a laptop without the keyboard.

What would you pick?

WHEN EBOOKS GET COPIED

QUESTION:
When people figure out how to copy and share ebooks, like they do with music, how will people make any money out of the digital ebook market?

When this happened with music it was okay, in a way, because musicians make their money in other ways: by performing, selling tee-shirts, and that sort of thing. Authors can't do that. And gone will be author signings. After all, you can't sign an ebook!

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT - MY EBOOK LEAP?

Hey, I'm not one to do all this talk and no action. I feel like I can't complain about ebooks or fully talk about the ins and outs of all of this without trying it out myself. So, here's what I want to do: I want to take one of my out-of-print books and turn it into an ebook using BN's Pubit.



Here's the question:
Do I:
1) give it away for free, as in list it for 0.00 dollars? (If I CAN do that)
or
2) sell it for .99 cents?
or
3) sell it for 9 dollars?

I'm right now leaning toward giving it away for free. Why give anyone any money for it? I'm already giving it away on my website for free so why not continue the gesture? Then again, perhaps that will ruin the experiment. Will it? Do I need to sell it for 99 cents like everyone else to see what will really happen?

I need your votes so vote now!

Thank you!

NOTE: I got the royalty rate backwards: (Thanks to Maryann for the correction.) You get 65% on books between 2.99 and 9.99. You get 40% on books over. For books at or below $2.98 you get 40 % off the list price. 1) I'm not sure why you get far less on books over. Kind of odd. 2) I'm not sure why most people price their books at 99 cents when they could get 65% instead of 40% when they price their book a few bucks higher.

THIS AND THAT ON EBOOKS

This book, JAKE: THE DOG WHO GRUNTS LIKE A PIG, is number 14 on the BN ebook selection. It beats out The Lightening Thief, which is currently ranked number 26.



FROM THE INSIDE:
Synopsis
“JAKE: The Dog Who Grunts Like A Pig” is a prelude to “The Little Pig Dog” series of books for children. Written with the adults in mind, it is a short story that explains how the Candy family discovered the little black dog they named Jake in their back field. After realizing that he was not going to go away, the Candy’s decide to take him in, and soon discovered his unique talents. Due to a life threatening situation, Jake becomes a loving and trusted member of the family. “The Little Pig Dog” series of books begins with “The Dog Who Grunts Like A Pig (Jake’s Story) and is a humorous and adventurous story told from Jake’s unique perspective as seen through his eyes. Other books in the series are "MIRACULOUS JAKE" (second book in the series), "Through the Possum Hole" (third book in the series), "Jake's Snowy Adventure" (fourth book in the series), "Jake and the Fiery Rescue" (fifth book in the series), and coming in Feb. 2011:"Jake and the Rescue Club" (sixth book in the series). The first three books are also combined into one volume entitled "Jake's Story: the Little Pig Dog (Volume One)". All books are non-illustrated.
If you find any inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble.
More Reviews and Recommendations

Biography
Raymond G. Candy (b. 1951- present)- With over 25 years in Christian ministry, Mr. Candy has been a Pastor, Teacher, Evangelist, Missionary, and Christian School Principal. His experience in teaching and working with children from Kindergarten through High School has given him a unique perspective and ability to relate to children at any level. This becomes evident in the reading of his “The Little Pig Dog” series of books for children. His experience as a Minister and his desire to bring revival to the smaller congregations and less fortunate is demonstrated in his Christian books about the miracle working power of God in the lives of everyday, ordinary individuals. Current available works are- “JAKE: The Dog Who Grunts Like A Pig” (a non-fiction, short story prelude that introduces Jake, the little pig dog), “THE DOG WHO GRUNTS LIKE A PIG (Jake’s Story)”: A fictional book for children as told by Jake, the little pig dog (first children book in “The Little Pig Dog” series,"MIRACULOUS JAKE": the second book in the series, and “The Acts of the Servants of the Lord”- a testimonial book of Christian

No comment on any of that.

Moving on. The below book is another high ranker. It's a trend that I've been following. People... er... "publishers" (fake ones) take books in the public domain that are most likely put out by big houses like Penguin, Random House, etc. The "publishers" perhaps scan them in (or somehow get the text) and create new crappy covers to go with the text so that they don't break any copyright laws. Then they pocket the money. And when I say crappy, I think that's a safe statement to make. I think I should give it a go. Perhaps I could make a boat load of money doing it!

B&N REORGANIZES?

B&N let 45-50 people go last week, most of whom were buyers. The company claimed that they were focusing more on digital operations. Uh-huh. This is one quote by a publisher: "The growth in digital is great, but someone has to be in charge of getting books into the stores." Books? What are books?

At the beginning of this month B&N announced "solid gains" in the physical book category for holiday sales. PW wrote: "B&N said that sales of physical books, especially hardcovers, exceeded expectations." Yes, digital books will continue to GROW, much more so than their physical counterparts. This is because they're new. They're different. They're exciting. There is plenty of room for growth. Books have been around for a long, long time. But one can't expect ebooks to keep upping on the graph for ever and ever. There will come a point when the ebooks plateau. The question is when and at what point? We know where the physical book stands. The ebook is still a gamble. A big one. I don't think physical books and bookstores and book buyers and booksellers should be disposed of. Big, big mistake.

E READERS FOR KIDS - LIKE WATCHING TV?

If you've been following my posts you may have guessed that I'm not a big fan of e-readers. I have my reasons. This is another reason why I think they're problematic:

B&N's Nook folk have designed applications for its reader and for the iPad: "Where the best children's stories come to life." Their re-design of classic books has made them "come to life" so much so that you may as well just pop in a DVD and forget the book entirely.

Here's an example:

GO, DOG, GO!, which is a beginning reader, starts out in a male voice--"There they go... Look at those dogs go!..."



And as the voice prattles on the screen zooms in on the image:



Hmmm. Where did the text go? As a beginning reader, I think the text probably needs to be present for the child to learn how to read. As is, the "book" presents itself more as a movie... or it tries its darndest to be one. It's too bad, isn't it? It's unfortunate that all books don't eradicate all of their words and just have omniscient voices that shout out from their speaker boxes and characters that animate themselves from behind the plastic screens for the children of America.

1) I had a hard time learning to read. This will take the pressure off other kids. Perhaps they won't get an eye twitch like I did.
2) We don't need more literacy, do we?

BOOKSHELVES!

My good friend and fellow children's book illustrator/author Julia Sarcone-Roach shelves her books by color! Yes, by color. Observe:


(This is funny but only a bookseller would face out a book - look at the bottom. Also, Julia, my dear: I see a few library books in there. I hope you paid for them!)

I asked her to send me this photo because I'm collecting photographs of bookshelves. With the influx of ebooks I want to remind everyone that there's one big thing that you can't do with them: Put them on your shelves! So I want to see your bookshelves. Please send me some photos and I'll post them. My email is my first and last name 007 at yahoo.com

And thank you.

meghan

EBOOKS -THE GOOD AND THE BAD

There are so many reasons why I find ebooks problematic. Barnes & Noble has what’s called Pubit. It’s a self publishing platform. Anybody can upload what they've written and illustrated. B&N takes 65% of titles listed under 9.99 and 40% of those listed over. The cool thing for most people doing this is that THEIR BOOK gets to be placed on the BN website along with standard edited, designed, copyedited PUBLISHED BOOKS! How great is that? For THEM.

Here’s where I think things get VERY problematic. When you browse for a children’s ebook Goodnight Moon and this book may be side by side!



The below book is Number 23 in children's ebooks.



Somehow when I look at it I can't hate it. The character is kind of cute. But...it has no design to speak of. It's not done be a professional illustrator, designer, etc. And who knows what the text of these books reads like! One can only imagine. The Number 2 rated children's book is written and illustrated by the same folks. I went through the list on the BN ebook site up to 200 and saw very few books published by traditional publishers. Publishers need to wake up and see what’s going on! The price point for many of these ebooks is so low--only 99 cents. If THEY are what people are buying and being disappointed by (I've read some of the comments) then where will traditional books be in a few years? Can the buying public differentiate between a published book and a self published book? Will they go for the cheaper buy and then be disappointed? Will they then not want to buy picture books? I feel the same way about celebrity books but that's a discussion for another day.

Below are some other interesting covers that I found.





The above cover is accompanied this description:
"Recommend Highly-- another great children's story by this new author!
Read all her books and this moo ving story is one not to miss! Every wish upon a star and graze into the night. Read a good children's story like this and follow your dreams!" At first when I saw the cow cover I thought--aw, how cute, a kid is doing some books! But I guess not.