Brad's Reader » Link Love

Friday Link Love 8/27

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:51:54 +0000

Any day now my first child will be born. I’m very, very excited, but also a little nervous. It’s a huge life changing event. However, my excitement far outweighs any anxiety I feel.

As I’ve mentioned before, the posting frequency on Brad’s Reader is about to go way down. I can’t promise how much I’ll be able to post or even if I’ll get the weekly Friday Link Love in. Everything is up in the air. But rest assured, Brad’s Reader isn’t going anywhere.

That’s all I have for now. It’s a beautiful day here in Chicago as the humidity has gone down. Hopefully this will be our new trend until Autumn. As always, have a happy and safe weekend.

Ebooks

The curious idea of ads in iBooks

Author Joe Konrath sells a lot books on Amazon than on iBookstore

Why are e-reader apps stuck in the DOS era?

Why hasn’t the Authors Guild freaked out about iPad ebook text-to-speech?

Don’t underestimate the Barnes & Noble Nook

Writing

The novel’s backstory

Bloggers vs. Copywriters: A Rhetoric Debate

It’s all in the mind

Books/Literature

How to be a good literary loser

When is a literary feud NOT a literary feud?

Publishing/Self-Publishing

Moving On (Seth Godin ditches traditional publishing)

Pulling the Trigger: Electronic Self-Publishing

Hospice for Publishers

Self-Publishing: Financial Reality Check

Internet/Technology

Buying used games? Developers, publishers don’t care about you

Inspiration

How to beat procrastination permanently

How to summit life’s everyday mountains

Everything Else

Former Apple manager accused of hiding $125k in shoe boxes

Revealed: How Steve Jobs turns customers into fanatics

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 8/20 (Next Day Edition)

Brad Vertrees — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:49:37 +0000

Apologies for the very late Friday Link Love. I’ve been very preoccupied this last month or two (hence my decreased number of posts) with some personal matters. Don’t worry though, you’ll soon find out why and it is very good news. Once things settle, I should be back to posting several times a week.

That said, it’s Saturday and the weekend is almost halfway over. Stay safe!

Ebooks

Library ebooks a hot item

Will book stores go away as ebooks take hold?

Sony Reader eBook PRS-350 and PRS-650 Rumoured

Borders, Barnes & Noble stock dying: Amazon’s ebook to blame?

Writing

The death of the revision

60 Tips to improve your non-fiction writing

How to have zen in your pen again and again

Books/Literature

Jonathan Franzen picks up the torch for US literary tradition

Is Jonathan Franzen a hero or hypocrite?

Publishing/Self-Publishing

Vancouver’s Espresso Book Machine cuts cost out of self-publishing

Publisher’s Weekly declares stigma of self-publishing has vanished

Internet/Technology

And here comes the FaceTime porn

Is ‘is X dead’ dead?

Inspiration

The warrior’s way to achieve your goals

10 Sunday night blues busters for a better Monday morning

Everything Else

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 8/13

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:54:03 +0000

I’m not the superstitious type, so being Friday the 13th has no real meaning for me. Just another day. However, I was watching the news this morning and one of the anchors pointed out that today is the only Friday the 13th in 2010. A very minor interesting bit of trivia.

There’s really not much else to say today. I have a fairly busy weekend ahead so I may not be writing any new posts in the next few days. However, I try to post on Twitter as much as possible (140 characters is much easier than a blog post). So if you’re not following me already, now might be a good time.

That’s it. Have a happy and safe weekend!

Ebooks

Ebooks and e-readers: FAQ

Android ebook shops

Five arguments against e-reading

The Great Scare: A long time Kindler trying to figure out a Sony Reader

iPad/Kindle combo proving deadly to rest of e-reader market

New Android-based Sony Readers may be coming

Writing

Are there any original writing ideas left?

5 Steps to dazzling minor characters

Clarity: The crystal ball of life

Books/Literature

Are these writers overrated?

The precious unprinted content of books

Publishing/Self Publishing

Why do some people think it’s cool for film makers and musicians to invest in their work but not authors?

Digital publishing & POD: What’s “Good enough”?

Who isn’t writing the next Eat, Pray, Love

Remember how publishers complained about Kindle’s text-to-voice reading?

Internet/Technology

Report: Amazon eyeing gadgets beyond Kindle

E-ink playing with color and touch displays, due late 2010

Inspiration

How “invisible fences” hold you back (and how to break free)

Exploration and the risk of failure

Everything Else

Make buying difficult?

Fabulously Fun Fridays: Worst Self-Help Titles

Book Review: The 4-Hour Work Week

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 8/6

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:00:53 +0000

Given the e-reader price wars going on between Amazon and Barnes & Noble, I’m predicting that by this time next year there will be either a Kindle or Nook available for $100, or even less. Obviously consumers will follow these lower prices, causing more people to embrace ebooks.

The only variable that is too hard to predict (at least this early in the game) is the price of the ebooks themselves. Publishers want higher ebook prices while ebooksellers like Amazon and consumers want lower ebook prices. If ebook prices increase, then it will probably negate the lower-priced e-readers.

Yes, it’s an exciting time for ebooks. While they still remain less than 5% of overall book sales, their rapid growth will surely bring some interesting surprises over the next decade.

But enough of that. It’s Friday and you know what that means. Have a happy and safe weekend.

Ebooks

Ebooks fly beyond mere text

Will Amazon turn the Kindle ereader into a fully fledged tablet?

Ebook pricing deals may violate antitrust laws: CT AG launches investigation

How Apple and Amazon are screwing you on ebooks

Amazon to fight iPhone via phone-enabled Kindle?

Writing

Editing your novel: High level story read through

Writing vs. Storytelling

Writing short stories – there’s no need to be scared

Literary Fiction vs. Popular Fiction

Books/Literature

Kanye West’s tweets draw comical response from literary mag

This Kuwaiti doctor will get you to read…sort of

The chic-lit debate: Light doesn’t have to mean stupid

Justin Bieber takes his rightful place among the literary greats

Publishing/Self-Publishing

The Self-Publishing Question

The highly effective habits of 5 successful authors

5 Hard truths about being a published author

Internet/Technology

Sex industry embraces FaceTime, world feigns surprise

Big content monetissation ideas for the little guy

Ballmer (and Microsoft) still doesn’t get the iPad

Ebooks and computers unfairly considered the same

Yoko Ono: ‘Don’t hold your breath’ for Beatles on Apple’s iTunes

Inspiration

7 Simple ways to say “No”

Inspiration

Everything Else

How is fast food like an attractive woman?

The importance of authentic branding

7 Ways social media helps with business networking

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 7/30

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:51:06 +0000

Today is an “abbreviated” Friday Link Love because it has been a pretty hectic week – both on the writing front and at home. This also explains my only writing one post between last week’s Link Love and this week’s.

It has been a big week in ereader news. Amazon announced Kindle WiFi, selling for $139. There’s no doubt they are trying to compete with Barnes & Noble’s own Nook WiFi, which retails for $149. While the retailers continue their ereader price wars, the consumer wins. Lower priced ereaders will convert more people to ebooks.

There was a lot of other big news this week – too much to cover here. But I’ll be scrutinizing the big stories and writing posts on the one’s that I feel are the most important.

With that said, have a happy and safe weekend!

Ebooks

Big name authors realize their contracts don’t cover ebooks

Amazon to unveil $139 Kindle Wi-Fi

Do you think ebooks will make paper books obsolete anytime soon?

Writing

Waiting – a user’s guide

Bust my Excuse: Everyone else writes better than me!

Books/Literature

Stieg Larsson becomes first author to sell 1M ebooks on Amazon

The UAE-led poetry push continues

Publishing/Self-Publishing

Self-publishing vs. Independent publishing

How indie ebooks will transform the future of book publishing

Internet/Technology

The worst app name. Ever.

Researcher demonstrates ATM “Jackpotting” at Black Hat Conference

Inspiration

Does your power lunch have lasting energy?

The best goal is no goal

The power of solitude: Taking time to rest

Everything Else

Use a freelance paycheck template to pay yourself regularly

Creativity Negativity

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 7/23

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:05:54 +0000

Amazon made waves this week by claiming they sold 180 ebooks for every 100 hardcover books. A lot of people were skeptical of this claim (myself included). But publishers confirmed Amazon’s numbers.

While this isn’t the death knell for hardcovers, it gives ebooks another boost of credibility. And with ebook prices far below that of print books (at least for now), penny-pinching readers might be willing to forget how much they love the feel of a “real” print book.

That’s all I have for today. Keep on reading. Keep on writing. And as always, have a safe and happy weekend.

Ebooks

What Amazon didn’t say about ebooks

A word of caution about those ebooks vs. hardback book statistics

When will ebook prices start going up?

Is ebook pricing too high?

Sharp entering the e-reader and ebook market

Writing

I Write Like…Yeah Right

Write noise

Writers’ Houses

How to deal with quirky writing rituals

Books/Literature

11 Literary holidays that every book lover should know

‘Millenium’ sparks literary interest

Publishing/Self-Publishing

Top Ten Worst Self-Publishing Mistakes – Explained

Query Red Flags

Ending the stigma of self-publishing

Publishing and self-publishing: Where is the tipping point?

Celebrated authors bypass publishing houses to sell ebooks via Amazon

Internet/Technology

Managing your personal brand online

Paywalled London Times ‘an empty world’?

iPhone-grabbing thief picks wrong phone at wrong time

Inspiration

4 Simple steps for letting go of stress

How to be insanely productive and keep smiling

Everything Else

Proof that women ARE smarter?

The sky is not falling, but it is shrinking

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 7/16

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:07:57 +0000

I just started reading the third book in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy series The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (aff link). I plowed through the first two novels of the series, as they were real page-turners. The third is a bit different. I’m not going to go into details yet, as I’m not even halfway through the novel. Once I finish, however, I’ll be posting a review here – so stay tuned.

That’s all I have for this week. As always, if you have any blog links related to ebooks, writing, books/literature or publishing, please feel free to send them to me to be included in Friday Link Love. Just remember that they need to be for the current week.

As always, have a safe and happy weekend.

Ebooks

Borders’ Kobo eReader hurt by Nook’s new price

Valuing ebooks: Is it a sensory problem?

Half of college students to buy eReaders

Free B&N app encourages students to use ebooks

Writing

Multiple streams of income for fiction writers

6 Reasons a premise sentence strengthens your story

A prescription for poetry: How writing keeps us well

Books/Literature

A taste of Imperial Russian Literature

Stieg Larsson Fourth Book: Unfinished Manuscript is Shrouded in Mystery

Publishing/Self-Publishing

Ashley Weis: Self-Publishing journey

Internet/Technology

FaceTime works from a plane

Porn purveyors claim fair use in record labels’ lawsuit

Letterman lists ‘Top Ten signs you’ve purchased a bad iPhone’

Inspiration

Sorry, nothing inspiring this week.

Everything Else

Researchers create ‘lesbian’ mice by deleting a single gene

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 7/9

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:32:56 +0000

The holiday weekend here in the U.S. (Fourth of July) really threw my week off. Today it feels like it should be Thursday, not Friday. This probably explains why I was a little short on posts this week.

Don’t forget, I’m always looking for great links for my Friday Link Love feature. If you have a post (whether your own or another post you’ve found) that you think would be great, send me the link! Remember to keep the links about ebooks, publishing, writing or books/literature. Links that are overly ’sales-ish’ won’t be included. I look forward to seeing what you send.

That said, have a happy and safe weekend.

Ebooks

Ebooks take longer to read than print

True confessions of a bookwhore

James Patterson sells more than 1 million ebooks

Finding an ebook to buy

Which ebook reader is the best?

Writing

10 Reasons why writers should learn good grammar

What makes one’s voice ‘distinct’

Reviving a dead manuscript

Books/Literature

Bookshops pin hopes on Jonathan Franzen’s return with Freedom

When did reading stop being fun?

Book about secretive North Korea wins UK literary prize

Why Lee Siegel is wrong to declare the novel dead

The future of print

Hot and Dead: Literary vampires before ‘Twilight’

Publishing/Self Publishing

Self-publishing doesn’t mean do it all yourself

Top 5 copywriting secrets to sell your book

The new vanity publishing?

Internet/Technology

Former employees shed light on Apple’s internal corporate culture

Porn pranksters have a field day with YouTube injection flaw

Inspiration

Claiming your independence – 5 years of business lessons

Inspirational quotes for work

Everything Else

Bookshelf Porn (via Susan)

Philosophy Weekend: Pacifism’s coma

Coffee shop etiquette for mobile workers

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 7/2

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:18:41 +0000

I’m going to keep this short and sweet because it’s the 4th of July weekend here in the US.

Amazon is making the news again after releasing a newer, upgraded version of their Kindle DX (aff link) which is priced at $379 (down from $489). I’m predicting we’re going to see a lot of e-reader upgrades between now and Christmas – most of which will be released around the holiday season.

That’s it. I hope everyone has a happy and safe weekend. Be careful with those fireworks!

Ebooks

Which ebook reader is right for you?

Dropping like flies: The Que is history

Homesteading and ebooks: Profiteering in the 21st century

Toshiba to enter ebook market

Amazon adds audio, video capabilities to Kindle app iOS devices

Pricing the indie ebook: What’s fair?

Writing

Resource Roundup: Curing writer’s block

I am a writer, and this is where I write

Podcast: Scott Sigler on how to be a NYT bestselling author (via Joanna Penn)

Should stories be soapboxes?

Books/Literature

Age is more than a number in the literary world

Publishing/Self-Publishing

Smashwords partners with Wattpad to create new publishing opportunities for indie authors

Small presses get a big boost

Internet/Technology

Report: Verizon iPhone to happen for real this time in 2011

iPhone 4 takes great pictures, breaks up robbery

Australian restaurant replaces menus with iPads

Inspiration

201 Ways to arouse your creativity

Validation is overrated

Monotasking: Focus on one thing at a time

Everything Else

Random Post from Brad’s Reader

Friday Link Love 6/25

Brad Vertrees — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:11:42 +0000

Barnes & Noble shook up the ebook world this week by lowering the price of their WiFi + 3G device to $199 and introducing a WiFi-only device at $149. To further stir the pot, Amazon reacted swiftly by lowering the price of their Kindle to $189.

I imagine much of this has to do with the perceived threat of Apple’s iPad. But as I have maintained, B&N and Amazon cannot compete with the iPad on features, they can only compete on price.

Hopefully these lower prices will entice people to embrace ebooks who otherwise would not because of the high cost of the e-readers. I know that once they buy a Nook or Kindle, they’ll be hooked.

That’s all I have for today. As always, have a happy and safe weekend.