Category Archives: Reading

Congratulations to the Winners!

The winners of the Goodreads giveaway have been chosen, and their autographed copies of Whirlwind are going into the mail tomorrow! Congratulations to:

Milena in New York
and
Nicole in Great Britain

If you’re not Milena or Nicole, don’t fret, a new contest starts tomorrow on Library Thing.  The link to the giveaway will go up tomorrow. Good Luck!

Meet an Author Monday

Whether your a reader or a writer, there’s a lot of great information and fun on the Hop. Check it out!

Meet an Author Monday

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Read an Ebook Week

Light and shadow on an Irex iLiad ebook reader...

Image via Wikipedia

Whether you have an ereader filled to the brim or are a staunch ink and paper fan, Read an Ebook Week is a milestone not to be missed.

According to readanebookweek.com, ebooks have been around for 40 years! From simple text files read on a green screen to fancy new multimedia books including video and sound, ebooks have come a long way.

I’ve often said that I believe paper and ink books will be around a very, very long time, but that doesn’t mean that ebooks don’t deserve a look.  So if you haven’t tried one yet, how about dipping your toe in the epool this week?

No, you don’t have to spend hundreds and learn yet another new device’s tricks.  You can read an ebook right on your laptop using something as simple as Adobe reader.  The books themselves vary in price from FREE up to who knows.  Many classics fall into the free category, and even more are $5 or less (including a romantic suspense named Whirlwind I’m pretty proud of!).

You can download software for free to read the more exotic formats – nook, kindle, and others all have free applications for laptops, smart phones, and just about anything with a screen.

So if you haven’t tried an ebook, why not give it a try?

[BTW: I find it exceptionally ironic that the day before Read an Ebook Week was National Day of Unplugging. hee hee hee!]

Raffle Tickets

Image by ydhsu via Flickr

WIN WHIRLWIND

Only one more week left to enter to win one of two paperback copies over on Goodreads.  Two more copies coming soon on Library Thing.

Meet an Author Monday

Whether your a reader or a writer, there’s a lot of great information and fun on the Hop. Check it out!

Meet an Author Monday

Click here for the Author hop

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How Do You Autograph a Kindle?

Borders Bookstore - SeaTac Airport

Image by brewbooks via Flickr

As the publishing industry continues to evolve, authors, publishers, and even readers are running to keep up.  Small bookstores are struggling to stay in existence…but the threat isn’t the big chains any more, it’s the eBook.  Even big chains like Borders are contemplating bankruptcy in light of the eBook craze (yup, Borders is in big trouble).  I still maintain paper and print books are not going to disappear, but seeing a company as large as Borders unable to pay for the books it’s selling isn’t helping my case.

Barnes & Noble seems to be surviving okay, so there will be at least one bookstore still alive to go and browse, but if you don’t have a B&N near you, the already gigantic Amazon may be your only choice for hard copy books.  Or the library.  In some ways it’s like we’re taking big steps backwards…going back to the time when books were rare and chained in libraries.  I know, there won’t be chains, but can you imagine if the only place you can go to get a hard cover book is the library?

Now, I don’t think I’m a luddite – I realize that the information in books is more available now than it’s ever been.  I own and love my Kindle, and buy fewer and fewer hard copy books.  Various eReaders, now including the Kindle, even allow users to loan out their eBooks. But now I’m left with the question at the top of this post – how do you autograph a Kindle?

So much for my tongue-in-cheek post!

I do have a temporary solution that I’m trying.  I’m giving out book bling – a ribbon with some sparkly beads and a charm on it – that can be looped over a Kindle, Nook, or iPad cover and has a tag that can be signed.  But if you don’t have a cover for your eReader, I’m not sure what else to do.  By the way – being asked for an autograph, whether it’s for a book or a bookmark – is a total rush!  I just wish my handwriting was neater!

autograph book (1886)

Image via Wikipedia

But the question remains…and I put it to you.  Are autographs a thing of the past, or will autographing something else suffice?  Will old-fashioned autograph books become popular once again (now that’d be ironic!) or will you, the reader, be satisfied with an electronic scrawl in an iPad app?  What would you like?

Meet an Author Monday Blog hop

Meet an Author Monday

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Authors! Have a book out? Are you under contract for publication? Come join the hop.

ps.

I’d like to thank Britney at I.Eat.Words for a lovely interview and review. Please check out her blog 🙂

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Win an Autographed Copy of Whirlwind

Click here to enter to win an autographed copy of WhirlwindHere’s a chance to give yourself a present!  Enter to win an autographed copy of Whirlwind!

The giveaway runs from now until release day.  The winner will be notified by email at midnight, right before Whirlwind goes on sale.  The image to the left (isn’t the cover neat?) will take you to the goodreads.com site where you can enter to win.  If you don’t have an account at goodreads.com, you’ll be asked to create one in order to enter, but it’s free. Once the winner is picked, I’ll put your signed copy in the mail, along with a little book bling to dress it up.  It can’t get any easier!

While you’re there, enter to win a copy of 12.21.12 by Killian McRae.  We’re sharing a release day – you could get double lucky and win both books for free!

Also, my publisher, Omnific Publishing, has a holiday sale going on.  You can get a free eBook with the purchase of a paperback by entering the coupon code on their site.  Be sure and check it out!

Can you believe it’s only 14 days until release?!!

Meet an Author Monday

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Authors! Have a book out? Are you under contract for publication? Make sure you join in the hop. This is a great way to network your blog and let readers know who you are!

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Happy Cyber Monday!

A woman typing on a laptop

Image via Wikipedia

Thanksgiving came and went…well, unless you’re still working on leftovers!  Did you venture out for Black Friday or are you online today, enjoying the now traditional Cyber Monday specials?  Me, I didn’t venture out until yesterday.  The sales before Thanksgiving were enough for me, and I didn’t want to get in the way of the ninja shoppers out this weekend.  Yes, I’m a shopping wimp!

It’s kind of ironic that we finish our look into eReaders with a mostly tongue-in-cheek look at hard-copy books today (the busiest internet shopping day of the year).  I’m not sure I can say that the traditional form of books, ink and paper, is still going strong, but it’s a long way from dead.  So why would you want to invest in one?  Here’s my take…and for the record, the last book I bought was a paperback, not an ebook.

Whirlwind available 12/21/10Which eReader hard copies do you have? How long have you owned it?

I’ve been reading print books for years, decades, actually.

What features do you like best?

Paperback books are my favorite – they’re small, portable, and durable.  I can share them with friends and their batteries never die.  I love to give books as gifts.

How do you load books on your eReader read hard copies? (wirelessly, connect to computer, other?)

One page at a time.  There’s nothing easier than opening a book.

What kinds of eBooks hard copies do you load on your eReader (formats – PDF, epub, other) have? Do you load them from sources other than the default bookstore? (e.g. amazon for Kindle or iBookstore for iPad)

I do have quite a few hard-cover books and magazines.  I pick up books from all kinds of places.  The market; the mall; the airport; and the library, just to name a few.

Where do you use your eReader hard copies? (in the car, outside, at work, at home, traveling)

All of the above. Books are tough, so they go everywhere.  A splash of coffee or being dropped on a busy commuter train doesn’t hurt them.  They may get a little damaged, but remain readable.

paperbacks

Image by masaaki miyara via Flickr

Does it have an annotation feature?  Do you make notes?

I generally only make notes in my non-fiction books, and dog-ear the pages. Otherwise, my notes are few and far between.

Can you read your eBooks hard copies anywhere else? (on your computer or your phone) Do you?

I love taking a paperback to the beach. The sand doesn’t hurt it, and sometimes the salty-sea smell lingers on the pages after I get back home.

Do you share your eReader hard copies with anyone?

I swap books with my friends occasionally.

What else do you do on your eReader with your hard copies? (browse the web, watch videos, read magazines, etc)

There’s no distractions reading a hard-copy book.  No beeping that you have email, no chat requests.  It truly is an escape for me.

How did you get your eReader hard copies? (buy in store, buy online, win it, receive it as a gift, other)

All of the above!

What accessories do you have for your eReader hard copies?

A book light is about the only accessory I use.  A book mark is nice, but any scrap of paper will do.

How many books do you have on your eReader?  How many hard copy books do you have?

I must have a couple hundred books, including several dozen ebooks.

Any other comments about your eReader hard copies?

My bookshelf is much more than a place to store information.  It’s part of my home, my life…something I look at everyday. It holds knick knacks, photos, games, and books.  My home would feel empty without it.

Meet an Author Monday

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this discussion of various eReaders.  There’s something for everyone…and avid readers I’ve spoken to don’t limit themselves to one format. Whether you escape into a paperback, a Kindle, an iPad or some other for of eReader or media, it doesn’t matter.  In the end, it’s only the READING that matters!

Keep reading!

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