BookNet Canada was at Book Expo America last week. Noah and I were both in NYC to attend. I was mainly there to go to the IDPF Digital Book conference, but I managed to find some time to wander the floor as well. Here’s a roundup of interesting tech-related products and presentations I saw while I was there.
B&N's Nook Color Officially Becomes an Android Tablet
This week, Barnes & Noble has pushed a software update (version 1.2.0) that officially takes the Nook Color from e-reader to tablet. Why officially? Well, Nook owners have been turning the device into a tablet on their own for months already.
E-Book Advertising Is Here
There was a piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about Harry Hurt III’s upcoming e-book. Hurt sought out many sponsors for his book, which sounds like it involved a lot of travel (i.e., is expensive for the author to write). The sponsors gave him money, equipment and products in exchange for ads inside the book and “significant product placement woven throughout [the book’s] narrative.”
Will readers mind the advertisements in the book? Is it possible to work product placement into your narrative seamlessly?
PressBooks: Web-First Workflow Just Got Even Easier
EPUB 3.0 Draft Specification Published
Today the IDPF made available the first public draft of the EPUB 3.0 specification (press release).
The IDPF has posted a good overview document to 3.0 that is worth spending a little time with. But here is a brief summary of some of the proposed new ‘features’, or changes, in EPUB 3.0.
The Analyst, the Thinker, and the Doer
TEDBooks and Kindle Singles: Spreading Ideas in a Closed System?
Yesterday, TED announced the launch of TEDBooks—“an imprint of short nonfiction works designed for digital distribution”—via Amazon’s new Kindle Singles channel.
Hey! I’m Reading Here!
This summer I mentioned to some friends that I was programming BNC Technology Forum 2011. (Yes, I know, I’m probably their most boring friend.) I was mentioning that I felt it was important to include a session on digital marketing, and two of my friends immediately perked up. One works in PR and the other works in online advertising, and both had the same thought: they were salivating at the idea of advertising in books. Their enthusiasm was equally matched by my repulsion.
Best Practices for E-Books in ONIX
What are the general guidelines for producing “good” ONIX support for e-books? Quality data exchange requires two things: clarity about how Product Identifiers are being used and the use of the ONIX 3.0 standard. Given that we are lacking both of these things, the answer to how to make a “good” e-book is a bit ambiguous. Use the following as a starting point, ask questions of your trading partners, and—please!—comment on this post.
