Barnes and Noble to Spin-off College Text Books

Saved from the garbage heap.

Panzer found some good news for Nook users at the Publishers' Weekly site today. According to a post by Jim Milliot, Barnes and Noble will be spinning off the college text book section of their business.

Why is this good news for Nook users?

Because speculation had originally been that B&N would spin off the Nook section as well and no one knew what would happen to Nook on its own. But now B&N will be keeping Nook under their stores umbrella. However, it's not all good news. B&N is keeping Nook because sales are down, making Nook an unattractive spin-off.

But, at least for the short term, Nook is safe.

Panzer says, "Whew! Saved for now."

To read the post, tootle over to college texts

German Publisher Buys eBookstore, Plans Flat-Rate eBook Service

How do I get my ebooks in the service?

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere and stopped in at the Ink, Bits & Pixels site at The Digital Reader.

There he found a post about German publisher Bastel Lubbe. The publisher will be entering into the paid subscription ebook market. There will be two services offered. One is a monthly paid service. The second is an ad-supported service.

Panzer says, "There's a lot of competition in the paid subscription market."

To read the post, tootle over to German Publisher Buys eBookstore, Plans Flat-Rate eBook Service

How Authors Can Use Instagram

Showcase cover art.

Panzer stopped in at Joel Friedlandar's The Book Designer site today. Our kitty Catosphere explorer found a post there by Adrienne Erin about how authors can use Instagram.

Instagram isn't a social media site our kitty boy knows much about, so he was particularly interested in reading Ms. Erin's suggested uses.

According to Ms. Erin, there are seven ways authors should use Instagram. Authors can use it for self-promotion, for inspiration, for showcasing cover art, and four more easy ways.

Panzer says, "Hmmm. Instagram for authors? Maybe it's worth checking out."

To read the post, tootle over to authors and Instagram

Game of Thrones May End Before A Song of Ice

Panzer was out in the Catosphere looking for news for today's post. Our kitty reporter stopped in at the GalleyCAT site where he found news about Game of Thrones.

According to Maryann Yin, this season's Game of Thrones won't be based on George R. R. Martin's books.

Why?

NOOOO!

Because last season finished at the end of his books. He hasn't finished and published a new book for this season to be based on.

So, the show's writers met with Mr. Martin and will be writing this season based on what he told them his plans are.

Panzer says, "There are some interesting interviews with the actors at the site."

To read the post and watch the interviews, tootle over to Game of Thrones May End Before A Song of Ice

A New Panzerism

Panzer on bigger is better:

Mom, you should put an extra serving of cat food in my bowl each day.

Soon, really soon, the days will be getting warmer ...

and ...

I can feel the sun coming now.

there's nothing better than rolling over on my back and ...

absorbing the strong ways of wonderful sunshine.

And, I figure, if my belly is bigger, I'll absorb more rays.

Oooh! Oooh! Feed me! Feed me!

Lost Sherlock Holmes Short Story Found

Woo Hoo! Lost then and found now!

Panzer stopped in at The Telegraph site today. Our kitty reporter found some Sherlock Holmes news there.

According to the post at the site, Walter Elliot found an 80 year old book he had forgotten he had. The small book contains a previously unseen outside Selkirk Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes short story. The story was written to help the people of Selkirk raise money for a new bridge. While not raising as much money as they hoped, the people of the town did get a new bridge.

Panzer says, "There's a link included in the post so you can read the story!"

To read the post and the story, tootle over to Sherlock Holmes

Community Book Exchange in UK Phone Booth Shut Down by Telecom

I could put shelves in here.

Panzer went to visit his friends at GalleyCAT today.

Our big kitty explorer couldn't believe what he read in a post by Dianna Dilworth. According to Ms. Dilworth, the people living in the English town of Banbury found an old unused phone booth there. They decided to find a use for it. They added some shelves and turned it into a nice dry place for a book exchange.

But as usually happens when people try to do good things for themselves and their neighbors, big corporations come along and say, "Not so fast!" That's exactly what happened in Banbury. BT (the British Telecom company) came around and told the citizens to remove the books and tear down the shelves, because somebody might get hurt.

Panzer says, "BT is right. One of you humans might drop a paperback on your foot. You humans aren't as agile or as fast as us cats."

To read the post and see what you can do to help Banbury, tootle over to Community Book Exchange in UK Phone Booth Shut Down by Telecom | GalleyCat

Harlequin and Taito Release Interactive Story Application That Offers Users an Immersive Reading... | Business Wire

I want real adventures.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today. He found a news story over at the Business Wire site about publisher Harlequin's new immersive reading experience.

If you're like our big bad kitty reporter, you're saying, "The immersive reading experience? What's that?"

Well, with a little digging and reading, our kitty boy discovered the immersive reading experience can be interesting, fun and even a little creative. Harlequin in conjunction with Taito Corporation developed an application called Harlequin Experience. The app gives readers the ability to choose a character in a Harlequin story and become that character. The reader can then interact with other characters and events in the story.

Panzer says, "Hmmm. I'm not sure if I like their pretend world or not. I could just live my own real life and talk to real people and do real things."

 To read the post, tootle over to Harlequin and Taito Release Interactive Story Application That Offers Users an Immersive Reading... | Business Wire

Characters Murdered On The Game of Thrones Set

You'll be sorry!

Panzer got woken up from his nap by a bunch of yowling and hissing and crying. Our big brave kitty explorer hopped in the Panzermobile and hit the Catosphere at warp speed.

It took some interesting cat acrobatics to find the source of all the noise, but with persistence our kitty boy found it at Roger Friedman's Showbiz 411.

And ... Panzer can't believe what Mr. Friedman posted George R. R. Martin said about this coming season's Game of Thrones.

They won't be following Mr. Martin's books as closely as before.

Our poor kitty can barely keep from crying and yowling himself.

Now ... They'll be killing off characters who survive in the books!

Panzer says, "Stop! Don't kill my favorite characters! How can you do that?"

To read the whole post, tootle over to Game of Thrones

Enhanced Ebooks Foothold In The Marketplace

Just sit, listen and watch.

Panzer was out in the Catosphere when he ran into a post over at the Publishers' Weekly site. Our big bad kitty boy really did run into the post.

How could our kitty do that? Well, the Panzermobile's navigation system got interfered with by an enhanced ebook.

What's an enhanced ebook, you ask?

Clare Swanson's post at Publishers' Weekly explains enhanced ebooks and the American Sniper ebook in particular. According to Ms. Swanson, an enhanced ebook has additional media features. In the case of Chris Kyle's memoir, American Sniper, there are 12 interviews with him and a video featuring his wife.

Panzer says, "It's like listening to parts of the ebook on the radio or watching it on TV or at the movies."

To read the post, tootle over to enhanced ebooks

A New Panzerism

Panzer on Ownership:

Have you ever noticed that with valuable stuff like your diamond ring, you put more effort into protecting it? I mean, you need a taller fence, more security guards, and a bigger safe for it. And you worry about it all the time.

It turns out you don't own valuable stuff, it owns you.

So, figure this out Einstein:

This kitty is certainly more valuable than your dumb old diamond rock.

Make sense? Think about it.

I'm not your kitty.

You don't own me.

I own you.

Now ... What was that about, "Get off the bed"?

Volunteer For Librivox Audiobooks Recordings

Panzer stopped in at the Librivox site today. Our traveling bad kitty boy found an interesting opportunity for aspiring audiobook performers there.

I could do that.

Librivox wants to make all public domain books available as audiobooks on the Internet. To reach that end, they're looking for volunteer readers for their audiobook program. You'll be provided with sections of public domain books to read aloud and record. These recordings will then be disseminated for free distribution back into the public domain. There are no special requirements; just the standard recording software and a microphone.

Panzer says, "It's a win-win for you. You can get experience reading and recording material and you can get your work out there for people to listen to."

To read the information about the volunteer opportunity, tootle over to Librivox

How To Produce A Vlog

Let's get started!

Panzer stopped at the ReelSEO site today. My big bad kitty doesn't know much about video, so he went by to see what he could learn.

Our intrepid kitty explorer found a post about how to make a vlog.

"Vlog? What's a vlog?" my little kitty asked.

So, we read Ann Smarty's post.

Turns out, a vlog is a video blog.

According to the post, you get a web cam, a good microphone, software, and go to work.

Panzer says, "I didn't know it was so easy!"

To read the post, tootle over to creating a vlog

Kindle Unlimited Expands to Canada

Expanding again?

Panzer was over at The Bookseller site today. He discovered that, according to a post by Felicity Wood, Amazon's Kindle Unlimited (KU) is ready to launch in Canada.

KU was begun to be in direct competition with ebook subscription services like Oyster and Scribd. Readers pay a monthly fee for unlimited reading. Amazon has been slowly expanding the reach of KU from the US to the UK and other countries.

There are currently 175,000 ebooks enrolled in KU. When authors enter their ebooks into the Amazon Select program, they are automatically also entered in KU.

Panzer says, "Always read the fine print in the Terms of Service."

To read the post, tootle over to Kindle Unlimited

Smashwords: The Ebook as Annuity

The kitty treats just keep coming in.

Panzer stopped in to read Mark Coker's new post at the Smashwords site. Mark always has insightful posts about the indie publishing world for indie authors.

In his newest post, Mark explains why an indie ebook is like an annuity. Unlike, traditionally published books which can go out of print in a short time, your ebook lives for as long as you (the publisher) keep it published/uploaded at the e-stores.  Also, traditionally published books have an upfront advance and then no further payments (usually), but like an annuity your ebook provides an income for the entire life of the ebook. Now, as Mark points out there is no guarantee of how much the income from the ebook will be, but, if you write more books and market them all, the income will continue.

Panzer says, "So how many annuities do you have? More than one I hope."

To read the post, tootle over to Smashwords: The Ebook as Annuity:

J. K. Rowling's Novel The Casual Vacancy Ending Changed

I hate when the show isn't like the book!

Panzer headed out into the Catosphere today looking for news for you. After tootling around for a while, our kitty boy adventurer stopped in at The Bookseller site.

Panzer found a post by the staff about the BBC's production of J. K. Rowling's novel The Casual Vacancy. Turns out they didn't like the novel's ending because they found it too "bleak." So, they changed it to make it happier.

Panzer says, "Grrr! Hundreds of thousands of humans (750,000 in the U.K. to be exact) read the book and liked it. but what do they know? Nothing according to the BBC."

To read the article, tootle over to J. K. Rowling

A New Panzerism

Takes care of my little daily problem.

Panzer on first aid:

Stop whining.

Really ...

I didn't mean to trip you.

It'll only be a little bruise.

Just rub some kitty litter on it. It'll be okay.

Draft2Digital Platform

Let's check it out.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere following the me-wow-s to the Publishers' Weekly site.

Our kitty boy reporter found a post there by Calvin Reid about a three year old ebook publishing and distribution platform called Draft2Digital. According to Mr. Reid, Draft2Digital works the same as Smashwords. The writer uses the platform to convert their document to the various ebook formats and then submit them to the various markets.

Panzer says, "If you're looking for an alternative to Smashwords, this might be worth checking out."

Note: Draft2Digital charges a 10 percent commission.

To read the post, tootle over to Draft2Digital

New Panzer Ebook Cover Reveal

Panzer has been dropping little kitty hints all over this site for the last few weeks about his latest project.

Although the book won't be out for a few more days, my big bad kitty boy can't contain his excitement any longer. He just got the new cover and he's ready to show it to you.

The cover was done by Panzer's friend and art designer Jennifer Barnhouse. Panzer loves her work because she is an expert at capturing his cat handsomeness. Ms. Barnhouse is a true cat lover as evidenced by her company's name, Mad Cat Designs.

Publishing a Novel: INFOGRAPHIC

I didn't know that.

Panzer stopped in at the GalleyCAT site today. Our inquisitive kitty investigator found a post by Maryann Yin for all his aspiring author friends.

Ms. Yin's post is about author Kate Hart's infographic  How to Get Published. Included in the infographic are questions for writers seeking publication; writers' frequent answers; and Ms. Hart's reply to those answers.

Panzer says, "You think you know how to get published? Read these questions and their answers and rebuttals. You just might be surprised."

To see the infographic, tootle over to Publishing a Novel: INFOGRAPHIC | GalleyCat

George R. R. Martin Short Stories To Be Movie

Aaaachoo!

Panzer has had a kitty cold for the past week and so he slept late today.

But ... my poor little kitty boy felt well enough when he woke up from his afternoon nap to make a quick trip into the Catosphere. He stopped in at the Deadline site to see if there was any interesting TV or movie news there. And there was!

Three of George R. R. Martin's short stories are being combined into a new movie! The film will be named In the Lost Lands. Production is scheduled to start the end of 2015.

Panzer says, "It was worth getting out of my kitty sick bed to find out about this!"

To read the post, tootle over to George R. R. Martin's short stories

A New Panzerism

I don't know. It fell off somewhere.

Panzer on Accessorizing:

Arrggh ... oh no ... arrggh ... coff ... coff.

What do you mean this collar with a bell looks great on me?

How would you know?

You're the one with the wardrobe that's perfect for radio.