Draft2Digital, Baker & Taylor, and OverDrive - Indies Unlimited

Panzer is still helping Mom with her recuperating extended-family relative, so today's trip into the Catosphere was short. On a quick trip to the Indies Unlimited site our speedy kitty found a post about Draft2Digital.

I really need more sleep.

According to Melinda Clayton, Draft2Digital has announced their partnership with Baker and Taylor's 360 Axis 360 ebook distribution to libraries. Authors who use Draft2Digital will now have two platforms for library distribution: OverDrive and Baker and Taylor. The post also includes information about differences between the two platforms and a brief history of a court case between the two. The link to the court case decision includes interesting information about Baker and Taylor. The post quotes extensively from information on The Digital Reader site.

Panzer says, "This little kitty doesn't think he likes Baker and Taylor's business practices."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of cocoa and three chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Draft2Digital

Bowker Finally Notifies Users of Hacked Website and Stolen Credit Cards - The Digital Reader

I'm so tired I can hardly move.

This has been a very busy day for Panzer so today's trip into the Catosphere was a short one. Our tired kitty boy made a quick trip to The Digital Reader site. With a little digging he found a post about the RR Bowker hacking.

According to The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder, RR Bowker has begun notifying authors about the possibility of their credit card information being compromised on their site. Bowker is where publishers and authors can purchase ISBN's for their books. The post quotes extensively from Tweets from an author about her experience with Bowker's notification about the hacking. Panzer reported on November 5 about the hacking.

Panzer says, "Mom never used Bowker because we could get the ISBNs through Create Space, so we're safe."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Bowker

To read Panzer's previous post tootle over to  Bowker hacking

A New Panzerism

Panzer on teaching your human new tricks:

I'm getting really upset with Mom's behavior.

For a long time now I've tried to teach her the basics of catching mice.

I want her to enjoy life like I do.

And ...

Catching mice is the funnest thing in the world.

She just runs away.

But ...

She just refuses to take the mouse from me with her teeth ...

And ...

Toss it into the air so I can catch it again.

I won't give up. She'll learn sooner or later.



* From Cat Wisdom for humans

Due to a family illness, things will be a little upset here at Cats and Crime.

B&N Cuts Q2 Losses as Comp Sales Improve - Publishers Weekly

I love Thanksgiving.

Panzer is still recovering from Thanksgiving dinner; so, today's trip into the Catosphere was a quick one to the Publishers Weekly site. With a little digging around in the posts our waddling kitty boy found one about Barnes and Noble.

According to Jim Milliot, Barnes and Noble announced the company's sales figures for the second quarter. Compared to the same time frame in 2017 book sales declined by 3 percent, but toys, games and cafe sales increased by 1.9 percent. The company was also able to cut its operating loss nearly in half from $52.2 million to $26.8 million.

Panzer says, "Let's see how they do in the holiday season."

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving    

From Panzer, Mom and What's His Name

Vacation Day and New eBook: Laugh Don't Cry

Panzer is taking the day off. This week is crazy-busy because of the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow here in the U.S., but he did want to let you know about Mom's latest nonfiction ebook, Laugh Don't Cry, Life Is A Joke. She published it the end of September, but between getting ready for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and Thanksgiving, we forgot to tell you.

So, here goes.

If you ever wondered how Mom and Panzer met or how What's His Name joined the family or who Mom's friends and other family members are, you'll learn the answers in these short essays. These personal stories are funny and engaging and help explain where our quirky sense of humor comes from. It's a small taste of what Mom's life is like.

Available at all the online retailers for $0.99, but we only had time to look up these four.

Available at  Amazon

Available at Smashwords

Available at Kobo

Available at Walmart

US Beta for 'Wattpad Next': Centgage Subscription for Missouri - Publishing Perspectives

Today, Panzer made a quick trip to the Publishing Perspectives site. With a little digging our inquisitive kitty traveler found a post about Wattpad.

Thanksgiving is coming. I can see it!

According to Porter Anderson,Toronto, Canada, Wattpad has introduced it's new author payment system Wattpad Next in the U.S. Wattpad users pay an author to read their story. Wattpad Next has already been available in Canada, the U.K., Mexico, and the Philippines. There are several links included in the post. There is a second section to the post which is about the Centgage Subscription service for college students and isn't part of Wattpad, so you can skip it if you want.

Panzer says, "Only certain authors are available through the program."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a thermos of hot cocoa and half a dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Wattpad

A New Panzerism

Panzer on home improvements:

What's his name has been shirking his duties ...

And ...

The flies are taking over my litter box ...

So ...

He's whining to Mom again.

I fixed the problem ...

I moved Mom's bug zapper into my litter box.

Works great.

I got What's His Name three times before he found it.

Smashwords Unveils New Book Discovery Interface - Smashwords

Panzer was cleaning out the Panzermobile when he found something wadded up under the pilot's seat. Smoothing it out our fastidious kitty boy discovered it was a post from the Smashwords blog.

According to Smashwords founder Mark Corker, Smashwords has a new feature called the New Book Discovery Interface. The company has added "book shelves" to the Smashwords Bookstore. There are nine different themes for the shelves, including Featured New Releases, Trending Now, Bestselling Books and six more. The post begins with the news Smashwords has published 500,000 ebooks. While ebook sales at other ebook retailers are down, Smashwords sales are up. The company decided it was time to make it easier for readers to find the ebooks they wanted faster and the New Book Discovery Interface was born.

Time to get back to cleaning.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... We've been looking for a place to put one of the stories from Cats and Crime up for free. Maybe it's time to put the story up at Smashwords for free."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring a thermos of tea and six muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Smashwords

Barnes & Noble's first prototype store in NJ opening in Hackensack - northjersey.com

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today when he decided to stop in at the northjersey.com site. There our adventuresome kitty boy found a post about Barnes and Noble.

Looks like a good place for a cat nap.

According to Melanie Anzidei, Barnes and Noble has opened a new bricks and mortar prototype bookstore in Hackensack, New Jersey. The new store is located in The Shops at Riverside mall. The prototype store has downsized the music department to make room for a larger children's story time area, a Lego table, and a reading area. The store also has a cafe. The post includes a video at the beginning which shows various features of the new store.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... The company does say children's books are making a comeback."

This is a l-o-n-g post. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading.

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble

Attorneys for Parneros, Barnes & Noble Meet in Court - Publishers Weekly

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishers Weekly site. With a little digging our inquisitive kitty boy found a post about Barnes and Noble.

Court case merry-go-round?

According to Publishers Weekly's Andrew Albanese, attorneys for Barnes and Noble and attorneys for Demos Parneros were in court on November 13 to get their discovery schedules approved. The discovery period will close on June 14, 2019. The judge also said he would like the two sides to have a settlement conference to try to avoid a trial. He gave both sides until December 3 to let him know if they would agree to the conference. The court cases are convoluted. Demos Parneros was fired in July from his position as CEO at Barnes and Noble for undisclosed reasons. However, after he brought suit against Barnes and Noble for his firing, the company disclosed he was fired for sexual harassment. Mr. Parneros' suit against the company includes defamation of character. Barnes and Noble then brought suit for sabotaging their company's sale and the sexual harassment allegations.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty thinks, if they can't come to a settlement agreement, this might get nasty."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble

Amazon Is Inexplicably Destroying Indie Author Careers By Randomly Removing eBooks From the Kindle Store - The Digital Reader

How long before somebody noticed?

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to The Digital Reader site. With just a little digging in the posts our traveling kitty found one about Amazon and the Kindle Store.

According to the post at The Digital Reader by site owner Nate Hoffelder, for unknown reasons Amazon has been removing indie authors' ebooks from the Kindle Store. Apparently, this has been happening for the past two weeks. The post includes quotes from affected authors in both the U.S. and Canada. Also included is an Amazon post quoted from KDP support forums which states the company is aware of the problem and working on solving it. There are links included to a previous post about the problem and to the KDP support forums.

Panzer says, "Guess this little kitty better go check our books in the Kindle store."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Kindle Store

Amazon Picks NYC, Arlington, Va., as New HQ Sites - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was shaken from his morning nap by clapping and cheering and crying and moaning. Following all the confusing noises took our sleepy kitty to the Publishers Weekly site. There the top post about Amazon explained all the frenzy.

You already knew it, right?

According to Jim Milliot,  Amazon announced the choice of location(s) for their second headquarters (HQ2). Not surprisingly since there have been rumors flying for weeks, there will actually be two parts to the new HQ2. Half will be built in Long Island City, NY, with 25,000 employees there and half will be built in Arlington, VA, with 25,000 employees there. In addition, Amazon will have a smaller location in Nashville, TN, with 5,000 employees for their operations business center. Why two locations for HQ2? Because each location will give the company large tax incentives to build there.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... All that wait time for what was one of the worst kept secrets ever ... You know, by now it's not even news."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and half a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon HQ2

A New Panzerism

Panzer on origins:

I heard Mom and What's His Name talking.

Mom said she wanted to go shopping.

When ...

What's His Name said he was pooped and didn't want to go ...

That explains a lot.

I was shocked ...

I thought she got him at the Husband Store ...

Not ...

My litter box.

Veterans Day

From Panzer, Mom and What's His Name

PRH takes Majority Stake in Brazil's Grupo Companhia das Letras - Publishing Perspectives

Today, Panzer decided to make a stop at the Publishing Perspectives site. Digging around in the posts our adventuresome kitty found one about Penguin Random House.

According to Porter Anderson, Penguin Random House (PRH) CEO Markus Dohle announced the company's new majority ownership in Brazil's Grupo Companhia das Letras. With this majority ownership PRH has gained an increased foothold in the South American and Portuguese-language book marketplace. According to both companies there won't be any management or business changes. There are links to other information about both companies at both the beginning and the end of the post.

Inquiring cats want to know.

Panzer says, "This little kitty wonders which PRH English-language authors will be translated for the South American market."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links to the other posts, bring half a thermos of tea and four muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Penguin Random House

After Protest, Booksellers Are Victorious Against Amazon Subsidiary - The New York Times

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere just minding his own cat business when he heard clapping and cheering. Following the all the hoopla took our inquisitive kitty boy to The New York Times site. It didn't take any time at all to find the post about Amazon's AbeBooks causing all the happiness.

How did they do that without my help?

According to David Streittfeld, it's being reported that Amazon subsidiary AbeBooks has caved under the protest begun day before yesterday by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and other antiquarian bookseller groups against them. The booksellers banded together and took a "vacation" from AbeBooks by making their books temporarily unavailable at the site. According to ILAB president Sally Burdon it appears AbeBooks is backtracking on their plans to remove some booksellers from AbeBooks. There's still no explanation about the exact reason(s) why the booksellers in Hungary, South Korea, Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland were being removed.There are links included to other posts about the protest.

Panzer says, "That has to be one of the shortest successful protests in human history."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring half a thermos of tea and four muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links included in the post and read the posts at other sites bring another half a thermos of tea and four more muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon's AbeBooks

To read yesterday's post about the protest tootle over to  AbeBooks booksellers

Booksellers unite in protest as Amazon's AbeBooks withdraws from several countries - The Guardian

Panzer was eating his lunch when his tender ears were assailed by the sound of crying and shouting coming from the Catosphere. Not even finishing his lunch our brave kitty hopped in the Panzermobile to go investigate. Following all the noise took him to The Guardian site. With no digging at all he found a post about Amazon's AbeBooks.

According to The Guardian's Alison Flood, members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and other organizations have joined together to protest Amazon's AbeBooks. The company sent notices to secondhand bookstores in South Korea, Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic that AbeBooks is closing the bookstores' sales channels through the company. In protest 460 booksellers are taking a "vacation" from AbeBooks and will not have their books available there. AbeBooks says the company is changing their third party payment service. While not explained in the post, it appears that for whatever reason the bookstores specified aren't compatible with the new payment service.

Now for my lunch.

Panzer says, "This kitty is confused. Is it a software problem between the new payment system and the secondhand bookstores' system?"

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post. Bring half a thermos of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon AbeBooks

Hear All About It: Introducing the Amazon Book Review Podcast - Omnivoracious

Amazon Book Review Podcast. Interesting.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he decided to make a quick stop at the Omnivoracious site. With a little digging our inquisitive kitty found a post about Amazon.

According to Adrian Liang, Amazon has started a new podcast. Called the Amazon Book Review Podcast it's available on iTunes and TuneIn. Each podcast will open with a discussion followed by an author(s) interview. Three podcasts were already uploaded on October 31.

Panzer says, "There's a link at the bottom of the post to signup for the podcasts."

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Book Review Podcast

Bowker Investigating Breach of ISBN Site - Publishers Weekly **

Panzer was shaken from his nap on the bed by crying and screaming coming from the Catosphere. Hopping into the Panzermobile our brave kitty followed  all the noise to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about a break-in at the Bowker site.

Bad humans will steal anything.

According to the post by Jim Milliot, RR Bowker announced their myidentifiers.com site had been breached and  code added to their checkout page. This code enables unauthorized charges to credit cards used at the site. The site is used by authors and publishers to purchase ISBNs for their books. Authors cannot use this site to purchase ISBNs until further notice; instead there are links to other avenues for purchase. There are links in the post to the Bowker post and site.

Panzer says, "There are bad guys everywhere in the Catosphere."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links, bring a muffin too.

To read the post tootle over to Bowker


** This is an important post for authors and publishers. Today's Panzerism will be here later.

Amazon Building Collapse: 2 Reported Dead, Officials Say - Balitmore Patch

Panzer was cleaning out the Panzermobile when he heard yelling and crying coming from the Catosphere. Hopping into the pilot's seat, our brave kitty boy headed out. Following the noise took him to the Baltimore Patch site. There he discovered a post about an accident at an Amazon building in Baltimore, Maryland.

I hate storms with the wind and rain.

According to the Baltimore Patch's Elizabeth Janney, during a severe store in Baltimore last night an Amazon fulfillment center suffered significant damage. The wind and rain in the storm caused a wall in the fulfillment center to collapse. Two sub-contract workers were killed. Due to the rain and debris numerous packages were destroyed. There are photos in the post of the storm damage. The post also includes information about other businesses impacted by the storm.

Panzer says, "Of course, the fulfillment center is closed."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon

Amazon Opens the Second "Shit People Like to Buy" Store in Denver - The Digital Reader

Sorry about the bad word. He wrote it.

Today Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he decided to make a quick stop at The Digital Reader site. With a little digging around he found a post about Amazon's newest store.

According to The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder, Amazon is opening a new bricks and mortar store in Denver, Colorado. This will be an Amazon 4-star store. This is the second Amazon 4-star store opened this year. The first was opened in New York City. The 4-star stores sell merchandise shoppers have reviewed with at least a 4 star rating. The post quotes extensively from a BusinessDen post.

Panzer says, "Be sure and read the Comments section. This little kitty totally agrees with the Indigo Books and Music comment."

Note: This is a short post. Bring half a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon

In Counterclaim, B&N Says Former CEO 'Sabotaged' Sale; Sexually Harassed Multiple Women - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he decided to make a stop at the Publishers Weekly site. With a little digging around our fearless kitty discovered a post about Barnes and Noble.

It's enough to give me a headache.

The post by Andrew Albanese states, Barnes and Noble has filed a counter claim against former CEO Demos Parneros. In the counter claim Barnes and Noble asserts Mr. Parneros deliberately sabotaged a due diligence process meeting called by an unnamed book retailer interested in acquiring the company. Also, included in the counter claim is the fact that in addition to the original complaint by a female employee of sexual harassment, others have now come forward. There are other details of the counter claim included in the post.

Panzer says, "This little kitty thinks this is just getting messier and messier."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of apple cider and some leftover Halloween candy for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble