Here’s a quick roundup of posts from indie and e-publishing blogs over the past seven days.
Japan’s Leading Online Retailer Rakuten Joins Forces With Kobo To “Destroy Amazon”
“For a nation of technology-loving avid readers, Japan has been slow to join the digital publishing revolution… But that could all be about to change from Thursday, when the Japanese online retail giant Rakuten launches an e-reader it hopes will see off an expected challenge from Amazon’s device later this year, and corner the world’s second-biggest publishing market.”
Read more at The Guardian >>
Pearson to Buy Self-Pub Service Provider Author Solutions for $116 Million
Multi-national publishing conglomerate Pearson is hedging its bets on the future of publishing with this second venture into self-publishing. “This company reports that it has 150,000 authors signed up to publish, market and distribute more than 190,000 books in print and digital format. That’s an impressive number when compared t0, say Smashwords 40 thousand authors and publishers, but Author Solution’s stable pales in comparison to Lulu’s million plus customer base.”
Read more at The Digital Reader >>
Google Nexus 7: Kills the Kindle Fire, Complements the iPad
It blows its nearest competitor — the Kindle Fire — out of the water (we’ve been lukewarm on the Kindle Fire since its debut), and just plain shames the Barnes & Noble Nook tablet. The Nook and Fire are heavier than the Nexus 7, and their interfaces feel clunky and hobbled compared to the zippy Nexus 7 experience.
Read more at Publishers Weekly >>
50 Things I Learned At Thrillerfest 2012
Joanna Penn just returned from Thrillerfest, the annual convention of the International Thriller Writers in New York. She took plenty of notes and shares the best of them in this post.
Read more at The Creative Penn >>
First Self-Published Book Nominated for International Thriller Writer Awards
“James Scott Bell, bestselling thriller author, recently became the first finalist for an International Thriller Writers (ITW) Award with a self-published work.”
“It’s no longer an either/or world,” Bell says, whose career includes both traditionally published books and self-published titles. “It’s both/and and why-the-heck-not?”
Read more at Digital Book World >>
