A New Panzerism

Panzer on exercise equipment:

Mom bought me a scratching post. She said it's like her treadmill, only for cats.

Next time I'll tell you what I want. *

Kind of silly, huh?

It doesn't have handlebars. I don't have any laundry or raincoats to hang over them even if it did.

Nope. ... It's a waste of money, Mom.



* From Cat Wisdom for humans

Judge issues preliminary injunction for Amazon and top authors in lawsuit against 'pirate' book site - GeekWire

Today as Panzer was sweeping out the Panzermobile, our illustrious kitty found a wadded up post under the pilot seat. Flattening the post out, he discovered it was from the GeekWire site and about the court case against the KISS Library site. In July Panzer told you about the lawsuit filed against KISS Library by Amazon, publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) and several individual authors.

Don't steal. You will get caught.

According to the post by GeekWire's Taylor Soper, the judge in the case has issued a preliminary injunction ordering KISS Library and all its assorted other sites to shut down. To accomplish the shutdown, the judge ordered domain registrars to de-activate the KISS-owned domain names. In the judge's opinion these are pirate sites and they distributed and sold copyrighted material without the copyright owners' permission.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty wonders what these pirates will do now."

Note: This is a long-short length post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection. If you plan to read Panzer's previous post and the link in it, bring another cup of tea and a muffin.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon
To read Panzer's previous post about the KISS Library tootle over to Amazon lawsuit

Authors & Zoom - Anne R. Allen's Blog ... with Ruth Harris

It's been a while since Panzer has been at Anne R. Allen's Blog, so he decided to stop there today. Boy is he glad he did. At the blog he found a post about doing livestream author presentations.

It's not easy being on camera.

According to the post by Nate Hoffelder from The Digital Reader, authors need to be prepared to do online author events. With the continuation of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in-person events are no longer advisable. To fill the void authors are doing livestream events using Zoom (Tm). In the post Hoffelder covers how to be a guest or the host of the event. Also included are tips on using slides, on preparation for the author, the moderator and/or the assistant. There are also links to other posts by Hoffelder about doing podcasts which are similar to author livestream events.

Panzer says, "Be sure to read the Comments after the post. There's some interesting information there."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a large glass of lemonade and two muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links, bring a thermos of iced tea and six muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Zoom

Trade-Published Romance Sees a Coronavirus Boost in the States - Publishing Perspectives

As Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today, he heard kissy, smoochy noises coming from outside. Following all the lovey dovey noises took him to the Publishing Perspectives site. With a little digging in the posts he found one about the current state of the romance market in the U.S. during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, romance has been on everyone's mind since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first five months of 2020 romance ebook sales increased 17 percent for trade book publishers. This was during the time the coronavirus was first detected in the U.S. and then as it began ramping up and states began lockdowns. Not only did romance ebook sales increase, but romance print book sales did as well. The post includes the top trade published romance books in both ebook and print formats. There are several links to more information about ebook and print book sales during the pandemic.

I prefer to look outside for love.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Apparently humans were looking for love in safe places."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a thermos of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow all the links in the post, bring three thermoses of tea, two dozen muffins and your dinner.

To read the post tootle over to Romance publishing sales

Audible Rolls Out Lower-priced Subscription Plan - Publishers Weekly

Didn't take long for that to happen.

Today Panzer's afternoon nap was interrupted by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Hopping into the Panzermobile, our adventuresome kitty followed all the jocularity to the Publishers Weekly site. With hardly any digging at all he found a post about Audible's new subscription plan was causing all the excitement.

According to the post by Shannon Maughan, Amazon's Aubible announced the implementation of a new subscription service. The new plan is called Audible Plus. For $7.95 per month it will give subscribers access to Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks developed by Audible. Audible's $14.95 per month subscription plan will remain but will be renamed Audible Premium Plus.

Panzer says, "Yesterday's post was about Spotify coming to the U.S. with an audio book subscription service. Guess Amazon's Audible already knew about that."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Audible subscription plan

Spotify's move into audiobooks is a seismic shift in the publishing landscape, but the ripples will take time to be felt - The New Publishing Standard

As Panzer entered the Catosphere today, the Panzermobile was violently shaken by oohhing and aahhing coming from outside. Following all the noise took our brave kitty boy to The New Publishing Standard site. There he found a post about Spotify and audio books.

This could get really interesting.

According to Mark Williams post, Spotify is getting ready to start an audio book subscription service in the U.S. similar to its music service. The company is advertising for an "executive to join the Spotify Studios team" with  experience in audio books. There doesn't appear to be a specific timeline for the rollout of the new service. Obviously,  Spotify's audio book service would be in direct competition with Amazon's Audible. There are several links included in the post to other information about Spotify, the company's podcast service, the company's music service, audio book services in general, and other topics.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty wants to know if Spotify can do for audio books what it did for music."

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring a thermos of lemonade, three muffins and three brownies. If you plan to follow the links in the post, bring a gallon of tea, six chocolate chip cookies (biscuits), three more muffins, your lunch in case you're still hungry, and your sleeping bag if you need a nap when you finish reading. (You have been warned. There is a lot of information in this post and the links.)

To read the post tootle over to Spotify and audiobooks

A New Panzerism

Panzer on accessorizing:

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

I don't know. It fell off somewhere. *

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

How would you know?

You're the one with a wardrobe perfect for radio.




* From Cat Wisdom for humans

Barnes & Noble wants to be a great bookseller again - Retail Dive

As Panzer entered the Catosphere today he heard clapping and cheering coming from outside the Panzermobile. Following all the jocularity took our happy kitty to the Retail Dive site. With just a little digging in the posts there, he discovered one about Barnes and Noble and CEO James Daunt.

Maybe he can do it.

According to Daphne Howland's post, Barnes and Noble's CEO James Daunt has plans for the resurrection of Barnes and Noble bookstores. With the purchase of Barnes and Noble by Elliott Advisors the company went from a publicly traded company to a privately owned company. James Daunt wants to take advantage of the company's new status and position it as an "indie bookstore" chain. As an "indie bookstore" he feels the company can better compete against Amazon. He also believes a bricks and mortar bookstore can offer the community feeling Amazon can't. There are plans for increased support for the Nook ereader as well.

 Panzer says, "I like the idea of more support for Nook."

 Note: This is a long post. Bring a gallon of tea, six muffins and six sugar cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

 To read the post tootle over to  Barnes and Noble

Trump throws Amazon under the delivery truck in debate over U.S. Postal Service econmics - GeekWire

Panzer was shaken out of his kitty bed this afternoon by thunder and lightning coming from the Catosphere. Jumping into the Panzermobile, our brave kitty pilot headed into the storm. Following all the noise took him to the GeekWire site. There he discovered a post about President Trump, the postal service and Amazon was causing all the ruckus.

The post by Todd Bishop says U.S. President Trump has stated again he wants the United States Postal Service (USPS) to start charging Amazon more money to deliver the company's packages. Amazon has a contract with USPS to deliver the company's packages. According to federal regulations, if the money collected from Amazon's contract doesn't cover USPS's costs for delivery, the contract will be cancelled. The contract hasn't been cancelled, so USPS must already be charging Amazon the correct amount to deliver the company's packages.

Can somebody explain it to me?

Panzer says, "It makes no sense to me."

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

To read the post tootle over to Amazon delivery

US Publishers, Authors, Booksellers Call Out Amazon's 'Concentrated Power' in Book Market - Publishing Perspectives

Today Panzer decided to make a stop at the Publishing Perspectives site. With a little digging in the posts our inquisitive kitty found one about U.S. publishers, authors and booksellers groups complaining to the government about Amazon.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild and the American Booksellers Association sent a letter to the House of Representatives' Antitrust Subcommittee complaining about Amazon's book selling. According to the letter the three groups believe the way Amazon sells books, ebooks and advertising is unfair to them. In the letter they ask the government to force Amazon to do four things to level the playing field for the three groups' members. Here's a kitty paraphrase in simple terms as best as I can figure out in my opinion of the four things they want: 1) Amazon to stop using the information they've gathered about customers previous purchases to recommend new purchases; 2) Amazon to stop "forcing" the groups' members to buy advertising and then giving the advertisers better placement in customer searches; 3) Amazon not to stop book suppliers from offering rival distributors lower prices and better deals; and 4) Amazon to stop using loss-leaders. There's a link included in the post to the groups' letter to the subcommittee, so you can read it yourself.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you?

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty is so confused by all this; but, that's okay because nobody asked for my opinion anyway."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a quart of tea, three muffins and a chocolate chip cookie (biscuit) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Publishers, Authors and Booksellers vs Amazons

Microsoft's new foldable Android-based Surface Duo goes on sale Sept. 10 $1,399 - GeekWire

Today as Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere, the Panzermobile was suddenly shaken by oohing and aahing coming from outside. Following all the noise took our brave kitty boy to the GeekWire site. There he discovered a post about Microsoft's new Surface Duo was causing all the excitement.

Don't forget it costs $1,399.

According to the post by Taylor Soper, Microsoft has opened pre-orders for it's new Surface Duo. The phone will have dual screens which will fold closed. The two screens allow you to run two apps on the Surface at the same time. It comes with a camera and 15.5 hours of play time. You can also use it as an ereader for Kindle ebooks. The post explains all the uses and has screen shots and short promo videos of the uses.

Panzer says, "Oh yeah. It can be used as a phone too."

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

To read the post tootle over to Microsoft's Surface Duo

A New Panzerism

Panzer on a cat riddle:

Do you know why cats are better than dogs?

You expected something different?

Because when cats smile, they show their canines.

And ...

When dogs smile ...

they just look goofy exposing themselves.

August 17 Is Black Cat Appreciation Day

Black Cat Appreciation Day

It's almost as important a Cat Holiday
as
Black Cat World Domination Day

Ask The Expert: What is the Best eReader for PDFs? - The Digital Reader

PDFs?

When Panzer was washing the Panzermobile this morning, he found something stuck in the wheelwell. Pulling it out, our busy kitty discovered a post from The Digital Reader site about PDFs and ereaders.

The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder gives advise on ereaders and tablets for reading PDFs. The post is in answer to a question he received in an email about ereaders and PDFs. It's a short post.

Panzer says, "Mom doesn't get many PDFs, but when she does she reads them on her laptop."

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea if you want something to drink while you read.

To read the post tootle over to best ereader for PDFs

August Markets for Writers - Various

My work is never finished.

Panzer was cleaning out the Panzermobile hangar, when he happened to see two wadded up posts shoved under the workbench. Flattening them out, our busy kitty discovered they were posts about magazine markets and jobs available for writers in August.

 One of the posts was from Erika Dreifus' site with a listing of markets and jobs for writers. The other was a post from Trish Hopkinson's site with a listing of markets for poets and prose writers.

Panzer says, "Although the month is almost half over, I decided to post it because many of the submission deadlines aren't until August 31."

Note: There are a lot of listings on the two sites. It's up to you what you bring to drink and eat while you're exploring all the markets.


To read the post tootle over to no fee paying literary mags
 To read the second post tootle over to markets and jobs for writers

Nigel Roby Sells the UK's 'The Bookseller' to Stage Media Company - Publishing Perspectives

Mr. Roby really loved The Bookseller..

Today, Panzer made a quick trip to the Publishing Perspectives site. With a little digging in the posts, our speedy kitty found one about the sale of the UK's The Bookseller.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, Nigel Roby has sold  The Bookseller  to Stage Media Company for an undisclosed amount. Under Nigel Roby's ten year ownership The Bookseller staged annual conferences and two book prize awards. All the company's operations and employees will be moved to the Stage Media Company's offices.

Panzer says, "This little kitty hopes the new owner doesn't make too many changes to The Bookseller."

Note: This is an elephantine humongous length post. Bring a gallon of tea, six muffins, 4 chocolate chip cookies (biscuits), and 2 brownies for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to The Bookseller sale

'Midnight Sun' Tops 1 Million Copies Sold in First Week - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was shaken from his nap in his kitty bed by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Hopping in the Panzermobile he followed all the hullabaloo to the Publishers Weekly site. With no digging at all our sleep-deprived kitty discovered a post about Stephenie Meyer's new book was causing all the noise.

According to the post by Jim Milliot, Stephenie Meyer's new novel, Midnight Sun, has sold 1 million copies. The 1 million copies includes sales from ebooks, audio books and print books. The new novel is a retelling of the novel Twilight from the Edward Cullen character's viewpoint.  Meyer says there are plans for two more books at some time in the future.

Now. Back to what's important.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Interesting. Are the print books being delivered by mail or are humans going to the bookstores to buy them?"

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 Midnight Sun

US Book Industry: Associations Form Health Insurance Coalition - Publishing Perspectives

Panzer made a stop at the Publishing Perspectives site today. With a little digging in the posts there our inquisitive kitty boy found one about a health insurance partnership for writers, publishers and others in the industry.

It's not perfect, but at least its a start.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, 11 groups of writers, publishers, graphic artists, and others in the book industry have formed an insurance partnership/coalition with LIG Solutions. The new coalition is named the Book Industry Health Insurance Partnership. The partnership will provide insurance information in all 50 states for the members in the groups and help determine which insurance fits the members needs. The partnership can't negotiate lower rates for members, so rates won't be lower for group members. The post includes a list of all 11 member groups who are eligible to participate. The post also has a link to a FAQ about the new partnership.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Mom used to be a health insurance agent. She's had a lot of different jobs to support her writing habit."

Note: This is a l-o-n-g post. Bring two cups of tea and five muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the post, bring another cup of tea and two brownies and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits).

To read the post tootle over to US book groups health insurance

Amazon.com Announces Second Quarter Results - Press Release

Today, Panzer made a stop at the About Amazon site. There our traveling kitty pilot found an interesting press release.

Is there a food bank for kitties?

The press release concerns Amazon's 2020 second quarter financial information. According to the information contained in the press release, there was a 40 percent net sales increase in the 2020 second quarter over the 2019 second quarter. CEO Jeff Bezos attributed the increased sales to shoppers' Covid-19 concerns. He also announced the addition of 175,000 new jobs since March. Also included in the press release is a section about Amazon's community investments to food banks, the disbursement of 100 $40,000 college scholarships for future engineers, and funds for other community financial priorities. The press release also has information about other financial investments Amazon has made in community projects. There's a section about what Amazon is doing to protect the planet from climate change and another about how Amazon is helping small and medium-sized businesses globally.

Panzer says, "The company does do a lot of good things with its money."

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring a gallon of tea, a gallon of lemonade. a dozen muffins, and six brownies for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Second Quarter Results

A New Panzerism

Panzer on jokes:

Panzer: Knock. Knock.

Mom: Hmmm?

Panzer: Knock. Knock.

Mom: Hmmm? What?

Panzer: I say, "Knock. Knock." and You say, "Who's there?"

Mom: Okay. Knock. Knock.

There's a first time for everything. *

Panzer: Who's there?

Mom: It's me, Mom. You've known me your whole life, Panzer.

Panzer: What? Wait! I mean, what? Hey! What happened?



* From Cat Wisdom for humans

Smashwords Author Day, Spring 2020 Now Online - Smashwords Blog

Today Panzer made a trip to the Smashwords Blog site. Smashwords is an ebook distributor. Our kitty author uses Smashwords to distribute his ebooks to Kobo, Barnes and Noble and other ebook retailers. With no digging in the posts at Smashwords Panzer found one about the Smashwords Author Day.

There's a lot to think about in there.

According to the post by Smashwords founder Mark Coker, there was a Smashwords Author Day on April 18. Smashwords Marketing Director Jim Azevedo did a five and a half hour workshop for authors on that day. The videos of the entire workshop are posted on the blog site. There are also links to watch it on YouTube or the Smashwords Author Day page at the Smashwords site. All three viewing sites offer the option to watch the entire workshop in a five and one half hour video titled "Introduction" or to watch each workshop session in an approximately one hour+ separate video. The videos cover trends in indie publishing, marketing, ebook launches and more.

Panzer says, "This little kitty watched the individual workshop videos, not the great big long one."

Note: This is a long, long, long video series. You might want to watch each individual session, so you can take a break in between and have a cup of tea and a muffin after each one.

To watch the workshop, tootle over to Smashwords Author Day:

Penguin Random House Extends Temporary E-book, Digital Audio Terms for Libraries - Publishers Weekly

Today as Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere the Panzermobile was suddenly buffeted by clapping outside. Following all the noise took our brave kitty boy to the Publishers Weekly site. There with a little digging in the posts, he found one about Penguin Random House and libraries.

According to Andrew Albanese's post, Penguin Random House (PRH) has notified libraries that because of the continued Covid-19 pandemic the company will be extending the temporary terms of the ebook and digital audio purchasing option begun in March. The option will now be available until December 31. PRH is extending it's temporary purchasing option of the 12 month term for ebooks and audio books, instead of the usual 24 month purchasing option. The cost has also been lowered to 50 percent of the 24 month purchase terms. The post includes links to other sites explaining the temporary license purchase option, PRH's announcement about giving libraries and educators the ability to read PRH books aloud online, and other information.

To really help, give the book to them free.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... With how bad library budgets are right now, it's a smart move on PRH's part to give libraries a break on costs."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea, one muffin and one brownie for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the post, bring an extra cup of tea and an extra brownie.

To read the post tootle over to Penguin Random House

An author bought his own book to get on bestseller lists. Is that fair? - The Guardian

Today as Panzer was cleaning out the Panzermobile, he discovered a post under the floor mat on the passenger side. Flattening it out, our fastidious kitty discovered it was a post from The Guardian site about British author Mark Dawson.

According to the post by David Barnett, author Mark Dawson recently made the Sunday Times bestseller list in the UK. Mark Dawson explained how he managed this feat in his Self Publishing Show podcast. When he saw his sales numbers weren't high enough to get his new book into the top 10 at the Sunday Times, he devised a plan. He sent out an email to his U.S. readers asking if they would be interested in buying copies of his book directly from him. When he had 400 people interested, he bought 400 copies of his book. That added enough book sales to the already generated sales to put his book on the bestseller list at number 8. That's how his book became a bestseller. Apparently, in the UK there's no rule against an author buying his or her own book. Several links are included in the post, including one to the author's podcast.

With enough money you can buy anything.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... He was so proud of what he did, he made a podcast about it. Now other authors in the UK can do it to."

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, bring another cup of tea and another muffin. (Don't tell anybody if you listen to his podcast and then do what he did.)

To read the post tootle over to bestseller lists

No Post Today

We'll be back tomorrow.

Panzer here.

Mom has a project due, so there's no post today.

A New Panzerism

Panzer on showing love:

I gave Mom a dead mouse today.

I left it on her pillow so she'd see it when she woke up.

Then ...

She let What's His Name have it.

That really hurts. *

and ...

he threw it in the garbage can outside.

Humans just don't know the value of love gifts.




* From Cat Wisdom for humans